Prayer and Praise April 30, 2018

Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry of the Gospel here in Saint-Medard.  We are grateful to the Lord for His wise and loving care, for the encouragement He gives as we face various challenges.  We have been encouraged by news from the R family who will be visiting from Paris this month.  One of their unsaved friends from Reims has attended church services with them and is interested in learning more about the Gospel.  Both Mr. and Mrs. R will be baptized June 17 in Paris, Lord willing.  

Mr. and Mrs. R.

Friends in the CAR continue to face challenges with the instability and insecurity, but God is helping the church in Bambari to replace the roof of the church building my grandfather built in the 1950’s.  We rejoice in the privilege we have as believers today to be involved in the preaching of the Gospel “in all the world for a witness unto all nations” (Matthew 24:14).

Re-roofing the Center One Baptist Church in Bambari, CAR

Praise for:

- the completion of the work on our house and for being able to host guests and our English outreach club once again.

- several individuals that have been attending our services faithfully, including a couple originally from Laos.

- God’s many blessings in our BMM France team’s annual Bible conference April 9-12, for His protection for travel, for spiritual refreshment and for His guidance in our business meetings.

BMM France Team with special speaker, Fred Whitman from Italy

- the excellent opportunities we have had to share the Gospel through the English club and for the keen interest seen in several of the children.  One of the kids we have been praying for has especially shown great improvement in behavior and listening.

English club outreach

- one year of regular contact with a friend in the Middle East over skype and for great opportunities to explain the Gospel recently in response to his questions about the Easter holiday.

Pray for

- God to open a door for our church to be able to move to a new building with more room and visibility. We have had several leads recently, but each time the door has closed.

- God to continue His work in the hearts of the people we are ministering to.  Pray for some who are struggling spiritually.

- a strong finish to a good year of English club outreach, including some end of year activities reaching out to the families of the children. 

- the Lord’s guidance in preparing a new church flyer that God could use to cause the people in this area to want to know Him.

Adrianna and Josiah helping distribute church flyers

- the participants in the FOF (Focus on France) program this summer that will be arriving May 21.  There are four college students that will be taking part in a missions internship this summer.  Pray for our teammates and for us as we plan and host.

- the reroofing of the Center One Baptist church in Bambari, CAR despite the ongoing unrest.

- continued improvement in health for Cherith and the kids.

Praise and Prayer March 27, 2018

Greetings from the temporary construction site that our house has become this week.  We are currently in a bit of disarray as the damaged flooring tile in our entry, hallway and dining room/living room is taken up and replaced with wood-like parquet.  Lord willing, by the end of this week we will have the new floor down and will be able to move back into these areas and recommence some of our hosting ministries that have been on hold.  We praise the Lord for His provision for this expense through special gifts and the love and generosity of our church family at Wealthy Park Baptist Church.

Beside our ministry responsibilities, while waiting on the new flooring we have managed to squeeze in some house projects that we can do ourselves, including wall repair, painting in the living/dining room, hallways and stairwell, and painting trim on doorways throughout the house, a project that Cherith has patiently waited for since we moved in five years ago.

We are grateful for God’s answers to prayer over the past couple months.  The Africa and Europe Enrichment Conference was a blessing to us and to BMM missionary families from across Europe and several countries in Africa.  We are especially thankful for safety travelling over 1500 miles, many of them through snow on our way to the conference.

Another special blessing was getting to speak in the Sunday School hour to a Spanish church on the brink of calling their first national pastor.  

Our hearts have been encouraged this past month as we have learned of two churches that have increased support to our ministry and one church has taken us on for support bringing our support level to 91%.  This is especially helpful as the dollar/euro exchange rate has been causing a 20% loss of income each month!

Praise for:

- the hard work of our small team to give out more than 3,000 flyers inviting the people of Saint Medard to two showings of the film “God’s not Dead”.  Praise that nearly 20 people responded to the invitations, the best response we have had for a film to this date!

- more visitors that have come to church including one lady who has been back several times and one young couple who came first to the film on March 3.

- successful surgery for Adrianna on February 15 removing four impacted wisdom teeth.  Praise for the peace and courage God gave Adrianna and for good healing after some initial infection.

- God working in the hearts of the children coming to English club, for the questions the kids are asking and for good opportunities to share the Gospel.  Praise for continued good attendance, though we have had to hold club across town at the Christys’ house due to our broken floor (most of the families are from this neighborhood).

