Praise and Prayer March 28, 2013

Happy Resurrection Day!  “Jesus Christ is risen… and He liveth for evermore!” These words are spoken near the end of the Easter Cantata (“The Centurion”) that will be presented three times this weekend, once in each of the three sister churches that have a part in this joint ministry.  The Centurion himself makes this declaration when he has finally accepted this truth and received the forgiveness of sins, including participating in Christ’s crucifixion.  Last Sunday was the dress and final rehearsal.  We would appreciate your special prayer for this special Easter outreach that the Lord will enable and give His blessing.  We need healthy (and present) choristers and actors, and are depending on the Lord for the ability to sing and recite lines clearly and for God’s glory.  Many have been invited and we are praying for filled auditoriums. 

We have had further evangelistic Bible studies with T. and N. and are asking the Lord to open their hearts to the truth of the Gospel.  Though N. is Mormon, she has shown willingness and even interest in participating in the Bible study. 

Our friends from Reims arrived on Monday and are in the process of settling in while continuing their search for work.  L.’s parents are visiting from Asia and have been a huge help during this transition.  Cherith picked up a bag of groceries for them and prepared a welcome meal for their arrival, which I took when I went to help unload the truck when they arrived.  Last evening we had a special visit when the family came for supper.  Although the grandparents don’t speak a word of French, we were able to have placemats on the table with Bible verses in their language that Cherith’s sister had sent to us several months ago.

Praise for:

- the safe return of Pastor Christian and for the opportunities that he had to share with his unsaved family members in Guadeloupe.  Praise for the Lord’s help in the various ministries here at the church in his absence.

- the good attendance and participation in the ladies Bible study on March 19.

- the Lord’s protection of our teammate, Ed Christy, who was hospitalized for several days this month with some worrisome symptoms.  A heart cath revealed a nearly blocked coronary artery and a stent was placed. 

- the evangelistic opportunities the Lord has given us recently and for all that have received invitations to the Easter Cantata.

- the safe trip that our friends had in moving from Reims, though they encountered potentially serious risks when the engine of their rental truck caught fire about 30 minutes from Reims.  We marvel at the way the Lord protected and sent help through Pastor Emmanuel and other brothers in the Reims church.

Pray for:

- the 3 back-to-back presentations of the Easter Cantata this weekend, for strength and stamina and ability, that the message would be clear through the music and the drama.  The program which lasts for nearly 2 hours, is demanding and we need to stay strong through the final performance!  Pray that many will respond to the invitations and that hearts will be touched through the message.

- T. and N. and others attending services that need the Lord.

- the Lord to lead and provide jobs for our friends from Reims in the very near future.  Pray for the salvation of L.’s parents.

- us as we prepare to begin an evangelistic Bible study in our home.

- the Lord to help us to find a house to purchase exactly where He wants us to live and minister from.

- the Central African Republic that is facing yet another Coup d’Etat as the capital has now fallen into the hands of the rebels and the president has fled the country.  There has been a lot of looting over the past few days as law-enforcement has been minimal.  Pray for peace and stability to return, and for God’s solutions for the future of the government of the country.

Praise and Prayer March 13, 2013

Yesterday would have been my father’s 75^th Birthday had the Lord not called him Home nearly five years ago.  I miss him dearly but am so thankful for his teaching and example to follow the Lord and serve Him faithfully.  How thankful I am for God’s promises and for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Because He lives, we shall live also!

Spring is coming to Bordeaux, evidenced by bushes and trees beginning to burst into bloom.  This is a welcome sight, but even more welcome, are the answers to prayer that we are seeing in the work here.  Thank you so much for your prayers for us and for this work that God has called us to.  You prayed for children in our Sunday school, and we have seen three families bring their children during the past few weeks.  They haven’t been there every week, but some of them have come back.  On one particular Sunday, the Lord showed His sovereignty in very special ways.  Cherith was home sick that Sunday and I took Adrianna and Caleb with me to church.  There we discovered the senior pastor had fallen sick as well and was unable to make it to church.  I would need to preach.  This would have created a problem for Junior Church, except that the Lord had the other teacher already prepared to teach through a scheduling “error” the week before.  It was wonderful to be able to have three extra children present in church that day, and to see the children’s classes cared for. 

A big prayer request regarding beginning a new work in the Merignac area has been for the Lord to provide some mature couples and singles to form a core group for this work.  This month we have learned of one of the ways God is answering this request.  When we learned that a young couple from the church where we worked in Reims is moving to Bordeaux at the end of this month for career opportunities, we asked them to pray about joining us in this new work.  They prayed and responded with interest and last night we learned that the Lord is providing them with housing on our side of Bordeaux.  We were present at their wedding in Reims several years ago (Adrianna was their flower girl), and both of them were involved in the Sunday school ministry and choir, as well as serving on the church counsel.  They have two small children.  This Sunday, the husband will be coming to Bordeaux for a work interview and will be spending a couple of nights with us.  We look forward to the opportunity to discuss the opportunities with him this weekend and thank the Lord for sending this couple to us.

Praise for:

- opportunities to preach and teach the Lord is giving us at church, especially these two weeks that Pastor Christian is gone to Guadeloupe to visit his family.  There have been some returning visitors, some unsaved.

- opportunities to share and teach the Word of God here at home as we have hosted T, a young man interested in spiritual things, although comes from a background with much spiritual confusion.

- the help of a young man who is teaching the Adult Bible study these two weeks of Pastor Christian’s absence, when I am preaching in the morning service.  M. did a great job last Sunday.

- the way the Lord has brought children to church and for the way He provided for their class when neither Cherith or I were able to teach.

- the young couple that the Lord is bringing to Bordeaux that will be able to help us with the work in Merignac.

- a number of good visits recently, some with church family, and some with neighborhood contacts.

- the health the Lord is giving to our family after several of us battling colds and flues which are going through our area.

Pray for:

- the Lord’s help during this time of replacing Pastor Christian during his absence.  Pray for each one who will be teaching, preaching and leading singing and that the good attendance will continue.

- the opportunity to have T and his girlfriend N for lunch Thursday and for the time of Bible study that we will have with them. N is Mormon but has come to church several times and is interested in spiritual things.

- the couple from Reims as they make this move to Bordeaux, for the Lord’s provision of work.

- us as we prepare to begin an evangelistic Bible study in our home.

- the Lord to help us to find a house to purchase exactly where He wants us to live and minister from.

- the rehearsals in these final weeks for the Easter Cantata/Drama “The Centurion” for the choir and for the actors, including Adrianna and Jonathan.  Pray for the invitations that are given out to the three performances in each of our three churches.

- peace and stability to return to the CAR as rebels continue to wreak havoc and control large portions of the country.  Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ that are caught between factions, many who have lost nearly all they own.