15 December 2025
Dear Friends and Family,
We trust that you had a blessed Thanksgiving! We certainly enjoyed the day spent with family! We have so much to be thankful for, and at the top of the list are supporters like you, along with our family! Your partnership in the Gospel through generous giving and effectual, fervent prayers for us have availed much (cf. James 5:16 KJV) over the past 40 years!
In addition to the time with kids and grandkids at Thanksgiving, on December 4th, I was surprised, which is a gross understatement, to hear the doorbell and then see my brother, Norman, and his family from Texas standing there. “How could they be standing there, and I did not know they were coming?!” Mary Jo, our daughter, Christina, and our son, Brian, knew, but not me! So, we began to enjoy a wonderful time with Norman, Jeana, Ashley and Jason! On Saturday afternoon, Brian suggested that the guys go to a woodworking hardware store, and I suspected nothing, as I had gone there several times with him before. Upon returning, I opened the front door to discover friends and family who were there to help us celebrate our upcoming retirement. There were 32 people all together! My mouth fell open again in disbelief! It was certainly a fun time with the group that came, complete with a video of our 40 year ministry as represented by a compilation of old pictures that Mary Jo sent to our nephew, Jason, for him to digitize. A few short video messages were also received from friends and colleagues in Brazil! Our daughter coordinated the event, and I am very grateful for her hard work and the cooperation of all of the others who helped, as well as all who were able to come be a part!
In October, we made you aware of a needed adjustment to our retirement plans/date, i.e., extending the date two months to December 31st, due to the possibility of a new policy under consideration by our mission board. This policy has been approved and gone into effect, allowing the supporters of Be One Together missionaries to continue supporting their missionaries in retirement, should they so desire. Therefore, it seems to us that there are essentially three options for you:
- Bring to an end your financial support of our family effective January 1, 2026.
- Ask Be One Together for help in how to continue your commitment to missions and world evangelism by selecting another missionary or by supporting the mission itself, which provides important services to many missionaries.
- Continue to support us financially as we begin our retirement, which is allowed by the new policy recently implemented by Be One Together, for an amount, period of time and frequency determined by you. As we shared in our last update, one supporter had inquired about the possibility and on the heels of that question came the news that such a possibility was under consideration. Then, a second supporter inquired about this, too. We hadn’t anticipated any of this, but it has now become a viable option. It causes us pause and makes us wonder if the Lord knows of some expenses that we are as yet unaware of but need to be prepared for. At any rate, the option is there, if it is of interest to you.
By suggesting that you have three options, we are merely trying to provide you with information. You are in the best position to determine your options. We fully trust the Lord to lead you in this, as well as to continue to provide for us, just as He has throughout the last 40 years! For years we have been preparing in the usual ways for this new chapter, as the Lord made resources available to set aside in retirement accounts. Now, the time has come to begin using the funds, instead of trying to grow them. This “shift” makes one stop, think and pray! Please pray with/for us and for the Lord to guide any that may be praying about continuing to support us.
Whatever your decision, know that we will remain eternally grateful for your faithful partnership! Words are not adequate to express our love and appreciation!! And, we will count on your continued prayer support for us, for the ministry of Evangelism Explosion-Brazil and for our mission board, Be One Together.
As 2025 wraps-up, allow us to briefly share a few more things:
- In 2025, EE-Brazil was able to conduct thirty-five church training events, workshops and training clinics, with a total of 800 participants. That is twelve more events than in 2024. Praise the Lord!
- If you plan to give to our support during December, please keep the following in mind:
- To donate, please go to our secure online giving portal by clicking below where you see #Online Giving.
- You may also mail a check to the address shown below.
- Remember that we receive 100% of your support gifts.
- Everyone participating as the Lord directs means that what is needed will be provided. He has always been faithful to multiply those resources!
This Christmas, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
With hearts filled with gratitude, we wish you a very Merry Christmas,
Robert & Mary Jo Foster,
Missionaries with Be One Together, Serving Evangelism Explosion-Brazil
* Atualidades a Portuguese word that means news or up to date information. We want you to have the latest information in order to support us in prayer, as well as financially when the Lord leads/enables. Thank you!
#Online Giving Click on “#Online Giving” to the left to be taken to the Be One Together giving portal & website. You may also mail your designated check (“Foster Support” on the memo line) to: Be One Together, Inc. P.O. Box 112 Hiram, GA 30141