
The past year has been a busy year for the Hoeksema Family. We have been so richly blessed by God in so many ways. We have been blessed in so many ways in our ministry as God continues to open doors and give us opportunities to encourage people in faith and proclaim the Gospel. Our family has grown as we welcomed in autumn 2019 our daughter Petra Grace. Petra is a historical name in Europe, used in German, Dutch, Hungarian and Slavic languages. It is the female version of Peter.
It was a blessing to spend time with family, friends and church family as 2019 drew to an end. It was a busy time for us as Eric worked on farms in North Carolina throughout the harvest season and into the winter and Stacey stayed home with Hans and Petra. We were very thankful for the employment opportunities. Towards the end of January, we spent time on the road traveling to and visiting churches and supporters. It was a blessing and pleasure to be able to see many of you.
We are also thankful that despite frequent travel this winter the entire family has remained healthy. Autumn months are also a time of checkups for Eric, as he sees his Cardiologist and Oncologist. We praise God that Eric’s heart has become stronger, and he remains cancer free with this past December marking 5 years since the last treatments.
We returned to Transcarpathia, Ukraine in the latter half of February. We returned about six weeks later this year due to the birth of our daughter Petra Grace in September. It was wonderful to be back in our home community of Peterfalva once again. We settled in and adjusted back to life in Ukraine. Our weekly Bible study began, we were about to start English lessons, and we were planning in earnest for our two Bible retreat weekends this spring, then everything changed due to the coronavirus. Much has changed for us and our ministry in the past few weeks. And there is much uncertainty as we look ahead. I am sure this is true for you too as we continue to see the widespread effects of the Corona Virus.
In the past year in the busyness of life we have not kept up our website very well. We hope during the slower life we find ourselves in during quarantine to update our website and do a better job moving forward at keeping it update and current.
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