Dear Friends and Family,
From our home in Benouville, we have a view of the beautiful village church, whose doors are always closed and locked except for once every six weeks when the travelling mass comes to visit, and this church’s bells have been silent. Broken since before we moved here four years ago. Each day, I look out the window and see this forgotten building that represents the gathering place for the faithful who have come before and I pray for France, for the Church to be revitalized, for God to break into the darkness and shine His light, for His voice to be heard and His joy to fill each heart.
A few weeks ago, an amazing thing happened. The bells started to ring! To many, this is a small thing, maybe even a nuisance, but now each time I hear them ring the hour, my heart is filled with hope. Hope that our prayers for France do reach God’s ears and match God’s heart. Hope that change will happen if we remain faithful to what he has called us to. And Hope in the life and light of Christ reaching the many people around us living in darkness. Every village in France has a church like this one. Every village is full of people who don’t yet know God’s deep and abiding love for them. Please continue to pray for France and for us as we choose to remain faithful to His calling for us in this country.
Blesstival and Baptisms
At the end of May, we went down to the campsite at L’Orangerie de Beauregard and held our annual gathering of the Bless Network, lovingly named Blesstival. It was a lovely time to see friends from France, England and the Netherlands and to be together for Worship, teaching, prayer and fun! We helped plan and lead the weekend, and led the worship in all the sessions. Plus, Tom led a worship music seminar which was tremendous fun and we played (and won) the annual boules tournament!
The highlight of the weekend for us as a family was the baptism of our three sons! Reuben, Eli and Silas, on a chilly but sunny Sunday morning, were baptized by Tom and I in the pool in front of friends and family (Tom’s mom was there!). Elodie wanted to participate, so she found some sticks in the woods and fashioned them into a cross and led our family in a procession, holding the cross above us all! It was a special and significant moment for our family.
10:2 GEM Interns
Over the past few years, GEM has developed a summer short-term missions program for university students to come to Europe and serve in different ministry locations for two months over the summer. We had planned to have a group come to be with us in the summer of 2020, but, you guessed it, COVID prevented this from happening. But not this year! We are very blessed to have five amazing young women here with us in Caen, working alongside Bless with SOS Chai and church this summer. They are living at Bethanie right now, and will move into our house and use our car when we are away this summer. Please pray for Abby, Kensie, Eliza, Juliette, and Made, as they serve, learn and grow in the Lord.
Trip to USA and Sabbatical
Our kids (led by Eli) have started a “countdown to the US” on our whiteboard in the kitchen which serves as a constant reminder to Joanna and I about how much we have to do in the next 7 days to get ready to jump on a plane. That’s right, after more than five years in France we are heading to the States for the whole French summer, July and August. We are thrilled to be preparing to see many of you and intrigued to see what reverse culture shock feels like. Will we be awed by the size of a “small” coffee? Will we be overwhelmed at the friendly welcome from servers and retail staff? The kids are excited about everything and planning to use French to communicate clandestinely. Please pray for us as we prepare and travel.
This trip to the states marks the beginning of a sabbatical time for us. With the help of GEM counselors and conversations with trusted advisors, we feel called into a season of rest and healing. A sabbatical is standard practice for people reaching the five-year mark in serving in missions abroad. In our particular situation, with all that has happened in the past five years with illness and injury, we feel it is significant for us to take the time to properly heal and move back towards life and ministry on the mission field from a place of wholeness.
To make the time to take the space we need, we’ve made a couple of big changes. Firstly, I (Tom) have decided to step down from my leadership role with the GEM France team. This is a significant change as I have been frequently giving 20 hours a week or more of time towards this work. It has been a privilege to serve the GEM France team in this role for a year and a half and I’m grateful for the understanding and care I’ve received from my teammates. We are continuing as missionaries with Greater Europe Mission and grateful to be on the team.
Secondly, on the advice of our wonderful GEM member care team (counselors who work with missionaries), we are taking a longer time away from active ministry this autumn. This time will be like a sabbatical, in that we are focused on healing, processing all that the Lord has worked in our first five years and seeking His wisdom about our next steps in France. We are so thankful for the support we are receiving from GEM counselors and leaders. We also appreciate the understanding of our local partners with the Bless network about our need for a time away.
This time away from active ministry for us will still be life in France. We will return to our home in Benouville from the USA at the end of August. Our kids will continue at school here, and we will continue in relationships with French friends. We’re thankful that both Joanna and I feel a continued sense of call to France and love for French people. We’re excited about the opportunities we can see in our city and with our neighbors. Please pray with us for emotional healing and for wisdom as we make decisions about what care we need (retreats, counseling, prayer ministry, etc.) Please pray for clear discernment of God’s voice.
Please do be in touch if you would like to connect with us to pray or if you have any questions or want to know more about what’s going on with us.
We are so thankful to have such a supportive and caring community of partners.
