Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Silent Night, Holy Night.  All is Calm, All is Bright

Noche de paz, noche de amor.  Todo duerme en derredor (Spanish)

Ô nuit de paix, Sainte nuit.  Dans le ciel, L′astre luit (French)

When the earthquake devastated Haiti this year, God sent us a blessing in the form of a Haitian refugee family that fled to Quito:  Pastor Frantz, Luz, Rebecca (4) and Juan Ellie (2).  God spared their lives but they literally had nothing else as their church and home turned into ruble.  Our family has had the great pleasure of helping this precious family get established.  Stan offered the couple free classes in Spanish through our NILI program so they could get jobs quicker.  One of our Missouri churches gave a generous offering to help the family financially.  Recently we had the family over for a Christmas dinner with two other Ecuadorian friends.  After dinner and gift giving, we sang Christmas carols.  We experienced a little touch of heaven as we all sang Silent Night in our mother tongues (English, Spanish and French) at the same time.  What a wonderful reminder that Christ came to save all the nations.  It truly was a beautiful moment.

Another unexpected blessing in our lives this year is our local church.  Last year we prayed that we would find a church home and that Stan would get more preaching opportunities in Spanish.  Boy, did God answer in a big way!  Stan was asked to pastor a local church and he’s been preaching almost every Sunday since!  While our motive was to find a place of service, what we gained was a beautiful, supportive church family.  Together we have gone through months of financial crisis; yet, the church is only stronger because of it.  If you’d like to read more about our journey, go to our family blog at www.hallupdate.blogspot.com.  Two weeks ago, ten people accepted Christ as their Savior and two people were baptized.  It’s fun to watch God work in this local congregation.

We finished the 9th semester of NILI (Nazarene International Language Institute), which is the Spanish study-abroad program that Stan directs.  We’ve had over 80 students attend this program since it began three years ago.  We praise God for the way He uses this program in so many ways to draw people closer to Him. Stan and Sherri escorted the NILI students on a trip to the Galapagos Islands this November, which was a trip of a lifetime.  Snorkeling with sea lions, sharks, rays, and every kind of fish you can imagine was a “bucket list” moment for both of us.

Mary is 18 and is in her senior year.  She had the female lead in the high school play, sings and plays the flute in school choirs and the band, and is one of the captains on the varsity soccer team.   Pray for her (and us) as she moves back to the States for college this next year.  Landon is 14 and is in 8^th grade.  Playing his guitar, writing songs and creating videos are his chief past times.  He’s also in a drama class at school that he enjoys a lot.

Reflecting on the words of Silent Night, we pray for God’s peace to surround you and yours.  May the “son of God, love’s pure light” challenge our hearts to share His “redeeming grace” to those around us in the coming year.

Happy New Year,

Stan, Sherri, Mary and Landon Hall

P.S.  We will be back in the States next summer, and we are currently scheduling services.  Contact us at stanleyrhall@gmail.com if you’d like to schedule an event with us.