"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

In a year that has seen many ups and downs it is good to remember that Jesus never changes and the message we proclaim always remains the same - God and sinners reconciled. This is the Good News that Christmas brings and carries on into the New Year.

FURTHER NEWS FROM EASTERN EUROPE - We returned to Partizanske,Slovakia in October to find that the apartment purchased as a base for our work was not quite ready so with the help of Pastor Stano and his wife, Alice, we set to work to complete the task. We soon managed to get to the place habitable and once we had moved in we were able to have visitors. We are grateful to Stano, Alice, and Katya for all the help they gave us. All the items given to us for the apartment are now in place and we hope that many people will be able to visit the Pramen Zivota Fellowship as part of the mission teams going out from the Woodford Christian Life Church in the future.If the Lord is calling you to misssion among Gypsies of Eastern Europe please let us know.

As we had to return to Slovakia we took the opportunity to go on into north-east Hungary to deliever some items for Gypsy/Hungarian wedding in Verplet next year and visit  Pastor Andras and his family at Egerszolat. We were there for a couple of days and  Sonnie was extremely ill. This was due to inhaling the fumes from the chemicals he had used on the parquet floor of the apartment but even so we were able to continue the journey to Tirgu Mures, Romania, and deliever medical supplies, warm clothing and shoes before the start of winter. Please pray for Dr. Eugen who works among the Gypsies in San Paul and the neighbouring villages. His eyes filled with tears when he saw what we had brought him. The clothes were delivered to our American missionary contacts for distribution to the Gypsies in the villages. Sonnie accompanied Marius, the Gypsy Pastor of Levesini, to the village and fitted 75 children and some adults with shoes. Sadly there were not enough for everyone but maybe next time.... We were only in Tirgru Mures for four days so we were unable to visit Chirileu. It was now Rosemary's turn to be ill but the tablets in our First Aid box helped speed recovery before we returned to Partizanske via Egerszolat. The countryside is absolutely beautiful in the Autumn and the brilliant colours along the way helped us to praise the Lord and not notice how long the journey was. Thank you for praying for our border crossings - they were quick and trouble free. Praise the Lord.

In addition to working on the apartment in Partizanske we took part in as many of the church activities as we could and before we left a Ladies fellowship was held in our new home. Katya brought along her friend, Anastasia, who lives in our block and she committed her life to the Lord!  Please pray for her - she is pregnant and her baby is due in February.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 11TH NOVEMBER 2000 - GFC is looking for Trustees. If you feel you could serve in this way please get in touch. We said 'Goodbye' to Goldie Spearman and Julie who have moved to Wales. Please pray for them and Goldie's Vardo Project

As it is not possible to oversee the work in Pakistan personally and communication is differcult we decided to discontinue our support for Basharat Ureem. This year he was unable to come over for the AGM because his sister, Gull, was very ill. Please continue to pray for Bash who now pastors his own church in Abbottabad, for Gull and all the family. As Terry Hurst is now developing work in India and hoping to visit there we have asked him to get in touch with Bash.

Peter Brown agreed to be our Publicity Officer and has set up a GFC web site. Please contact Peter if you would prefer to receive your Newsletters via the internet. This would help us to cut down on our costs.

As Prayer Meetings have not proved popular this year it was decided to raise prayer support through church contacts and cell groups. We believe that prayer is vital if the work is to continue and we are very grateful to all those who support GFC in this way. Mrs. Sheila Irvine remains the prayer co-ordinator of the Romani Prayer Link. Please keep sending your prayer requests to her at: 76 Sandhurst Road, Tunbridge Wells,  Kent TN2 3JT.

CHRISTMAS CARDS AND DIARIES - Our Christmas cards and 2001 diaries are now on sale.  Send/phone/email your orders in to the office and they will be dealt with ASAP.

MAKE A NEW YEAR RESOLUTION TO FEED THE HUNGRY - Go to the United Nations Hunger Site.  All you have to do is click on the donate food button and somewhere in the world a hungry person gets a meal at no cost to you. The food is paid for by corporate sponsors whose advertising logo is seen on the screen. It only takes a second!

THANK YOU - Our grateful thanks to all our supporters for their prayers and gifts - without your partnership our work would not continue. A special Thank You to our Pastor, Simon Smith, and the people of the Woodford Christian Life Church who have encouraged and helped us in so many ways during this year.

With Christian love and greetings for Christmas and the New Year from the Trustees and all on the GFC Team

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." (Hebrews 2:9)