- a helpful 24-hour conference for foreign missionaries serving in France that Jonathan was able to travel to in eastern France.  This annual conference deals with various administrative and cultural issues that we face and the theme this year was on partnerships and resolving issues and tensions that may develop.

- the good conference in Malaga and for God’s protection.

- God’s provision for the flooring repair in our house.

- increases and additions to our committed financial support.

Pray for

- God to open a door for our church to be able to move to a new building with more room and visibility.  Our small space has been nearly maxed out several times. 

- God’s work in the hearts of our people, including those with spiritual struggles and those who have just begun attending recently. Pray for visitors to return and that Caleb’s friend would want to come back.

- opportunities to share the Gospel: skype contact with friend in Middle East, workers putting in our new floor, English outreach.

- our special Easter breakfast and service for Easter as we celebrate the importance of Christ’s resurrection.  Pray for God to bring visitors with open hearts!

- improved health for Cherith and the kids.

- our upcoming meetings and Bible conference with our BMM France team on April 9-12.

Greetings from Saint Medard en Jalles.  God has blessed us with many faithful prayer warriors through the years, some of whom have partnered with us in other ways as well. We rejoice to share with you some of the ways that God has been working this month.  There have also been some challenges that we continue to face, and we share some of them with you here so that you can be praying for some specifics. 

One of the matters we have asked prayer for in the past is for God’s continued working in the lives of the family that came to Christ last year, as they grow spiritually.  We were thrilled Sunday when we received a message they sent us from Paris in which the parents eagerly expressed their decision to follow the Lord in believers’ baptism.  They had already spoken to the pastor of the local church there.  They mentioned the opportunity they will have to give a testimony “before the whole church” to thank the Lord for having guided them without their knowing it toward Him through the church of Saint Medard.  The message closed with a prayer that the Lord would bring other families to the truth.  Our hearts were so encouraged and we wanted to let you know how God is answering prayer in their behalf.

This Sunday after our morning service, we will be leaving for Malaga, Spain and the Africa and Europe Enrichment Conference that our mission has planned.  Held every three years, this will be the fifth such conference though the first one to include Africa.  It will be the third time for our family to attend.  We look forward to the fellowship with other missionaries, some we haven’t seen in many years, including our former teammates in CAR, the Jewells and the Dannenbergs.  There will be special services and sessions designed for refreshment and renewal in ministry for the adults and the children will be ministered to by a full team coming from a church in Michigan.

Praise for:

- the good news from the R family and for the work God is doing in their lives.

- all of the visitors that have attended our services in January, including several that have returned.  One of them, a friend of Caleb that has been invited many times, came last Sunday for the first time.  On two occasions, we had to set up extra chairs!

- the steady attendance at the English club outreach for the first half of the year, and for better listening and behavior from the “active” kids since we divided into two groups.

- more than one hundred 2018 Scripture calendars that have been given out, including more than fifty at the St Medard market last Saturday to those who were interested.

- the mutual encouragement and blessing provided by the pastors’ fellowship from the four Bordeaux sister churches that meets once a month.

Pray for

- a new building for our church.  The space we have now was nearly maxed out twice this month.

- the unsaved visitors to continue coming to church and for wisdom and guidance in the Sunday school ministry with the new dynamic.

- an evangelistic film outreach planned for March 3.  Pray that we will have sufficient manpower to get out several thousand invitations. Pray for lost souls to turn to Christ, including our Muslim friend in the Middle East.

- continued improvement in our health, especially for Cherith who is slowly regaining strength.  Also please pray for Adrianna who will be having oral surgery to remove four impacted wisdom teeth on February 15.

- safety travelling the 750 miles by car to the conference in Spain this next week, and for its impact on our whole family.

- God’s direction and provision as we seek to replace the tile flooring in our dining room/living room.  A large area popped loose from the cement and has been deteriorating since the first of January.

Praise and Prayer December 30, 2017

God has brought us to the end of another year and we are again amazed at His mercies, new every morning.  With His promises to guide and care for us we need not fear what is waiting for us.  Since He is already waiting for us there, there are no surprises waiting, no unknowns.

We are so thankful for the special opportunities this Christmas season to share with those around us.  The Christmas program for our English club went very well and the children did a great job with their lines and acting as they portrayed the story of the birth of Christ.  The parents and one grandparent that came were delighted and very appreciative.  Each family received a nice children’s book from the Bible bookstore in Bordeaux as well as a Scripture calendar.  The kids were already devouring the books before they left for home!  

