Praise and Prayer for October 25, 2010

We praise the Lord for the way He continues to work in our lives and in the lives of others around us. Thank you for praying for Adrianna’s ear infection. Her fever finally broke on Wednesday and she was able to go back to school on Thursday. Her congestion hung on for a few more days, but now seems to be gone. It seems her only remaining system is a reduced level of hearing. We have an appointment for her to see our family doctor tomorrow to check out her ears.

On Tuesday evening, the Lord answered prayer as I led the Bible study and I felt that the Lord helped me to share with liberty, even without great limitation with the language. There were 18 present and one young man shared that on Monday, he had trusted Christ as his Savior. He asked for prayer for guidance in sharing the news with his unsaved family. Then on Saturday, Cherith and I (along with Josiah) attended an 8-hour training seminar as one of the requirements for our residency papers. There were 18 others taking the training as well, and each of us were asked what we did for a living. A young lady approached me during a break to ask for more information about our church, which we happily shared. She said that she would be in church Sunday with her aunt. Sure enough, on Sunday morning she came in with both her mom and her aunt who is visiting from Africa. She is very interested in coming back and we pray that she will. We were happy to meet the woman who had called on Monday as well and to hear of her desire to return.

France has been exper-iencing a lot of demon-strations and strikes due to decisions the government is making regarding retirement. We are so thankful for God’s provision for us and for His protection. We have not experienced too much inconvenience other than long lines at the gas station and even closed gas stations.

Praise for:
- the work the Lord is doing in the hearts of people here in Reims.
- the young man who trusted Christ as his Savior this past week.
- the contact made with a new family at the required training seminar on Saturday and for their presence in church on Sunday morning.
- Adrianna’s improved health.
- God’s blessing of the Bible study on Tuesday evening.

Pray for:
- the discipleship of new believers and for at least one baptism scheduled for November 14.
- the first time visitors to return this Sunday and to keep coming.
- us as we start up the Christmas choir and begin preparing for the Christmas program on December 12.
- order to return after all of the demonstrations, and that vandalism would stop.
- the Ladies Tea coming up on November 7.

Praise and Prayer for October 18, 2010

Thank you to each one who prayed for our special outreach on Sunday with the showing of the Jesus film. The rest of the invitations were given out during the week, including more than 20 of our acquaintances from the neighborhood and the children’s schools. Special prayer meetings were held on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for Sunday’s outreach. Much work went into preparing the hall on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and by 4 p.m., chairs were set, projector, dvd player and sound system were all checked, coffee was perking, baked goodies covered three tables, special guests from our sister church in Chalons were set up with keyboard, two violins and a guitar to provide beautiful music as people entered, and the welcome crew was ready at the door, waiting for the crowds to begin flowing inside. While I can’t honestly say the numbers were staggering, we must say that we did see God at work. The crowd that gathered barely topped 60, with perhaps around 50 from the churches. In that number, however, were a couple that have yet to accept Christ. Invited guests were around 10, and none of those we’d invited had come. We were thankful that the guests who were there had good opportunities to speak with church members and leaders.

One of the most encour-aging parts of the event was the way so many individuals in the church came together to serve happily in this endeavor. We believe Christ was glorified yesterday, and we continue to pray for fruit. Those 10,000 invitations that were distributed throughout the city of Reims bore a witness to Christ and included contact information and the church website. Just today, I received a call from a woman who had heard about our church and was interested in coming to our services.

Another very specific answer to prayer and witness to God’s power marked our weekend. Adrianna came down with a fever and an earache, which resulted in my running her to the emergency clinic in town Sunday morning before church. The doctor diagnosed a viral infection but then decided to do an additional test to be sure it wasn’t bacterial and in need of antibiotics. The test revealed a bacterial infection surprising the doctor and changing the diagnosis. As he wondered to his assistant why he had even run the test when he normally wouldn’t have, I told him that we had prayed on our way in that the Lord would give him wisdom in diagnosing the problem and in treating it. He acknowledged immediately that God must have heard our prayer, and that we now had the proper diagnosis and treatment. Praise the Lord for showing His power to the doctor and his assistant, as well as to our little 7 year old and her papa.

Praise for:
- those who did come to see the “Jesus” film on Sunday, and for the excellent teamwork by so many who were eager to reach out to Reims.
- new visitors in church on Sunday.
- the woman who called Monday interested in coming to our church.
- the answer to prayer on Sunday morning in the doctor’s office and the demonstration of God’s power to even work through the doctor.
- Josiah’s 1st Birthday on the 12th and for all God has done for us since those very difficult days with him in intensive care one year ago.
- Baptist Mid-Missions celebrating 90 years of ministry.

