Praise and Prayer March 2015

What a month this has been.  We are so thankful for the grace and strength that God promises and provides for each day’s particular needs.  Your prayers and concern for us, and for God’s harvest field here in France where indeed the laborers are few, are necessary and very much appreciated.  Thank you for standing with us in this ministry.

At church, we have been pleased to have C return several times.  She continues to express real interest in our Bible studies and has had some pertinent questions.  Despite the weather being rather wet and cold these past couple of weeks, we were able to distribute more than 2000 flyers inviting people to attend our Easter film outreach last Saturday.  We are thankful for three young people from our sister church in Pessac that came one day to help us.  God answered prayer Saturday in bringing 26 people to the film, including a number of unsaved people.  This is a new record for us for a film outreach, and we are grateful.  We were encouraged to see N again, who had come to our Easter outreach last year, this time with her high school age daughter.  Eight people took a copy of Josh McDowell’s “More than a Carpenter” and some took Bibles.

SPECIAL NEED: Please pray that the Lord will provide us with a vehicle for our home ministry trip this summer.  If you know of anyone near the Grand Rapids area who would have a vehicle for a family of five (a minivan would be ideal) that they could loan or rent to us during the time we are home, please contact us by email (jteachout2@cs.com).  The dates of our trip are June 20 to August 27.

Praise for:

- C’s continued search for spiritual truth and for those who attended our Easter film outreach.

- two new children attending the English Connection, and for A’s interest and good questions during the Bible story. 

- God’s healing of Cherith who has come through a painful case of conjunctivitis (pinkeye) in both eyes.

- a wonderful week with Cherith’s sister Hadessah, and for all of the help she was to us as she got involved in many facets of our lives and ministry!

- safety in travel for Jonathan as he travelled to and from Paris to meet some dear friends who have been partners in our ministry for over 20 years as they took a whirlwind tour of Paris !

Pray for:

- opportunities to share the Gospel with T who is atheist and has advanced cancer.  Pray for T’s heart to be tuned into his need for Christ.

- healing and God’s grace for our BMM teammate and dear friend Bonnie Bixby (and her husband Bob) as she has undergone a bilateral lumpectomy for breast cancer here in Bordeaux today. 

- God’s provision and guidance for our teammates, the Christys, in their search for a house here in Saint Medard from which they can minister more effectively in our church plant.

- our French team as we meet for business and refreshment April 27-30.  Pray for our preparations on top of all of our regular ministry responsibilities.

- God’s provision of a vehicle for our family to borrow or rent for our two-month trip to the USA for home ministry this summer.

February update

Thank you for your prayers for us this month.  Though we live and work in a part of the world with very little Gospel light shining, we can see God’s hand at work.  This month marked the completion of our first mailbox campaign to the homes in Saint Medard en Jalles, and the beginning of our second campaign now using our new church flyer. 

Jonathan was invited to speak at the Valentine’s student banquet at our sister church in Pessac (another suburb of Bordeaux) on February 20.   God brought out a number of unsaved visitors, with a total of 43 served.  The Gospel was presented in various ways (song, skit, message) and everyone was invited to come back for church on Sunday. 

Our family traveled to Malta for the European Enrichment Conference Febrary 9-13.  Along with a number of the other missionaries, our family was hit by the nasty flu that is going through Europe, and several of us had to miss some of the sessions and fellowship.  However, God restored our strength and we were refreshed by the good fellowship and the excellent Bible messages on the life of King David and on Dealing with Soul Litter.  The children were blessed by the ministry of the special team from Grace Baptist Church in Winston-Salem and the contact with the other kids who have many of the same challenges that they have.

Praise for:

- C, the visitor that attended our services last Sunday, her first time in an evangelical church.

- the unsaved visitors at the Valentine’s banquet in Pessac.

- God’s care for Timothee through these 8 months of chemo treatments, and that he finished the last of the intensive treatments last week.  He now enters the second phase of treatment, which lasts 2 years.