Also, our neighbors all happily received the goodie plates and Scripture calendars that we delivered to them before Christmas. More have expressed gratitude for the calendars this year that previous years!  

Keep praying for my friend A from the Middle East.  God has given me some great opportunities to share the Gospel in more detail with him.  His family is facing some pretty complicated things regarding work and residency.  Please pray that God will use various means to bring this family to faith in Christ.

 

Praise for:

- good opportunities for community outreach this Christmas and for the good reception of Scripture calendars this year.

- visitors that have come to church, including one couple that has returned.

- the improvement in our health over these past few weeks. 

- the special opportunity to celebrate Christmas with our colleagues here in Bordeaux on December 26, and for the opportunity to join a sister church in Bordeaux for their New Year’s Eve service Sunday night.  Jonathan has been asked to lead the singing. 

- each church and individual who the Lord has led to partner with us in this ministry, and for the increases and new support that brings our support level to 91%.

Pray for

- God’s work in hearts through the English outreach and contacts with family members.

- God to work in several of our neighbors’ lives.

- our family to shine God’s light brightly in the New Year.

- complete healing for each of us after the sickness that we have been fighting.

- our Christian brothers and sisters in the CAR as they face great unrest, especially in the areas where we grew up and ministered.

- God to continue to put together our team of ministry partners and that our support level will soon be up to 100%.

Praise and Prayer November 30, 2017

Psalm 103:1,2 says “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”  For Thanksgiving this year we joined several other missionary families from both France and Spain at Bonnie Bixby’s for a special time enjoying good food, warm fellowship and celebrating God’s faithfulness and goodness with singing and testimonies.  We miss our family greatly on special occasions like this, but we are so grateful for the spiritual family that God has blessed us with. 

Our family has continued to fight sickness over the past several weeks, and we are finally seeing some increase in health and decrease in illness in our bodies.  We have been to the doctor multiple times in the past few weeks, and he has been working with us to find a treatment that will knock out this terrible bronchitis and sinusitis infection.  While we have lacked energy and had some miserable days, the Lord has provided us with the strength necessary to be where we needed to be and to fulfill all of our responsibilities.  We are so grateful for our prayer warriors who bring our family and this ministry faithfully before the Lord, and for the help God has provided. 

Praise for:

- God’s blessing of the multi-church Retreat November 3-5, for the strength He gave each of us for the various responsibilities as the hosting church, especially for Cherith who spent many hours each day in the kitchen!  Praise for messages both edifying and evangelistic, for the good children’s program, and for good fellowship.  There were 68 of us present, including the R family and Jessica who came all the way from northern France just for this Retreat.

- the healing that God is giving to our family after fighting sickness for the past two months.

- God’s blessing of the Reformation Exposition outreach this past weekend (November 25-26) here at our church, for the 1500 invitation flyers given out and for the 19 people that came by, including neighbors and unsaved friends. 

- a family who brought their son, one of Josiah’s friends, to the English club last week for the first time. 

Pray for

- all of those who came to the Reformation Exposition, that they will think about the things that they heard and saw, read the literature they received and open their hearts to Christ.

- God’s help with special opportunities for outreach during the Christmas season, including preparing a small program with our English club for the parents to attend.

- God to work in the hearts of several visitors that have come to our church recently and for lost souls to be saved and discipled.

- God to open up a door for us for a new building soon.

- complete healing from the acute bronchitis that our bodies have been fighting for so long. 

- new churches to join our support team, for God’s continued provision for our needs.

Praise and Prayer November 1, 2017

By God’s grace and with His help, we have made it to November!  In the weeks leading up to our trip to northern France last week for my block course at the Bible Institute in Algrange, there were many times that I wondered if I would be ready.  Many of you were praying and with God’s help we were ready for the trip and the notes, quizzes, exercises AND professor were ready for our trip!  We are thankful for God’s protection over the many miles of travelling, as Algrange is in the northeast corner of France and Bordeaux is in the southwest corner. While our family has been fighting a resistant strain of bronchitis and an intestinal flu, the Lord gave me adequate strength for my classes and helped Cherith and the children as they battled the viruses at the home where we were staying.  My students were a retired couple that got saved later in life that has just begun Bible school. Well into their 70s, I was greatly touched by their eagerness to learn all they can about the Bible so they can share it with others and serve the Lord in the time they have left on this earth!

