Greater Portland Baptist Church

Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: November 2006

Well, the decision has finally been made! After many, many months of praying, pondering, and getting advice, we have settled on attending language school at Laval University in Quebec, Canada. We know that many of you have been praying with us about the Lord's guidance to either Quebec or Albertville, France, and we want to say thank you so very much for those prayers. We know that there are pros and cons to either school, but we truly believe that God is leading us to Quebec. Honestly, this has been one of the most difficult decisions we have made since God called us to Togo, and we are thankful for that wonderful peace of God that passes all understanding.

Other good news is that it looks like the end is in sight for finishing deputation. Right now we have 63% of our needed support coming in on a regular basis, and another 12% that is promised to us. According to the average amount of support that each church sends, we should only need approximately 15 to 20 new supporting churches before we can begin language school. We are making plans to finish deputation in April of next year, then begin the summer semester of language school in May. Please pray that the remaining support will be committed in time for us to begin in May. If that support is not committed by then, we will likely have to wait until September, which means we will get to Togo later than expected.

God gave us many great opportunities in November to minister and share the gospel for His glory. At one church we attended, Tiffany was able to help one particular girl who was having some doubts about her salvation. Tiffany shared some Bible verses with her and explained that when she was saved, Jesus Christ came into her life to stay and would never leave no matter what her feelings told her.

In the world of Joshua, many exciting things have been happening lately. Most noteworthy was the surprisingly early snow storm we had during the last week of the month. After a couple of inches had accumulated on the ground, Joshua and Daddy bundled up and ran outside to partake in the ancient winter traditional ceremony of snowman building. However, I think that after seeing the picture, you will agree that we made a very untraditional snowman! I am sad to say that because of an eager, stick-wielding three year old, our icy friend did not last long!