Well, those of you who are regular visitors to my website probably wondered what cliff I fell off of. I was always encouraged when some would say, "You need to update your blog!" Well, here's to a start of a new year, new website, new blog! Of course, the old stories will still be on there but the new website will now host all the entries. It is under construction right now but should be up soon. As a good sum up, I decided that this entry will be our 2008 catch up letter. Stay tuned for more to come.

2008 was probably the most difficult year the Hoffland family has had to date. There were a number of trials that we didn’t see coming but as darker the storms are, God’s light seems to shine even brighter.

HOME: TRIALS AND PRAISES

1. As many of you know, our eldest son, David (10) is on the autistic spectrum along with having some Obsessive Compulsive disorders. He is a very creative, delightful child but for most of 2008 he had fallen into a black hole in his mind which left him terrified and, for the most part, non-functional. After many very intense battles, mentally physically and spiritually, we are on the upswing and David is back! We are so thankful for the Camp Forest Springs staff and the folks of Woodland Community Church for their love and support and for those of you who prayed for us throughout the year.

2. One early morning in January at about 2:30 AM Tarah and I woke up to find smoke in our house. We found out it was our 40 year old furnace that was dying a slow death. We nursed it for a few more weeks until it finally died right before the coldest weekend last winter. The local heating and cooling guy was able to have a new steam unit installed the next day and God eventually provided the money for to pay for it.

3. I was on the road one weekend in February ministering in Iowa and western Wisconsin when I received a call from my wife one evening that the sewer had backed up into the basement. Some of the staff men came over with a snake to try to fix it with no avail. The same day our youngest daughter, Leah, was being admitted into the hospital for pneumonia. The sewer pipes got fixed and so did my daughter.

4. This Fall, our garage door split in two. (Fiberglass door) Again God provided the funds and a friend to help me install a new one.

5. This summer, our 3 oldest kids played on the same T-Ball team in Rib Lake. They had a winning record!
6. David and Johnny both attended Youth Camp this summer at Camp Forest Springs. They had a great time.

7. I am thankful for my wife who continues to take on the challenge of schooling our children from home. This year Johnny and David have started doing the Virtual Academy which is a charter school based out of Medford, WI. They still school at home but they do certain things on-line and take their tests at a different location. It has really been a great option and has helped out Tarah a lot.


MINISTRY:

MINISTRY ON THE ROAD:

I had many great opportunities for ministry this year throughout the Midwest. I had 26 programs at the following locations (concerts and speaking).

Curits, IA- speaking and music
Whitehall, WI- concert
Chilton, WI- concert
Wisconsin Rapids, WI- concert
Rochester, MN- concert
Embarrass, MN- concert
Eau Claire, WI- speaking
Platteville, WI- concert/worship leading
Grandview, IA- speaking and music
Medford, WI- concert
Mason, WI- concert
Iron Mountain, MI- concert/speaking
St. Louis, MO- Family Camp speaker and worship leader
Grand Rapids, MN- Youth Retreat Speaker/worship leader
Hogarty, WI- concert

MINISTRY AT CAMP FOREST SPRINGS:
Winter Family Camp- worship leader
Ladies Retreat- worship leader
TAKE 7- worship leader
Junior High Camp – speaker and worship leader
SUPERhigh- worship leader
9 Family Camps- worship leader
Ladies Day-worship leader
Colorama (Sr. Citizens)- worship leader
Pastor’s Retreat- worship leader
Dinner Theatre- writer, director, actor
Wintertainment- worship leader

The Dinner Theatre Outreach that is listed above has become a more greater and challenging endeavor than I could have ever imagined. The philosophy of the Dinner Theatre was to use Camp’s environment and provide an attractive program to share the Gospel to those in our local community and to improve the relationship between Camp and the community. After doing the same program for 2 years in a row, the Camp staff felt it needful to do a new one. I took it upon myself to write it and I started the process in March. The concept was the relationship between light and dark using the way we put up lights at Christmas to ward off the darkness as a platform. The task was daunting and took many more hours than I had planned, but God’s hand was on it and He brought many along side to help execute it. He also taught us many important truths throughout the journey including not being afraid of the darkness. We used the title, “The Light Before Christmas.” We were surprisingly sold out a week before Thanksgiving and we added one more showing. Many of the people that came were folks that I had never seen before. It was very rewarding to have many people say that it would be a yearly tradition for them to come. I am hoping to publish it this year. The end of the program included a glowing manger while I sang a song I wrote for the production. As people left, we handed everyone a free CD copy of the song as a farewell. Tarah and I felt led to include a copy of it along with this letter to hopefully minister to you and to thank you for all that you do for us.

Another note of interest is that I have started the process of recording a new CD project. I have hired an arranger and I am praying and hoping to have it done by next summer.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. I have a 1998 SUV that I use for traveling with my equipment that has been a huge blessing. It was a donation to me a few years ago at just the right time. The 4 wheel drive has gotten me out of some very bad weather situations. However, it is close to crossing 200 thousand miles and is starting to show it’s age. I am praying that God will, in His time, provide another vehicle to do the ministry I need to do.
2. Continue to pray for wisdom as we try to help our son, David.
3. Pray for all of our kids that they may all be saved and continue to grow in Christ.
4. Pray for wisdom and guidance as I write another Dinner Theatre program for next year.
5. Pray that Tarah can be encouraged as she schools the children.
6. Pray for the provided funds to finish the CD by June.