A Letter from the Shannon Family

St. Giles received the following letter from Jerry and Christy Shannon and their family this week. The Shannons were with us earlier this year as they traveled the US while on furlough. Our congregation supports their family's international mission efforts through both prayer and financial support. God is good.

---

Dear Friends,
​Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you! Enclosed you will find a new Prayer Magnet for our family. We really appreciate how many of you put these on your fridge and pray for our family! You will also find a small piece of Ethiopia in there. We know that it looks like a stick, but in reality, it is an Ethiopian toothbrush. They are sold all over the city for folks to use to brush their teeth - no toothpaste needed, just rub your teeth with it... We really appreciate you and the ways you have walked with us over this past year in prayer, support and encouragement. We can't do this without folks like you! Here's a recap of a bit of our year:

• It was a year with some challenges, including a lot of ongoing unrest in Ethiopia and the tragic landslide at the garbage dump in our neighborhood.
  
• We got to spend a few days in Istanbul on our way back to the US which was a great time visiting the city that we plan to live in next.
  
• We spent a bit over 6 months in the US for furlough this year. During that time we drove over 20,000 miles and hit 41 different States and 1 province.
  
• We saw God provide for every detail of traveling coast to coast while Christy was progressing in her pregnancy. His provision was amazing.
  
• Malachi arrived on October 6th! He is an amazing addition to our family and he is deeply loved by all.
  
• On November 27th we will be returning to Ethiopia for 2 months and then in January we will move to Istanbul, Turkey to expand the work of Embracing Hope.
  

Here's what's happening in the lives of our family members:

• Joshua - He graduated from High School and after traveling much of the summer with us, he joined an organization called FriendShips based out of Louisiana. On November 8th, after graduating from ​boot camp, he was deployed to Israel where he is working with Syrian Refugees. He will be there until the end of June 2018.
  
• Micah - Micah is a Sophomore and is thriving in school. He continues to expand his photography skills and has had a number of photo shoots over this past year. He also continues to grow in his guitar and harmonica skills.
  
• Caia - Caia is in 8th Grade. She continues to play guitar and loves to sing. She has loved meeting new people all across the country this trip. She is loving having a baby in the house.
  
• Hanna - Hanna is now a 4th grader. She loves to sing loudly and read. She also loves to joke around. Her current favorite pastime is holding the baby.
  
• Kidist - Kidist is enjoying 1st grade. She sings non-stop and can pick up a new song after hearing it once. She has learned to ride a bike this furlough. She loves to play with dolls and kiss her baby brother.
  
• Mihiret Mimi is 4 and is dying to be in school (not yet, honey). She loves to color and play with dolls. She is full of thoughts and observations and questions and long conversations. (No, our house is never quiet). She, too, is smitten and over-kisses the baby.
  
• Malachi - The newest Shannon has indeed blessed us all. At 5 weeks old, he's a master at eating, sleeping, and pooping. Malachi is going for the title of the most kissed baby in the world.
  
• Jerry - Jerry has stayed busy this year trying to help Embracing Hope to grow administratively as well as getting ducks in a row for Turkey. He also has started learning Turkish. He will return to the church for a month of preaching and assisting the leadership as needed. He is adjusting to this new, much different, phase of Fatherhood.
  
• Christy - Christy has lived the paradoxes of motherhood strongly this year. With sending out our oldest and birthing our youngest within 2 months of each other, she is overwhelmed by God's faithfulness. Outside of that, she is generally overwhelmed by mothering 7, walking the family through so many transitions, and home schooling. And packing. Again and again. That's always overwhelming.

Love, Jerry and Christy