Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from hot and sunny Normandie! Temperature records are being broken for the month of May all over Western Europe right now and Caen is no exception. It’s been in the 90s each day which is HOT without AC. We’re thankful for our home which maintains a bearable temperature so long as we are strategic with keeping our shutters closed. We’re also looking forward to a summer with air conditioning during our upcoming visit in the US (more on this later!).
Gratitude
We must begin this update by sharing our overwhelming sense of gratitude. We are seeing so many prayers answered right now. We’re thankful to God for His kindness and provision and thankful to you for your partnership in the gospel and for praying with us. Here are a just a few points of thanksgiving:
Aaron is sleeping through the night! We are starting to feel much more alive – thanks for praying with us about this.
We have new GEM teammates moving to Caen to join us soon! This is another big answer to our prayers. The Druense family (Mark, Heidi and their three children) are hoping to join us in Caen in August. This will not only mean increased capacity for ministry in our city, but it will also be great to have other GEM missionaries living near us. Please pray for them in the upcoming transition and for us as we form a team and begin working together.
Reuben’s health continues to be strong. It’s been nearly a year now with minimal migraine issues. We’re so thankful for the difference we’ve seen this year. Last school year Reuben was only able to go to about 2 months of classes. Praise the Lord that he has been able to continue his academic trajectory and is doing so well this year!
Evidence of deep relationships locally. We’ve been reminded frequently in the past few months of how deeply the Lord has rooted our relationships with neighbors here in France. It’s been encouraging to see the fruit of many years invested in one place.
Evidence of deep relationship internationally. We had a wonderful visit seeing friends and sharing at Christ Church Chorleywood in the UK last month. Thank you for prayer with us around travel, everything went relatively smoothly for our first experience of traveling off the continent as a family of 7. We to connect with you and person and tell you face to face how your prayers and support deeply impact our family and mission.
Annual Update Video
Here is a short video update from us that we made to communicate with our sending church in Tennessee but we thought you might like to have a look as well! It is a good picture of what we are currently doing and our life here in France. AND it has our heartfelt expression of thanks for your partnership with us. (If you are reading this on your email, click here to have a look on our website!)
Youth Service this Sunday
This Sunday, our boys will be leading the church service along with a couple of other youth at Bon Berger. Eli has been preparing a sermon complete with custom designed maps. Reuben and Silas are preparing to lead sung worship for the first time at a church service without any adults in their band. I share this partially – or perhaps mostly – because I’m feeling very proud of my sons and I’m grateful for their relationships with God. But also, to ask for your prayers for this weekend and over them more generally. They face some big challenges growing up in a foreign culture.
BIG USA Trip Coming Soon!
In less than a month we’re planning to be in the US! The last time we had a long visit like this as a family was 4 years ago, so we are very excited to see many of you. Traveling as a family of 7, including our not-quite-one-year-old is daunting, so we won’t be able to visit every place we’d like to on this trip. We will mainly be spending time in middle Tennessee, visiting family, friends, and supporting churches.
We’re planning to be at our sending church, the Gate Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee on Sunday, June 28. The Gate is kindly hosting a reception for us following the service that day and we’d love to see you there. We’ll share some stories and pictures, but mostly just want to catch up with you! We can’t wait!
Thanks
We’ve been so grateful this year for the reminders of how well cared for and supported we are by people like you. It’s humbling and wonderful to know the prayers of so many are with us as we seek to follow the Lord here on mission.
