I’m 45, have moved half-way ’round the world, am raising one – soon to be two – teenagers and I’m starting to GROW UP!

Convention de Pentecôte

At this time last week, we were packed up and on our way to the Pentecost Weekend Convention in Bordeaux, just under 300km south-west of us. I’d asked for prayers and today I’ll tell you why… but first, let me give you a quick run-down of the weekend.

Across France, the Lord allowed several to experience their own “Personal Pentecost”:

– 43 were filled with the Holy Ghost and
– 39 were baptized in Jesus’ name.

The Convention in Bordeaux contributed 6 (Holy Ghost) and 4 (water baptisms) to those numbers, with probably upwards of 160 in total attendance over the two days.

The kids quite enjoyed themselves as they got to hang out with other youth their age. On Saturday night, following the service and fellowship, they went downtown for a walk along the waterfront and a twirl or two on the giant Ferris Wheel… they got back to the hotel (by tramway) at around 11:45pm (nope… we weren’t waiting up for them, nope, we weren’t nervous… haha – we were totally waiting).  …Next morning the youth sang together in service…  Sophie & Dominic among them.  Very cool!

After the Sunday service & lunch we headed downtown for a stroll.  This made me much appreciate our quiet little provincial French town of Châtellerault (38K people). Bordeaux has about 800K and I’m sure they were ALL driving or walking downtown that day…

Growing up

Leading up to the convention, throughout the week last week, I felt a tremendous amount of spiritual unrest: facing a great deal of anxiety, fear, worry, unease… you name it, and I know exactly why. I was the main speaker for the convention. I had been preparing for a number of weeks, speaking is not new to me and I trust the Lord’s faithfulness, but I was bearing a particular responsibility for the weekend which translates to: spiritual TARGET!

This was, in one sense, new to me. Up until this point I’d primarily been a “second man”… in an assistant-to-the-pastor role, and as such I didn’t carry the bulk of the weight… that fell to the pastor, I just helped him. To some extent, for the the first time, I felt like I was bearing a greater share of the burden for that conference that would normally have been the case if, say, I was just attending.

I’m growing up.

Thank you Lord that you ultimately carry the load and accomplish what needs to be accomplished… both in the life of the preacher as well as those who are listening.

In Addition….

Did you notice?   …something’s different!

See the yellow & orange buttons at the top right corner of the screen (towards the bottom if you’re on a mobile device) you’ll see the following two new buttons:

 

Newsletters: If you’re a periodic reader or you’re involved in promoting missions in your local church, you may want to check these out. They’ll sum up key highlights and are published bi-monthly.

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Happy “French” Mothers’ Day

Tomorrow is Mothers’ Day here in France, so we have a few extra things planned. Liz wasn’t all that comfortable “preaching” so she will share an “encouragement” or a “testimony” before the main message is given.  Also we will pay tribute to the moms in our congregation. We’re expecting a couple of new faces as well.  If you’re a mom reading this today… then hit up your kids or your hubby and tell them/him that in France it’s your day… (as long as it’s Mothers’ Day SOME-where in the world… mothers ought to be spoiled, right!?)

Try this out & leave me a comment to let me know what they said!

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Bible School & AYC Planning

Today I’m in Melun to teach a class at Bible School (life of David) and to do some “heavy lifting” planning for the AYC trip coming up at the end of the month of June… Liz & the kids and I will accompany the group throughout northern France for 10 days or so.  LOTS to do!

Thank you for reading and again… please let what you read inform your prayers for us. You are part of what God is doing here… you are “Partners” in “Missions.”