October and November were very busy months of festivities, as we celebrated the birthdays of myself, Mindy, Rhys, and Elin. The children got to enjoy their birthdays with friends and church family. We are so thankful for those of you who smothered us with birthday cards via mail and birthday wishes through text, email, and social media. We feel extra special in knowing that you all are thinking about us on the other side of “the Pond.”

We continue to see the Lord’s blessings on our church. We’ve been blessed to see a family of four drive from an hour and a half away to come to church on an occasional basis. There’s also another prospect of a family of eight desiring to move into town to be a part of the church. We’ve had good conversations with people at the door. People are generally nice here in Port but aren’t typically quick to make a decision about trusting Christ. However, three weeks ago, we had a Soul-Winning Marathon, where our church went door knocking for four hours, and we praise the Lord for a gentleman trusting Christ as his Saviour! The week before that, we were blessed to appoint Brother Sam, who has been with us since the beginning, to be the first deacon of our church. We average almost 30 people, and many are now plugged in with a duty and responsibility in the church. A few months ago, I wrote about a man who had been praying about how the Lord would involve him in our church, and he believes the Lord would have him to actually take the church on as its pastor. Praise the Lord! We’ve believed that God was trying to move us to a new location, and this has been an answer to prayer! With the men’s recommendation and the church’s approval, we appointed him as the new pastor in November. Our last service was a bittersweet moment, but we’re excited about this new chapter in the church’s life!

It was an honour to preach at two churches in the state of Queensland during the school holidays. The children were also grateful for the much-needed rest. They got to see the Big Pineapple! We stayed with a preacher friend who now pastors a church started by a missionary our sending church has been supporting for years. What a small world!

This holiday period, we are blessed to come home to the States to be with family in Michigan. The children are excited! It’s been 3½ years since seeing them. We will be visiting some supporting churches near our home church during this time. We have exciting plans in the works for our next term when we go back in January. We will write more about it in our next prayer letter. It’s been an amazing first term. We are so grateful for your partnership, and we thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Your servant in Christ,

Garry Tingson