Hi folks,

I thought you’d get a kick out of that video. I think it came from some cheese commercial—I’m not sure. A pastor friend of mine who has been following me through these last couple of months and the whole Syria situation that I’ve been dealing with from the shooting, to everyone rallying together and helping for Operation Holiday Hope, which I’ll talk about in a minute, to my very long, slow recovery. Then, he saw me driving the bus at Christmas, picking up the kids for Sunday School, and now trying to get back to the speaking schedule. When he heard I’m heading to Afghanistan this year, he just felt like he had to dedicate that video to me, calling me the original MIGHTY MOUSE, telling me that I was the living embodiment of WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU REALLY DOES MAKE YOU STRONGER. We all got a good laugh out of it, but mighty mouse or not, you all know my commitment is STILL stronger than my emotions. Now, we’re in a new year and I want to get right to it.

I’ll give you a quick update and a summary of what’s happening, as of the end of January. FROM THE MINISTRY UPDATE STANDPOINT: Operation Holiday Hope, as some of you already know, was unbelievable. 253,102 kids came to Sunday School at Christmas. That’s never been done in history. They all heard the real story of Jesus. Each kid got a gift because of everybody that responded to the need. There were over 10,000 first-time decisions for Christ during the entire campaign, which to me, speaks for itself. There will be more details in the Metro Report Newsletter that you should be getting soon. If you are not on our mailing list, please let me know. My email is on the website. If you know someone else who you think can benefit from getting the newsletter, let me know as well.

AS FAR AS FOR ME PERSONALLY: the hole in my right lung has healed, the bleeding has stopped, but the effects of the 5th concussion looks like it’s going to be long-term. After several more MRIs over the last couple of weeks, it’s just healing slower than what the doctors feel it should. It’s been tough sleeping. No turning back. But as you’ve heard me say so often, we’ve come this far by faith. Please keep that in your prayers. I’ll continue to keep you updated on it through the year.

We’ve had some great ideas come in on how to celebrate my 50 years in ministry and my 70th Birthday, both this year. We will start sharing those with you pretty quickly. It looks like the winning idea is getting together as many folks as we can to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya. We’ll be getting sponsors to sponsor so much per step as we climb up the mountain. If that rings a bell to you, let me know. You will be hearing more about it soon. Once we’ve climbed it, and by faith, get back down again, I’m thinking of taking some of you on a safari—maybe even take some over to see the Metro Sunday School in Nakuru, Kenya. It’s looking like a pretty exciting time.

There have also been many that have asked if we actually got enough money to get all the Christmas gifts. I had to borrow more than what I wanted to finish up Holiday Hope in Africa, but I’m believing it’s all going to be taken care of soon. If you can help knock that out, hit the green button and let me know.

SO, it was an extremely amazing Christmas season and it’s going to be a great new year. CAN’T EVEN BEGIN TO THANK YOU ENOUGH for everything.

I will continue to keep you updated. Please share the mouse video and the whole reason behind it with your friends. Maybe it will encourage them, as hopefully it did you.

God bless, talk soon.

Pastor Bill

P.S. Don’t forget to tell your friends about our internship program! Like and share our video: Click Here!