Merry Christmas from the Bashoor's of California!
What a year 2023 has been! Full of ministry, teaching and homeschooling, amazing trips, and a busy Fall schedule.
MEMORABLE TRIPS
Two of the great highlights of our year were some extended family trips we were blessed to take. The first trip was in early June when we flew to Montana for a family gathering. John (Scott's bro.) and his wife, Terri, and their son, Zack, invited all the Bashoor brothers' families to Zach's home in Montana for a meetup. Beforehand we toured Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and saw amazing wildlife. In Montana, Zach was a great host, showing us around some great sites. Rebekah got to drive a quad for the first time, and Hannah almost got to see a moose. The deer, antelope, bison, elk, and bears would have to suffice. Scott scored a new western hat, and Heidi got to enjoy some real down time. After our time in Montana, we caravaned with John and Terri to spend a few days at their home near Spokane. All in all, we visited 4 states and even got to spend 4 hours in Canada. Not bad, eh?
Our next trip spanned late July and early August. Scott was invited to present a week of lectures at the Fiji Bible College which is led by our dear friend, Premend Choy. This was Scott's third ministry trip to Fiji, Heidi's second, and the girls' first. In addition to interacting with students, we were able to minister in a couple churches. Scott preached to two congregations, Heidi held a discipleship time for key for ladies, and she and the girls helped to run a children's outreach for the village church plant. Our friends, the Choys, were very gracious hosts, taking us to see many ministry locations as well as fun points of interest. We stayed for a week in the flats at the Bible college, and had several nights in some hotels as we drove around the perimeter of the main island. (Thanks to potholes, that journey of 290 miles takes over 9 hours!) At the end of our stay, we were blessed by a gift that enabled to stay on an outer island for a few nights. What an unforgettable place. In addition to the beautiful scenery, we visited the nearest village (a 25 minute walk over the ridge to the other shore). It was a somewhat primitive place, but the people were very friendly. And we were encouraged to learn that the village chief is a graduate of Fiji Bible College and that a current villager is currently a student there, too. What a small world. While were gone, Charlene, the Choy's daughter who stays with us as she's going through college, took great care of our dog, cats, and chickens.
One treat that Rebekah had with Heidi as a getaway to celebrate her 13th birthday. She chose to go to Catalina Island where she and Heidi enjoyed a few days of reading, drawing, and resting. It was great mother-daughter time.
THE DAILY GRIND
Most of the rest of the year was full of day-to-day work, ministry, and school. In November, Scott marked his 24th year of pastoral ministry. He's been preaching through the books of Samuel and the Psalms at Community Bible Church where he co-pastors, and he's working on another book of Bible charts. He continues to teach courses at The Master's Seminary and online for The Master's University.
Heidi is extremely busy helping in ministry, homeschooling the girls, and tutoring in our homeschool co-op, Classical Conversations, where she teaches weekly classes in Latin, pre-algebra, geometry, logic, and science for junior-highers. Rebekah is in Heidi's sessions and is learning a lot. Hannah's been making good strides in composition and rhetoric. In the Spring she gave a major first-person portrayal on "Lady Jane Grey" for her "Faces of History" presentation. For music studies, the girls go to weekly rehearsals with Orange Coast Musical Arts. This year the marching band played in several parades, the most notable being the annual Seal Beach Christmas Parade. At Christmas, all four Bashoor's played instruments together in our church Christmas concert. Two flutes, a violin, and a trombone sounded out "Carol of the Bells."
This newsletter will be update further. Check back again later :)
