2006 Family Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

"I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." So proclaimed the angel to the shepherds on the night of the birth of Jesus. As we reflect on this season, we are again thankful for the "good tidings" - the good news of God's gift of Jesus Christ to pay the price of our sins.

2006 has been a busy year for the Sansone family, but we are thankful for what God is doing in and through us and we are thankful to family and friends who support us, pray for us and love us.

On the family front, Josiah turned 10 in November and is in 4th grade, Christina turned 7 in April and is in 2ndgrade, and Rebekah turned two last January and is growing like a weed. (We won't bother to mention how old Missy and Frank are, but will hint that Missy will be having a new first digit next year that many would use to indicate she is no longer young.)

We are thankful for our children and enjoy watching them grow and learn - although we wish there was a way to slow down the process at times. It is hard to believe how quickly the time flies. Josiah and Christina are taking piano lessons - and Chrissy tries to teach Daddy what she has learned. Josiah has been playing soccer this year and Daddy has been his coach. We had a good outdoor season (we finished 8-4 and Josiah led the team in assists) and we are three games into our indoor season.

Missy is still working as a labor and delivery nurse at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury. She has also learned how to quilt and is working on her first quilt. In addition to serving as Pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church, Frank enjoys coaching Josiah and working on things on the computer. He has a personal blog (http://athinkingmansthoughts.blogspot.com) that he posts on regularly and a Pastoral blog for our church and a blog called Soccer Scribbles that he maintains for the soccer team. He also wrote an article on The Da Vinci Code that got published as an FFBC Spotlight article and distributed to many churches around the country.

On the ministry front, this has been a very busy year. In the beginning of the year, we were able to purchase a building and move out of our location next to the Red Door Sub Shop. In April, we celebrated God's provision for a new building with our Building Dedication Service. We also changed our name from Messiah Baptist Fellowship to Fellowship Baptist Church and began many new adventures, including our first Father-Son Camp Out, our first Vacation Bible School, Baptisms down at the Nanticoke River, and our first Youth Activities. In October, we began Sunday School and God has been working greatly through the Sunday School ministry.

In November, Frank's Mom was very sick and in ICU in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. God preserved her in a situation where both the heart and lung doctors thought she would not make it. I know that many of you prayed for her during this time, and we greatly appreciate your prayers for Frank's Mom. While the visit to Illinois was not for a fun purpose, Frank did enjoy seeing some family members that he has not seen in a long time.

As we celebrated the birth of our Savior, we rejoice in God's goodness to us for another year and look forward to what God is going to do in and through us in the next year. We pray that this year and this season has been a time of blessing and reflection upon the King of Kings. May God grant you a prosperous new year, as well.

In Christ,


Pastor Frank and Missy Sansone
Josiah, Christina, and Rebekah