CHRISTMAS LETTER 1997 ALL YE FAITHFUL

       

OH COME ALL YE FAITHFUL

O' COME ALL YE FAITHFUL TO BETHLEHEM

To our Heart To Heart Family
Christmas Letter 1997:

As we enter into this blessed season of rejoicing and jubilation, we want you to know how special you are to us and to the Lord.  Your gifts of love throughout the year encourage us and help us to carry out that which God has called us to do. You are very precious gifts to us.  Each one of you is so unique with matchless talents and abilities.  We appreciate your prayers and support, as they uphold and assure us that we are not alone.  Each one of you is a special treasure, and we thank God for you.

The theme God has given us for this Christmas is, “O come all ye Faithful”.   God has impressed upon our hearts this year again... that his “Faithfulness” knows no limits.

We believe God is calling his “faithful” (the ones who were willing to go through the testing fires) to “Come” now and drink of his refreshing, waters, and enter into his rest... free from lack of trust, fear, striving and offenses, unforgiveness, criticism and debt, and so much more. 

A year for the “Lion to lay down with the Lamb”.  Those who have been found “faithful” to Him will encounter a special measure of FAITH as they enter into the New Year.

That is what the Lord made clear.  He is the FAITHFUL ONE, FAITHFUL AND TRUE.  As we are Faithful to the Faithful One, He then fills us with miraculous faith to believe the impossible.  It is a gift to his Faithful.

May the wonder of the Christ Child be birthed afresh and anew in your hearts this year as we come together to worship and adore HIM.  Our hope is that you and the ones you hold near and dear will be filled with JOY and PEACE this Christmas. Our sincere desire is that you will experience MORE OF JESUS in 1998.  May you prosper in every area as you celebrate this … ”YEAR OF JUBILEE”!

 In His Service,

Pastors Bart & Donna Trexler           

Heart To Heart Christian Church

Summerville, SC

donnatrex@yahoo.com    

        

O Come All Ye Faithful!    The text to the Carol O Come All Ye Faithful was originally written in Latin (Adeste Fideles) and was intended to be a hymn, it is attributed to John Wade, an Englishman. The music to O Come All Ye Faithful was composed by fellow Englishman John Reading in the early 1700s. The tune was first published in a collection known as "Cantus Diversi" in 1751. In 1841 Rev. Frederick Oakley is reputed to have worked on the familiar translation of O Come All Ye Faithful which replaced the older Latin lyrics "Adeste Fideles".

O Come All Ye Faithful : Lyrics Oh Come All Ye Faithful Joyful and triumphant, O Come ye, O Come ye to Bethlehem Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. O Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation, Sing all that hear in heaven God's holy word. Give to our Father glory in the Highest; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning, O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored. Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

CHRISTMAS LETTER 1996 GREAT JOY!



Silent Night, Holy Night ... a church in winter

Dearest Friends and Loved Ones:

We enter this festive Christmas Season with exceeding GREAT JOY!  This has been and extraordinary year in so many ways, our cup overfloweth!

Here’s the news of the events in our lives for 1996:


Mark and Michelle are awaiting their second child in February.  Our granddaughter, Mandy is excited and looks forward to a new brother or sister.  Mark enjoys hunting when he has time off and has taken up his grandfather’s hobby of fly fishing and LOVES it!  He’s getting a surprise this Christmas, he’s inheriting his Grandpa’s vest, pouch, flies and paraphernalia which we believe will be nostalgic for him!


Keri, Marty, Jeshua and Zachary are in their gorgeous new home that Marty has built after the fire which burned their home to the ground, destroying everything.  They have already sold it, and are looking to build another one!  Their faith in God through the ordeal sustained them. Keri has a large freshwater fish tank and she is so excited about it. We have great discussions about fish, as we also have a fish tank. 


Chip, Suzanne, Colin and Brandon are in Florida and doing well.  Colin plays soccer and Brandon keeps Suzanne busy! Suzanne and Donna enjoy praying together and discussing JESUS!! Chip has started his own business after leaving the Television station last year where he was directing and producing television commercials and shows.  Things are progressing fantastically after a slow start and they just had a landmark month!


Todd is in his last year of  the Univ. S. Fla., in Tampa, graduating (early!) in May.  His finals are today, and he is looking forward to a much deserved vacation. He was planning to go into dentistry, but at present is looking into other areas also.  He is dating a woman named Christie who is working towards her RN and has a little girl named Paige.  He loves scuba diving with his friends and Chip. He has been an immeasurable help and support with Donna’s mother. His marvelous dog, Citron is just a little over a year now, bringing back memories of Todd and Donna picking him out together last Christmas!

