Author Archives: Mike

Washington D.C. an incredible city!

July 19, 2014 By in People, Places Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Here is the last installment of our “May Road-trip”…. a truly incredible city, Washington D.C.

Getting there…

On our way down, during the first few days, we’d seen the signs for Washington and thought… “Hmmmm… I wonder if…”, however we had a definite time frame and wanted to be neither rushed nor late to visit with the Mitchells in Montgomery so we just kept driving.  On the way back, however, we had no definite plans so I tossed the idea out to Liz and she agreed that it’d be a neat stop. The kids had done some U.S. history this year and would be able to relate to and understand some of the things that we’d see there.

We left St. Louis early on a Thursday morning in hopes of making the entire trek to Washington in a single day; no small feat as that represented over 800 miles or 1,300km. We were motivated. Why spend time driving two days when you can cram lots in during one, then have more time on site at the destination? 

Off we went… Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania… West Virginia (again), Maryland and finally, very late at night (thankfully… can’t imagine driving there during a weekday. Madness!) we arrived. The next day we slept in a bit but then, shortly before noon, set out to explore what is, without question, one of the most important cities on Earth.

map_WDC

Pennsylvania Avenue and beyond…

Our hotel being in Georgetown, we only had a short walk before intersecting with Pennsylvania Avenue. We turned left and followed the street, knowing that it would eventually take us to the White House. It was Friday so besides the tourists, there was still a great deal of hustle & bustle coming in and out of places like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, etc.  As we walked, there was a real sense of being in a seat of power… a city that breathes world-wide influence. Whatever your political persuasion or ideological viewpoint – whether you agree or disagree with the direction of that influence, there is no denying that it is there.

picstitchWe arrived at the back entrance to the White House… well not literally the back door…. the back, heavily guarded gate. We walked to the White House gift shop and dropped a bit of cash at the till in exchange for a few souvenirs and then headed to the south lawn of the White House, over to the Washington Monument down past the War Memorial and on to the Lincoln Memorial (collectively our favourite).

Church…

picstitchRev. & Mrs. Jerry Staten pastor the church in Washington and we connected with them upon arrival. We were able to join them for their “Evanglize D.C.” prayer-focus meeting on Saturday morning where some 40+ people had gathered. Later that day, we joined them for their Spanish service “Esperanza Viva”, and of course for church the next morning.

What an incredible church!  Extremely multicultural and very warm & affectionate. We felt very, very welcome with these folks. Under their leadership and that of their leadership team, there are over 20 small groups that meet throughout the city and the idea is that eventually, they will form the foundation of daughter work churches.

During the Sunday morning service, they sang a special number in 7-8 languages and there were three people baptized in Jesus’ name, including one in a wheel chair… their sins washed away. Awesome!

Thank you, Bro. & Sis. Staten for your time and the warm welcome we felt in D.C. at Living Hope!  The name is truly appropriate!!

Open Invitation…

If you’re in the D.C. area and looking for a church family, you can find Living Hope UPC at 1200 1st St. S.W., Washington D.C. 20024. Their phone number is (301) 481-7926.

Meet me in St. Louis

July 16, 2014 By in People, Places Tags: , , , 1 Comment

In the next two posts, I should be able to finish up detailing our travels from the month of May. Today, I’ll tell you about our time in St. Louis.

North from Texas

Liz had never been to St. Louis and neither had Sophie or Timo (Dominic went down with me in 2006 to help move home a fellow Saint-Johnner who had been living there at the time). Given the fact that we would be in Texas, and from there would begin our trek back north, it wasn’t such a stretch to consider driving through St. Louis.

We left Dallas on Monday morning and were able to get all the way to the Gateway city with relatively little difficulty. The Lord’s hand was on us to protect us as the last 2-3 hours saw very heavy rainfall pelt the highway, causing a number of really bad accidents due to hydroplaning.

The next day we rested in the morning and spent the afternoon touring World Evangelism Center, the headquarters of the United Pentecostal Church International; the organization with which we’ll be heading to France.  Rev. Jim Poitras was our tour guide: He is a former missionary to the West-African nation of Ghana and currently the Director of Education and AIM (Associates in Mission) for the UPCI.

map_STLPart way through the tour, the kids were thankful to be escorted first to the candy-stash closet where they got to fill a ziplock bag full of goodies, and secondly to the Missionary Kids’ Lounge where they could hang out and play Wii (somehow, touring and visiting is not as engaging to kids… thankfully WEC staff have thought of everything!). We then got to enjoy dinner with the Poitrases, at Tucanos, an incredible Brazilian grill.

