Dear Friends

There is one sound here in the Congo that I will never forget. It is the sound that the mama’s make sometimes in church andother times when a group of them are escorting a mother and her new baby home from the hospital. You know how in the old cowboy and Indians movies when the Indians came charging down the hill and they are whooping it up with their war cries? Well that comes the closest to describing this burst of noise the mama’s make when they are filled with joy. And if one is ever privileged to be sitting beside one of them in church when they make this ear piercing sound, one will be temporarily deaf for a while -- that’s how it is.
If I could record that sound for you I would; so I could send it to you all. Why? Because that is how excited Mark and I were to hear about the fantastic job the Great Rivers Region  did regarding the World Mission Offering. God used you all in a mighty way. Do you realize your offering this year was 44.82% more than last years? It is hard to believe this news, but its true. Its so incredible. So trill up your tongues and whoop it up in church this week to celebrate this thing that the Lord has helped you accomplish!
International Ministries made a plea last summer that the World Mission Offering this fall needed a 36% increase over last year to enable all IM missionaries to remain in the field. You went above and beyond that goal. Thank you Great Rivers Region for your commitment and passion for missions around the world.
Preliminary numbers show that WMO is up $532,034 from last year or 12.67%. There are still 14 regions who are pending for the month of December, so this final percentage may still go up. IM Board, staff and missionaries are very encouraged by the extraordinary efforts of churches and individual throughout ABC who accepted the challenge to Show the World Your Faith through sacrificial giving to International Ministries in 2004.
Again, Thank-you, from the bottom of our hearts---and from the back of our throats.
Your missionaries to the D.R. of Congo,

Mark and Sandy Jo Thompson