Hi Friends,
7 years ago, we packed up 18 bags and made our big move from the USA to France with our four small children. It is amazing to see all that God has done with our little family over this season. We are so grateful for all of you who have been with us throughout the journey, for your prayers and support. We feel incredibly blessed and honored to be partnered with you in ministry here.
We’ve recently sent out an email update – if you missed it you can catch up on our news here: Blog-Great is Thy Faithfulness
Even in the few weeks since we sent this out, we’ve had some amazing moments to celebrate. Read to the end of this email for a couple of stories of how God has been working – answers to prayer!
But first…
Event in Franklin, TN
Here are some details about our upcoming visit to Tennessee this month! We’ll be spending most of time on this trip visiting family, but we would love to see as many of you as we can!
To do this we’re going to have a lunch/reception at our sending church, the Gate on Sunday the 21st of April following the second service at 12:30 pm. We’ll have some pictures and stories to share about how God is at work here in Normandie.
We’ll also have time to catch up and pray together. As the Gate will be providing food for this event, it will help us if you can let us know you are coming. Please RSVP by simply responding to this email. We hope you can make it!
We’ll also be at the Gate on May 5th and we will have space to catch up between and after services.
Music Project in Nashville
As part of our trip to the USA, we are going to be recording a few songs with the help of Jenny and Tyler, Tom’s sister and brother-in-law. Please pray with us about this. It’s been exciting to have more and more opportunity to play and sing in our city and we hope the recording will be useful in helping our French friends and neighbors to encounter Jesus and turn to Him.
Please pray with us as well for safe and smooth travel.
Now back to how God’s been working…
Alpha Update
Thank you for praying about the Alpha weekend away. It was so, so good! Tom brought his guitar, and this turned out to be a hit with the group. On Saturday night he was invited to lead a time of fun and convivialité. Someone set up a projector to display words for well-known songs and it turned into an amazing sing-along time that really brought the group together. There was a funny moment when I lead a group of 20 or so French people in a boisterous rendition of “O Happy Day” while nuns worked in the kitchen next door. There were also more poignant moments with songs that opened onto true and beautiful things. It reminded me again of how helpful music can be in bringing people together and in moving thinking/conversation from the head to the heart. Père François, the priest who oversees the Alpha Course, was an enthusiastic participant in our time of singing and the next day he invited me to lead music for the group as a time of sung worship during the Mass. This time of prayer and music was a breakthrough moment for many on the weekend. At the end of the weekend, we were all asked to share something we were taking away from the time. I was touched by how many of the group shared that they had experienced the Holy Spirit in the times of singing (for Père François it was during the late-night sing-along time!).
The following week for our regular Alpha evening, another leader invited me to share a song of worship before the teaching time. It’s been fun to see the enthusiasm in our local catholic community for music and sung worship and I’m so grateful to be able to help meet this need. Even more exciting than the meaningful work with music, God is drawing some of the people in Alpha closer to Him! It was a privilege to witness in my discussion group a couple moving from describing themselves as atheists to agnostics, and now speaking about experiencing something of the Holy Spirit! I’m continuing to pray for salvation, but I’m grateful for this significant movement in thinking.
Easter Sunday
Another exciting moment for us was leading worship for the first time at Bon Berger on Easter Sunday. Reuben played piano and sang, Silas was rock solid on the djembe, and Eli and Elodie were worshiping with us on the front row. Many of the congregation were not-yet believers who had been invited for the Easter service. This felt like a significant moment of being family on mission.
Thanks for reading to the end! As always, we are grateful for you and we hope to see many of you very soon!
Every Blessing,
The Appels
