Dear Family and Friends,
Spring is in full bloom with summer peeking around the corner and we have been busy as bees traveling and getting life in order before our little one arrives in August. In this newsletter you will find an update on baby and how you can participate in blessing him (and us!), update on Tom and Eli’s trip to the USA, upcoming events and topics for prayer plus two ways you can interact with our story and what God has been up to in France and in our family.
Baby Update
All is going well with about 3 months until baby boy’s due date (ahhh!). Thank you for continuing to pray with us for health and for energy to prepare well for this big change. Joanna is feeling good but tired and this growing baby likes to move! We celebrated Reuben and Eli’s 13th birthday on May 1st so this year we are looking forward to welcoming our new son and we’ve become a home with teenagers (pictured below with their books which they got as birthday presents)!
Opportunities to Bless BABY:
Since we are so far from many of our dear friends and our families, we wanted to give an opportunity for you to bless us and baby boy. Some of Joanna’s friends in France are throwing her a baby shower (as we don’t have much baby stuff in storage from 9 years ago!) If you’d like to help out with money for baby gifts or if you’d like to buy us something, first of all – thank you! Secondly, here are the best ways to do that:
Zelle : we can’t receive money for personal gifts into our missionary account with GEM so if you’d like to send any funds towards baby help, please send to tomappel@gmail.com via Zelle.
Over the years we’ve had some significant difficulty receiving packages which are often delayed and now have an extra tax that we must pay the postman to receive them (sometimes up to 50+ euros). So, please use Amazon.fr or a France based company if you’d like to order a specific gift and you can send it to us at:
7ter rue du bac du port, 14970 Bénouville FRANCE
Here is a link to a small registry on Amazon.fr: APPEL BABY REGISTRY
Also, if you have any prayers, blessings or scriptures that come to mind for the baby or for us at this time, please send them our way! It is always an enormous encouragement to us to hear from you.
Thank you for your kind support as we get ready to welcome another Appel baby into the world!
USA Trip
It was great to see many of you last month as Tom and Eli enjoyed their visit in Dover and the Nashville area! It was wonderful to be physically with people who we know are with us at a distance each day in prayer. As usual, I (Tom) found the practice of sharing how God is at work in our lives and ministry a huge encouragement. It was also such a boost to pray together and be reinvigorated by people like you. Below you’ll find some pictures from our trip.
Video Update and ‘Why Europe’ GEM Podcast
It has been mission’s month at our sending church, the Gate Community Church this past month and we got to send over a video update. Although we made it specifically for the Gate, we thought you might enjoy watching it too. (FOR EMAIL VIEWING: Click here to view video on our website and finish the newsletter…)
Also, Tom was interviewed recently for GEM’s ‘Why Europe’ podcast. It’s a fun remembering of the ways that God has guided us as a family – here’s a link if you’d like to listen. Podcasts: Apple or Spotify
Upcoming in June
Renew
Next week we head to Amsterdam for ‘Renew’, a gathering of GEM missionaries from across Europe. We also get to visit friends who live in the Netherlands for the first time! Reuben and Eli will be participating in their first ‘GEM K’ event – a weekend for 13-18 year olds led by GEM staff and volunteers at a different hotel from the one where we will be staying. Silas and Elodie will be participating in a children’s program run alongside the conference. Please pray for them to enjoy this experience and for all of our family to be refreshed by this time with GEM colleagues and friends.
Music
We have several opportunities in June to play music, either as Hometown Tennessee or for our church family. Please pray for us as we proclaim the gospel in song and story at Renew next week in Amsterdam and at the Fête de la Musique on June 21. We’re also continuing to serve at Bon Berger with leading worship, playing at a wedding and for a baptism service coming up this month!
School Year Ending, D-Day Celebrations, and Art Expo
This has been a long and tumultuous school year for us, particularly in regards to Reuben’s health. He is doing better and has had less migraines lately Praise JESUS!! We are encouraged that he is improving and has had more success going to school. It is still an ongoing struggle. Please continue to pray for complete healing for Reuben.
School gets out at the beginning of July so June is quite a full time of end of the year gatherings and celebrations in our community. We are hosting some friends and neighbors in our home this month especially around the anniversary of D-Day. Please pray for these gatherings.
Joanna will be preparing for and participating in a small art exhibit with her art club at the end of the month in Benouville. It is always a great time to have conversations about faith. Please pray for her as she gets the art prepared for exposition.
Thanks as ever for your prayer and care for our family. We are grateful for you!
