December 2001

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men!

Dear Friends and Family,

Today is the last day of school for our children before the Christmas holiday. Our family leaves tonight on a train for Helsinki, Finland, where we are required to apply for visas for the next year of our life and work in Russia. But we are glad for the opportunity to get a break from the atmosphere of Russia with its unique pressures and difficulties. So we will also take a few days for vacation and refreshment in Finland where we will celebrate Christmas Day.

Laurie and I are grateful for your love, affection, prayers, and support of our work and ministry in Russia. We count it a high privilege to serve God here. We want to wish you a joyous holiday and a sense of hope as we enter the New Year. The year that is coming to a close has reminded us of the fragile nature of life, and of our need to pray for our dark and troubled world. We want to share with you this poem about prayer written by George Herbert, an Anglican priest who lived in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Prayer

Prayer the Church's banquet, Angels' age,
God's breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth;

Engine against th' Almighty, sinners' tower,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-days world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,

Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul's blood
The land of spices; something understood.

God's grace and peace be with you in this Christmas season and throughout the coming year!

Donald, Laurie, Hannah, Christiana and Jeremiah Marsden

The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 94