Christmas Greetings from Dan and Susan!
We thank the Lord Jesus Christ for another year of his blessings on our life and family. God truly does all things well, and he has promised that ALL that happens in the lives of those who love him will “work together for good.” (Romans 8:28) We hope that this family letter will give glory to God and encourage you to praise Him along with us.
2018 found us enjoying our role as grandparents. Since Brad and Krista Gibson are now less than an hour away, we are able to spend time regularly with Grey and his sister, Harper. We also enjoy traveling to Atlanta and spending time with Daniel and Victoria Steere and their boys, Titus and Ransom. We are both still working, by God’s grace, and we continue to make monthly trips to Illinois to visit with Dan’s mom, but being grandparents (“Gram and Doc”) is our delight. What a blessing and privilege it is to be involved in the lives of our grandchildren!
January mainly involved getting Dan ready for his first overseas trip of the year. After recovering from the holidays and a quick trip to Illinois, Dan left on the 26th for 3 ½ weeks of ministry in Ghana. January also marked Brad and Krista’s third anniversary and Titus’ fifth birthday.
We attended a mission’s conference after Dan returned in mid-February and, while there, were able to visit with our good friend George Byabagambi, whom we met on our first trip to Uganda in 2006. During these early months of the year, Susan was often at Cloudland Canyon helping Krista, who was in her last months of pregnancy with Harper Louise Gibson, born March 23. Also that month, Dan began another Church History class at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta. That class and his preaching opportunities at Covenant Presbyterian kept him busy through mid-May. That meant that much of the home responsibilities and grand parenting fell to Susan. May also brought Ransom’s first birthday and the 8th anniversary for Daniel and Victoria.
We were especially blessed in late May to travel west again for several weeks. Our dear friends, Ray and Peggy Warwick, drove over from San Diego to spend a day with us in Cornville, AZ. After that first week in AZ, we spent time visiting some of the most beautiful national parks in the country: North Rim, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Arches. There was so much to see and so little time. And we took SO MANY pictures! God’s artistry in stone is amazing! We visited Mom on the way home, and were back in Chattanooga by early June.
Dan made his second trip to Ghana in late June, teaching in several new venues. And in July Susan began her training with the National Institute for Learning Development (NILD) to work as an educational therapist. This training included a month-long online class in July and then a week of intensive training in Norfolk, VA in August. Susan started teaching at Grace Baptist Academy as soon as she finished. Two other August milestones: Anna turned 33 to the theme of “33 and Debt Free!” She had been working on it for some time and was able to be completely debt free by her birthday! And on the 26th, Dan was privileged to co-officiate at Grey and Harper’s baptism at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church. What a beautiful testimony of God’s faithfulness to His promises to our children and grandchildren!
The third Africa trip was in early September – again, a very profitable time of ministry. When Dan returned, we met Susan’s sister, Kathy, and husband Wayne Godby in Cincinnati for a good visit. In October, we attended an ELI staff meeting in St Augustine, FL, traveling with our friends Joel and Sara McCall. The ministry is growing at an incredible rate! On the way home, we stopped in Atlanta to attend an alumni reunion for Cedarville University, the school we both graduated from back in the 70’s.
We spent Thanksgiving with Krista and Brad and Anna (Brad cooked!). Scott and Kinsey stopped by that weekend and we had a good visit. In December, we marked our 44th anniversary and celebrated an early Christmas with Daniel and Victoria and boys. Along with Anna, we sang in the annual CPC Sanctuary Choir Christmas Concert. We first met in a similar choir 47 years ago and music has remained an important part of our life together. Just before Christmas, Scott and Kinsey will celebrate their 10th anniversary, while we plan to finish this year thankfully with family and friends.
Dan and Susan Steere - ELI West Africa