Week 4

Ok, I will try this again...

This past week was a very eventful week for our team here in France. We came back to Montpellier Monday afternoon completely refreshed and rejuventated after our weekend getaway to the French Riviera.  My eyes have never taken in so much beauty in such a short time ever in all my life. God was really showing off His majesty in this place. 

This week we saw our first friend accept Christ into her life. Her name is Ana and she is a student here from Columbia.  She has been staying connected with our team here and has come to a lot of our outreaches so far. Please be praying that the Lord would move in big ways through this new believer and that she would pursue Christian community even after we Americans leave Montpellier.

Also, this past week God blessed me with the opportunity to meet a young woman named Julia.  She is orignally from Southern France and is a graduate student here.  After getting to know her a little bit, a couple of my teammates and I had a chance to share the Gospel with her. She had a lot of questions so we sat with her for about 2 hours and tries to clarify some things.  Julia repeatedly told us that she knew she was lost, but she has just been waiting to feel that connection with something greater. She is still slow to call the creator God, and she still has a few hesitations and misconceptions we are trying to clear up.  She did not really have any concept of who Christ is or why He is so significant until she met us. We gave her a French New Testament Bible and bookmarked John for her. She was excited to start reading it especially because we told her that we are all studying the same book right now too. In the time I spent with Julia and by the conversations we have had, I have got the impression that she does not have many friends and she is very independent. She lives alone and has a job on the weekends. She really has a servants heart though as she tutors students on weekdays, and she has offered to help all of us out getting around town and finding cheap food too! Please be praying that God would be at work in Julia's heart and that he would remove the scales from her eyes so that she might finally be able to see God in all His glory and place her trust in Him. Pray that our schedules would coordinate so that we would be able to continue to meet with her this coming week and hopefuly bring her to church with us next sunday so she can see that there are other French believers also.

Also, please pray for our team to stay healthy in these last few weeks of ministry as our bodies will be even more fatigued. Also pray for our unity as a team so that we may be a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled, and well-functioning body. Thank you all so much! Know that God is at work here. 

Week 4
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Mid-project Retreat

Wow! Whether you can believe it or not, I am already halfway through this mission project.  This weekend we are taking a mid-project break to rejuvenate ourselves.  We are leaving Montpellier today and driving across southern France to Nice where we will spend the day, and then we will be retiring to a French villa in the countryside! We will be staying at this villa until Monday afternoon, and then we will drive back to MOntpellier and prepare for the last 3 weeks of ministry. 

About a week and a half ago, I met a young French student named Nicolas on campus here in MOntpellier.  He was a very nice guy and we easily got into conversation. My friend and I were able to share the Gospel with him and explained to him that he only has 2 possible destinations after life here on this earth and we shared with him how he could choose eternal life with Christ. He was not yet ready to make this decision, but he agreed to continue to hang out with me and my friends. I would have to say that Nico quickly became my best French friend thus far.  Sadly, this coming Sunday he is going to be moving back to his hometown about 150km from Montpellier to work for the summer and I may not see him again.  We gave him a French copy of the New Testament and he said that he would read it to learn more. Please pray that the Lord would pursue Nico and send other beievers to impact his life.  Pray that the Lord would reveal Himself to him in His Word and that Nico's heart would be changed!

Thank you all so much!

Friday, May 29th

bonjour! I am writing to briefly update you all on what God has been doing in France since our team has been here for over a week now. I wish I could go into more detail but time will just not allow for this now. God has been so faithful in providing our team with many opportunities just in the first week to meet with many different French students and to begin to develop friendships with them with the aim of sharing Christ. We have already been ale to share the entire gospel message with a handful of students and most are now interested in asking God to come into their lives now, but they have all continued to agree to keep meeting with us. So far the French have broken every stereotype that I had in my mind about them. The students I have met have been very similar to me and I praise God for that because it has allowed us the chance to start genuine friendships with them and share Christ's love with them through that friendship.

I appreciate all of your prayers! The enemy has been attacking strongly here and we have had to send one memeber of our team back to the U.S. because she was battling with depression and fighting off lies that she could not overcome here in France without help. Please pray for Kate. 

Also, please be praying for the students my team memebers and I have already met. Pray that God would open their hearts to receiving HIs Word as truth and pray that He would open their minds to understanding the mystery of the Gospel. Please pray that our team would continue to grow stronger as a family and that we would perservere through discouraging times.

Merci voco!

 

 

I have arrived!
Hello support team! I have officially arrived in Montpellier today, 5.20.09. it is currently 11:58pm here so my writing will be short. All of our travel went very smoothly..no lost luggage or passengers so that is good. We are all a bit jet lagged so tonight we will have to recover because tomorrow we are headed out into the city to get familiar with it. The weather was beautiful here today and I'm truly feeling God's hand of protection on me here. Thanks for the continued prayers!