God’s provision for our housing through the kindness of missionary friends gone to the USA for a few months of home ministry saved us from having to cover our own housing expenses.  Since none of the expenses for this trip are part of our monthly budget, we are especially grateful for this provision.  We continue to trust Him for His provision for the travel expenses and other needs as we are functioning with a substantial shortage in our committed support.

Praise for:

- God’s enabling and protection for our trip to Algrange for my class at the Bible Institute.  Praise for His provision for our housing.

- Mr. and Mrs. S., the retired couple now studying at the Bible Institute, and for their desire to serve God and study His Word.

- the time we had at the church in Reims on our trip north, and for the way God continues to build the church, six years after our departure.

- a good beginning for the English Club in October, with a new participant.

- the new signs for our church, and for the revised church website that is now online.  Praise for a woman that has already made contact with us through the website.

- the contact we have with an unsaved family from Reims who has sent their 13 year old daughter to spend a week with us in order to practice English.  Praise too for several visitors that have been to church in the past few weeks.

Pray for

- the restoration of good health, especially for Jonathan, Cherith and Josiah who continue to fight a virus that doesn’t want to give up. 

- the 23^rd annual spiritual multi-church Retreat this weekend (November 3-5) that our church is planning for the first time, including the details for the meetings, the food and the accommodations.  We really need God’s help!

- Pray for God to use the retreat to refresh and impact the lives of all in attendance. Pray for the R. family and Jessica that will be travelling down from the Paris area for the retreat.

- God’s work in the hearts of the unsaved people we are in contact with, both children and adults.

Praise and Prayer September 15, 2017

Greetings in the Lord from Saint-Medard!  We returned to France on September 1 after a packed two months of furlough/home ministry.  Thank you for your prayers for us as we traveled more than 4,000 miles and visited churches and individual supporters in eight states.  Through the generosity of dear friends, the Lord provided us with the loan of a spacious minivan for our long road-trips, which helped to make the hours on the road more pleasant.  

As we traveled, our children counted license plates from 47 out of 50 states! What a joy it was to connect with so many dear people in such a short time.

On August 26 we joined all of Cherith’s siblings and many friends and family at Grand Valley Baptist Church to celebrate God’s faithfulness to Cherith’s parents over the past 38 years of full-time missionary service.  This was the first time for all of Cherith’s immediate family to be together since our wedding in 2001, and that was before any grandkids!  

We praise the Lord for the many ways that He has used their faithful service in both Africa and Asia and we know that He will continue to use them as they continue to serve in retirement. 

Upon our return to France, we hit the ground running as we took part in the wedding reception for Pastor Christian’s son Timothée on Saturday and jumped right back into church ministries in the midst of unpacking and jet lag.  

The kids began school that Monday and since both Adrianna and Caleb are homeschooling this year, that has required many hours of Cherith’s time each day, especially as Caleb adjusts to a new system.

Praise for:

- God’s protection and blessing on this past summer of home ministry, for the loving kindness shown to us by so many loved ones, and for precious time with family and friends. Praise for God’s provision for our airline tickets and the children’s BJU Homeschool curriculums.

- each of the churches and individuals who faithfully partner with us in this ministry, and for the opportunity to present our ministry in two new churches.   Praise for those individuals who have increased their support and others who have begun to partner with us, bringing our current support level to 86%.

- the opportunity to participate in the celebration of Cherith’s parents’ retirement.

- the R family’s safe arrival and settling into their new place in the Paris area.

- a good opportunity to connect with the neighbors in our cul de sac for a little potluck lunch and afternoon of visiting, including formally meeting two of the families for the first time.

- some good progress these past couple weeks for increasing the visibility of our church (website, pens, signs). Praise for good help with the website from John G. and Kéran X.  Praise too that we were able to find a place in Bordeaux center to laminate some Scripture verse posters to use to cover wall advertisements in our church auditorium Sundays.

Pray for

- continued health and that we will know God’s enabling when our strength is small! 

- the R family to be able to find a good church near their new home and to continue to grow in Christ.

- the preparations for beginning another year of the English outreach on October 6. Pray for all of our contacts with unsaved friends.

- more churches and individuals to partner with us through prayer and financial support as God leads, and that He will continue to help us through each month.