Heights and Tight Quarters

picstitchThe next day saw us head to downtown St. Louis where we would see St. Louis’ famous landmark, the Gateway Arch.

I never thought of myself as claustrophobic, but when I stood before the elevator that would take us up 630′ (192m) to the top of the arch it was all I could do to get in (imagine trying to fit 5 people into a new Fiat 500 car – minus the windows – you get the picture).  I made it and lived to tell the story!

After the Arch, we got cleaned up and went, with our friends Brian & Shawna Hord, to Winds of Pentecost in St. Charles, MO where Rev. Tom Trimble is the pastor. I met the Hords in 2007 when I went to St. Louis to record the French DVD version of picstitchExploring God’s Word for the then Home Missions Division.

It was my third time at Winds and I’m pretty sure it gets better each time. It was Wednesday night but there was no mid-week-service slump there…. it was going full guns!  We were surprised to see an old friend, Brian Goddard, whose dad was pastor in Saint John when Liz & I first began attending. After service we had supper together with the Hords, the Trimbles, Brian and several youth. So enjoyed this time.

Locally…

Looking forward to being in my home church this Sunday. Given the extensive traveling of late, it’s been a while since we’ve been there.  Thank you to Bro. & Sis. McGuire for a wonderful day in Millville on Sunday. Thank you for believing in us and for supporting our AIM appointment.

Open Invitation…

If you’re in the St. Louis area and looking for a church family, you can find Winds of Pentecost at 1040 Fairgrounds Road, St. Charles MO. Their phone number is (636) 395-0889.

Dallas, TX… South Fork & North Cities

July 12, 2014 By in People, Places Tags: , , , Leave a comment

After spending last week in France…. and sharing details about that time with you, I’d like to once again take you back to some of our travels in the month of May… this time, to Dallas.

A Long History

(pardon the pun)

From the early planning stages of this trip, Dallas was in our sights.  The reason for this particular stop was to see old friends who are definitely part of our whole journey leading to France.

Schobert

(This picture of them from 2004 still graces my bookshelf… Rachel, you’ve GROWN!!!)

Sometime in the 2002-2003 period, Rev. & Mrs Steven Schobert came to our church on deputation; they were preparing to head to France as appointed missionaries (also replacing the Brochus at the time) and we connected well. In 2004 I went to France to present a research paper in the context of my Master’s studies in French Linguistics and the conference was in the city where the Schoberts lived. We had a couple of nice meals together and I attended church with them on Sunday – This would be my first time in the Châtellerault church. Although we don’t see each other often, outside of conferences, we have remained good friends and enjoy the times that the Lord does allow us to spend together.

map_TX

French Connection

North Cities UPC has quite a French connection.

  • Bro. Steve Schobert is Associate Pastor there.
  • During their last deputation, the Brochus based out of this church.
  • Former UPC missionary Kathy Miller calls this church home.
  • Wonderful friends, that we know from France but who now live in the greater Dallas area, also call this church home.

It was great to meet Pastor D.G. Hargrove and be so warmly welcomed to his church. We were able to just sit and enjoy service during the morning and then had the opportunity to speak during the evening service.

Thank you for your warm welcome and southern hospitality!

Touring…

During our time in Dallas we were also able to spend some time seeing some pretty important landmarks in the the area:

  • Dealey Plaza (where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated)
  • South Fork Ranch (inspiration to the 1978-1991 television series “Dallas”)
  • Flying Fish restaurant (home of the world’s first Billy Bass Adoption Center – for real!)

picstitchThe kids got to spend lots of time with their friends Winston & Olivia Wojciechowski, whom they’d only met in November 2013, at the French National Youth Convention…. but even then, they hit it off so incredibly well it was amazing.

Locally…

The fundraising and promotion continues. Tomorrow morning I get to be with Rev. Trevor McGuire, in Millville, New Brunswick.  On one hand, his church will get to be a bit spoiled, given that we’ve just come back from France and have lots to tell!  Can’t wait.

Open Invitation…

If you’re in the Dallas-North Cities area and looking for a church family, you can find North Cities UPC at 502 Belt Line Rd, Garland TX., 75040 . Their phone number is (972) 530-3668.

#MPTeamFrance 3

July 9, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

in the Homestretch…

France composite pic 3Yes… we’re still in France, and yes… we still have Nick Cannon with us (He may just make it home Tanya & Jason!).

