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Tom & Linda Maher Newsletter (Winter 2022)

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! It is so hard to believe another year is here. We hope and trust this letter finds you healthy, safe and seeing the goodness of the Lord! 2021 was a rough year for us in many ways.  I love and appreciate the faithfulness of the Lord.  When He leads us to a WORD of the year it always turns out to be exactly what we needed.  Our chosen WORD for 2021 was STABILITY.  Is. 33:6 “And He will be the STABILITY of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.”  I cannot even tell you how many times we clung to that verse last year and how grateful we are that His strength, joy and wisdom carried us through the circumstances that came our way.  

Our WORD of the year for 2022 is REMEMBER.  The verse we are using is:  I Chronicles 16:11,12 “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered.” Tom chose this verse for two reasons.  The first is to remember the impact and mentoring of those who took the time to train us in the Lord.  Many of those special people entered heaven in 2021 and will be greatly missed.  We feel so blessed when we look back and see the amount of time, effort and prayer that others invested in us.  We know we are where we are now because of their sacrifice. The second reason is that we want to remember each day as we walk with the Lord that He is with us, and we can live with open eyes and humble expectant hearts.  I recently read this quote, “You must face repeated hardships because the place where you are is not your destination.  No, it is a place of preparation for the final destination that is to come.  Preparation is hard, but you and I aren’t ready so we need to be made ready for the final place that will be our home. Your preparation won’t last forever, but your destination will have no end.” God is with us through the preparation process and this is something we want to REMEMBER each day.  

NOVEMBER

In November we were able to take our first break from ministry in a year and travel up to Pennsylvania for 12 days.  My mother is our only living parent, and we want to enjoy moments with her while we still can.  We had such a precious time with my mom. We had the opportunity to share in a few of our churches and were beyond blessed by their love and generosity to us. We also met with several of our supporters and prayer partners which was such an encouragement.  For our anniversary my sweet husband did something for me that is still overwhelming to me.  He secured tickets and took me to a Penn State home football game.  I loved it so much!  I had not been to the campus since I was 17 years old and although it was cold for us, I cheered loudly and enjoyed the day so very much.  We had great seats and three of the touchdowns were made right in front of us.  We had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner with my mom and one brother, and enjoyed the rest of our visit with laughter and fellowship with one another.  

DECEMBER

December was a busy and joyful month.  We were both crazy busy in our offices and getting ready for a two-week break. For the first time in 12 years I had all my children, and all the grandchildren with us on Christmas Day.  We have gotten together over the years, but not on Christmas.  Tom, Deena, Jude and Elsie arrived on the 21st.  The 22nd was cookie baking day with Nana and ALL the grandkids.  We had too much fun with cutouts and gingerbread men.  Icing and sprinkles were everywhere and I am sure everyone had way too much sugar, but it was so fun.  We took all the grandkids to an area park, we played games both inside and outside, had two beach days (that’s the best part of Florida Christmas) and laughed a lot.  On Christmas morning the six grandkids looked so adorable in their matching Christmas PJs and we had tons of fun opening gifts and enjoying the day eating and playing.  


Zach and Alyssa announced that our newest grandchild due in May will be a little girl!  They have chosen to name her after my mom which they were able to tell her when we facetimed with my extended family.  Mom cried.  We are looking forward to this next little blessing.  After Tom and his family flew home, we enjoyed the rest of Christmas break with Link, Aurora, Daisy and Oliver and Aunt Kalah would also pop in once in a while.  We are both very thankful for our family!  We also had the privilege of taking a former student and her children on a tour over the break.  It is so sweet and so encouraging to run into our FTMs.  

At the very end of the break before heading back to the office, Tom and I along with three other TMI couples traveled to Georgia to attend the funeral of Jim Person, one of the four founders of Teen Missions.  It was such a bittersweet experience.  Jim had a great impact in our lives.  Jim had seen on Tom’s registration form in 1977 that he had an interest in printing, and took him out of Boot Camp and gave him a tour of the Print Shop and shared the needs of the ministry.  This act of kindness was one of the factors involved in Tom’s decision to join the staff of Teen Missions.  It was good to be able to be there for Jim’s wife, Judy and the children and to remember the good times together.  Jim was a godly man and left a wonderful legacy.  It is hard to believe that all of the founders of the ministry are now in Heaven.  

NOW NOW

Tom manages to stay busy in the Graphics/Computer Departments.  There seems to always be a problem to fix, a computer to repair or something that needs to be designed.  I also seem to never run out of work in managing the Finance Department.  I am also teaching in the Bible school this term.  We are both grateful for the Lord’s wisdom and guidance in our daily responsibilities and for the staff, students and interns who work alongside us.  Ministry overseas continues, and we are blessed by the reports we are receiving.  Several countries hold Boot Camps December-February, and it is amazing just how many young people showed up to participate this year.  We had two new locations for Boot Camps this winter and are excited that God is using our staff to open doors of opportunity to share the Gospel.  Keep an eye on our website for reports and updates.  

THANK YOU

Thank you to those of you who pray for us and support us.  We are so grateful for you!  It is such a privilege to have the health and strength to serve the Lord.  Thank you for partnering with us to make it happen!

PRAISES

1.  Praise the Lord for family.

2.  Praise the Lord for faithful supporters in 2021.

3.  Praise the Lord for the open doors of ministry in TMI worldwide.

PRAYER REQUESTS

1.  Pray for good health and wisdom in our daily responsibilities.

2.  Pray for a healthy pregnancy and healthy delivery for Alyssa.

3.  Pray for our children and grandchildren to be obedient and open to the Lord’s leading in their lives.

4.  Pray for continued good health for my mom.  

Because He Lives,

Tom and Linda Maher

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