Dear Friends and family,

As I sit here in Columbia, Missouri at the foot of my mothers bed, waiting, I wanted to share with each of you my thoughts today and for the year that has passed. There are so many memories of triumphant joys, soul-aching sorrows and the beauty of small moments when we see so clearly the love of God reflected in one of His creations.

A friend of mine, David Edge, founder of an organization that ministers to the families of children with brain tumors, recently wrote the following in one of his emails:

As we near Christmas in the true spirit of the season,

let's stop and count the blessings we have each been granted.

Sometimes those blessings are not what we expect them to be.

We were never promised that life would be fair.

We were never promised an easy voyage.

While we participate in this game of life, it is wise to remember

Whatever the position we play,

even if we may be a quarterback

not all the plays are ours to call.

They are His,

and we can only try to understand and accept.

When we give our best to do good and to do no harm,

then we can rest easy and greet that face

we meet in the morning each day with a calm heart.

I appreciate, so much, his words and the wisdom of them. It reminds me that very few of us tell our friends and family that we love them as often as we have the chance. And, very few of us greet each day with pure joy, expecting only the best of adventures because God has scripted our path for the day.

As I have worked in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, I have heard so many times from American teams how impressed they are that people with so little in their lives can be so happy (speaking of the Haitians and Dominicans). Why is it that each of us can acknowledge that "things" don't make us happy and yet be surprised when those who have nothing are still happy?

Looking back on 2003, I remember the people in my life that showed amazing joy in moments of agony and disappointment...

Guion, a 62 year-old man with terminal cancer and chronic anemia due to malnutrition who cried tears of joy when he received the first Bible of his life, given to him by donated funds through our social service program...

Milagros, a 5 year-old girl who had been raped by a cousin, two months earlier, playing on a jungle gym for the first time and eating her very own ice cream (she didn't have to share with her entire family!)...

Tens of children and their families as they walked out of our hospital after receiving new ears, smiles and faces following a week of plastic surgery by an American surgical team from Texas (the LEAP foundation)...

Hundreds of children and adults from sugar cane cutter's villages as they watched in awe as I brushed my dog's teeth and taught them about dental hygiene and the importance of our teeth...

Thousands of children and adults who watched and participated with unadulterated joy at the puppet shows we gave following all of our medical clinics this year. Their laughter and smiles removed the pain of watching people die and the overwhelming feeling we often have after a day of 200-300 consultations. Through their joy, we were healed of our burdens and remembered that yes, "Jesus loves me" and we need to shine our light in our world.

So many have traveled with me through the trials and triumphs of my mother's cancer over the last three years. The battle is finally over and we wait patiently, with both agony at the loss and joy for her gain, as my mother is in her final hours. Watching someone enter into those last hours I am reminded that I have not told each of my friends and family enough, how much I love them and cherish them as part of my life. So, to all of you, whom I know by name and face and those whom have lifted me and my ministry in prayer, yet I have not had the honor of meeting, thank you and I love you so much more than I can say. I find it an amazing privilege that God has blessed me with so many true friends and extended family members. Just knowing that so many Christians, all over the world, are lifting my family in prayer is enough for me to rise in the morning and shout within my soul, "It is well in my soul!"

Deuteronomy 1:31 says, "There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."

Love in Christ,

Kristy Engel, RN
Missionary to the Dominican Republic