Dear Prayer Team,

Merry Christmas!

The Celebration of Christ's Power

We rejoice in a full year of ministry. We have reached another high for BFF readership despite the October setback. Last year, we were glad for the 340,000 unique readers. This year we have had over 425,000 readers. The number of visitors including repeat readers is far above this.

Our joy is that God's Word is strengthening His people all around the world. People are hungry for God's Word. I regularly hear from people or meet people who understand almost nothing about discipleship. They have never thought about how God's people grow. I can identify with them. I remember when I did not know what to say to people with certain problems. Here is an encouraging email note which is illustrates the way God works through this website. This note is from a Canadian pastor of a large church.

The last thirty days I have been seeking God on the subject of discipleship and was elated when my secretary came across your website. God had placed on my heart Colossians 1:10 as a foundational scripture and I was excited to see that confirmed in your material. I believe our thrust for 2008 is discipleship and I look forward to sharing your vision and heart on this subject with the people of our church. Have a great Christmas.

May many more join him in the pursuit of discipleship, the building up of God's people. Colossians 1:10 says, "So that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord; to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." We celebrate Christ who brings His mighty truth into our lives, first by removing our sins and then by implanting His word in our hearts and lives. This is the power of God at work today. I am so excited to see God actively at work!

The Next Step Adventure

The Next Step is an arm of the Chinese Mission Conference that assists those seeking to go into full-time ministry. Our main job is to provide counseling to the brothers and sisters pursuing Christ's will in this way. We want to lead them on to the 'next step'. Pastor Hugo and I work closely together administering two teams to counsel the 1,800+ people attending the conference at Valley Forge December 26th to the 30th.

We need lots of prayer. We have many things to prepare including the printing of many articles. The deadline comes soon. We are still raising up a counseling team of experienced Christian leaders that will attend the conference. We need faith that God will provide all the volunteer counselors that are needed. Pray for our families while we are away and for God to raise up many new, mature workers for His ever expanding kingdom. The end is near.

We usually make our financial update available at the end of the year but will provide one at the beginning of next year when we can better summarize BFF's financial matters due to becoming an official non-profit organization.