Eric and Donna Shrift

Time of Loss – Season of Resumption October 9, 2012

All of us reunited for Eric’s mother’s funeral

Many miles have been clocked on our bodies and spirits since we last shared via this blog. Our Divine Navigator has been faithful and so very gracious to us these last months! As many of you know, we each lost our surviving parent during the last half of 2011. We were very blessed to have spent a substantial amount of quality time with each one, but subsequently now feel that empty place in our hearts with their loss. As we traverse this stage of life, we increasingly realize the treasure we have in family.

Five grandkids and counting…

As proud parents, it’s hard to be brief, but here is a rundown of our clan’s current particulars:

Chana – continues as a flight attendant based in Phoenix, along with a busy counseling ministry to women in marital crises.

LaSal – and her husband, Steve Miller, have recently taken over a natural foods bakery in Salida, CO. They just celebrated the 1st birthday of their 3rd child, Abel.

John (right of center),  joined our Brazilian mission MEVA last month and is now in the village of Palimi-U learning the Yanomami language. If you would like to receive his newsletter, please let us know.

Stephen (left of center),  and his wife Martha, are expecting their third child in March. He is employed as a mechanic with American Airlines and moonlights as an on-call mechanic at the Branson (Missouri) Airport.

Nathaniel (far left), and his wife, Danielle, are candidates with New Tribes Mission and are currently raising support to work  among indigenous groups here in the Amazon area. They are expecting their first child in April.

David (second from right), is now a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force and is stationed at Vance AFB for his pilot training.

Daniel (second from left), is a Senior at John Brown University and is finishing his final semester in Ireland. He is majoring in Modern Languages with a minor in Music.

Zachary (far right), is now a Freshman at John Brown University and is enjoying his studies in their History program.

With all our kids now out of the nest and the recent death of our 13 year-old family dog, Bingo, things have gotten pretty quiet around here. We praise God for our local church family which provides almost daily ministry activities. This congregation, which started out as a weekly prayer meeting in our home, quickly outgrew the rented house next to ours, and recently completed construction of a large multi-purpose building where we now meet. This structure will be divided up into Sunday School classrooms after a separate worship center is completed.

For more  information on our ministry activities, please check out the tab above for our latest newsletter:

In His Care,

Eric and Donna

P.S.- you can click on any of the pictures to get a larger image