December Prayer Update

“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”
Isaiah 60:1-3

The first Sunday in Advent we read these verses and talked with our children about Jesus, the Light of the World. We turned out all the lights in the house, and lit one candle, and saw how powerful that light is to put the darkness away. God has shown His light and glory into the deep darkness of the world. Let us not be ashamed of our glorious Savior as we celebrate His birth this month! Our Light has come!

Merry Christmas to you all! It has been a crazy year for us to say the least. At the start of the year we were in Hungary preparing to move back to minister in Ukraine. The plan was to wrap up the school year at the Bible College and be in Ukraine by mid-summer. But in March Elysia began having pain in her kidney area. We had numerous tests done in Hungary but eventually realized we would have to return to the States to see if we could find the cause.

We arrived in Boise in June and began the long slow saga of trying to find the source of the pain. After almost four months of testing, waiting, and a couple of procedures, the doctors have concluded that her kidneys function well, and there is no apparent problem with them. We praise God for that!! The source of her pain remains a mystery however. They feel that part of the pain might be related to scar tissue and inflammation from previous kidney operations and have started her on some meds to see if that can help. They also want to explore some other areas/causes, so we will be meeting with a few other specialists after the first of the year. We are reminded that these are mere tents, and we do “groan!!” But God is victorious, and inwardly we are being renewed daily.

We continue to pray for healing and direction, as all this puts our future direction into question. Our desire is to return to Ukraine, but we need to get some healing or resolution and know all is well before we can head back. The uncertainty can be pretty intense and we often alternate between faith, confusion, rest, and anxiety. The trials have caused us to grow in faith; not always comfortable, but needed, and good and ultimately for His glory. God has really challenged us to hold to Him and trust Him for all, and find our sufficiency and satisfaction in Him alone. He has called us and will use us for His Glory where He wills. …He is LORD, and our times are in His hands. Ps. 31:15

We are so thankful to all of you who pray for us and support us! We are humbled by all God has given to us through you, and how you have loved and supported us. May He receive the glory and honor. We ask you to please pray for us as we will have to make some big decisions based on what we see in the next few months. Pray that we are full of faith, and hear the Lord, and see His hand. Most of all that HE be glorified in and through us!

In the meantime we are trying to be productive for the Kingdom. Ethan has been teaching at the Calvary Chapel School of Ministry here in Boise, teaching a college-age small group, and volunteering his time writing for different ministries of the church. We are blessed to mentor some of the SOM students as well, and have had several opportunities to share about missions and God’s work in Eastern Europe at churches and with different small groups. We have even been able to meet and share with some Ukrainians living here in Boise!

Our kids are doing great. Gretchen and Peter are in a Christian school at our church. They are learning so much in school and with friends, and they are really growing in faith!! Lizzy and Amy are a hoot together and keep Elysia busy at home. We are over most of the reverse culture shock but still miss our lives and ministry in Europe. We are taking advantage of being stateside for Christmas and will be together with family in Utah and Minnesota. The kids are enjoying discovering Christmas in America! A real cultural eye-opener!!

If you would like to keep up on our lives and ministry we maintain a blog with pictures news and updates, and send regular email updates. If you have not received those, that means we do not have your current email. Take a second and drop us a line with your contact info to our address on the prayer card. We would love to keep in touch.

Merry Christmas to you all! God’s Grace, Mercy, and Peace be with you all through the coming year!

The Larsons
Ethan, Elysia, Gretchen, Peter John, Elizabeth, Amy