- the pending sale of the Christys’ home in Lormont.

- the arrival of John to assist in our church plant while he takes three months of intensive French studies at the Alliance Française.

Pray for:

- God’s work in C’s heart and that she will keep coming to church.

- relationship building with unsaved contacts and for various evangelistic efforts (flyer distribution, English Connection, Film outreach in March).

- the Christys as they work through the sale of their home in Lormont and as they continue the search for a new home in Saint Medard en Jalles.

- Cherith’s sister Hadessah who will be travelling home from Southeast Asia for home ministry, and spending a week with us here in Bordeaux.

- all of the details concerning our two month mini-furlough this summer, including God’s provision for our transportation needs.

Happy New Year!

Before January ends we would like to wish you and yours a blessed and fruitful New Year as you serve our great God with His enabling and as He provides His love, comfort and grace for each day and challenge you face this year.

Though evidence that Satan is alive and well abounds in our world today, evidence of a powerful, wise and loving God is so much greater.  What a privilege (and responsibility) it is to have the words of Life that the world needs if people will only listen and allow God to draw them to Himself.  On January 18 our church had a fellowship dinner after the morning service followed by a planning meeting in which we discussed the church calendar, projects and finances.  There were 12 adults present to participate and the fellowship was indeed sweet.  Besides being responsible for church finances, I had also been working on revising/updating our church flyer.  We have now distributed close to 8000 church flyers (besides special event flyers).  Everyone was able to have input into the new flyers, which have been ordered and should arrive Friday. Our hope is that this flyer with some of life’s questions, (“What is the purpose of life?” “Who is God?” “Is there life after death?” etc.) would point people to the Bible and to our church which exists “to know Jesus and to make Him known.” 

Praise for:

- the way God is leading and blessing in the Saint Medard church plant.

- opportunities that God has given us to reach out to the family of one of Caleb’s friends whose atheist dad has advanced cancer.

- the good contact with two Moms and for the two girls that attended the English Connection January 23.  We also had a good opportunity to invite another Mom to bring her son (from Caleb’s class) and were encouraged by her very positive response.

- some good interaction that Adrianna has had with several of her friends, despite her homeschooling.

Pray for:

- God to use the new evangelistic flyer in a mighty way in Saint Medard, as we begin to canvas the town for a second time.

- the salvation of F and M, T who has cancer and his wife V, and of M and her family.  Pray for the English Connection to grow and that these children will understand more and more about God and His salvation.

- young Timothee Letellier who is once again in a period of intense chemo, making him very susceptible to any virus, of which there are many going around at this time.

- the Christys’ house in Lormont to sell soon so that they will be able to move to Saint Medard.
- our family as we will be participating in the European Enrichment Conference in Malta February 9-13 (the last one was held in 2012).  Two pastors from the USA will be preaching several times each, and a team from one of our own supporting churches will be providing the children’s ministry.

Praise and Prayer

The lights and decorations that fill the streets and stores at this busy time of year remind us who have received God’s precious Gift that most of our friends and neighbors do not celebrate the coming of our Savior to earth.  Our prayer is that the distractions of the season would not become our focus, and that God would use our family and our church to help others to focus on God’s Gift to the world.

As you pray, the Lord continues to work in Saint Medard.  An elderly woman showed up one Sunday morning for our service and has been coming for several Sundays now.  Mrs. R. is a believer from a neighboring town who found us on the Internet; happy to find a church like ours much closer to her home than the one she was attending.  Distribution of flyers, Gospel booklets and Scripture calendars has continued, including 1000 invitations to our Christmas film outreach that we held last Sunday afternoon.  One visitor for the outreach who had been burned by a false cult was touched by the film and took several pieces of literature.  We see the devastation caused by the JWs in our town.  God is greater and able to break through the chains to release spiritual prisoners.

One of our sister churches held a conference December 6 and 7 on the Bible and Science in the 21^st century, which our church family was able to participate in.  Evidence is everywhere for a Creator and the scientific soundness of the Bible, stark contrast with the “wisdom” of this world which is taught and believed as truth. 

