Praise and Prayer July 17, 2012

The Lord has given me nearly complete recovery since my surgery on June 22.  Cherith and the kids did a great job nursing me, and I was able to take advantage of some of my down time to read, study, and later, unpack a few more boxes of books from our shed.  Two weeks and two days after my surgery, the Lord had given me sufficient healing so that I was able to teach the Adult Bible study and preach in the morning service.  I am scheduled to teach the Adult Bible study throughout this month and the month of August.  It is a rewarding study as we go through the attributes of our wonderful, awesome God. 

The Lord has given us some opportunities to connect with some of our church family through hospitality.  On July 1, we were privileged to have Pastor Corenthin’s family and another brother from church join us at our home after church for dinner and an afternoon of good fellowship and encouragement.  Last Saturday, our song leader came over for lunch and a visit.  While helping him to practice his English, we learned of how the Lord has worked in his life and the life of his family, and we even brainstormed together about future ministry opportunities. 

Although the distance from our home in the USA had us far from family, patriotic parades and fireworks, we did have a very special opportunity to celebrate our country’s birth and our physical freedom and the spiritual freedom we have in Christ with nearly 25 other Americans at the home of some of our teammates (the Bixbys). 

Praise for:

- Jonathan’s good recovery from surgery. 

- God working in hearts at church, including some who have been visiting regularly.

- the Lord helping us to connect with people in the church and for those who have been in our home.

- more contacts with two of our neighbors and for opportunities to witness.

Pray for:

- the Lord’s help for Jonathan as he teaches the adult class each Sunday, and that truths we study will have a profound effect in our lives.

- the children’s ministry, that the Lord will continue to bring children, and that the Lord will help us communicate His Word clearly to these children.

- preparations for our first English outreach service on July 29.

- the renewal of our residency papers and for the installation of a telephone line.

- for the upcoming visit of friends from our sending church who are currently on a missions trip in Greece.

Praise and Prayer June 27, 2012

It was before 7 A.M. on Friday morning when Jonathan and I were standing in front of the outpatient door at the hospital, waiting for the door to be unlocked.  By 8 A.M., he was taken from his day room to the surgery ward.  By 11:30, he was once again back in his room, slowly waking from the general anesthesia.  He was in and out of sleep for the next several hours and finally after a visit from the surgeon and anesthesiologist, we were free to go.

Thank you for all your prayers for this operation.  God answered our prayers in giving safety, even though we found out afterwards that there had been a complication in inserting the breathing tube.  This explained the sore throat and cough Jonathan woke up with!  It also reminded us of how much we are dependent on God in every situation.  We were released from the hospital by 6 P.M.

The doctor instructed Jonathan to wait for two weeks before again engaging in regular activities (including lifting our 40 lb Josiah)!  Healing seems to be progressing well.  The pain is lessening each day.  He is appreciating our couch and the extra time to read.

Praise for:

- Jonathan’s successful surgery and God’s protection. 

- the fun-filled Friday our kids had here at home with Esther.

- Esther’s safe return trip home to Maryland this past weekend.

- our Pastor’s wife and family taking our three kids for the day on Saturday in order to give Jonathan some quiet rest time.

- the two unsaved girls who were in S.S. for the first time in quite a while, and that I was able to clearly present the Gospel to them.

Pray for:

- the complete and quick healing of Jonathan’s body from his surgery.

- open hearts in the unsaved children the Lord brings to us.

- preparations for beginning an English outreach toward the end of July.

- the renewal of our residency papers and for the installation of a telephone line.

Praise and Prayer June 20, 2012

Sunday was a big day with the morning service and Junior church, a fellowship dinner and the semi-annual business meeting for the members in the afternoon.  We were saddened to say goodbye to two of the children and their mother who return to Martinique this week after being in Bordeaux for their Mother’s education these past 9 months.  They have been in church nearly every Sunday since we arrived in Bordeaux, and their absence will be sorely felt next Sunday morning.  It was encouraging to have two of the small children and their mothers in church again, who have been visiting for a few weeks.  Please pray that the Lord will bring more families out to church and that God will continue to grow this work.  We also need prayer for workers!

This Friday, I will be having outpatient surgery for a hernia at the Jean Villar Polyclinique in Bruges, a suburb of Bordeaux.  The Lord’s timing in allowing Esther S. to be with us at this time is evidence of His grace and provision for us.  Cherith will need to be with me for checking in at 7:20 a.m. and then to take me home later in the day.  Pray for Esther too as she will have her hands full with three active children during the time that Cherith is with me.  She leaves Saturday to return home to the USA, the day after my surgery.  Her presence with us and with several others of our French team has been a blessing and help in many ways.  She certainly will be missed.

Praise for:

- the return of one of the first-time visitors Sunday morning and for others who continue to come. 

- the services Sunday, for the fellowship dinner and for the annual business meeting.  Praise for the way God is leading and blessing in the church.

- Esther’s safe trip to Algrange and back, and for the way that God used her there.  Praise for God sending her to us at such a critical time and for all of her help.

