Byrne Family News – December 2007
(PDF Version)
As 2007 draws to a close, we look back on a year filled with many milestones and changes that have brought both great sorrow and great joy to our family. Last April 1st, Joyce’s father passed away after a lengthy battle with heart and lung disease. We still miss him very much, and find that there are so many little things that remind us of him – sometimes bringing tears, but often bringing laughter and smiles. It was deeply moving to hear people share at Dad’s memorial service and realize how many lives he had touched during his years on earth. It was also a very special experience to witness Mom’s loving and sacrificial care of him during his last months, when Dad needed round the clock care. Mom was committed to doing anything possible to enable him to stay at home, and her incredible example of love, service and faithfulness is a memory that our family will cherish.
Although our year began with sadness, the past several months have been full of joy as we prepare to welcome a new member into our family. More about that later – keep reading!
Our youngest daughter, Sara, is a sophomore at Southern Nazarene
University (near Oklahoma City). She continues to play on the tennis
team and we have enjoyed getting to see a few of her matches. Last March
we met David’s parents in Florida and all of us enjoyed several days of being
together and watching tennis during the team’s spring break trip. Then in
May we traveled to Mobile to watch them play at the national championships!
Sara is majoring in elementary education, but has also found that she really
enjoys working one-on-one with children who are experiencing various kinds
of problems. She is looking into adding some extra psychology classes
to her course load and may eventually end up doing some graduate work in that
area. For the past year Sara has given leadership to an outreach program
for children at Oklahoma City Friends Church. It has been a great learning
experience for her, and she has been encouraged to see the group growing
in numbers. Soon she and her friend Daniel will direct a children’s
Christmas program for the first time. It sounds like they may have
some interesting stories to tell by the time they finish! Her interest
in various kinds of ministry continues to grow, and she is looking into the
possibility of doing some kind of work among the homeless. But she
also finds time for fun and crazy college pastimes like paintball, ultimate
frisbee, broomball, and random games that involve things like pushing people
across a basketball court in wheeled office chairs. Never a dull moment!
It is hard to believe that our daughter Andrea’s two-year commitment with Evangelical Friends Mission in Aguascalientes is nearly over. Although she will hit the two-year mark in March, she is likely to extend her stay until sometime in summer 2008. Several of the young adults who have come to Christ through her ministry are beginning to get very involved in outreach, and she would like to help them get a little more established before leaving Mexico. The other day I asked her if she felt like a “grandmother” since one of the girls that she has discipled for the past year is now ready to start discipling others. It is exciting for her to have a group of dynamic new believers who are eager to partner with her in ministry. Andrea continues to play trumpet from time to time with the Aguascalientes orchestra, and has also picked up a new instrument, guitar, which has come in handy for leading worship with her Bible study group. For a number of years one of Andrea’s dreams has been to attend seminary, and she hopes to take some time in January to visit several of the schools that she is considering. I’m sure that she would appreciate your prayers for her as she makes decisions about her work in Aguascalientes and the possibility of future study and ministry. Check out her free Christmas Music download "Andrea's Christmas Brass."
Laura graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in May and moved up
to Wichita, Kansas a few weeks later to begin her residency program in family
medicine. Shortly before graduation, Laura attended a missions conference
in Thailand sponsored by “Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor”, the mission agency
that she hopes to work under as a medical missionary. One of the first
things she said upon her return from Thailand was, “I met the most amazing
guy there……” To make a long story short, the amazing guy is Jason,
and it turns out he also thought that Laura was pretty amazing. They
plan to be married on Sunday, January 13th during the morning worship service
at Friendswood Friends Church. We are so happy and excited to welcome
Jason to our family, and thankful that God has blessed Laura with a partner
who shares the same vision and passion for ministry. Jason is heading
up a new “Servants” mission team that will begin ministry soon among the urban
poor of Jakarta, Indonesia. They are praying for God’s direction in
putting together the right team of people to pioneer this new work, and hope
to move to Jakarta by late 2008. Meanwhile, they will live in Wichita
while Laura continues her residency. If you’d like to see some
of her recent prayer updates with more information about how God brought
Laura and Jason together and their plans for ministry, we’d be glad to forward
those to you – just drop us a note.
Our Christmas will be joyous this year as we prepare for a wedding and celebrate the wonder of God’s love for the world that led to the first Christmas. May your lives be full of that wonder!
In Christ,
The Byrne family
- David & Joyce, Laura & Jason, Andrea and Sara
PS. There are a couple of bonus pictures below.
