 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 Mustard Seed Unpaid Servants Serve Our Neighbors Weekly! Come Join Us! Serve and share the love of God with our community! Q1 2026 Food Relief & Pantry Dates  A story shared by author Jimmy Dodd… On March 26, 2024, at 1:28 a.m. the India-based container ship Dali lost power and subsequently struck one of the piers of the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse into the Patapsco River in Baltimore. Tragically, six members of a highway maintenance crew lost their lives. The collapse blocked shipping into the Port of Baltimore impacting more than 8,000 jobs. A question the following day brought a surprising response. A reporter asked, “Why weren’t tugboats used to escort all ships through the harbor?” The answer was, “While tugboats could have prevented the disaster, they were cost prohibitive.” I remember taking a leisurely ride on an evening water taxi though an Atlantic Ocean harbor with my wife. The taxi was a relatively inexpensive way to spend some extended time on the water. As we journeyed through the harbor, we watched with skepticism as a massive ship attempted to turn itself to neatly fit into its designated dock slip. And then, out of nowhere, a tugboat approached the stern of the ship while another approached the stern from the opposite side. As they neared the ship, they increased their speed. Wham! The lead tugboat hit the ship at full speed. It retreated and then repeatedly struck the ship five or six times before we began to see the result. Amazingly, the mammoth ship began to turn. After several minutes of consistent collisions, the ship was safely in dock. As the tugboat steamed to help another ship exiting the port, I was able to make out the name that adorned it’s back. Faithful. A tugboat called Faithful. Experts said that even when a 900-foot cargo ship loses power, even a small number of tugboats would possess the necessary power to safely maneuver it out of the harbor. When the Dali lost power, it could have greatly benefited from a tugboat like Faithful. As followers of Christ, we need tugboats in our lives. We need colleagues, friends, bosses, mentors, teachers, coaches, counselors, spiritual guides and family members to help us when they see us drifting (a gentle nudge) or going the wrong direction (a significant push). We all need faithful friends in our lives to guide us through the challenging harbors of life. We were not created by the Lord to navigate life alone. We were created for community. Connection is our God-given DNA. We need one another. When we convince themselves that we no longer need voices in our lives to guide us through dangerous harbors, a catastrophe is inevitable. We need faithful tugboats to guide us in our darkest hours, and to help us navigate life. I am grateful for the people in my life that help me on this journey and I consider it a privilege to be there for others. Who are the “tugboats” in your life? Who are you a “tugboat” for as we all do life together? May the Lord continue to guide and bless us.
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Light on the Hill at Mount Wesley is a Texas nonprofit corporation recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Federal Tax ID: 83-3263624).
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