CANADA CENTRAL DISTRICT |
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| Missionaries > Jack and Natalie Holstead |
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Dr. John (Jack) and Natalie Holstead, Retired Casa Robles 6390 Oak Avenue Temple City, CA 91780 Phone: (626) 447-6467 Email: JNHolstead@charter.net Jack - May 31 Natalie - March 11 Anniversary - August 18, 1951
Jack and Natalie celebrate their 59th anniversary August 18, 2010!
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I've been visiting and chatting with Jack Holstead, recently, via e-mail, and I am pleased to report that Jack has not lost his amazing sense of humour! He reports that he and Natalie are doing well, and that Natalie's health has improved, for which we're praising the Lord. As Jack and Natalie come to mind, please continue to pray for them.
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 I am not sure how old the LINKS program is! Back when Mary Scott was the General Director of NWMS it was referred to as Box Work. Kansas City would request that we be specific and name brand names of the things that we needed. We were overwhelmed at the response! Each year we would receive clothes and shoes for our children. A lot of things were not available in Taiwan in those days. Natalie would receive beautiful table cloths, a few of which we still have. Many of the local churches would write personal notes and letters and send cards on our birthdays and anniversaries. You have no idea how that encouraged us! We remember so well at Christmas time when we had the gifts from the home churches all wrapped and under the Christmas tree. We would tell our children that these gifts were from our family of Nazarenes back home. |
Those were all gestures of sacrifice and love for Missionaries. In turn, we would respond to the churches with personal notes, pictures and put them on our regular missionary prayer letters. I believe we were bonding in a unique way with these dear folk who went out of their way to send us gifts of love. We felt as though we were in it together - this gigantic task of World Evangelism. In the nearly 50 years that we have been affiliated with World Mission the Box Work program and the succeeding LINKS program. This has tied us closer to the home churches. When furlough came around and we visited the churches we would meet those wonderful Nazarenes who shared and cared for their missionaries. We are ever in debt to the faithful Nazarenes, pastors and local churches who supported their representatives serving in foreign lands. It just highlighted the fact that we were in this task of global outreach together. We were part of the family and being remembered with cards and cash gifts and other items also meant the home church was praying for us as well as the mission fields. LINKS affords the average Nazarene an opportunity to show real love and care for real people called missionaries. Natalie and I are coming to the end! We only hope and pray that our Zion will not, by neglect and insensitivity, phase out the Links program. There is a great family of missionaries not only depending on the home church but desperately needing the personal touch. LINKS invigorates and energizes the faith and labours of the missionaries! THANK YOU CANADA CENTRAL NAZARENES FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS IN THIS AREA OF SERVICE. WE TRULY ARE FOREVER INDEBTED TO YOU. Your "golden oldie" missionaries, Jack and Natalie Holstead |