St Nicholas was bornaround 275 AD in what is nowTurkey. When Nicholas wasstill quite young his wealthyChristian parents, Epiphaniusand Johanna, died during anepidemic. Nicholas used hisentire inheritance to help thedesperate, the sick, and thesuffering. He went about it insecret, expecting nothing inreturn. On one occasion, apoor man's daughters, havingno dowries, were going to besold into slavery. Strangely, inthree different instances a bagof gold appeared in their home, saving them from their fate. There are three ancienthistorical accounts of thisevent. Bishop Nicholas wasknown throughout the land for his humility, his abstinencefrom worldly pleasures, hisgenerosity to those in need,his love for children, his de-fense of justice, and his caringfor seafarers and prisoners.One of the oldest recordedepisodes from the life of Nicholas is his saving threecondemned innocents in An-driaki from the Roman Em-peror's executioner. He is alsoknown for intervening in favor of the unjustly jailed.Other historical accountstell of Nicholas journeying toConstantinople (now Istambul)to plead with the emperor for a reduction of taxes for thepeople of Myra. Yet others tellof Nicholas saving his flockfrom the famine of AD 311 -312 by obtaining sufficientmeasures of wheat from thegrain ships bound for Alexan-dria.Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlesslypersecuted Christians, BishopNicholas suffered for his faith,was exiled and imprisoned,but eventually released. Notuntil Emperor Constantine'srule (324 - 337 AD) was Chris-tian worship legalized.Nicholas died December 6,AD 343, in Myra and was bur-ied in his church. Soon after Nicholas' death and for thefollowing 750 years his tombin Myra was a popular pilgrim-age site, as reverence for himspread throughout the Chris-tian world. In 1087 the bonesof Nicholas were transferredto Bari, Italy, where two yearslater Pope Urban II conse-crated a shrine to house therelics. Many miracles wereattributed to his relics, andNicholas soon attained thestatus of sainthood. His relicsare still preserved in thechurch of San Nicola in Bari;up to the present day an oilysubstance, known as Mannadi S. Nicola, which is highlyvalued for its medicinal pow-ers, is said to flow from them.St. Nicholas is named thepatron saint of more causesand communities than anyother saint, among them are:charitable fraternities andguilds, children, sailors, un-married young women, mer-chants and pawnbrokers, andthe countries of Russia andGreece, as well as the citiesof Moscow and Fribourg(Switzerland).

the real Santa Claus

Prayer points to start 2010:

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Health and safety

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Perseverance

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Humility

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Competence

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Love

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Compassion

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Direction

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Intimacy

New Life in Christ ChurchSaturday Evening Youth Program

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Dec/2009

2009 IN REVIEW

the Duffy’s in Cambodia

www.joshandjenny.org

Every week, over200 youth hear the Gospel. Over70% of thoseattending arenon-believers.Pray that theGospel will takefirm root in theirspirits.

We celebrated New Years 2009with the Cambodian Mission Outreach inPhnom Penh, Cambodia.The first five months of the yearwere filled with English Teaching, andBible Studies.March was different in thesense that we relocated to Sihanoukvillefor 3 weeks to do some work with Jason &Kellie Holbeche of The Mission World-wide. They are looking at ways of rescuing children out of the awful sex trade that isgrowing year after year in this country.The time with them was bittersweet as wewere able to get some R&R in a beautifulcoastal location, but also learnt muchabout the depravityof man.In April, time allowed Jenny &I to indulge in a fiveday bus tour of south-ern Vietnam. Wespent time in Ho ChiMinh City and Dalat.Jenny cele-brated her 22ndbirthday in May, andwe ended up at awildlife refuge centerhaving close encoun- ters with owls andother birds, monkeys,elephants, tigers, anda lion.Five months went quick though, and by May we had to saygoodbye to the wonderful people weworked with in Phnom Penh. Thechildren left a huge mark on us, andwe were sad to leave them behindas we loaded up to go to Pochen- tong Airport.The trip home included a16.5hr nonstop flight from Taipei,Taiwan to Newark, New Jeresy.After Virginia, we took the opportunity to visit the Ad-ams’ and the Moore’s in NM,Albuquerque and Roswell, respec- tively.These are among thebest friends on this earth I’ve got,and it may have drained our $$$from the summer, but it wasworth every penny. Like-mindedpeople are crucial!!After HH in 2008, and 2009 we jumped on a train and headed south toVirginia to spend a week with an amazing woman of God whom I had met in Mozam-bique in the summer of 2007. The Ref-uge in Virginia is the best place (in theworld!) that I know to get away from every- thing and just plain relax. Mama Deane isa servant of God that is rare among Chris- tians today. We love her and pray Godwould allow us to visit her again someday!

