WE are grateful to God for many things as we approach this Christmas season. Here are a few praise items below, with some prayer requests going forward.

PRAISE

• After 4 months of looking, we have a new family doctor!
• We enjoyed visiting many of our donor churches this fall. Many will continue support in 2024 for our new part-time ministry role!
• We get to spend Christmas with family this year! This will the first time in 15 years since we left Canada for the UK.

PRAYER

• For ABWE’s brand new OPEN TORONTO INITIATIVE (OTI) which we will serve in (click link for more info).
• The OTI project is just beginning, with planning, research, survey trips and conversations to take place through the first half of 2024.
• Ask God to raise up $140,000 project funding and the team of 12-15 workers for the OPEN TORONTO INITIATIVE.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

George and Karen King
ABWE Canada

George and Karen are happy to announce that starting in January 2024, they will transition to serving with EveryEthne, a part of the ABWE family of ministries. EveryEthne is aimed at mobilizing local churches to identify and own the lostness of their culturally, socially, and religiously diverse communities, so that every man, woman, and child has repeated opportunities to hear, see, and respond to the Gospel. In this new role, George and Karen will invest time and energy in the following two important projects.

1. OPEN TORONTO INITIATIVE: ABWE is asking God to raise up a team of 12-15 church planters to begin working among up to five unreached people groups in the Greater Toronto Area. George and Karen are happy to be included in that number! The team will have a field leader, church planters, and other teammates focused on building evangelistic relationships within these communities using creative platforms like teaching English and home Bible studies. Beginning with small groups, they will plant thriving churches within existing Canadian churches, in partnership with FEB Central and other like-minded organizations. George and Karen will start with RESEARCH and SURVEY TRIPS to various parts of the GTA in order to identify future locations for ministry. When other leaders and workers are in place, George and Karen will continue to CONSULT and ASSIST in the ministry.
2. HEART, MIND & SOUL – MUSLIM SEMINARS: ABWE’s Heart, Mind & Soul – Muslim seminar is an interactive seminar designed to help believers build grace and truth relationships with unbelieving Muslims within their community. Through each interactive seminar, believers are equipped to lovingly engage Muslims in a biblically and culturally appropriate manner. As part of the seminar team, George and Karen will speak from their nearly 40 years of learning and experience.

As ABWE missionaries to unreached peoples in the GTA, we will of course live in Canada. In this new role, we will transition to half-time missionary status, meaning that some of our support needs will be reduced. We hope however, that many who are interested and able will continue to support us financially. We are grateful to God for the way He has cared for our personal and ministry needs through His faithful people over so many years. We are happy to come, meet, speak, share and otherwise explain more of what is envisioned in the Open Toronto Initiative and the Heart, Mind & Soul seminars.

May God’s blessing be upon you,

George and Karen King
ABWE Canada

PLODDING – Now that we are newly returned to Canada, every day brings new little setup projects to work through. Some are quick, some call for plodding. For example, I am teaching myself how to install handrails on the twisty staircase leading up to our second-floor living place. In the coming days, I will learn the art of stump removal so we can create a new off-road parking spot on our property before the onset of winter (perish the thought!). 

PLAYING – We’re enjoying getting reacquainted with our children and grandkids. We are grateful they can now be a more regular part of our lives. It has also been good to take a break away from the continuously busy schedule we kept right up until we left our work in England. It’s been therapeutic to relax and play.

PLANNING – In the fall, we will begin reporting to our supporting churches. We are currently planning for ministry in 2024 and beyond. We are hopeful that in our next update we will have something concrete to share with you all. Thank you so much for praying and being patient with us as we seek the Lord’s face.

George and Karen King

Just now we stepped back into the house here in Birmingham after saying goodbye to our next door neighbour. Yesterday we said goodbye to our car. Every day involves goodbyes — goodbyes to people, possessions, and a way of life we’ve gotten used to over these 15 years in the UK. Recently we reflected on the fact that this is the longest we have lived in one place in our married lives together! 

But starting this Tuesday, July 25th, we will begin saying hello once again and begin a new life! We will say hello to children and grandchildren, to friends and extended family, and to many of you! We will say hello to renewed drivers licenses, restored government health insurance, and cars up for sale. We’ll say hello to new conversations about where we will live longterm, how we will make things work financially, and what kind of ministry opportunities we will have in future.

Please pray for us as navigate our goodbyes and hellos! 

George and Karen King
Birmingham, England