God morning friend! Thank you for stopping by for a glimpse into our life this week. I’m going to be very brief today as, in a couple of hours, we will travel to the south-western city of Bordeaux to be with Pastor & Sis. Paul & Melissa Majdling for Pentecost weekend.
Special Visit
This past week, we’ve been enjoying the visit of a very special friend. Carolyn Fudge along with her husband Randy, were Liz’s host family when she spent a year in the USA as an exchange student during high school. They remained in close contact over the years and Carolyn was Liz’s matron of honour when we got married. We don’t get to see them all that often (it seems like the pattern is just about every 10 years), making this week even more special.
Randy & Carolyn are currently working with inner-city kids in Dublin, Ireland; putting their love for God to service with World Partners mission organization.
Yesterday we took the afternoon and went to visit Chenonceau Castle together, on the banks of the Cher River, roughly an hour away from Châtellerault. The Lord gave us a perfect day.
We’re thankful for long-term friendships that are based in a common love for God!
Pentecost Weekend
When this weekend in Bordeaux was originally planned, it was to be a national convention and Rev. Derald Webber of The Pentecostals of LaFayette (Louisiana) was to be the main speaker. At the beginning of April, however, it because evident that because of the dedication of a new soccer stadium in the city (and the anticipated 40,000 soccer fans in attendance), it would be very complicated to have the conference as planned.
Preparations were scaled back and rather than using a rented venue near the soccer stadium, it was decided that this would become a regional conference… which could be comfortably housed in the local church were Rev. Paul & Melissa (Hardin) Majdling are Pastor. Bro. Nowacki organized a conference in the north, where Bro. Webber would minister, and 
Bro. Majdling asked if I would minister there with him. (This photo of us and the Majdlings was taken in 2014, when we accompanied a team of young people from New Brunswick.)
This is a well established church of 80-100 people but this weekend there will also be another 40 or so from around France and 14 from our church in Châtellerault.
I would appreciate your prayers as I will be speaking this afternoon (Saturday) and again tomorrow morning, for Pentecost Sunday. What an honour to minister alongside, and in the church of, this fine ministry couple. We’re grateful for the invitation to minister.
I’ll give you the “run-down” next week. I covet and appreciate your prayers. The Lord is about to do a wonderful thing!
Did you know?
In France, the Monday following Pentecost Sunday is a holiday here, much the same as Easter Monday or le 14 juillet (France’s version of Canada Day or the Fourth of July). Interesting eh!? French government is very much for the separation of church and state… but just try taking away some of the religious based work-holidays and see how far you get. Not gonna happen!
Lost in Translation
To end with today… a bit of “Translation humour.” Can you see the mistake in this photo? (Are you a member of The King’s Translators? Yet more proof that France needs you! 🙂 )
Leave a comment if you catch it…
God bless you and Thank you again for stopping by… let what you read inform your prayers for us and for France.
Perhaps it’s only fitting that our final service be in Temperance Vale, NB with our Atlantic District Superintendent and his wife. We drove up on Sunday afternoon, after having attended morning service at Mission Point and had no trouble finding the church, although we’d never been there before.
I was a bit disappointed when I learned that she wouldn’t likely be there that night due to fragility and advancing age, but my spirits soon lifted again when her daughter Ann (also mother of our District Youth President, Bro. Paul Thornton) got up to lead worship. She looks so much like Sis. Priest and sang with just as much gusto!
CCC members gave liberally this weekend and their generous offering put us up to 65% of our required budget.
We 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
Rev. & 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.
Part 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 
The next day saw us head to downtown St. Louis where we would see St. Louis’ famous landmark, the Gateway Arch.
Exploring God’s Word for the then Home Missions Division.
The 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.
Bro. 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 first time we left was to go to church, Sunday morning, at 
AIM Long 