Over the past few days we’ve covered a great deal of territory and witnessed some pretty incredible things!

After saying good bye to the Brochus in Châtellerault, and in Bordeaux, we got to spend a few short hours with Pastor & Mrs. Paul Majdling, while our young people had a service with the youth of their church. We got to meet and hear an incredible testimony by one of the young men in that church before singing, testifying and bringing a message from God’s word.

After church, we headed back to Bro. Nowacki’s church in Melun (roughly a 6+ hour drive from Bordeaux). We arrived rather late and readied ourselves for a full day Monday:

  • Prayer meeting at 8:00am (one of the local young people was filled with the Holy Ghost in that prayer meeting).
  • Breakfast all together at 9:00
  • Downtown to hand out invitations for church from about 10-11:30am
  • Back to the church & then to the Bois de Bréviande for a BBQ lunch
  • Youth service at 8:00pm (another local young person was filled with the Holy Ghost in this meeting… incredible!!)

After a busy few days, Tuesday was a “sleep-in-a-little-later” kind of morning followed by a visit to the UNESCO designated “World Heritage Site”, the medieval city of Provins where the ramparts date back to the 11th & 12th centuries.  This was the first real rain that we had all week, and did it rain!  Later that evening we attended the mid-week Bible Study at the church in Melun with Bro. Nowacki. (to the right you can see our young people mixed in with the young people from Melun).

Today… Paris!

France composite Broch-Majd

Liz & I with the Majdlings (top). Shown with the Brochus (bottom), standing in a field of ripened wheat… with Châtellerault in the background.

As you are reading this, we are SOME-where trekking through the city of Paris. The team is, of course, very excited to see this incredible city!! We got on a bus at 8:30 to take us to the local train station where we caught one of the RER trains that whisked us in to the Gare de Lyon.  From there we begin to tackle the city one attraction at a time!

Ka-BOOM…. Paris!

Since we will end our time in France in the capital, you can be assured of one thing… by the time we hit the airport tomorrow, we will be completely wrung out!! To all family members reading this… please have nice comfy beds ready to receive some very tired bodies!!  🙂

Overall it will be a “good tired” though…. our hearts are full!
Thank you LORD for all the good things you’ve done during these days!!

#MPTeamFrance 2

July 5, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , Leave a comment

5 days in…

Châtellerault's City Hall

Châtellerault’s City Hall

On Thursday, I had just left you off as we began our first day of active ministry out and about in Châtellerault.

We had devotionals at church in the morning followed by some instruction on how we would go about our prayer walk… this instruction would apply to both days – Thursday and Friday.

Rather than focusing on the negative and stirring up trouble in the Spiritual realm, we simply prayed that God’s light would spread throughout the city and the region. By necessity, when light enters a room… darkness is banished… so it is on a  spiritual level… the light of Christ pushes back any form of darkness. That was our prayer.

On Thursday, we split up into three teams and went to different areas of the city. Friday’s time of prayer walking focused on the downtown core… including in front of City Hall and (pictured below) in front of a monument dedicated to the glory of the French Revolution… a pivotal moment in French History, which provoked a great shift in attitudes toward God and the Church.

During Thursday’s service, Bro. Ryan Shephard brought the message and his wife Trisha shared a testimony.

Friday

France composite pic 2While going through the city, we stopped to take a picture of the team in front of the Henri IV bridge, built in 1564. During WWII the German army had wired it with explosives in an attempt to completely destroy it and prevent American tanks from crossing the river. A German-speaking Frenchman pleaded with and was able to convince the soldiers to disobey that order, thereby saving the bridge… which is to Châtellerault what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris – an irreplaceable and  immediately identifiable municipal landmark.

After Friday’s prayer walk, we had a BBQ at the church with members of the family of God… where the girls got to do something so typically French…. (apparently) … walk around with a bouquet of flowers and a baguette (French Bread) in hand.

*Inside joke alert*
This is something that they’d seen the previous day (which was market day)… a lady walking down the street with a fresh bouquet of flowers and a baguette under the other arm.

Following our BBQ lunch, part of our team spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the Sunday School room in preparation for the new Sunday School year which will begin in August. What a HUGE help they were!  In this way, our time here will be remembered and appreciated each Sunday morning for many weeks & months to come!

To God be the Glory!

In service last night (our final service), a first-time visitor (who’d been visibly moved upon on Thursday) had returned for the second time. Praise the Lord!  She will be moving to an adjacent village at the end of August, but has already left open the possibility of Liz & I coming to visit her upon our return in January. Pray with us for this open door!