Donna’s sister and brother in law, Gwen and Tom are now retired and have bought a home five minutes from Chip and Suzanne. All the cousins are very close.  Tommy is engaged and lives in Fort Lauderdale, and Courtland was just married in July which means the cousins will be seeing each other even more frequently than they do at present, and Donna and I will be able to see Tom and Gwen more often! 


Donna’s Dad is now in a nursing home in the last stages of  Parkinson’s and Mother Boyce has been nothing short of miraculous in the way she has persevered through this time period.  She came to visit in July for Donna’s 50^th birthday, after five years of not being able to travel with Dad.  The whole church fell in love with her and consider her part of the congregation.  Her visit was the highlight of Donna’s year!  My mother will be 91in January and is in a nursing home nearby. 


She comes to church on Sunday’s and we eat together afterwards. She has a day out on Saturday where she gets her hair done and nails and then out to dinner.  We try to have a movie night once a week at our home for her with some Movie Classics and popcorn.  We have fun doing that with her and she really enjoys it.  We top the evening off with ice cream which she loves before taking her back to her place. After a lifetime of going to the Methodist Church, she now desires to commit to Heart to Heart!  She is doing amazingly well for her age, but we see her slipping.. she’s now in a wheelchair.  My siser, Carmen, and my neice Donna came to visti Mother this year and we had a very short, but marvelous time together while they were here.   
                                          
As for the church, we have had the most prosperous year since our beginning four years ago.  This has been a year of fruit in abundance!  Lives have been dramatically changed and transformed, salvations, marriages saved, deliverance, openness, prophecy flowing like milk and honey, miracles, healings of body, soul and spirit!  God’s river of love has certainly touched each one of our lives intensely.  We have found a building and are in the process of negotiating, which is exciting and also sobering.  We have over tripled in size in the last few months and are expanded to our limit here, and have no choice but to move to a larger facility.  I LOVE THE WAY GOD MAKES THINGS SO SIMPLE.. YOU OUTGROW A PLACE AND HE HAS ANOTHER PREPARED!

Donna is enjoying her 50^th year of JUBILEE, and was blessed beyond words at the surprise party the church threw for her!  She is still in the process of writing several books, finding very little time to do the work on it she desires.  The extra load of responsibilities with all the new people in the church has been difficult for her and we are praying for a church secretary to help. She is certainly the wing beneath my wings. 

As for me, seeing the fruit of our labor begin to come to pass has brought much joy.  God has given us a very specific vision and direction. We have begun a series of  Foundational teaching and training classes which we believe are needed for the next step God has for the church.  One of the highlights of this year for me was going to Promise Keeper’s with Chip and Todd.  It was a great time of what Chip and Todd have dubbed “Male Bonding”!  After the event, Chip took me scuba diving in West Palm Beach. Seeing God’s creation under the sea is indescribably beautiful.

Donna and I still continue to be involved with prison ministry, although our schedule and other responsibilities have taken a lot more time and we have had to pull back in that area.  Donna was Clergy on a Teen ministry weekend in the Spring   It looks as though Christian Drama is in the embryonic stages in our church, and music ministry is taking a new turn, as we have just purchased a new Keyboard and Drum set.  Our Ministers of Music have a gifting of leading the Saints of God into EXPERIENCING thanksgiving, praise, and worship, not just participating in worship.  New areas of  personal prophecy and prophetic corporate worship have come forth, which is very exciting for us all! We are training up three very faithful people for Eldership, and our hearts are so knitted and bonded together in one purpose! Counseling still consumes large amounts of our time, two gifted women are starting to help in that area.

Kay Lahey, our mentor and friend has moved down from New York and has an apartment only three miles from our home.  Her wisdom and love has been and continues to be a blessing in so many ways. She is in leadership, and is heading up the area of prayer in the church … intercessory prayer, prayer partners, and is working on getting together pre-service prayer warriors, etc….

We pray that this Christmas will bring much joy and peace to your hearts…. May the light of JESUS shine brightly in your hearts for the world to see.  May you prosper in every way this coming New Year, and may you see the fulfillment of promises God has given to you.  We believe 1997 will be a year of miracles and blessings, let us prepare our hearts in repentance, fasting and prayer as 1996 comes to an end, leaving any old baggage at the cross of Jesus. May we allow Him to change us and do the work in our hearts so we may be used as His vessels to serve Him in this important hour. We desire to enter this New Year throwing out the ballast, so we may sail into 1997 free to do the will of the God.  The harvest is at hand beloved…. Let us go forth into the fields with the winds of our sails directed by the Holy Spirit, and bring in the sheaves to lay at Father’s feet….. GET READY, GET READY, GET READY… God is getting ready to MOVE… Signs, Wonders and MIRACLES are on the HORIZON!!

Merry Christmas & love from Dixie!

