The kids made it through their first 6 weeks of school and have begun a 2-week break (the school year here is broken down into 6-week + 2-week cycles). Need I say how glad they are for the change of pace?

I dare say that Liz is glad for the break as well as she’ll be able to push ahead with some translation work that she’s needing to wrap up in the next couple of weeks.

For now though… let me give you a quick run-down of the past two weeks…

After Bible School… Troyes

As I mentioned last week, the kids accompanied us to Melun for Bible School because we were headed to the eastern city of Troyes for service on Sunday.

Meet Pastor & Mrs. Djurik. They are of Slavic / French heritage and have been pastoring the work in Troyes since it went through a difficult situation a couple of years ago.

It was awesome to worship with them and see several Bible School students that I’d taught as far back as in 2010, now firmly established and involved in leading the work there.

Two Hours in Paris

In between Bible School on Saturday morning and heading to Troyes, we zipped into Paris (about a 1h drive) to meet a young mom who recently moved to Paris because of a dire situation with her young son’s health. (I’ve covered their faces because we didn’t ask permission to share their photo and I wouldn’t want to break confidence)

We were put in touch by a friend in Belgium that I met some 28 years ago while working with a church there. We had a chance to pray together and put them into contact with missionary Brochu and the Paris-Centre church.

If you think of Adam this week… please pray that the Lord would heal him.

Health Needs

Something cool happened last week. All five of us were able to have some proactive medical exams done courtesy of the French health care system. In a one-stop shop we had bloodwork done, ECG / blood pressure taken, teeth checked & eyesight verified.

Each of these alone would normally cost a minimum 25€ (multiply by five for all of us) per exam. That would be at least 500€ … but the LORD provided it to us for free. While there will be some followup visits required, which won’t be covered by health care, still, we’re off to a good start.

Soon-to-be & already needs

• The boys continue have orthodontic treatment (not covered by French health care)
  
• After four years, Liz & I need new glasses (progressive lenses no less!  agh!). 🙂
  

Light in the Sky

So this is pretty cool.

I don’t know if you can see it all that well, but in that photo to the right, you can see beams of light coming off that glass cube.

That building is, in fact, huge… several stories tall in fact. It is tipped on an angle and entirely enclosed in glass.

As I was driving home yesterday, I noticed it from a distance and was amazed. It’s one thing to see lights pointed skyward at night, when the sky is dark. But it’s another thing completely to see them in broad daylight. I was seeing the light of the sun reflecting off of the giant glass cube and headed right back toward the sky.

What a great illustration of what God is calling each of us to be. On one hand, it’s easy to be “light in darkness” because it doesn’t take much light to distinguish it from darkness. Conversely, it takes a great deal of light to be seen in broad daylight… like the light reflected off the building in this picture.

We are called to be just that… OUT-Shining examples of Christ’s light… not for our own glory or credit, but so that His light is emphasized and him glorified.

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Thank you for permitting us to be an extension of your prayers and your ministry, in France. God bless you today!