THE SPARKS FLY!

Christmas 2010

"Happy happy!" is the standard Christmas greeting in Cameroon, which is what we're hoping for you today. Not "Hurry, hurry!" or "Stress, stress!", even though those seem to be the more common state-of-being this time of year. This year our home church in San Diego is participating with many other churches in "The Advent Conspiracy", the themes of which are: Worship Fully - Spend Less - Give More - Love All (check it out on-line). To paraphrase, don't let your Christmas get out of hand and miss the point!

Steve has traveled and spoken at UCSD, Mayo Clinic, VCU, UCLA (campus and Harbor), USC, numerous churches, a men's conference and a men's breakfast. There have been several churches that we still have not connected with but we are still trying. We are praying that the last of our financial support comes in so we can leave on the 14th of January. Dasen Ritchey and family (Steve's coverage at Mbingo Baptist Hospital) will be leaving on 27 December. This means that the hospital will be without an attending surgeon for several weeks; this always puts people at risk there in Cameroon. We have ministered to numerous people and they have ministered to us. God has been in the midst of the sermons and conversation at his work. We're excited to see what God is going to produce from these meetings. We're also grateful that Steve was able to work part-time at the VA Hospital in La Jolla; it's been great for him to re-connect with his former UCSD colleagues and he's enjoyed teaching the UCSD surgery residents.

That said, I have to tell you that I am completely enjoying all of the trappings of Christmas season in the U.S. To be perfectly honest, I've always loved the Hallmark decorations and the Christmas music in the drug store and the red-and-green M&M's and the plethora of other forms of Christmas-y "commercialism". I understand that many people are distracted by it and they do miss the point, but for me it seems to be the one time of year where Jesus is actually a part of the public consciousness! Come on, how cool is that? So this year, try to leave your disillusionment behind, enjoy the Reason for the Season, and use it as an excuse to start up a conversation with the person in line behind you at the mall. After all, you're probably going to be there for awhile, you might as well make good use of the time!

Our six-month furlough is coming to an end. It's been so awesome! Personally, I can honestly say that I've loved every minute of it. Perhaps Steve and the kids wouldn't be quite as enthusiastic, after having to spend so much of it at work and school, but I know that we've all had a good time re-connecting with our friends, family, and even aspects of American culture. The kids in particular have done a surprisingly good job of coping at public school, which is a direct answer to prayer - it also goes to show that God is gracious even when His children allow themselves to get anxious over circumstances (exactly what He told us not to do - sigh). Maddie has been thriving at Baylor Univ. in Texas, Annie and Cory have enjoyed being thought of as the brianiacs of their high school classes, and Joey has learned some valuable coping skills from his first experience in a regular classroom.

But now we're ready to go "home" to Cameroon (mostly, anyway). We certainly don't relish the idea of living all the way across the pond from Maddie, but on the other hand we've already seen how God has been establishing a great support network for her there in Waco and beyond. Our wonderful PAACS friends, Louis and Jane Pisters, live in Houston, which is only a few hours' drive away - Maddie has already had the chance to spend a few weekends at their house, and we're so grateful. Annie and Cory look forward to attending Rainforest International School in Yaoundé and re-connecting with their missionary friends, and Steve (quite literally) can't wait to get back to his ministry at Mbingo Baptist Hospital. He misses the residents, staff, and patients. And if you ask Joey what he misses most about Cameroon, he'll tell you - "Archer!" (actually, I really miss our dog, too.)

So we'll close by saying thanks again for all of your love, support, and prayers, whether we're in Africa or America. Without you we'd have a hard time in bringing God's love to our brothers and sisters in Cameroon, and so we're grateful. We pray that Jesus is always close to your hearts, and that you think of him when his name is on your lips.

Merry CHRIST-mas!

Steve, Suzanne, Maddie, Annie, Cory, and Joey Sparks

p.s. We’d love to hear from you – our direct email address is missionsparks@aol.com.