- Adrianna and Caleb finishing school this week, and for the Lord helping Mama and Papa to make it through the year of teaching along with our other responsibilities!

Pray for:

- the family that is returning to Martinique this week, and for God to bring new children to church.

- preparations for beginning an English outreach toward the end of July.

- Jonathan’s surgery Friday and for a quick recovery.  Pray for Cherith as she has double duty with the children during this time.

- Esther as she finishes up her time in France this week and as she returns to the USA this weekend to a busy summer schedule ahead of her.

- the renewal of our residency papers and for the installation of a telephone line.

Praise and Prayer June 12, 2012

God is at work in France!  We are also aware of the evil one’s desire to keep people from Christ and are reminded of the vital importance of God’s people praying for this work.  The Musical Missions Team from BJU was a great blessing as they ministered in various ways, including full concerts in two sister churches here in Bordeaux, impromptu mini-concerts at tramway stops and handing out Gospel tracts and invitations to the concerts in downtown Bordeaux.  

Our family enjoyed having three of the team members stay with us, a special delight to our children.  One of our neighbors had told us that they planned to attend one of the concerts and we prayed that there would be no obstacles.  However, as we drove toward the concert on Saturday afternoon, we hit nearly stopped traffic along Bordeaux’s outer highway ring.  The traffic filed down to one lane over the huge bridge over the Aquitaine River where we saw the accident that caused the backup.  The cell phone rang as we pulled up to the church.  Our neighbors en route with their 5-year-old granddaughter were several miles back in the stopped traffic and had decided to turn around.  While disappointed that they were unable to attend, we were encouraged to know that our God is in control, and that even this accident did not take Him by surprise.  We could see that our neighbors were certainly willing to attend and would have if it were possible.  Other neighbors and our landlord also indicated interest though they already had other plans.  We continue to pray for other opportunities.  The Team’s ministry did bear fruit and we know of at least one decision for salvation that was made at one of the concerts. 

The Lord has sent us special help and encouragement this past week through this year’s FOFer, Esther S.  FOF stands for Focus On France, and is a program that has been set up for College students (and others perhaps too) to come and experience missions first-hand as they spend time with various servants in this country.  She is with us for several days now before she leaves on the TGV train Wednesday for Algrange to visit the Bible Institute ministry there.  Her servant’s heart has been a blessing to our family, as she gets involved in various areas of our life and ministry.  Last week she helped us organize several boxes of Sunday school resources at the church, sort and classify flannelgraph, prepare several songs on poster board for Sunday School (all of our others in Reims were left for the church there and its Sunday School program).  On Saturday, Esther helped Cherith prepare some desserts for our Sunday picnic with the Corenthin family and the family of a visiting pastor.  

Between prayer meeting Friday evening and the Sunday services, she met and encouraged many of our people.  She shared her testimony in church Sunday morning and helped Cherith with Children’s church.  She has been a huge help with the children and they have enjoyed every minute she has had to spend with them.  Yesterday, Cherith and I were able to make a couple trips to the local government office regarding our residency papers, while Esther watched the kids at home.  Last night we took her up on her offer to babysit the children so we could go out on a long overdue date, the first one in six months!  What a special blessing that was to us. 

Praise for:

- God’s blessings of the Musical Missions Team’s ministry in Bordeaux and for all of those who heard the Gospel clearly through their ministry.  Praise for at least one man’s salvation!

- God’s help for our full weekends of preaching and teaching in the absence of Pastor Christian, and for his ministry in Algrange for graduation and in a church nearby that Sunday morning.

- a visitor in church Sunday morning who had attended the church’s children’s program as a child years ago.

- the opportunity to attend the monthly English service at the church in Pessac, another suburb of Bordeaux, and to fellowship with other believers.  We were all challenged by the message on forgiveness that was shared by a Pastor from the USA who is here visiting a family whom their church helps to support.

- the help and encouragement that Esther has been to us and to many others in France this month.

- our celebrating eleven adventurous years of marriage with God’s marvelous blessings and faithful care.

Pray for:

- the visitor last Sunday to return this next Sunday and that God will work in his life.  Pray too for the mother and 6-year-old child that came for several weeks to come back to church this Sunday.

- the spiritual growth of the man who accepted Christ at the concert by the BJU Team.  Pray for the Musical Missions Team as they continue their very full travel/concert schedule around France, Switzerland, Germany, and Czech Republic.

- Esther’s train trip to and from Algrange and for her ministry there.

- continued opportunities to reach out to our neighbors.

- the renewal of our residency papers and for the installation of a telephone line.

- Jonathan’s hernia surgery June 22.

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.

Praise and Prayer May 1, 2012

God has sent sunshine to Bordeaux for which we are very thankful after more than three weeks of daily showers.  Spring flowers are everywhere and in our yard, grass planted in February lengthens and thickens needing a lawn mower before it gets permanently out of control. 