Today… Bordeaux!

This morning, we will leave Châtellerault and proceed to the city of Bordeaux where our youth will minister to and have service with the young people of this church.

As always… thank you for following our activities in, and in preparation for, France. Let these updates inform your time of prayer with the Lord.  God bless you today!

#MPTeamFrance 1

July 3, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , 1 Comment

3 days in…

 After months of preparation our team of 13 young people are finally in France!  Twelve hail from Mission Point, in Saint John, NB and one from Capital Community Church in Fredericton, NB. All are impacting the kingdom of God! We left on Monday, June 30th on an overnight flight from Montreal to Paris. Both passengers and baggage arrived safely and at the same time! Continue reading →

Small City… Big Heart, DeQuincy LA

June 28, 2014 By in People, Places Tags: , , 1 Comment

After leaving Pensacola, Florida… our next major destination was to be Dallas, Texas. We knew that we’d have to stop and spend a night somewhere in between but we just planned on driving until we felt like stopping, and finding a hotel there… (wherever “there” was).

One thing we knew we wanted to do however, was make a quick stop in DeQuincy, LA… 15-20 minutes or so, to run a quick errand at The Pentecostal Church.

Thanks… and thanks again!

Back in March, when we sent out our information packets, TPC’s pastor, Bro. Neyland took us on as a partner… without following up with or ever having met or spoken with us. He was the first to formally take us on, outside of our home district.  This expression of “blind trust” in us meant and means a great deal to me, so I wanted to stop by in person and express my thanks. Little did I know that he would give us many more reasons to say “Thank you!”

picstitchBro. Neyland’s church has a double-wide mobile home that is used for visiting ministers which he graciously invited us to make use of. Later, we had supper together and the kids were able to play on the trampoline – entertained by the pastor’s son – before capping the evening off with a bowl of Blue Bell ice cream (oh my word, that’s good ice cream!!).

The next morning Liz was able to do a bit of laundry and the kids could do some school at a table… instead of in the car, before we all went for lunch at Bartrella’s Uptown Café (it was their last day in business).

map_LA

 

Living up to their mottos

The title for this post is no accident, it is the motto of the city of DeQuincy and features prominently on the city’s website… Small City… Big Heart: With a population of roughly 3,500-4,000 it is indeed a small city but oh what a heart!  Similarly… the motto for the Neylands church is Loving God, Loving People and again, they certainly lived up to that motto.

When I think of Bro. Neyland and his church, the words of Paul in Galations 4.14-15 come to mind…

you… received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus… I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

New Friends… new Family

Most of the visits, during this trip, were with people that we’ve known for a number of years, and the time spent together with them was rich. This visit however, was not like most of those others… this was a time to make a new friendship.

We were in DeQuincy for less than 24 hours, but those hours are etched in our minds as a time of rich connection.  I am thankful for the family of God where you can come together as strangers and leave as family.

Thank you Lord for the gift of the family of God!

 

Open Invitation…

If you’re in the DeQuincy area and looking for a church family, you can find The Pentecostal Church at 301 W. 4th St., DeQuincy LA 70633. Their phone number is (337) 786-4740

Pensacola, FL

June 26, 2014 By in Blog Leave a comment

Call it a “Throwback Thursday Post”  if you will… continuing with updates on some of our time in the States back in the month of May.

Short & Sweet

Our time in Pensacola was short and sweet… we drove from Orlando and arrived just in time to get freshened up and head over to First Pentecostal Church, Pastor Brian Kinsey’s church, for their midweek Bible Study.

We were glad to meet Rev. Jeremy Stafford, Bro. Kinsey’s Youth Pastor, with whom we’d corresponded a number of times but had never met. Also we got to have supper at IHOP with Bro. & Sis. Daniel & Dana Stroebel and their 3 kids (Liz had never eaten at IHOP before, and it had been a long time for me).

Bro. Stroebel had preached the Bible Study that night and taught on “Letting Everything Go“… how that, anytime Jesus said “follow me” people straightway left something else behind. It was a very appropriate word for us as we are definitely experiencing that now.

Thank you Bro. & Sis. Stroebel for spending that time with us. We sure appreciated your hospitality!

map_PENSA

Pensecola Christian Academy

The kids had their heart set on seeing Pensacola as well, because they follow the Abeka Academy Homeschool curriculum produced by Pensacola Christian Academy. We’d decided to take a drive after church to find the school, so the kids could at least see it, but to our surprise we drove right by it on the way to church. We came back the following morning to actually see the school. We couldn’t actually get in to see the school or meet any teachers, but nonetheless, our kids were really excited to see “their school”.

