Christmas caroling can be heard everywhere. Can we fully comprehend the coming of God to earth in the form of baby Jesus? On December 19, the little choir we are a part of sang the Negro spiritual “He Come from the Glory” at our Gateway Community Church (a.m.) and at the community service (p.m.); and on Christmas Eve we sang the cantata “He is Born” in the two services of our church.
Many of you had a part in seeing our children grow up, so we want to include their pictures. How grateful we are that we could house-sit in Niverville, next to
Deedee and Greg and their 3 teens, for the past two winters. Our oldest grandson,
Connor, is studying at the Torchbearers in Capernway, England. Now, during the holidays, he is visiting Hardy’s nieces and nephews and their families in Germany… and in those weather conditions!
Scott and Daralee are constantly on the go
with their 6 children. They are an outdoors family. Hardy went ice-fishing twice with them recently.
We happily share
Delanie’s great news of her
engagement to a wonderful Englishman. She and
Max are busily planning their wedding for August 20, 2011, in Kandern, Germany.
Our 10th grandchild,
Finlay, will be 2 years old in January.
Dorina and Dion have a landscaping and snow removal business which includes the Waterloo-Kitchener Airport. Dion is much in demand these days, sometimes working up to 48 hours around the clock.
An unforgettable experience this past August was touring with the
Jubilance Singers and Orchestra through Switzerland and Germany, with a brief detour to Strasbourg, France. Hardy translated and Irene sang in the choir (see
http://www.jubilance.ca/).
Frequently, we are asked if we are going to
Micronesia again. As you may recall, we were teaching in the
Pacific Islands Bible School on Weno, Chuuk. The larger Bible school with dorms was on the island of Tol and could only be reached by boat. These colleges, as well as the main college in Guam, were up for accreditation renewal. However, the island colleges could not pass the standard and would thereby have hindered Guam. They were temporarily dropped and a rift took place. The dorm college has continued without financial assistance as
Faithwalk Christian College. The college in
Guam is now
Pacific Islands University (see
http://piu.edu/). We are so happy to continue to have many contacts with our former students. Please keep the schools and students in your prayers.
Accreditation makes it possible for the students to get a Pell Grant from the States. Chuukese students are still going to Guam for further education. However, they need to pass a TOEFL test. English teachers are needed.
So, are we going to Micronesia again? Well, we just received an invitation from the PIU on Guam to go and teach on the island of Yap this coming spring semester. We are willing; and if all the bureaucracy (visas, medical, airline tickets, course preparation, finances etc.) works out, we should be on our way - probably for 3 months at the most. Please pray with us for the Lord to guide us in all these matters!
Snow is softly falling and the temperature is -30 °C according to the Weathernet on the computer, but we are “snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug” in our apartment on the 3rd floor of Happy Creek Estates (with a view of the Rockies). The forest where we can go for hikes is almost at our doorstep. We are one block from Hwy 16 (the Yellowhead). Look for the huge Canadian flag at the Husky gas station; we are right behind it. Give us a call (see below), we can meet you or you come here. It would be nice to see you.
Thank you for your Christmas cards, letters, and emails!
Always grateful to the many who have encouraged us through prayer and in numerous kindnesses these many years, we commend you to Jesus our faithful Lord.
May His peace and joy be yours at this Christmastime and throughout 2011!
Hardy and Irene Sunderwald
Hinton AB, T7V 0B5 - CANADA
E-mail: sunderwald@yahoo.com
We have been helping them to prepare for their big day on 20th of August. Last weekend we learned a few dance steps. I hadn't waltzed since I was 18 in Bremen! 
Irene has 10 students in her English class (Mon.-Fri, 10:00 to 11:15 AM), and still more are interested, mainly because she offers preparation for the TOEFL-test (to be taken at the end of April), necessary for college and university entrance. Interestingly, she has two young students from mainland China in her class. The girl was very interested in reading through the children’s Picture Bible to learn more about Christianity. Irene is really energized while teaching, giving it her all. She gave the students one test already.
Hardy has 15 students so far, with only 4 guys of college age; the others are all older. He teaches Mon., Wed., and Fri., 6:00 to 7:15 PM. The days in between he needs for class preparation, as he can’t teach the original 3-credit course for free. He also needs to prepare for other engagements, such as preaching and giving special seminars. He has been asked by the elders of the church to present a seminar on forgiveness and reconciliation on 
Last Sunday (March 13), Mark, our former students from Guam, took us to his village to observe a Yapese bamboo dance – a stylized depiction of ancient battles; very colourful. Mark gave Hardy one of those baskets, woven of coconut leaves, and carried by the men. They call it their "little household", containing money, license, Kleenex, keys, screwdriver, beetle nuts and other paraphernalia. For us, it is a strange sight as it looks just like a lady’s handbag. When they go through a village they have to carry something in their hands; it indicates peaceful intentions, with no mischief in mind. 
We have now lived in the church’s guest apartment for a week (cold showers only!). The stairs up to our house have 26 steps up from the street – for good exercise, although we also try to walk around the lagoon (1 mile) at least once a day. 
We’ll keep you informed of further developments. In the meantime, let’s keep looking to the Lord for His faithful blessings in our lives! 
Many of you had a part in seeing our children grow up, so we want to include their pictures. How grateful we are that we could house-sit in Niverville, next to Deedee and Greg and their 3 teens, for the past two winters. Our oldest grandson, Connor, is studying at the Torchbearers in Capernway, England. Now, during the holidays, he is visiting Hardy’s nieces and nephews and their families in Germany… and in those weather conditions!
Scott and Daralee are constantly on the go with their 6 children. They are an outdoors family. Hardy went ice-fishing twice with them recently.
We happily share Delanie’s great news of her engagement to a wonderful Englishman. She and Max are busily planning their wedding for August 20, 2011, in Kandern, Germany.
Our 10th grandchild, Finlay, will be 2 years old in January. Dorina and Dion have a landscaping and snow removal business which includes the Waterloo-Kitchener Airport. Dion is much in demand these days, sometimes working up to 48 hours around the clock.
Would you believe it? The Sunderwalds are presently in Europe! It happened quite suddenly. On Tuesday, August 10, we received a phone call from the Liebenzell Mission in Canada. On Wednesday we drove five hours to Calgary, stayed there overnight with friends and were already in the air - from Calgary to London - on Thursday.
While Irene joined the choir, Hardy was not only interpreting but also preaching in the open air and giving devotionals. Irene was also asked to put together a program part for the children that would attend the open air performance in Hamburg. She wrote a script about The Prodigal Son for some Jubilance members to act out. Needless to say, it was enjoyed by kids and adults alike!
This picture is of my first rugby game. It was a charity match played by my soon-to-be son-in-law for Twickenham (in red and black) versus Egham (in green). The teams got together in order to raise money for one of the Egham team members whose son has leukemia. "Ts" won by six points!
