Family News 2018

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T h e Combs Corner This year has come and gone like a flash of lightning. Just a year ago we were still in our townhouse in Glendale, Arizona, with boxes piling high in every room as we prepared to move, and now we are well settled in our South African home 9,627 miles (15,493 km) across the globe. It’s hard to believe we have been living and breathing in the South African culture for most of 2018… Crossing Continents Four days after ringing in the New Year, our house went on the market! Within weeks, our home was under contract and on the 3rd of February a 20-foot shipping container rolled away with our belongings. Ten days later, after many tearful farewells, our little family boarded the plane that took us to Seattle, then Amsterdam, and finally Cape Town. When we finally reached our destination on Valentine’s Day (February 14th), we were greeted with the happy hellos and excited embraces of the Hammond family! Fatigued and weary, we fell into our beds in disbelief that we had finally finished the long journey we had spent nearly a year preparing for. Sweet Surprise Within three weeks of landing on African soil, we discovered we were expecting another baby! It was an absolutely joyful and welcomed surprise. In the midst of adjusting to this big life change, knowing we would be adding a precious baby to our family made this chapter that much more special! It took a while for the three of us to readjust to the South African culture and fall into a rhythm and routine, but after a couple of months, it became more natural to call our new home, Home. Mountain Mission We hadn’t been here for a month before Hunter was invited to join Ben, Abrie, and John on their mission to the Nuba Mountains. It was sooner than we’d planned for Hunter to go on a cross border mission, but we knew this was an amazing opportunity he needed to take. He left on May 1st – just one day before our container was set to arrive on our doorstep. Their 23-day long mission was eventful, productive and at times frustratingly slow. It was, however, an immense blessing to be a part of this mission. They travelled through unstable military areas and, at one point, were escorted by nearly a hundred military personnel. By way of container, they were collectively able to distribute 34,000 Bibles, 50,000 Story of Jesus picture books and share the Gospel with tens of thousands of Nuban children in 130 local schools. Please keep the Nubans in prayer as we receive reports that the Sudanese Armed Forces are currently mobilizing troops to launch an attack on the Nuban people. Containers Can’t Contain Emotions It was an emotional experience for me to see our boxes and the few pieces of furniture we kept being delivered to the very street where I grew up. It was unbelievably surreal to know just how far it all had to travel to get here. Three months had passed since we loaded up the container and sent it on its way. I’d shed a few tears seeing our empty home in Arizona and I got fairly misty-eyed seeing it all delivered to our new home. God was so good to have orchestrated every last detail in the way He did. We are so grateful for the support and prayers that made the container a reality. Cross Country Family Mission Hunter was given an amazing opportunity to teach at Back to the Bible Mission (BBM) in Barberton, South Africa, at the end of August. He spent a full week teaching the students there on Biblical Ethics. The student body is mostly made up of pastors and leaders who come from all over the continent of Africa. Hunter was also invited to minister to Adullam Mission in Secunda on the way up
to BBM. He was so grateful for the opportunity to share some of what he gleaned throughout his years at ACU and Phoenix Seminary. Ministry in the Cape In Cape Town, Hunter and the team of Frontline apprentices focused their evangelistic efforts on evangelizing a least reached people group and university students with the Gospel. They spent many afternoons on the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus sharing the Gospel with students from a wide variety of religious backgrounds. Hunter, Emma, and Alpha (two of the missionary interns) helped run a Discovery Bible Study over the course of two semesters with students they met while evangelizing on campus. In addition to the student ministry, they also focused their efforts on witnessing to a least reached people group in South Africa. The team conducted roughly 55 outreaches this year in Cape Town and were blessed to see the hand of the Lord at work. Welcome, Baby Blue Eyes We’re thrilled to present to you, Joshua Ellis! He was born at 9:36AM on November 7 in Cape Town, South Africa, via C-section. His birth weight was 3.86kg (8 1/2 lbs) and 53cm (20.9 inches) long. We are so thankful to God for bringing this sweet little man into our lives and for using an amazing medical team to safely do so. We are entirely smitten with him and Jeremy has adapted wonderfully to his new role as big brother! Our hearts have grown immensely! We chose to name him “Joshua” after his Daddy’s middle name as well as the Biblical character, and “Ellis” after my Grandpa’s (Bill Bathman’s) middle name. Ellis is also a family name that goes back several generations on my Mom’s side. We wanted to honour his memory in this special way. He was a major influence in both of our lives and we are so grateful for all the love and wisdom he and my Grandma have poured into us both over the years. Frontline and Family It has been an immense blessing for us to be a part of Frontline Fellowship and the vast opportunities to invest our time in the Kingdom of God. We love living so close to the Hammond family for the first time since being married. It’s been a joy seeing Jeremy enjoy his Noni, Oupa, uncles and auntie. We praise God for His faithfulness in bringing our little family all the way around the world to serve Him in South Africa. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. As we celebrate the birth of Christ, we pray that He would fill your hearts with His love and joy. May the Lord be your strength and peace in 2019! With love in Christ, Hunter, Andrea, Jeremy, & Joshua
Page 1 and 2: Dearest Friends and Family! What a
Page 3 and 4: On Lions Head, with Table Mountain
Page 5: From Cape to Cairo This year proved

Family News 2018

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