KING FAMILY CHRISTMAS LETTER 2012
 
Greetings from the King Family this Christmas!  As we reflect on this year we give thanks for so many things:

• Caleb continues to work on the hydro electric project and it’s almost done :).  When it’s finished it will provide badly needed power for the grid, and is the first step for getting power out to Shyira Hospital.  We hope it will also decrease black-outs in the town in which we now live.   Caleb continues to be “Dad” to many orphan boys.  We help as many out as we can, and were able to address some of their spiritual needs at a big sleepover at our house with 45 boys!  Our friend Pastor Emmanuel challenged them to examine their faith and their obedience to God. Please pray that the hydroelectric project will get finished and others that are in the pipeline will get started.  Also pray that we will minister to the many needy children in Rwanda who fall into our sphere in the best way possible, in a way glorifying to God.
• I (Louise) am still teaching and mentoring Rwandan Family Medicine doctors in training at Ruhengeri Hospital.  We are thankful that the first class graduated this year!  We are also thankful for the especially sick patients (like Faustin, a 14 year old orphan who is doing great after treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma) that we have been able to help, with support from many of you.   Please pray for me as I continues to mentor Rwandan doctors  in the upcoming year.
• We are both involved at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral in Ruhengeri, and are  regulars on the preaching schedule.  I help lead an English speaking adult Sunday School, which is well attended, and also started a children’s Sunday School which averages over 50 children under age 12!  Please pray for the Sunday School, that it will continue to teach Rwandan children about the love of God in Christ Jesus.
• The end of this year finds us in a different locale-Kijabe, Kenya, at Rift Valley Academy.  RVA needed some dorm parents for one term and we took a leap of faith and agreed! After 5 years of not being together as a family most of the time, we thought this would be a welcome change, and it has been! On the side, we’ve both been doing a little teaching at the school and giving some lectures at the hospital here. I’ve also been taking a public health course online. Otherwise, parenting 19 boys, plus our own, keeps us pretty busy.
  • Our own children are doing well.  Sara is in 11^th grade and is thinking about colleges-eek! Hannah is enjoying high school and plays basketball and field hockey.  Caleb Jr is in 7^th grade and is the goalie for his soccer team.  His mother finds it stressful to watch his games, but he seems to take it in stride! Lydia is enjoying being in a “real” school and also being with her sibs.  Please pray for our children, to keep them safe, especially as they trave back and forth to school.
• The other news for us is that we have officially adopted Moses.  As many of you know, Moses has been with us since he was a baby.  After prayer and consultation with others, it seemed as if this was a good time to make it official.  He is also here with us in Kenya and going to school at RVA.  In his class of ten, six of the other children are also adopted African children, so he fits right in!  Please pray that his transition goes well and that he is granted US citizenship as we apply for it now.

The children and I will be in the US from late November to early January.  Caleb will stay in Rwanda for a bit to get the project completed, we hope!, and join us in mid December before we return to Rwanda in January.  We hope to see many of you in person to wish you a “Merry Christmas,” but if we don’t see you, please know that we are wishing a joyous season of celebrating the birth of our Savior, and for the New Year, may “the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7).”
                                   
Wishing you all the best this Christmas,
 
Louise           
and Caleb
 
Find out more on our blog: thekingsatshyira.wordpress.com
For correspondence:                                                            For donations:
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East Africa                                                                        Little Rock, AR 72207
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