Schaff fam 2011

The Lord was so gracious to allow our family to get together over the holidays. Christmas Eve found Shirley and me flying to Los Angeles to spend a week with Rico, Megan and Olivia. What a neat week we had with them, marveling over our 4 month old granddaughter. Within a day or two we saw her roll over for the very first time. Interaction with her was so much fun. Shirley had her laughing so hard it we were all busting our guts.

Olivia and Grandma

Later in the week Aaron and Megan and Mike and Rachel were able to join us for a New Years celebration. We had several days together, walking the beach, fishing, playing ping pong, visiting Santa Monica, Laguna Beach, San Diego…our first time to see much of that area. What beautiful scenery! No wonder people like southern California so much. And the weather…just gorgeous with highs in the lower 80′s and lows in the 40′s and sunny every day. Thank you Lord!

So now we are back at NTBI and ready for a new semester. 140+ students will soon arrive and be back studying full time. We were privileged to be able to see some alumni last weekend at church who are getting ready to leave for the field in a couple of weeks. What a blessing to catch up just before they leave. In addition, we know of two other couples and some single gals who will also be leaving for Thailand within a few weeks. Sharing this news at the staff meeting on Monday helped us kick off the semester focused again on why we do what we do at New Tribes Bible Institute. Within just a few years, a people group who today have no knowledge of Jesus, may hear about his offer of forgiveness of sins and eternal life as a result of these alumni going to live with them. Just like the people in North Wahgi are hearing now…within just a few weeks they should hear about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Lord willing a new church will be born. Please pray it is so!

Thank you for your time and interest in what God is doing in Jackson as well as around the world. Want to get involved? Check it out. www.ntm.org

Megan, Aaron, Shirley, Mike, Rachel, Megan, Rico and me

How many places can you walk up to and sense the presence and power of God? What an amazing stimulus to our senses! I often think about kind of thing when in the air, flying at 35,000 feet, marveling at the earth, the sky and the heavens. Back on earth one of the most magnificent places I get goose-bumpy about is the GRAND CANYON! OMG…His handiwork!!! We had the privilege of visiting earlier this month with our entire family. What a blessing! We had always wanted to go but never were able…that is until now. We met our kids in Sedona for a week, PTL, and made the trip to the Grand Canyon. Thank You Lord! We all walked up to it and were absolutely speechless, albeit our hearts leaping with incredible awe and wonder at God! My oh my, what an incredible God we have! And what a privilege we have to be able to speak of Him often to those who do not know. May you find many opportunitites in 2011 to share who YOU know and what you know about Him!

PTL!

“The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows His handiwork!”

Chillin with the fam at the Grand!

Aaron (now 30 ???!!! How can that be?) and his beautiful wife Megan are still residing in Branson MO. Looks like more school in the future for both. Hair Salon for Megan and more business for Aaron. Looking at Drury for an MBA. Big step and we know they would appreciate your prayers for them as they commit to this for a couple of years.

Megan (28) is still in Santa Monica CA doing marketing for an online company.  She has a dog named Bo…a wimereigner or something like that. He requires lots of hikes and time outside and Megan loves that too…also playing lots of beach volleyball. She hopes to move closer to the east side of the country in the near future…your prayers for her are greatly appreciated too.

Mike (25) and Rachel (another beauty) are in Tucson AZ. Rachel is just about a full fledged nurse and Mike is in his second year at the U of AZ studying systems engineering. If you know of someone in the area who needs technical service, have them check out Mike at tucsontechnical.com :>). Might as well get a commercial in there for my own kid eh? Hey just for kicks, why not visit and give yourself a laugh? You know Mike~

Thanks again for being interested in our guys and for saying a prayer for them now and again. Having them gives us an idea of how we can pray for you too. :>) .

Thank you for your prayers for us as we traveled this tough path together. We cherish the Body of Christ and thank God for the way she reached out to our family throughout the past month. May you know how much we appreciate you.

Philippians 1.3

She had just finished 3 months of chemo for Multiple Myaloma, through which she had done well. She apparently came down with an infection though that really threw her for a loop. My Dad is reeling too, as you might imagine. They have been married 58 years.

We are not sure what will happen now. Today, Wednesday the 29th, she has slept most of the day. It is a day to day dependence on the Lord. We praise Him for how He has brought our family together at this time. We have talked much about salvation and God’s sustaining grace. What an answer to prayer. We know His timing is perfect and He only does what is good! Hallelujah!!!

Thank you for taking us before the throne of Grace!

Much love in Christ,

Rex and Shirley

Your prayers for us will be so appreciated as we travel in unknown territory :>). Not exactly like PNG is it?

Here are a few other things we are praying about:

• Shirley speaking at a Women’s retreat in April.
• My 1,2,3 John class coming up in April.
• Senior retreat coming up late April.
• My Mom, Dot, is undergoing chemo treatment for Myaloma. Please pray for her spiritual well-being.
• My Dad, Don, as Mom goes through the chemo…They have been married 58 years. WOW!

Thank you so much for praying for these things with us. We thank God for each of you. Let us know how we can pray for you please!