The Lord answered prayer in a very special way concerning our France field conference.  On Sunday before conference, Cherith felt like she was coming down with something.  By that afternoon and night, she was having full-blown flu symptoms with fever and aches over every inch of her body.  Monday morning she still felt weak, but felt like we could make the six hour trip that afternoon.  About half way there, her achiness was bad enough that I began to wonder if we weren’t going to have to turn around and head home.  In the meantime, teammates who knew, and Facebook friends were praying.  By the time we pulled into the conference center in Le Puy en Velay around 9:30 p.m., Cherith was feeling very noticeably better.  Her strength was increasing and the ache was gone!  She was able to participate and enjoy the conference through the end, and all we missed was the first evening supper and service.

We had a surprise phone call from the pastor’s wife at our church in downtown Bordeaux.  Pastor Christian had thought that he was going to be well enough to be in church for the Bible study and preaching Sunday morning, but was forced back to bed with a bad migraine and weakness.  The deacon would cover for Sunday school but would I be able to fill in for the message?  I had just enough time to pull the notes for a message I had preached before and skim through them before we left for church.  Seeing a few visitors in the service, we learned that two of them were university students who were doing research for a class assignment as they studied different religions.  As they took careful notes of every detail of the service in this “Evangelical Baptist” church, I prayed for help in preaching.  After the service, I had an opportunity to talk with several there, including the two students who posed a number of questions both on the message as well as on a number of doctrines that churches like ours teach.  It was a joy to share with them from the Bible, in response to their own questions, though their main motivation had been research for a class.  They were welcomed warmly, invited to return, and given our contact information.  May the Lord work in their hearts as they work through the things they heard.

Praise for:

- the university students in church Sunday as well as a friend of one of the members who came with her to church for the first time.

- good health the Lord gave to be able to attend the France field conference, and for very good meetings and fellowship with our team mates and with our speaker and his wife.  The children enjoyed their sessions with their teacher and the two other children their age, as well as seeing their friends from across France.

- God’s goodness and work in Caleb’s life as he celebrated 6 years on April 25, also the anniversary of our arrival in France for ministry in 2007. 

- the opportunity to see one of the families that were in the church in Reims for our first couple of years there, as they were in Bordeaux visiting family and were able to come over for a visit Monday afternoon.

Pray for:

- God to work in the hearts of the visitors who heard the Gospel clearly on Sunday.

- health and strength for each of us.

- wisdom and guidance as we seek to organize and implement the Sunday school/Junior church program at church, and that the Lord would provide helpers to disciple.

- our telephone landline to be connected soon.

- God’s provision for our regular support needs, as well as one time expenses like a lawn mower which we are now needing for the first time.  We are also praying for a table and chairs for the patio where we could entertain guests once the weather warms up.

- our residency cards to be delivered soon.

- Cherith’s Mom and her Aunt Sue Meerman as they travel to Cambodia, visiting a couple of Cherith’s siblings along the way.

Praise and Prayer for April 16, 2012

God blessed the Resurrection Day celebration at church as a good group of people gathered for the services and the fellowship dinner.  There were seven children in junior church and at least 35 that stayed for the dinner and afternoon service.  I had been asked to speak in the afternoon service, but as the time went by I began to be concerned that if we didn’t start the service, people would begin to leave.  However, it seemed as though everyone was content to be with their family in Christ and I didn’t see anyone leave before we began the afternoon service.  For our family too, so far from our own families and friends back home (in MI, PA and Reims), the Lord surrounded us with a loving church family with which to celebrate this special day.  I shared some of the facts that are true for us today because Christ is risen from the dead.

As a family of five with three children, doing laundry is a regular part of most days around here.  Last week the washing machine that we had bought used from a friend in 2007 died in the middle of a cycle.  After researching washing machines for a replacement, we purchased a new machine that should be delivered this Friday.  The growing pile of laundry has necessitated two trips to the Laundromat thus far, reminding us through the time and money spent why a washing machine is such a blessing and help to us.  On one of those trips, Adrianna came along and we were able to do her Science lesson while we waited for the laundry.

Praise for:

- God’s blessings for our Easter celebration at church, including a lovely presentation by our small group as they shared the message of Easter through song.  We were encouraged by testimonies last Sunday of how God had blessed others through the Easter services.

- the good opportunity that Cherith had to visit with one of our neighbors as they went to the town market on Saturday morning together.

- healing for several of us who have fought a bug, especially Caleb who has had a fever and an infection in his eye. 

- a time of fellowship and encouragement with our teammates on Easter Monday as we shared a meal together at the Bixbys’ house.

Pray for:

- several visitors to the church downtown to return, and that the church would see growth.

- guidance in our involvement at the church and as we work with the Sunday school program.

- a sister committed not to work on the Lord’s day who is now (after several years with the same employment) being threatened with the loss of her job if she will not work Sundays.

- Cherith’s Grandma Hovingh who was hospitalized Friday evening in Grand Rapids, MI for stroke-like symptoms.  Pray too for Cherith’s Dad (Hubert Broeckert) as he leaves Wednesday for Cambodia and for her Mom as she follows April 25.

- the Lord’s provision for our support needs, and for unexpected expenses like a new washing machine this week.
- traveling mercies for us and each of the others attending our France field conference this next week (April 23-26), and for the Lord to bless in the Bible-hour sessions with our speaker as well as in the business meetings.