Every parent desires their child to grow in their character, their passions and their abilities. We are no different and are excited to share with you a little about what our kids have been up to.
Christina recently presented her first full message to the Highlife youth group at Lifezone Church. We'd encourage you to listen to her message. Won't you may not be able to hear is the presence she had on the platform. We are a bit bias but think she did an amazing job!
Andrew has finished his school year receiving a couple of top honors! He was given the top boy award for his class and invited to be in the accelerated science program beginning next year!
Peppa, too, continues to grow and to serve. She has been volunteering at Totara Springs Camp for the last year and was offered an employed position at the camp recently. Please pray for the process of obtaining a work visa for her so she can stay longer than April!
We've added a new student to our home, Ton Nam is a high school student from Thailand that is studying at Bethlehem College where Andrew goes. He will be boarding with us for the next couple of years and we pray that he sees the light of Christ in our family.
In addition, one of Christina's friends from the States will be coming to stay with us for six months beginning at the end of January, so we'll have a regular hostel running with always room for one more!
God is Faithful! We continue to be grateful for God's faithful provision in our lives! After our last Stark Fax, several people stepped forward with one-time gifts and a new commitment to monthly support. We've had a couple of families here give gracious gifts to help fill the need and the exchange rate has gone back down some in our favor.
Christina also felt led to contact some of the young adults who have stayed with us over our time here. As a result, we have seen one give a gift and another moved to provide two new MacBook computers for us, one for ministry and one for school.
What is even more amazing is as we were expressing our gratitude for this amazing gift, the donor thanked us for the opportunity to be obedient to God's leading and provide these computers for us!
We do continue to have a need for an increase in regular giving and as we close out 2011, would you prayerfully consider a one-time gift or ongoing monthly support so we can continue to see lives impacted?
Upcoming Opportunities! We are grateful for the doors God is opening for ministry. 2012 will kick off with Brian leading a team of 10 to Cambodia for two weeks of ministry in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
In February, Brian will travel to the USA for DELTA's Annual Meetings and then go straight to Sydney to speak at Short-Term Missions debrief day.
In March, we have several trainings and preaching opportunities already on the calendar.
Please pray for the both wisdom for Brian as he prepares to speak and lead in these various settings and for the family to stay strong.
Culture Cues
As we write this, Melanie and Brian, along with Brian's parents are helping in the kitchen at the Lifezone Church youth camp. Being at camp has provided some great culture moments, particularly when it comes to the menu!
Discussion came up tonight about doing a hot breakfast for the students tomorrow rather than the normal cold cereal and toast. Our Kiwi friend Chris said we could do canned spaghetti on toast.
The four Americans at the table simultaneously scrunched our noses at the thought. (yes, not our best cultural learner-servant response) Another Kiwi favourite is baked beans on toast for breakfast! We were thinking pancakes or french toast...although here, pancakes are often served with ice cream as a dessert!
Prayer Requests
Pray for ongoing support need
Praise for God's continued and faithful provision!
Pray for wisdom for teaching and leading in the coming months
Praise for how are kids are growing and serving
Pray for the family with our busy ministry schedule
Praise for the many ministry opportunities
Pray for Peppa's visa situation
Praise for the provision of computers
Pray for the students staying in our home
Financial Partnership
If you'd like to partner financially either on a monthly basis or with a one-time gift, you can do that by clicking here.
Stark Family Blog Site
Stop by and check out what the family is writing, reading and listening to at our family blog site. StarkTreks.com
Upcoming Schedule
Dec 19-Jan 3 - Vacation
Dec 25 - Merry Christmas!
Jan 1 - Preacing at Lifezone, Tauranga
Jan 15-31 - Leading team to Cambodia
Feb 8-15 - DELTA meetings in USA
Feb 17-20 - Speaking in Australia
Contact Details
37 Glenmonarch Place
Pyes Pa, Tauranga 3112
New Zealand
011-64-7-543-4718
Brian - 011-64-211-347-394 brians@deltaministries.com
Melanie - 011-64-212-688-091 stark.mel@gmail.com
From the Woods in Summer,
Another school year is over. With Brad teaching and four girls studying, this means that now is a time of change. Last summer Brad had his hip replaced, and the school provided the health insurance and plane tickets that made that possible. This summer, it is Gali’s turn. She has been having trouble with varicose veins and pain her knees. Several doctors have told her that she needs to have it dealt with, so this summer we will be traveling to Bloomington, Indiana to have that done. Bloomington seems to be a good place for us this summer. Being a university town, there are places available to rent in the summer while most of the students are gone. Since we spent two years studying there, we have many friends and contacts that we are looking forward to seeing again, and who can help expedite all the things we need to get done in a short time. We will be returning to Azerbaijan on August 13th.
While Brad and the girls lives revolved around the school, Gali has spent much of this last year traveling around villages in the mountains of Azerbaijan. She is coordinating several translation projects, some of which are nearing completion. She’s been learning the language of one of the ethnic groups that lives in the mountains that is closely related to Farsi, the language of Iran. In March, we heard that her father had a recurrence of cancer so she traveled back to the Czech Republic thinking that she would be saying good-bye to him for the last time. While she was there, she visited Charles University in Prague and was invited to apply to their PhD program in Near Eastern history and culture. Besides helping her learn more about the history, culture and linguistics of the many ethnic groups in this part of the world, she hopes that it may open doors into some places that may not otherwise be open to people like us. She returned to the Czech Republic for entrance exams and interviews a little over a week ago. If she is accepted into the program, she will have to return to the Czech Republic for a short time in the fall, but will be able to do most of her research and studies here in Azerbaijan. Next year she hopes to extend out into some of the territories bordering Azerbaijan. While in the Czech Republic she was happy to see that not only was her father still alive, he seems to be feeling better. Please continue to pray that he will open his heart and mind to the Lord.
Our oldest daughter Joy won’t be with us much this summer. First, she will spend two weeks at a beach in North Carolina with an old friend from Bloomington, then she will spend a week in Washington, D.C. with a friend from Azerbaijan, and then she will spend four weeks at Stanford University in California taking a course in International Relations for high school students. We won’t get to see her until our last week before we return. Next year will probably be her last year with us as she will be a senior this next year. She has had an especially busy year. She was vice president of the student council, the editor of the school year book, she was on the cross-country, soccer, and basketball teams, and she spent a considerable amount of time with a special young man friend. Pray that the Lord will give her wisdom and protect her in her very busy life.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. We appreciate each of you, and will hopefully be able to communicate with you more this summer.
Gratefully yours, Brad, Gali, Joy (17), Hope (14), Grace (12) and Faith (9) Wood
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Christina recently presented her first full message to the Highlife youth group at Lifezone Church. We'd encourage you to 
We are grateful for the doors God is opening for ministry. 2012 will kick off with Brian leading a team of 10 to Cambodia for two weeks of ministry in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