Abeka Academy is a video-based program where PCA classes such as history, music, typing skills, reading, math, science etc., are pre-recorded and sent to us in DVD format. Liz then coordinates tests, projects, etc., and submits their results so that an academic record is maintained. This is how they will be schooled during our entire time in France and is advantageous for 2 reasons:

  • Language: While our kids speak French in varying degrees, it would not be strong enough to be thrust into the French school system. Their French will improve by virtue of the daily interaction with French people, but their education remains in English.
  • Continuity: Our kids have always been homeschooled and though we’ve used the Abeka curriculum for a number of years, we moved to this format during the 2013-2014 school year. We wanted to minimize the amount of change that the kids would experience this school year (in addition to the already big adjustment of moving to France).

Want to help but don’t know how?

The cost associated with this Homeschool program is roughly $800 per student, per school year and represents a very specific financial need within our overall support.

If you’d like to help us out financially but either don’t know how, would you consider making a donation to help cover the kids’ education.  You can do this by printing off our Pledge Card, filling it out and mailing it according to the instructions here.

10-days in France, 4 days away

Just a reminder that we’ll be leading a team of 13 young people to France in just 4 more days. Please keep the team in prayer as we travel and minister in three different churches. Look for details on how the trip is going, right here in the Blog section.

Open-invite to a really great church

If you live in, or are visiting the Pensacola area, you will find a great church in First Pentecostal Church. They are located at 6500 North W St., Pensacola FL., 32505 and can be reached at (850) 477-1100.

Thanks for following our adventure, Next stop… DeQuincy, LA.

Family Time… relaxing in Florida

June 21, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , , Leave a comment

The impetus of our roadtrip, in May, was a week-long family vacation in Florida. We managed, on either side of that week, to incorporate time with pastor-friends and their churches, however these days were the raison-d’être of our time away.

Down-Time

As Assistant to the Pastor of a very active church with responsibilities for the design, publication and distribution of a 12-page monthly magazine for our district and as dad to a homeschooling family where Liz does an amazing job… we tend to lead a very busy lifestyle.  I can’t even begin to say how nice it was to unplug from email, voicemail, web-technology, etc. for a couple of weeks. Oh I know that we never really escape it totally, but we can put a much greater distance between it and ourselves.

Unlike previous visits to Florida, where we’d visited various Disney parks or other such attractions, this time we made a point to not move from our home-base (it can be tough to resist the temptation “go and do”, but we’d set the expectation with our kids, from the outset, that this would be a “poolside” vacation… no parks, and that did the trick).    map_FL

Staying “Busy”

The only kind of busy that we were looking for, during our time in Florida, was… well… none!

The kids were content to spend hours at a time in the pool – chasing, dunking, splashing, stalking & wrestling with each other and the various pool-toys that were available. While they did this, Liz & I did a fair bit of reading and I included some journaling and blog-maintenance as well. We only left home-base twice.

cypressgroveThe first time we left was to go to church, Sunday morning, at Cypress Grove Fellowship, located just 20 minutes or so from our hotel and pastored by Rev. Mark Barrick. We really enjoyed service and were very warmly welcomed by church members. Thank you Cypress Grove, for making us feel so welcomed.

The second time we left home-base was, based on the recommendation of one of the folks at church, to go visit Playa-Linda (spanish for “beautiful beach), part of the Canaveral National Seashore…. THAT was beautiful!

Huge waves of salty water crashed onto the fine sand and underwater sand-bars, carrying you along and causing you to either stumble or tumble ‘neath their power.  I’m sure that before the abundance of theme parks and attractions the beaches would’ve been crowded, but they were virtually empty… two surfers, a handful of fisherman strewn along the kilometers of pristine beach coast. This was probably one of the most fun days we spent in Florida.

*thankful for family fun*
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Open Invitation to a GREAT church

If you live in, or are visiting the Orlando area, you will find a great church in Cypress Grove Fellowship. They are located at 745 Holden Ave., Orlando FL  and can be reached at (407) 857-5866 (see link to their website, below).

Thanks for following our adventure, Next stop… Pensacola.

One last note…

Today we are having our final FX Meeting (France X-travaganza) in preparation for our upcoming 10-day mission tour to France (beginning June 30th).  We will be working on music and preparing for our final fund-raiser… Paris by Night, a 3-course sit-down dinner and silent auction where the choice of Entrées will be Boeuf Bourgignon or Seafood Alfredo.