Pray for:
- ongoing fruit from the “Jesus” film outreach and the 10,000 flyers that were distributed.
- the woman who called today for more information about our church to come to church this Sunday.
- me as I lead the prayer meeting and Bible study Tuesday evening.
- opportunities to witness to result from my participation on the elected parent-teacher counsel at Adrianna’s school this year.
- the Ladies Tea coming up on November 7.
- Ippy, CAR where our BMM hospital work continues to minister under African leadership and where there are four churches in our fellowship of churches. Rebel factions took over the town on Saturday (October 16) causing locals to flee to the bush.
- guidance in making decisions concerning our future ministry.

Praise and Prayer for October 11, 2010

Thank you for your prayers for us this past week! We are thankful for the Lord giving us good health again and for protecting the children from coming down with the flu/cold that we had. This Sunday, October 17, our church will be hosting an evangelistic outreach where we will be showing the “Jesus” film. It has been fun to watch different ones in the church getting excited about this opportunity and to see the willingness of so many to get involved. Even if nobody from outside the church comes, it seems like the experience and blessing of embarking on such a project will already have been worth the effort and expense. But we are counting on the Lord to bring in enough people from around Reims to fill the 250 chairs in the community hall that City Hall has given us the use of for this outreach. Many from church have been distributing invitation flyers in their neighborhoods and beyond. In two afternoons last week, Jonathan and Emmanuel placed more than 1500 of the flyers in mailboxes, announcing the showing of the “JESUS” film. As a church, it looks like we will reach our goal in placing the 10,000 flyers that were printed. It is a little frightening to think about all that could go wrong Sunday, but we are depending on the Lord for enabling, for protection, for blessing, and most of all for fruit! Thank you for praying for us this Sunday and for this special Outreach for our church!

We had our first Sango service last evening. Numerically speaking, we could be disappointed as there was only our family and one other couple there with their children. We understood that some were absent due to sickness and travelling, but some of those we expected to see were not there. However, the Lord gave us a good opportunity to share with the couple that was there who is struggling in many areas. They need prayer, but we were so thankful for the opportunity to give biblical counsel, which seemed to be well received.

Praise for:
- a couple of individuals who are preparing for baptism.
- a number of first time visitors in church on Sunday.
- the good participation of many in church in the evangelistic outreach, for the willingness and the desire to be a part of what God may choose to do through this effort.
- the friends and neighbors of ours and others in our church who receive invitations to see the “Jesus” film.
- the good health the Lord has given our family at this time.

Pray for:
- the church-wide evangelistic outreach this Sunday, October 17. Pray for God’s blessing on each one from church that will be helping with set-up, welcoming, cleaning, preparing and serving food.
- the Central Africans reached through our Sango language outreach, that hearts would be receptive, resulting in changed lives.
- more opportunities to share the Good News.
- the Ladies Tea coming up on November 7.
- guidance in making decisions concerning our future ministry.

Praise and Prayer for October 6, 2010

It has been a busy time for us, comp-licated last week by both Cherith and myself being down with this flu/cold. We are thankful for the Lord’s sustenance through it and that He enabled us to fulfill each of our responsibilities including walking the kids to or from school four times a day. We made it to the important appointments last Tuesday that involved Adrianna and Caleb’s papers for their official status in France, and by Friday had all of the documents in hand that we have been waiting on for nearly a year. We did learn of an obligatory all day appointment set for the day of the Ladies Tea. Our protests weren’t sufficient to have the date changed. Just the day before we had learned that Emmanuel’s wife was also being required to be at work the day of the Ladies Tea. So with both of the pastors’ wives out of the picture, Emmanuel made the decision to postpone the Tea until Sunday, November 7.

It was good to catch up by phone with Mike and Elva Farrell in Michigan on Thursday. They have enjoyed the meetings they’ve already had and the safety God has given over the many miles of travel. We are thankful to the Lord for a full auditorium Sunday for the missions presentation and excellent challenge from the Word by our own supported missionary, Eric Hossack. From here he continued on to Algrange for a week of classes at the Bible Institute. We welcomed Mr. Vernon Rosenau from BMM’s Home Office for a visit this week from Monday until he continued on his travels this morning (Wednesday). We were encouraged through the fellowship and counsel that he brought, not only as our administrator, but also as our “Uncle” Vernon since childhood days in CAR.

Praise for:
- a young lady who has been coming to our services who accepted the Lord this week!
- good attendance these past two Tuesday evening prayer meetings, especially last night with 19 present!
- good progress with our children’s official documents, and for the interest of one of the agents in coming to church.
- conversations the Lord has given us opportunities to have with those around us, and for a request from the director of Adrianna’s school for Jonathan to serve on the parent/teacher counsel.
- a good visit with Mr. Rosenau and for God’s guidance.
- much improved health for both Cherith and Jonathan, though we still aren’t completely back on our feet yet.

Pray for:
- good attendance to continue in our services, and that more people would come to Christ.
- the distribution of the 10,000 flyers for our October 17 showing of the Jesus film during this week and next, and for final preparations and logistics.
- more opportunities to share the Good News.
- the Ladies Tea coming up on November 7.
- guidance in making decisions concerning our future ministry.