Simon and Lavonne Challinor Serving the Lord in Panama among the Naso people 
Dear Friends,
Proverbs 25:25 says, “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” This verse came immediately to mind a few weeks ago after receiving a phone call from Panama. One of our co-workers in Panama, called after he and his wife had been to visit the believers. They returned from their trip very encouraged by the visits they had with several people. As soon as Simon’s language helper and Bible lesson checker heard that Don and Pat were in village he went and found them. The Lord has been working in his life and continuing to encourage him despite many difficult trials in recent months, including the death of his wife. This good news about him really did refresh us like cold water to a thirsty person.
After a green and relatively mild Christmas in December, the following weeks have definitely made up for it. We continue to watch the snow piles grow and temperatures drop. We have decided that since we cannot change it or beat it, we will join it. As a result, Simon and I have learned how to cross country ski, and we really enjoy it. The boys continue to love building snow forts, ice skating, and sledding. The small town of Durham has an ice arena that has free skate times. We try and take advantage of it at least once a week and go as a family.
A highlight this past month was Michael’s 12th birthday. We told the kids we planned to take them on an outing for the day, but we did not tell them where we were headed. We just told them we needed to take a lot of extra warm clothing in case we got stuck in the snow which actually is a reality in Canada in February. Despite all their guessing and speculating, they could not figure it out until we drove into Snow Valley Resort, and they saw the snow tubing runs. It was a first time for all of us, and we had a great day.
As a matter of praise, Simon’s sister, Sarah, received her fiancé visa about two weeks ago. She traveled to London, England, to be interviewed at the US embassy. It all went well, and the visa is valid for 6 months from the day it was issued. The wedding date is set for June 10 in Fresno, CA. We plan to drive to CA for the wedding. After the wedding we will travel back east, visiting family and friends before flying out of Toronto, Canada, to Panama on July 30th.
God Bless,
Lavonne for the family
(Simon, Michael, Daniel, Robbie, Andrew)
