Dear Family and Friends, In prisoners' chains With bleeding stripes Paul and Silas prayed that night

And in their pain began to sing Their chains were loosed And they were free We bless Your Name We bless Your Name We give You honor, give You praise You are the Life, the Truth, the Way We bless Your Name We bless Your Name Some midnight hour If you should find You're in a prison in your mind Reach out and praise Defy those chains And they will fall In Jesus' Name

It has been almost a year since we last wrote Much has happened in our lives since then. The spring semester of 2012 went by uneventfully, and Jacob raced the baby to finish all his finals first. ~ Silas Matthew was born at home into his Daddys waiting hands with the help of midwives on May 2nd. We were surprised to have a boy because for most of the pregnancy, we thought we were having a girl! He weighed 8.01lb and was 21.5in long. Silas means SaverWe named him for the Bible missionary in Acts, who stood by Pauls side as a man of prayer and praise, defied the chains of darkness, worshiped the Lord, and brought people to the saving knowledge of Christ. This is our prayer for our son. Matthew is Jacobs middle name as well and means Gift of God.

Silas truly is a gift of God to us, and we have been so blessed to have him in our lives. ~ A few days after Silas was born, Jacob started summer school. He was gone all day every day of the week, and it was a challenge for me to be home alone with a new baby learning to be a mom and recuperating from the long hard labor that I had. Gods grace was sufficient though many tears accompanied the journey into Motherhood. Being a midwife prepared me completely for labor and delivery, but it did not prepare me in any way for the sleepless nights and total care of a newborn. I was overwhelmed just like every first time mother is at times. Im so thankful for the support of family and friends who encouraged us as we adjusted to being three. Now seven months later, it is hard to imagine not having our little guy. He brings such joy to everyone we come in contact with, and it is so much fun watching him learn how to sit, crawl, pull up on things, drink from a sippy cup, try new foods and on and on the learning goes ~ We spent the summer in Idaho once again. It is always such a blessing to be able to go home and spend time with family and friends. The summer was filled with lots of work on the farm along with all the normal work that goes on - putting up hay, remodeling the kitchen and bathroom in the bunk house, working at the airport. We didnt do as much hiking this year, but we did spend lots of time swimming in the pond and just being together. ~ In July, we went to Canada for a weekend to see my long time midwife friend Erin. She got married in May, and it was a wonderful time to let our husbands get to know each other and catch up face-toface.

~ In Aug, Jacobs twin brother Taylor was married. It was a beautiful wedding and a special time to have the grandparents and great grandchildren together ~ The end of August saw us back in Texas for the start of Jacobs senior year. As I write this letter, it is Thanksgiving weekend, and we have much to be thankful for! God has been bringing us through so much this semester so much so that I dont even know where to begin writing. ~ The song I wrote out at the beginning of this letter has been very dear to us this year not only because it is Silass Song but also because we have gone through many times of feeling like we were in chains - chains of school debt holding us back from immediate departure for the mission field after graduation; of stress that comes with school; of learning how to cope with being three along with the wonderful yet challenging effects a baby adds to our relationship; and of dealing with being frequently sick this semester. Much prayer and seeking the Lord has gone into what He has for us and how our desires fit into His plans. But time and time again, in every prison and every chain we found ourselves in, God showed us that all we needed to do was pray and actively praise Him. It is incredible how when we just empty our hearts and choose to defy darkness through prayer and praise, the chains fall and the foundations of the prison are shaken (Acts 16:22-30). There is power in our Lords name through a heart that is broken and willing to praise Him. ~ Last semester we talked over lunch to a New Tribes Mission recruit who came to the school. Their vision was close to what we feel God is calling us to do, but the process of getting on the field with them would be 6-8 years from now They require no debt and 2 years additional Bible/ aviation training specific to the areas they serve. This was discouraging to say the least! Jacob especially agonized over

how impossible it seemed to keep our vision and goal alive for so long. After weeks of trying to figure it all out by our own strength, God showed us we needed to just lay it all down. With difficulty, we did, and missions didnt come up in conversation very much until another recruit came a few weeks ago when the Lord began opening doors to a new mission field. ~ Flying Mission Services (FMS) is based in Botswana, Africa. When they first started out, they were what we think of as traditional mission aviation. However, as the country developed and bush flying was no longer necessary, they changed the way the organization operates: FMS provides flight and maintenance services throughout Southern Africa. The heart of FMS is to generate enough income through commercial operations to not only sustain its own ministry and operations but also to provide subsidized flights for missionaries and to support the broader ministries of Flying Mission. This is a different approach to mission aviation, but we are very excited about the possibilities! We have been in contact with FMS for about a month now and have sent in our application and resumes. Jacob is looking into an aircraft maintenance position with the hopes of working up into a flying position. As for me midwifery is legal in the country! I do not know what doors God will open, but I pray that if this is where we are to be, the opportunity will arise someday for me to start a small clinic and train local girls just like I did in the Philippines. Please pray with us that it would be clear to us where God is leading after Jacobs graduation in May 2013. We will let you all know as soon as we do Here is a link to the FMS website if any of you would like to look at it further: http://www.flyingmission.org/ We hope that you all have had a wonderful year full of blessings and joy amidst lifes trials! Jacob, Carmen, & Silas