Joy to the Word – The Lord Has Come!

What a wondrous time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior! We are so blessed to know Him, to love Him, to worship Him, to serve Him. The blessings He pours on all our lives are so awesome!

This Christmas Season as we look back over the years, we think about the people we have ministered with. The excited faces of believers of almost a hundred nations including India, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Africa, Central and South America and, of course, in our country, the United States.

It is exciting as we have seen so many come to know Jesus, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and healed this year. Believers of different nationalities, different races, of every age, of every skin color, but they all have one thing in common – they love God and they can come into His Wondrous presence through His Son, Jesus. As we have ministered with them, we have felt God’s love flow through us to them and we have felt God’s love flow through them to us.

Years ago, we ministered in Switzerland with a man from Nigeria. His wife and two sons had been martyred in that country, but his face was radiant with his love for Jesus. We have good friends from Cambodia who lived through the horrible times of “the killing fields” – everyone from both of their families were killed, but today their faces radiate their love for God and the Cambodian people who they minister to on a daily basis.

We stood last month on the property where our friend’s family home had burned to the ground in one of the tragic California fires. His father had built that home, and though he and his wife have another home where they live now, this place was precious to him. And yet we all knew God was saying, “This is not an end; it is a beginning.” Wow, God, You are so awesome! You took A.L. and Joyce, two shy people, and set them free of overcoming, crippling shyness. You moved them from the boring, natural realm of their lives into the exciting realm of your Spirit. You were born in a manger; you lived your whole life in one small country. You, the incarnate Son of God, gave your life as a sacrifice for all. You rose from that dark, horrible grave to walk this earth once again, and then you ascended to be with your Father. And then you sent the Holy Spirit to live with us, to flow through us to our families, our neighborhoods, and countries. God, Bless your people with conspicuous blessings that the lost of this world will be drawn to You!

Joyce and I have been met with a new challenge. Thanksgiving evening I had difficulty breathing and felt a constriction in my chest. After tests, I had an angiogram on November 30. They found two places where the blood flow in my heart was severely blocked and stents were put in. I am now on my way to full recovery! Joyce and I thank the many believers who have been praying for us during this time.

We are looking forward to Christmas with a new intensity, so thankful that this problem was caught in time! Thank you for your love and your support! Your missionaries to the nations, A.L. & Joyce Gill