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Double H Ranch

June - August

Mama Deane (VA) & the Adams’/Moore’s (NM)

end of August

Mama Deane’s refuge in Virginia

Double H Ranch accommodatesapprox 100 kids, aged 6-16, weekly throughout the summer. They specializein providing high quality care, and highquality fun, to chronically and terminally illchildren. What this camp means to thecampers cannot be expressed in words,so I won’t even bother trying. So many of them view the week of camp as the bestweek of their year.It was such a privilege to be able to serve those children this past summer,and we look forward to the time where wecan return to the Ranch andcontinue wherewe left off.If anyof you wouldlike to give upyour summer to serve kidssuch as these, just visitwww.doublehranch.org and fill out anapplication.The summer, we spent in LakeLuzerne, NY at one of Paul Newman’sHole The Wall Camps. This was our sec-ond year employed at the Ranch, and wehad similar duties as last year. Jennyworked at the Happy Barn, and was incharge of the small animals, which con-sisted mainly of guinea pigs and bunnies.I was employed as a cabin counselor,which means I was with the kids taking them around to the various program ar-eas (the Happy Barn being one of many)and such.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Kunthea and Josh

Cambodia

January - May

above

the Adams’, Moore’s, & Duffy’s

below

at a Wal~Mart in Roswell, NM

2009 - Year in Review

2009 in Review

It seems paradoxical, yet Jenny& I love Las Vegas. Maybe we’re just star-struck by it. Maybe it’s the fact we weremarried there in 2008. Who knows? Thefact is that we love going there. Septem-ber 8th-11th was the trip celebrating ourfirst Anniversary.It was also a great opportunity to reconnect with the awesome people weknow from the First Presbyterian Churchof Las Vegas.Aside fromoogling over the immensestructures on the Strip,we hung out with somehomeless and were able to direct them to agreat ministry calledAmazing Grace, whichfeeds, and clothes, andhelps them get back on track. Theyalso provide great Spiritual counsel aswell.We’ll likely be in Cambodiafor Anniversary #2, but for #3, whoknows?!!who will carry the EnglishSchool into the future, asmany come for Englishclasses, but stay for thelove of God expressed through all who work here towards that very goal.The ministry isgrowing. The fruit is stillslow, but the harvest ismaturing.To finish off 2009, we find our-selves full circle, back in Phnom Penh,with the Cambodian Mission Outreach.We continue teaching English to young adults (New Hope English School), and teaching English to children (New HopeSchool). We are also training the newlyemployed Bible College graduates whoare also teaching English to the young adults here at the ministry. We hope toraise them up into confident teachers

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Visiting Family (Ontario & PEI)

Sep/Oct

1st Anniversary in Las Vegas

Sep 8-11

Back to Cambodia

Oct24 to present

radically bearing gifts. Those relativesare in every family, and though notideal, it is necessary, and makes the time at home so much more mean-ingful.We also got to spend timewith our home church in PEI, Faith-works Center. We are so appreciativeof our relationship with them as well.God has blessed us withamazing families. We don’t take them forgranted.The bulk of September/Octoberwas spent visiting family in Windsor, ON,and PEI.We are so thankful for the re-spect and support of both our families,and they make the crazy life we have somuch easier to endure.It was a sheer joy to be able tospend time with our new niece Malone,and 2yr old nephew Brennan. I am quicklybecoming the uncle that lives in anotherpart of the world, and returns home spo-

Teacher Jenny & Teacher Josh of New Hope School

Sally, Hannah, and Keat Jenny & I with Malone, Brennan,and Makka Pakka

2009 - Year in Review