Praise for:

-  this special season to celebrate God’s Gift of a Savior, and for many opportunities to share Christ’s love and message this month.

- the recent arrival of Mrs. R. in our services, and for the unsaved women who came to our Christmas film outreach.  Praise for the children who have come to our English Connection outreaches.

- the successful surgery that our teammate, Ed Christy had, and for good progress in his recovery.

- the accord we have received to meet in a downstairs room rather than upstairs where we have been.  The new room is larger, nicer and closer to the bathrooms, and much easier to get to for our people.

Pray for:

- the friends and neighbors that we have given goodie plates and devotional picture calendars to, including to a few new contacts. 

- the salvation of F. and her family.

- a family we have recently become acquainted with whose son is one of Caleb’s friends at school.  The father is battling cancer but is an atheist.

- Ed Christy’s complete recovery, and that we will all be able to get a little rest this Christmas.

- God to provide us with just the right place for our church to rent full time, at the right time and for the right price.

- the sale of the Christys’ house in Lormont and that the Lord will lead them to the right place in Saint Medard.

November 26, 2014

The Lord has given us so many reasons to be thankful.  One of those is you, our support Team.  You make it possible for us to be here as your representatives in this dark corner of the globe.  Your prayers have been evident this month, as we have seen the hand of God at work. 

The English Connection on November 14 went very well with three children joining us from three different families.  Since then, there have been some more promising contacts with other parents, so we are hoping the next EC this Friday evening will have a few more present.  The Bible story we taught the first time was about Jesus calming the storm.  This Friday’s theme will be Thanksgiving.  Please pray that the Lord will bring children (and parents) and that He will use us to help these people understand who Jesus is and their need for Him.

This past weekend, five young people from our sister church in Pessac (another suburb of Bordeaux) came to help us on Saturday.  There were some groups that went door to door in our neighborhood offering Scripture calendars while others continued the mailbox campaign on the other side of town, dropping a Gospel booklet and a church flyer in mailboxes.  We praise the Lord that more than 35 people accepted a calendar and more than 300 homes received the booklet and flyer.  We took a break in the middle to come to our house and enjoy some good fellowship around the table and the delicious meal Cherith had prepared. 

Praise for:

-  God’s faithful, loving care and provision for us.  Praise for the faithfulness of the support team that God has given us.

- the blessings He has given to each of us through

- the attendance and good response to our first English Connection.

- new contacts that the Lord has given us and our teammates.

- the help God sent us Saturday from a sister church in the area for a special work day of getting out Scripture calendars and Gospel booklets.  Praise for the 35+ homes that accepted a calendar!

- the return of one of our visitors Sunday giving us 16 in attendance!

Pray for:

- lost souls (M, C, F, P).  Pray for eternal fruit through the distribution efforts of Gospel booklets and Scripture calendars.

- the continued distribution of these materials, for clear weather to be able to get out, and for homes to open their doors to receive a Scripture calendar.

- the English Connection this Friday evening, for good attendance and for God to use each of us in this contact with the lost (parents and children).

- the Christmas film outreach that we are planning for December 14, for the preparation and distribution of invitations, and for God to bring people.

- Pray that God will lead our church to just the right place for us to rent full time.  Pray for God’s provision for the higher cost that it will bring.

Praise and Prayer October 31, 2014

We rejoice in the way God blessed the church retreat this past weekend, with 104 people taking part from four different churches.  This was the third time for our family to take part in this annual retreat since we moved to the Bordeaux area in early 2012, but it marked the 20^th time for this annual retreat to take place since it began in 1994 as a one church retreat under the pastoral leadership of Charles Anderson.  Each year the retreat has been held at the historic Chateau de Peyreguilhot, which dates from the early 18^th century and is owned by a Christian organization.  Since that year, three other churches have been started, of which the one here in Saint Medard is the newest.  What a blessing to have Charles and Babs Anderson come back from the USA for this anniversary as one of the keynote speakers.  We had special opportunities to reflect on God’s faithfulness through the years.

