Praise and Prayer for May 22, 2010

Last week Saturday there were ten men, including church leaders, who met together for the Church Music workshop. The teachable spirit and the interest shown were an encouragement to Jonathan and Emmanuel. Sunday morning reflected some of the principles taught which the leader incorporated into a Christ-centered service.

Monday evening we received a call from Sylvie telling us that Emmanuel was quite sick and would need Jonathan to take the Tuesday evening Bible study. Praise the Lord for His help for Jonathan in preparing for the study. Emmanuel is now doing much better and is anticipating preaching tomorrow morning. Thursday evening we had tea with one of our families who recently moved. Friday was spent with a woman from our church who is suffering from bone cancer and going through a difficult time. She was such a blessing to us and to our children despite her pain, and we trust that we were an encouragement to her as well.

This week will be a bit traumatic for our family, as Jessica will be leaving on the 27th to return to Pennsylvania after three months with us. She has been such a huge help and encouragement to both our family and our ministry. It will be an adjustment for all of us, especially for the children, to no longer have Aunt Jessica as part of our family. We will certainly miss her and the huge asset that she has been to our ministry and to our family.

Praise for:
- a good Church Music Workshop last Saturday.
- healing for Emmanuel and for the opportunity Jonathan had to share the Bible Study on Tuesday evening.
- the opportunities the Lord is giving us to witness to some of our neighbors.
- Jessica and the time she has given to serve and become a part of our family.
- a nice visit with a family who has recently moved in our church.
- the gift of the Holy Spirit. Sunday the 23rd is Pentecost, a national holiday here in France.

Pray for:
- Jessica as the Lord continues to use her during these last days with us, and for His continued leading in her life.
- opportunities to witness and for prepared hearts.
- a sister in our church who is suffering and in need of encouragement and strength.
- Heidi Sisson, a CAR missionary with GBIM, who will be stopping by to spend next weekend with us on her way back to the USA.
- this final week of classes at the Bible Institute and for each of the students that will be graduating next Saturday.
- Emmanuel’s complete recovery and for this coming Sunday’s ministries, including the Young Adults who will be leading a special evening service with participation from sister area churches.
- guidance as to our future ministry.

Praise and Prayer for May 15, 2010

Today Jonathan is teaching an all-day Church Music workshop to a number of men including church leaders. Thank you for praying for him as he prepared for this workshop and worked to put together a PowerPoint presentation and notes, working both with his iMac and slightly outdated IBM laptop computers! We are praying for a good reception to what is taught and that these men will come away with tools to use in their preparation of Worship services.

God has been using Jessica Leslie in so many ways during her time here with us. On Tuesday night while Jonathan and I were at prayer meeting, Caleb asked Jessica to pray with him as he asked Jesus to open his heart and wash away his naughty things. We were thrilled the next day to hear him explain to us what Jesus had done for him both in words and in a picture he drew. Another way the Lord has used Jessica has been to encourage the young adults in our church. Last Saturday she attended their Bible study, and on Thursday she had afternoon tea with three other girls. Most of the young people have some knowledge of English, and enjoy the occasions to use it. Jessica is picking up some French as well. It is such a joy to see the love of God and the connection we have in Christ break down barriers such as different languages and cultures. How we praise God for how He is using Jessica.

Yesterday we took the day for an outing to take Jessica and an Australian student here for a semester to visit a French Castle, something we’ve been wanting to do before Jessica leaves us in a couple of weeks. We visited Pierrefonds, an impressive medieval castle as well as Compiegne, a palace used by French monarchs from Louis XV to Napoleon III and furnished with period furnishings depicting the royal splendor. It was a long and tiring day, but the Lord gave us protection and lots of fun together as a family. Palaces can be pretty impressive, and after what we saw, it’s pretty amazing to think that none of it comes close to what the Lord has in store for those who love Him!

