Greetings to you in this New Year! We hope you had a wonderful celebration of our Lord's birth and that you are enjoying the new year. 

    It's hard to believe that January is almost over! Although the weather turned cold early in the fall, we have had an extremely mild winter in our area with only a dozen or so inches of snow. We are grateful for the mild temps--keeps our utility bills down! 

    We want to thank all of you who supported our Christmas Ministry. We provided the Social Services with approximately 175 gifts for babies up to 18 years old. We also gave our Sunday School kids here and at Cherry Creek a gift; and, we gave out candy and fruit to all who attended Christmas services. The Red Scaffold community needed help with their annual Christmas services and party, so we sent fruit, candy, toys and used clothing to them. We helped several families with food needs and one family with heating fuel. After Christmas, Social Services asked us to help them acquire caps and gloves for some of the children within their system. With your kind donations, we provided them with 102 cap and glove sets that were distributed to children in seven communities including here and C.C. Another 28 sets will be going to C.C. in a few days. Thank you, again, for all your help during the Christmas Season and throughout the year. 

    Although December is one of our busiest months, we still had time to socialize. Joan attended a ladies' retreat in Watertown and had a wonderful time being with the other wives in our association. And, for the first time ever we were able to attend our association's annual pastor and wife Christmas party in Huron. We had a fabulous time and hope to attend again this year.!

    Our Sunday school and worship attendance has increased somewhat. We have around 15 faithful children coming to Sunday school and most of them are staying for worship as well. We do have a family coming on regular basis and we praise God for them. And we praise God for one of our regular attendants agreeing to teach an adult  Sunday school class! Prayers are being answered!

    Joan is still conducting the Weigh Down Workshop meetings each week. She and the other ladies haven't lost all the weight they want to; but, they are thankful for what weight they have lost and for the time spent in discussion and Bible study.

    With the help and encouragement of a couple of ladies in our Fellowship, Joan has started an Acteens group. Right now the group meets twice a month after the girls get out of school and so far five girls are coming regularly. Since we don't have any children, Joan finds dealing with teens daunting, so please remember her and the girls in your prayers! By the way the group baked the Christmas cookies that were served after Christmas services and they plan to have bake sales in the future to raise funds to attend the Acteens Impact meeting in Rapid City this summer.  Shortly after the Acteens got going, one boy in  Sunday school wanted to start a boys' club as well; so, Tony, along with a couple of men, plan to start a wood working class in February.

    The work in LaPlant and Green Grass is going fairly well. Like all other works on the reservation, their attendance fluctuates from Sunday to Sunday. The Jezeks are working hard to keep their various ministries and classes going. During last summer Sally and Jed along with several members conducted a tutoring program and turned the small classroom in the church into a library. The library was dedicated in September. Please keep the Jezeks in your prayers asking God to give them the strength, courage and finances to continue their work here. We thank God for their dedication and encouragement to us.

    Three mission teams have confirmed they're coming this summer. Two teams will work in E.B. in July conducting VBS and a Youth rally. One team will conduct VBS for C.C. in June. Also, some Christian basketball players will conduct a camp for the youth here in May. So we would appreciate your prayers for all teams as they make preparations to come out here.

    We still haven't redeemed our Campbell soup labels for office equipment/supplies; however, we hope to do so soon. For those of you who are contributing to our New Van Fund, we now have approximately $7,700! Thank You!!

    Tony's office did not go Civil Service as anticipated. He was disappointed as it would have been a substantial increase in pay and benefits; however, it obviously wasn't in God's plan. We're so grateful Tony is still employed by the tribe and we're thankful the Lord is still meeting our needs.

    It's hard for us to believe that May will mark our 7th year living here and working in the Ministry! Some of you have been supporting us throughout these past seven years both financially and through your prayers. As we have stated many times, without your help the work simply would not go on. Please accept our sincere thanks for all your love and support!

May God Bless You All Throughout This Coming Year! Until next time, we remain.....

Yours in Christ,

Joan & Tony Garter