It has been a very long time since we have been with a group of that many believers for a service and our hearts were encouraged by the good fellowship, excellent Bible messages from our speakers and a wonderful loving spirit in the serving, game times and meals.  The children had a great time of singing, learning, making crafts and playing with a nice group of other kids as they benefitted from the special program that was prepared for them.  The Lord blessed us with beautiful weather in the low 70s for the weekend.

As the retreat ended we were reminded of God’s goodness once again.  Before we left to head for home someone observed that our right rear tire was flat.  Instead of having a surprise flat tire along the fast lane where the speed limit is 80 mph, or even worse have a blowout, we were able to get the tire change with plenty of help and encouragement from our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We had a slow but safe trip home on smaller country roads.

Praise for:

- a very good church retreat this past weekend with four Bordeaux area churches, and for the various ways God blessed.

- safety in travelling for all of those coming and going from the retreat.

- the email contact we had this week from someone who is interested in coming to our church.

- the prayer warriors and financial supporters that make it possible for us to be serving the Lord here in France.

Pray for:

- lost souls (M, C, F, P).  Pray that God will give us a good opportunity to talk with Mr. P. and his wife in the near future about the Gospel.

- two-year-old Timothée Letellier as he continues treatment for leukemia.

- the next English Connection scheduled for Novembe 14.

- good responses to invitations to church as well as to the English Connection.

- Pray that God will open a door and provide for our church to have our own meeting place with a permanent address, rather than continuing to rent only Sunday mornings.

Praise and Prayer October 23, 2014

Much has happened this month and God has been answering prayer.  We want to say thank you to all who have been praying and give you an update on what is happening.  After no one showed up for our first English Connection on October 10, we moved it to a later time that works better with some of the kids, especially those from Adrianna’s class last year who are now in middle school.  The children are on their first two-week vacation so the next EC is set for November 14. 

At church we welcomed a first time visitor October 5 who had received a church flyer in her mailbox a few weeks earlier.  Since she left quickly after the service we wondered if we’d ever see her again.  Then this past Sunday, she came again and visited with several of us.  Pray for C. that she will continue to come to church and that the Lord will work in her life as well as her husband’s. 

Little Timothee Letellier came through his month of intensive chemo treatments but finished with his white cell counts dangerously low (aplasia).  He caught a virus and was hospitalized with a fever on October 12 and was given antibiotics to fight the virus.  The next Sunday, he was released, but with his white cells still very low, he quickly picked up something else.  Although his white cell count was increasing slowly, he reentered the hospital this past Monday evening.  By Tuesday, his white cell count was high enough to go back home, so the family is once again reunited.  They have all been through a very difficult month, but testify to God’s sufficient grace and their trust in Him.

Praise for:

- C. attending church two times, and for several other good contacts.

- the safe return of the Christys and an encouraging visit from our BMM administrator.

- a recent “chance” meeting with Mr. P. at the pharmacy, and for the interest he expressed in talking about the things in a booklet I gave to him over a year ago.

- God’s help for Timothee Letellier and his family through a very tough month.

- God’s protection for His people in CAR despite renewed fighting in the capital Bangui and continued fighting upcountry, including Bambari.

Pray for:

- lost souls (M, C, F, P).  Pray that God will give us a good opportunity to talk with Mr. P. and his wife in the near future about the Gospel.

- grace and healing for Timothée Letellier, and for his family during these challenging days.

- C. to keep coming to church and responses to invitations to church as well as the English Connection.

- Mrs. T. whose 84-year-old husband went to be with the Lord last week.  Pray for her children and grandchildren who are unsaved, or not walking with the Lord.

- the 20^th Annual Church retreat this weekend, October 24-26.  Our guest speaker is the retired pastor who began the retreat.  Charles and Babs Anderson, and their son Chad are here for two weeks to minister and connect with people they have ministered to and prayed for over the years.