Praise and Prayer May 24, 2012

We are thankful for the Lord’s help as the weeks are full and seem to go by so quickly.  His provision of health and strength to meet opportunities of service and challenges of life are evident and we are thankful to Him and to you who pray for us.  I will try to summarize (never my strong point!) here some of what we have been involved in here and how God is working.

A couple Sundays ago, Cherith, Adrianna and I all shared our testimonies to join the church for the time the Lord has for us here.  Several other visitors have come through the church doors and a few have even returned several times.  Among them is a young lady of Central African origin who has come with her six-year-old son several times.  She has many questions and is hungry for spiritual truth.  Her son along with another 2-year-old child, have been a welcome addition in Junior Church.  As the attendance of children between 2 and 11 grows, our request that the Lord will provide more help for Junior Church becomes more urgent.  As the only teachers at this time, we take turns teaching unless I am involved in teaching or preaching downstairs with the adults.  In those cases, Cherith takes my turn upstairs. 

We are enjoying serving the Lord alongside Pastor Christian and his wife in the downtown church.  This weekend their family will be attending an annual retreat a couple hours away, so I will lead the Bible study and preach in the service.  The following week, Christian will be travelling by train to Algrange for the graduation ceremonies at the Bible Institute there.  He will be speaking at graduation.  Although we would love to be there for graduation this year (it will be the first one we will miss since we arrived in France five years ago), it is crucial that Christian be there to speak, especially as one of the graduates is from the church here.  Our presence here makes it possible for him to be there. 

Praise for:

- the visitors that have returned and for new children in Sunday School.

- opportunities to serve God in the church here as well as in the Merignac Bible study.

- the arrival this weekend of the Musical Mission Team from Bob Jones University for the European concert tour, and for the two concerts that they will be giving in two of our Bordeaux churches. 

- God’s provision of a small minivan with 7 seats.  We were able to purchase the vehicle outright with funds we had set aside from the sale of our last furlough vehicle in 2006 and funds that we have been setting aside over the past five years.

- the safe arrival in Cambodia of Cherith’s parents and Aunt Sue.

- the good progress the children have made in school, and for grace to keep up with the demanding school schedule along with ministry.

Pray for:

- the two concerts this weekend and that the Lord will bring out a good number of the folks that have been invited, including some of our neighbors.

- our family to be a blessing to the three of the BJU group that we will be hosting this weekend.  They are our first overnight guests in our new home.

- our full ministry these next two weekends as Pastor Christian will be away, for guidance, for adequate prep time despite an active, energetic household and for receptive hearts to the Word of God.

- God’s help for Adrianna and Caleb as it has been particularly hard for them to be far from their friends in Reims and family. 

- Jonathan as he will be having hernia surgery June 22.