Merry Christmas from our house to yours. It has been an exciting time but God has been good and we are grateful for the path He has taken us on this past year.

Just before Christmas a year ago, we discovered there were about 100 Karen living about 20 minutes away from us in Akron, Ohio. They were fresh from the refugee camps along the border with Thailand, here for permanent resettlement in the US. Now, there are close to 300, half of whom attended a Karen language Christmas service, gift exchange and dinner at the Springfield Baptist Church here in Akron yesterday. Many of you receiving this newsletter have had similar experiences in your church as the influx of Karen and Chin from Burma is happening nationwide.

A year ago at this time we were just becoming convinced that God was calling us to change our thinking about what our "mission" would be in the coming few years. We soon were convinced that to call ourselves missionaries to the Karen we must be a part of receiving them and other peoples from Burma as they came to the US. As we were coming to this conclusion, churches around the country were phoning the American Baptist Headquarters seeking information about who the Karen were and what is happening in Burma. So, through the first months of this year it was determined that we would remain missionaries to the Karen in Thailand but be on special assignment to the US for the coming term to assist US churches to respond to the Karen and Chin coming from Burma. In addition, a task force combining the three branches of the American Baptist Churches would be formed to work on a denominational response to this influx of people that are such an important part of our Baptist history.

A year ago, we were strictly missionaries with the American Baptist Churches. But relationships begun in Thailand with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), combined with CBF's interest in the refugee situation of the Karen and their resettlement in the US led to a joint ABC and Cooperative Baptist appointment of us. It was exciting for us to have this joint appointment celebrated at a combined CBF and ABC service at the ABC Biennial/CBF General Assembly in July. Doubling the excitement was that we were being jointly appointed with Nancy and Steve James. Twenty five years ago, we were appointed and commissioned as ABC missionaries with the Nancy and Steve.

Now, 25 years later, we're being jointly appointed with them and working with the Karen people, who the James grew up with as missionary kids in Burma.

As the year progressed, the nature of our church visits and speaking changed from the usual deputation to visiting those churches and areas that are most directly affected by Karen and Chin being placed in their communities. A quick count shows we went on about 45 trips throughout the year and visited about 75 locations. The longest trip was back to Thailand for a month but some trips were just for the day. With all the travel, a full week spent at home has been a precious commodity. But nothing brings us more pleasure than to find groups of Karen and Chin getting connected with our churches and people and getting adjusted to a new life in America.

A highlight of this past year was to visit Ler Ber Her village situated on the Thai-Burma border. This village had been raided and destroyed several times by the Burma army over the course of just a couple years. After they had been attacked and their homes destroyed for the third time, the people were getting desperate and losing hope. But, they found a new location to rebuild yet again. This time though, before they rebuilt their homes, they dedicated themselves and their village to the Lord. They had given up control of their lives and had turned it all over to the Lord. To remind themselves of this, they cut a tree down, stripped the limbs off, painted it blue, and erected it as a monument in the center of the village. There, it serves as a reminder that their lives, their homes and their village is not theirs, but God's. Remarkably, after having had their village destroyed multiple times, once they dedicated themselves to God, the village has remained unattacked for six years. Even if destroyed again tomorrow, it is already a miracle. Making it more remarkable is that Ler Ber Her is located only a few miles from the nearest Burma army base.

The bare post in Ler Ber Her might not fit our image of a Christmas tree, but may it be a reminder to us all, that we are not our own. We belong to the Lord and when we dedicate ourselves to him, even the impossible becomes possible. As we celebrate Christmas and anticipate the new year, may we dedicate ourselves to Him and achieve the impossible.

Blessings in Christ,

Duane & Marcia Binkley