Praise for:
- an encouraging time together last Sunday with a family from church.
- the opportunities Jessica has had to encourage the young people in our church.
- the opportunities Jonathan had on Tuesday to talk about the Lord to a neighbor and another student’s mother.
- an excellent Dr.’s report for Caleb. The doctor could not detect any wheezing for the first time in three years! It has been over two months now since his last asthma attack.

Pray for:
- good reception of the Church Music workshop with church leaders today and that principles and practices will be applied.
- Jessica as the Lord continues to use her during these last days with us, and for His continued leading in her life.
- continued growth in our Sango ministry outreach.
- guidance as to our future ministry.

Praise and Prayer for May 8, 2010

The big project this week has been re-doing the wallpaper in the hallway. It has needed doing since we moved in three years ago but we have never had the time to get it done. With Jessica here with us for only a precious few more weeks, we are taking advantage of the window in our schedule and her presence to get it done this week. Here we are at the end of the week, tired, sore and nearly at the end of the project! One of our couples from church that is also part of the Sango Outreach moved to a new apartment in town this week and we were able to help by watching their three-year-old son for the day. Caleb especially enjoyed the time with his friend.

Jonathan had an encouraging conversation with one of our neighbors this week. M. asked for information about our church and expressed interest in coming to one of our services. We look forward to seeing her there and pray she will come to know our Savior.

This Sunday Jonathan and I will both teach Sunday School. Sunday noon, Jessica and our family will be the dinner guests of one of the families from the church. Pray we will be an encouragement to this family. In the evening, we will have the Sango service and trust we will see some of the new contacts.

Praise for:
- the opportunity this week and the physical strength to get the hallway re-papered.
- a good six month check up for Josiah.
- good contact with our neighbor this week and for her interest in visiting our church.

Pray for:
- Jonathan as he prepares for the Church Music workshop with church leaders on May 15.
- opportunities to witness in our community and as Jonathan accompanies Adrianna’s class this Tuesday on a field trip to the Reims Planetarium.
- guidance as to our future ministry.
- M. to visit our church and that the Lord will open her heart to receive the Good News!

Praise and Prayer for May 2, 2010

Thank you for praying for us this week. The Ladies’ meeting was an encouraging time as over 20 ladies met in Laon, with seven of us coming from Reims. Cherith appreciated the fellowship with the women there and the Bible study was both edifying and challenging. On Sunday Jonathan preached both in the morning French service as well as in the evening Sango service. There were a number of people who told Jonathan after the message that they felt the message had been directed to them and met a particular need. Praise the Lord for the working of the Holy Spirit in hearts.

Saturday was our Sango outreach picnic. The Lord showed us our level of faith does not determine what He will do. The weathermen predicted rain and we didn’t really expect to see any other Central Africans than the ones who have been regularly attending. However, the Lord blessed us with beautiful weather and we needed six vehicles to drive the 30 of us out to a park just outside of Reims. A number of those who came were people we have not seen in nearly a year, and there were some that we have either never met or seen only once before. It was a good time of fellowship together and we pray that we will see each one again in our Sunday evening services. This morning, we met another young man from CAR who we also pray will return.

Praise for:
- time with Emmanuel on Wednesday to discuss the Church Music workshop that Jonathan will be doing on the 15th .
- Jessica and Cherith who were able to get a wall mural of Noah’s Ark made and put up in a Sunday School room this week.
- Jessica’s being here so that we could take a turn in cleaning the church.
- the great turnout for the Sango group picnic and all the new contacts that have been made.
- the four years the Lord has given Caleb and for his Birthday on April 25th.
- the three years of ministry in Reims that the Lord has given our family since our arrival on April 25, 2007.

Pray for:
- some of our contacts for the Sango outreach to return.
- Jonathan as he prepares messages and the Church Music workshop, that the Lord will use him to faithfully communicate truths from His Word.
- strength and good time management as we have a number of projects we need to accomplish at home this week.
- for guidance as to our future ministry.
- that the Lord will bring our important documents to light in the mail system wherever they are and that they would still be delivered safely.