Greetings and Happy New Year!
The past few months have been full and fulfilling! John and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support, financially and through encouragement.
December brought many opportunities to show love in a meaningful way to so many. Because of your generosity we were able to meet a number of local needs. We donated 25 small Christmas gifts for our community through a toy drive in our apartment building and model generosity. Through ministries at our church we were able to donate funds to purchase Christmas gifts for inmates’ children and contributed funds for a “refugee” dinner for those in our area alone and without family. We also purchased a small under-counter refrigerator for our church so they can continue to serve the community in various ways. All of this was due to your generosity towards us and our mission in Wales.
Speaking of being alone and without our family, that is exactly where we found ourselves during the holiday season. We knew coming here leaving our children, family and friends was going to be difficult and it was especially difficult during the holidays, however we made the most of it. In early December John and I met up with some of my Welsh family for a traditional pub Christmas dinner. I saw cousins I hadn’t seen since I was15 and met numerous of my cousin’s children. For Christmas we hosted a young man (someone John is discipling and a fellow American) who was going to be by himself. He spent Christmas eve and Christmas day with us. Realizing we were probably not the only ones in our building without family, we put an invitation on our building’s WhatsApp and continued our Christmas tradition of Christmas morning brunch. We had 16 in attendance, most of whom we had never met before! One of our guests, the husband of a young woman who is part of the Monday night knitting group, told me this was the most generous thing he had ever seen. What a joy and what an impact a small gesture can make! Speaking of the Monday night knitting group, we have a new member, she is from the Maldives, I had no idea where that was, so I had to Google it. Finally to close out 2023 and ring in 2024, I spent New Years weekend in Portsmouth England with my oldest sister Deb who has been living in Britain since the 70s.
John has had an extremely busy month, and here is an update from him.
Cheers and hard to believe it’s February already! As Niki said, it has been busy since we last wrote at the beginning of November. I’m not sure which of you was praying for ministry opportunities for me after my last update, but just so you know, God answered your prayers! As Niki mentioned I started meeting with a fellow American who’s mom is British and that brought him here in the early 2000’s and he has stayed. He grew up in church but found himself lost and without direction and one of the vicars at church introduced him to me. As many of you know, when you first start meeting with someone you begin with helping them get some order around their chaos, this was no different. It was incredible to discuss issues with him and show him how the truth of scripture is the answer and that “old book” is just as relevant in our life today as it was 2000 years ago. I was also introduced to three other men that I am now meeting with as well as co-leading a Tuesday night college men’s group that meets at a local pub. We drink a pint, read the book of Luke out loud and discuss it, it’s brilliant! Just after Christmas I travelled back to the states to line up new renters for Debbie Lane and visit the girls who live locally. I was very fortunate to get new tenants lined up quickly and get the house ready for their move in.
Life in Wales continues to be new and interesting at each turn. This weekend Cardiff hosts their first match of the Six Nations rugby tournament and we will have 72,000 people hanging out in our neighborhood, literally. We live 200 yards (180 meters) from Principality stadium and right next to the high street in Cardiff where most of the visitors will hang out when they come to town. This will be the biggest event at the stadium since we arrived in Wales. Future events at the stadium include Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, more Six Nations matches and other big names from around the world. Back to Niki now!
Lastly, come see us! We had the pleasure of hosting my good friend and her husband at the beginning of December, it was wonderful to see them and we had a great visit. The guest room is ready for you to book in!
To support this ministry, your tax deductible donations can be made at Forwales.org and when you make a contribution please notify johnrogrs7@gmail.com so that we can make sure your donation ends up in the right place. At the same link you can see a few pictures on some of the things we mentioned in this newsletter.
Cheers!
John and Niki Rogers