The Byrne family (David, Sara, Joyce, Laura) the day of Laura's graduation from medical school. (The ceremony was cancelled due to a bomb threat!)
As 2007 draws to a close, we look back on a year filled with many milestones and changes that have brought both great sorrow and great joy to our family. Last April 1st, Joyce’s father passed away after a lengthy battle with heart and lung disease. We still miss him very much, and find that there are so many little things that remind us of him – sometimes bringing tears, but often bringing laughter and smiles. It was deeply moving to hear people share at Dad’s memorial service and realize how many lives he had touched during his years on earth. It was also a very special experience to witness Mom’s loving and sacrificial care of him during his last months, when Dad needed round the clock care. Mom was committed to doing anything possible to enable him to stay at home, and her incredible example of love, service and faithfulness is a memory that our family will cherish.
Although our year began with sadness, the past several months have been full of joy as we prepare to welcome a new member into our family. More about that later – keep reading!
Our youngest daughter, Sara, is a sophomore at Southern Nazarene
University (near Oklahoma City). She continues to play on the tennis
team and we have enjoyed getting to see a few of her matches. Last March
we met David’s parents in Florida and all of us enjoyed several days of being
together and watching tennis during the team’s spring break trip. Then in
May we traveled to Mobile to watch them play at the national championships!
Sara is majoring in elementary education, but has also found that she really
enjoys working one-on-one with children who are experiencing various kinds
of problems. She is looking into adding some extra psychology classes
to her course load and may eventually end up doing some graduate work in that
area. For the past year Sara has given leadership to an outreach program
for children at Oklahoma City Friends Church. It has been a great learning
experience for her, and she has been encouraged to see the group growing
in numbers. Soon she and her friend Daniel will direct a children’s
Christmas program for the first time. It sounds like they may have
some interesting stories to tell by the time they finish! Her interest
in various kinds of ministry continues to grow, and she is looking into the
possibility of doing some kind of work among the homeless. But she
also finds time for fun and crazy college pastimes like paintball, ultimate
frisbee, broomball, and random games that involve things like pushing people
across a basketball court in wheeled office chairs. Never a dull moment!
It is hard to believe that our daughter Andrea’s two-year commitment with Evangelical Friends Mission in Aguascalientes is nearly over. Although she will hit the two-year mark in March, she is likely to extend her stay until sometime in summer 2008. Several of the young adults who have come to Christ through her ministry are beginning to get very involved in outreach, and she would like to help them get a little more established before leaving Mexico. The other day I asked her if she felt like a “grandmother” since one of the girls that she has discipled for the past year is now ready to start discipling others. It is exciting for her to have a group of dynamic new believers who are eager to partner with her in ministry. Andrea continues to play trumpet from time to time with the Aguascalientes orchestra, and has also picked up a new instrument, guitar, which has come in handy for leading worship with her Bible study group. For a number of years one of Andrea’s dreams has been to attend seminary, and she hopes to take some time in January to visit several of the schools that she is considering. I’m sure that she would appreciate your prayers for her as she makes decisions about her work in Aguascalientes and the possibility of future study and ministry. Check out her free Christmas Music download "Andrea's Christmas Brass."
Laura graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in May and moved up
to Wichita, Kansas a few weeks later to begin her residency program in family
medicine. Shortly before graduation, Laura attended a missions conference
in Thailand sponsored by “Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor”, the mission agency
that she hopes to work under as a medical missionary. One of the first
things she said upon her return from Thailand was, “I met the most amazing
guy there……” To make a long story short, the amazing guy is Jason,
and it turns out he also thought that Laura was pretty amazing. They
plan to be married on Sunday, January 13th during the morning worship service
at Friendswood Friends Church. We are so happy and excited to welcome
Jason to our family, and thankful that God has blessed Laura with a partner
who shares the same vision and passion for ministry. Jason is heading
up a new “Servants” mission team that will begin ministry soon among the urban
poor of Jakarta, Indonesia. They are praying for God’s direction in
putting together the right team of people to pioneer this new work, and hope
to move to Jakarta by late 2008. Meanwhile, they will live in Wichita
while Laura continues her residency. If you’d like to see some
of her recent prayer updates with more information about how God brought
Laura and Jason together and their plans for ministry, we’d be glad to forward
those to you – just drop us a note. Our Christmas will be joyous this year as we prepare for a wedding and celebrate the wonder of God’s love for the world that led to the first Christmas. May your lives be full of that wonder!
In Christ,
The Byrne family
- David & Joyce, Laura & Jason, Andrea and Sara
PS. There are a couple of bonus pictures below.
