Liz stepped one step closer to the limelight this past weekend (a place she generally avoids) by helping out with the national Bible Quizzing finals. Here you can see her pictured with the coach from Arras (Sofiath Agba) and judge Marion Nowacki (also the national Sunday School coordinator).

Bible Quizzing

Both beginner and experienced quizzers came together on Monday, after the Pentecost Convention, for the final quiz-offs for 2017. The experienced quizzers memorized 120 verses from the book of Acts (less for the beginners) then competed against one another in terms of speed and precision. All in all there were 34 matches between 9am and 5pm, so it was a hefty workout for everyone involved.

The church in Nanterre (Paris) took home first prize for the beginner division and a lone quizzer from Troyes (north-eastern France) won the experienced division!

Pentecost Convention

Rev. David Bernard was guest speaker at this year’s Pentecost Convention. He & Sis. Connie Bernard attended with their son Daniel and his wife Kalee.

What a huge honor to translate Bro. Bernard in the three services. I appreciate the simplicity with which he preaches. Though he is highly intelligent, he is able to make himself easily understood; that’s the sign of a great teacher!

Also pictured is fellow AIMer Ashley Dixon, originally from New Brunswick but now well-rooted in Ohio. He and his family have been helping in the Paris-Center church since September 2016 and are almost finished their term.

Sis. Bernard and her daughter-in-law sang an old hymn: “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus”. I’ve got to admit, in a world of many great worship songs, I still love to hear the hymns as well.

Finally pictured is missionary Marcus Brainos translating for Sis. Anne Nowacki, national coordinator for the prayer ministry and someone with a rich personal prayer life.

Timo’s meets a celebrity…

So I didn’t know this, but apparently Bro. Bernard’s son Daniel is a well-known drummer. Besides being student pastor at Royalwood Church in Houston, he is also drummer for Christian solo artist Tauren Wells (former lead-man for Royal Tailor).

Timo had been following him on Instagram and knew of his YouTube channel as well. When he saw that Daniel was there he said “I want to get my picture taken with him.” At one point I was sitting beside him on the platform and asked if he’d mind…. after service, we did the deed!

Timo also got a chance to see him in action as he spent some time jamming with the other musicians following the service.

Very cool!
#HelpingOurKidsHaveGreatRoleModels

Road Tripping

Following Monday’s quizzing tournament we piled back into the car and headed for Belgium.

We have a wedding here today and decided to spend a few days with Liz’s parents in the mean time.

Once we got out of the Paris region, the traffic was pretty light (there’s ALWAYS traffic around Paris). The closer we got to Belgium, the more the temperatures became bearable (we’ve had HOT weather over the past little bit).

We spent the week hanging pretty close to home-base until coming to Liège yesterday. I’ll give more details on the wedding next week, but suffice it to say it’s a real pleasure to be part of this day. I’m standing up with the first friend I made in our Belgian neighbourhood back in 1989!

How can you pray for us today:

• Not only am I standing up with my friend in the civil ceremony, but I’m performing the blessing the vows in a separate ceremony afterwards (in Europe civil services are the legal legitimization of the union… church ceremonies are merely to invoke God’s blessing). Pray that the Lord helps us.
• Safe travel back to France tomorrow.
• Dominic has an end-of-year oral exam on Monday.

We thank God for his blessings… and you are among them.
God bless you and have a great week!