Dear Friends,
​
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
May the peace, joy, and love of Christ's birth fill your heart and home this Christmas season. Wishing you a blessed and Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with God's grace.

An Abundance of Gratitude and Shared Blessings
Words cannot truly express the depth of our thanks. Ray and I want to extend our deepest, most sincere gratitude to each one of you for your faithful and unwavering support throughout this past year. Because of your incredible generosity and prayer-ful partnership, the ministries here in Costa Rica are doing well!

Here is a glimpse of the impact your love has made:
The children’s home is growing and has now begun construction on its third house! To date we have had the privilege of ministering to over 160 children. The clinic is expanding its capacity and will be welcoming a full-time doctor starting in January. We are overjoyed to be building two new churches and a parsonage in the country's northeastern sector, wonderfully supported by dedicated mission teams from churches in the States. Enrollment at both the Methodist school and seminary is up, a fantastic sign of growing faith and education!

Looking Ahead to 2026
As we look forward to the coming year and all the exciting new work it will bring, we also want to share a practical challenge. Our personal vehicles, which are essential for the daily ministry, are getting quite old. Ray drives a 2006 Tundra, and Lidia has a 2007 Sequoia. We truly love our Toyotas—they are workhorses that stand up to the ruggedness of the Costa Rican roads, and parts are easy to find. However, we have now reached the point where the yearly maintenance and repair costs are exceeding the cars' value. We are prayerfully moving forward to begin a Car Replacement Fund. The wonderful folks at the Methodist Church in Uvalde are assisting us by receiving and setting aside financial gifts for this specific purpose. Gifts for that purpose can be designated “Zirkel Car Fund.”

Family News and Continued Prayer Requests
Our family is doing well. Sarah is just days away from graduating with both of her master’s degrees! (MDIV & MBA) Please continue to pray with us for God to open the right door for her future career, as she is actively seeking employment. Emma begins her final semester in her master’s program in January and will start working part-time in a hospital Emergency Room in College Station. We are so proud of her dedication!

Ray’s recent health issues have persisted, and he has undergone a variety of medical exams at Houston Methodist. (A few more to go!) While he is feeling somewhat better, the mystery of the "good days and bad days" continues. We ask each of you to please keep praying for a clear diagnosis and complete healing as we place this fully in God’s hands.

As the year ends, we want to thank you for your incredible generosity and investment in our lives and ministry. We are grateful for each one and look forward to seeing many of you in the States over the holidays or in Costa Rica during 2026.

Praying your Christmas season is richly filled with the peace, love, and profound joy found only in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

With Deepest Love and Gratitude,
Ray and Lidia

2026...Where Is God Calling Us and What Will He Have Us Doing?
THE WESLEY COVENANT PRAYER

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

On Sunday, we spoke this prayer out loud, all together, during worship at Kerrville First United Methodist Church.

As we begin a new year, Pastor David invites us to reflect on this covenant prayer and guides us to consider what the Jesus-way of life looks like, and what is required of us as we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

It is a practical description of what Jesus was talking about when he said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23)

The Wesley Covenant Prayer describes missional life devoted to following Jesus and serving as Christ's representative in the world He loves and is working to redeem. It reminds us that being a Christian is more a way of life than a system of beliefs.

The Covenant Prayer describes the Jesus way of self-giving and self-emptying love. This way of living and loving is possible only in a community centered in the life and mission of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. This prayer reminds us who we are and whose we are.

Let us begin 2026 as Christ’s representatives in the world sharing His love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness with everyone God places on our path

Thank You Mercy Chefs!

We’re so thankful for our friends at Mercy Chefs, who are providing both perishable and non-perishable food for our community just in time for Thanksgiving!

Next week during Mustard Seed, we’ll be sharing all the food that Mercy Chefs has generously donated to us.

This year, through Light on a Hill, we’ve seen incredible impact — 402 volunteers have served over 3,000 hours, helping distribute 68,328 meals to our community.
“It is incredible to see what God has done in such a short time at the Beacon of Hope location at Light on the Hill. Thank you again for your partnership and all you are doing.”

-Sharalynn Lucero 
​​

Flood Relief Effort Information
kerrtogether.com

​Resources. Services. Support.
KerrKind.org (New Website!)

​

We’re grateful to be featured in a recent article highlighting the partnership between Light on the Hill and the San Antonio Food Bank, where nearly 36,000 pounds of food were distributed to families across the Hill Country.


We praise God for the hands and hearts in our ministry who continue to serve others with love and compassion.

Last Saturday volunteers from KFUMC, St John Lutheran Church in Boerne, and Firth Lutheran Church in Floresville worked together to correct drainage problems at a house that flooded on July 4th.

The St John’s Lutheran Church (Boerne) volunteers have been working with KFUMC’s Emergency Response Team regularly for six weeks, and last weekend they brought supplies for our ERT trailer!  


Thank you so much to the St John’s congregation for the tool belts, batteries, battery chargers, step ladder, and personal protection supplies.  We are so blessed to have the chance to meet and work with these servants! 

Donate warm clothes to help a neighbor this winter.

Dear Church Family,

​We are grateful that our Mustard Seed Food Pantry can help our neighbors throughout the year with food assistance, but especially during the most recent government shutdown. Thousands of families in Kerr County are affected by the suspension of SNAP benefits.

During the month of November, we will be collecting non-perishable food donations in the lobby area at Kerrville First United Methodist Church. Shopping baskets will be available for you to drop off your donations throughout the week and on Sunday mornings.

Some food items that are needed are canned chicken, canned chili, canned stew, macaroni and cheese boxes, canned spaghetti sauce, beans and rice.

If you want to give a monetary donation, please make your check out to KFUMC and put Mustard Seed in the memo or you can give electronically through the KFUMC website. Just go to GIVE, then click on Give Online and scroll on down to Mustard Seed Ministries.

Thank you for your generosity!

Beth Palmer

​Trunk or Treat was spooktacular! Between the cool trunks, creative costumes, and plenty of candy, our community came together for a night full of laughter, love, and a little spooky fun!

Thank you to all who helped make Trunk or Treat so super sweet!

Saturday was a day filled with fun at our Harvest Festival!

We loved spending time with our community this past weekend—playing games, dancing to DJ David, enjoying hayrides, getting our faces painted, sharing food, and so much more. What a wonderful way to celebrate the new season and spread the Lord’s love throughout our community.

A huge thank-you to everyone who helped make this event possible. What a truly blessed day of faith, fellowship, and friends!

River Trail Cleanup - UGRA.org
​UGRA is sponsoring a post-flood river trail and park cleanup on Nov 15 from 8 AM to 12 PM.

The KFUMC ERT is putting together a team to work on this project and we would love to have you participate. If you decide to join us, please register for the event, select Group A which covers Tranquility Island, and let Ray or David know. Thanks!

Each group has a limited number of slots so please register as soon as possible.

Ray: [email protected]
David: [email protected]