…So be watching for a few extra posts around that time as I will be sharing some of what the team will be involved in on a day-to-day basis.

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to Montreal, Ottawa & back

June 18, 2014 By in Churches, Places, Process Tags: , 1 Comment

This time last week I’d asked you to pray because I was heading to Montreal for Canada Conference and as you read this, this morning, I’m preparing to fly back to Saint John. Taking a break from details of our trip down south, let me give you a run-down of the past week.

Canada Conference

CCcompositeThis year’s Canada Conference was hosted by the incredible church in St. Laurent, pastored by Rev. Paul Graham. This church is no stranger to us (or rather, we’re not strangers there) having been there numerous times, with Rev. Dieudonné Kahozi, for various French Conferences.

The speakers this year were

Paul Mooney, Jimmy Toney, Melvin Calhoun, Raymond Woodward, Jesus Fortaleza and Albert Foster.

The worship and teaching was incredible… what a great blessing to be part of those meetings.

Bro. Woodward afforded me the opportunity to greet the conference as an appointed AIMer which was a great privilege. It took me a bit off guard because I didn’t know it was going to happen, so I don’t think I did as good a job as I could have, however, I’ll chalk it up to a learning experience and do better the next time such an opportunity arises, knowing better what to expect.  So thankful for every opportunity!

I was asked to translate the morning sessions on Friday which included teaching by Brothers Foster, Woodward, Toney and Mooney… a wonderful marathon that I was privileged to be part of (*note to self… bone-up on Revenue Canada & accounting terminology for the next time I translate Bro. Foster – haha). 

Services in the Quebec District 

After the Canada Conference was over, I spent a few extra days in the Quebec District, to present our project and our burden at the invitation of Rev. Scott Grant (career church planter under North American Missions) and Rev. Dieudonné Kahozi (French pastor at St. Laurent, church planter in Montreal East and North American Director of French Evangelism). I spoke…

  1. Sunday Morning at the newest French church in Montreal, located in Montréal Est. This church began as a Bible study in Bro. Kahozi’s home, outgrew their second location, a rented 45-seat facility, 2 years later and are now in a recently-purchased location, the dedication service of which will take place in July of this year.
  2. Sunday Afternoon at International Church, a growing church on Montreal’s south shore, started by Bro. & Sis. Grant in 2009 and currently being pastored by Bro. & Sis. Hector Arriola.
  3. Monday Night at a Bible Study attended by international university students as an outreach of the Saint Laurent UPC. Don’t let the name fool you… there were 88 people in attendance. These young people are on fire.
  4. church-smTuesday Night at the Église Pentecôtiste de Trois Rivières. This is an established church that will celebrate 25 years this summer and is also pastored by the Grants. We love the church at T-R (as it’s affectionately referred to) and have been there numerous times as well.

“Office-time”

While in the area, I had a number of appointments between Montreal and Ottawa which related to my application for European Citizenship. Liz holds EU citizenship by virtue of being born there, my kids have it because or their mom and I am entitled to it by marriage (in the same way that Liz was able to get Canadian citizenship, by marriage, when she moved here) and can maintain dual citizenship. While on one hand it’s fairly straightforward, it nonetheless required a fair bit of paperwork, document authentication and eventually translation.

Why apply for citizenship to an EU nation?

Not because we plan to cut ties to Canada or anything. It will simply reduce the amount of bureaucratic hoops that we will have to jump through in order to live in Europe temporarily. Typically, France only issues 111SussexDrresidency permits for a 1-year term, meaning that after only about 6 months, you have to already begin the renewal process. Having citizenship does away with that.

This part of the process required time at both the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa as well as the Italian Consulate in Montreal, among others.

A Busy Few Days…

I’m back in Saint John today, but in the next 5 days we need to:

  • Meet with officials about Homeschool planning for the kids next year.
  • Have a final, all-morning, planning session with the 13-member team that we’re leading to France on June 30th.
  • Celebrate Sophie & Dominic’s “last birthday in Canada” for a couple of years.
  • Speak at Life Source Church in Shediac, pastored by Kent Carter.
  • Host a 3-course fundraising dinner for our 10-day mission trip to France on June 30th.

It goes without question that we would appreciate your prayers. 

God has done and is doing many amazing things and we are glad to be part of it!
Thank you for following our preparations and for your prayerful support… with it you become part of what God is doing and will do in France.