There once was a man who lived in a remote village. He owned a beautiful horse. All the villagers thought how lucky he was to be the owner of such a beautiful horse and would often visit him and say, "How lucky you are to have such a horse, you must be a happy man."

"Perhaps" the man would say, "Perhaps, but what seems like a blessing may be a curse." Well, the other villagers thought it was a crazy thing for him to say given his obvious good fortune. Until one day, the horse broke out of its corral and got away, gone forever. "What a terrible thing that has happened to you," said the villagers to the man, "How unlucky you are."

"Perhaps" said the man, "But what seems like a curse may be a blessing." Well, the villagers thought the man was truly mad, until one day the horse returned bringing with it a while herd of wild horses, which by the law of the land now belonged to the man. "What good fortune has befallen you," said the vilalgers. "How lucky you are to have all these horses."

"Perhaps" said the man, "But what seems like a blessing may be a curse." The villagers talked among themselves and decided that the man must have lost his mind, until one day, when the man's only son was riding one to the new stallions, fell off and broke his leg.

"Oh, what terrible luck," said the villagers, "If only you had never seen those horses." "Perhaps" said the man, "But what seems like a curse may be a blessing."

The villagers could not understand how the man could say such a thing, until one day, the king of the land came riding through the village and drafted every able bodies young man to go to fight a terrible war in the north, and all the young men were killed. Except the man's son, who had broken his leg and could not go to war. And so to this day, in the village, the people still say,"What seems like a blessing may be a curse and what seems like a curse, may be a blessing."

Weeding out curses from blessings is something that we Terrys have been particularly challenged to give up in the year 2001. Was being asked to leave Afghanistan two weeks before September 11 a blessing or a curse? Was losing all of our home belongings to Taliban confiscation, only to have them gathered again by our Afghan friends and put back in our house for safe keeping a blessing or curse? Was being forced to leave our work and friends in Afghanistan and return briefly to the US to spend time together as a family, for the first time in two years a blessing or a curse? We still cannot answer those questions, but what has become more evident to us now is that our Lord is sovereign and is working for the great Good of us all.

We write to you just as we are about to return to Afghanistan. We have been invited to return to our work there. What and who we will find when we return we cannot say. We know that our friends and colleagues are waiting for us to return. They have been carrying on, in the midst of the turmoil, the mother and child health work and the food for work community based development work that we were involved in before we left. The opportunities for new partnerships are great and we anticipate becoming involved in the joint efforts of peach and reconstruction of this beautiful country.

We are especially grateful for our partners in Florida, all of you who faithfully pray for us and pray for this country and these people here. Together we strive to be a part of that element in this world that takes every opportunity to turn things that seems like crippling curses into rejuvenating and life giving blessing. Now, perhaps in a way more poignant then we have seen before, the opportunities to bring hope to Afghanistan are at hand as we seek to engage local people and tap into their great resources that have helped them survive in the face of impossible odds.

As Dan and Seija return to Kabul in the next weeks, Saara returns to her final semester of high school in India. Anneli, who is a sophomore at Macalester College in St. Paul, is going to be participating in an internship at Woodstock school for a semester as well. Hilja, the eldest of the Terry girls, has just accepted a new job as the coordinator for an organization that will be partnering with Dan and Seija and their colleagues in Afghanistan. She is in the process of applying to medical school.

Again, our warm Salaams, wishes of peace to each and every one of you, especially for this New Year. May the blessings of our Great Lord be abundant, and may He give us all the eyes to see them, even in the most unlikely moments and places. Thank you for your willingness to partner with us.

Dan, Seija, Anneli, Hilja and Saara