                                                                                          
Pastors Bart and Donna Trexler

                                                                            

CHRISTMAS 2000

Dearest Family and Friends:

We are entering into this festive season with EXCEEDING GREAT JOY.. OUR CUP RUNNETH OVER!  This has been a most EXTRAORDINARY year!  To begin with, no words can convey the depth of our gratitude for all your love, constant prayers, fasting, letters, love gifts, e-mails, calls etc.. while we have been in the midst of this intense family trials of cancer.  How the enemy tried to destroy, but God has seen us through! We KNOW we would never have seen such victories without you, and your constant prayers and support.

Our 29 year old son Todd, who underwent an operation and massive chemo for testicular cancer is now recovering so well.. PRAISE GOD!  He was married to CJ during this whole ordeal, and she totally stood by his side and nursed him through.  CJ had a daughter, Paige and so now we have another Grandaughter and we love her a lot!  We continue to pray for them to have a miracle baby.  Todd, CJ, and Paige are going skiing for Christmas, and will be stopping here on their way home after New Year's. 

Marty, our daughter Keri's husband, has undergone removal of a cancerous kidney and several bone scan tests have come out negative... HALLELUJAH!!!  We had a fabulous time with them in October.  Marty, Keri Jeshua and Zach are enjoying the fruit of their labor in the gorgeous house they are building on a lake after a fire had destroyed their home.  We also had a great time with Bart's sister Carmen and her new husband, Ben and Bart's niece and son while we were on our trip north. 

Mark is going through a separation at this time.  Michelle, Mandy and Megan have moved into a new place and Michelle has been busy doing creative house painting for such notables as Mary Tyler Moore.  She and Keri and the cousins are very close.

Chip, Suzanne, Colin and Brandon came up after Thanksgiving,  they arrived about 15 minutes after Bart had severely cut his hand on a chop saw last week.  He and Suzanne took over in helping the whole weekend.  We don't know how we would have done it without them.  Chip also stayed up night after night upgrading my computer, hooking up video equipment, etc.. We are SO GRATEFUL for them.  Chip has been unbelievable during this time of family cancer crisis.  As a side light.. he has produced a dynamite Christmas Fireplace Yule Log video with great Christmas music, using OUR fireplace if anyone is interested, for yourself or for presents, let us know and we can get you a discount!! 

Donna's sister Gwen has finished chemo for Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  Cat scans have now pronounced her cancer free!  THANK GOD!!  We continue to concentrate our prayers for her husband, Tom who has been fighting colon cancer.  He is now gaining weight and doing better under a new chemo treatment.  So, as you can see, "The Lord, thy God in the midst of us has been MIGHTY"! 

Our children blessed us with an 11 day cruise on Royal Caribbean for our 25th Anniversary last January. We went with Tom and Gwen and had a fabulous time!! We have a terrific relationship with Tom and Gwen and love being with them. 

Bart's mom passed away December 9th last year.  She was 93.  Also, our darling nephew Tom and his wife Jackie went through a loss this past year, her father died.  Courtland, Stephie, Kaylin and Shaina have just moved to Fayetteville, N.C. and Tom and Gwen just got back from a visit. Tommy, Chip and Todd still see each other often and go out fishing on Tommy's boat quite a bit.  My mom is just loved to pieces by the grandkids, she is a doll.  She had several physical upsets this past year, but has come through in great shape and spirits.  We plan to be with her for Christmas at a condo near Tom and Gwen's. 

Bart is doing contracting work about an hour away, in Kiawah.  We have been looking for either land to build, or a home in that area.  We have been asked to begin a church in that area.  We have been feeling a leading to move ever since Heart To Heart Church closed 2 1/2 years ago, and we believe God has a work for us, but not sure what that is, at present our time has been taken up with family and that has been productive time.  We are not receiving any strong word to go forth with the offer of starting a new work, so we will be praying about this area. 

A couple whom we love from Heart To Heart opened a church in Charlotte and our bond with them is  wonderful. Our past parishioners are still like family and it is wonderful to see them continuing to grow in the Lord. We have been humbled by the amount of pastors who have been seeking one-on-one counsel.  God continues to open doors of ministry in prisons, churches, for weekend seminars and retreats etc..  Counseling and deliverance consumes much of our time, and I am involved in intercessory prayer.  Our ministry seems to be taking a different direction at this time, we'll keep you posted! 

Our toy poodle, Peanut is totally spoiled and adorable.  Everyone just loves him.  I am still designing collars for him and Bart still has an interest in toy trains. 

Hope you get alot of Christmas PRESENCE this year!  Wishing you a blessed Holiday Season.  May you experience the wonder of Christmas afresh and anew, and in the coming year, may you go forth in God's light and love.  

Merry Christmas and love from Dixie!!

Bart and Donna