Hello Friends and Family,
Summer is here! I can’t believe that we are already into July! Time flies when it is the busy season! Starting at the end of May, we entered into a full season at Bless. We have groups coming and going, Blesstival, church gatherings, concerts plus all kinds of family, end-of-the-school-year activities that we are involved with in our community. God is certainly up to something amazing!
We decided to break this update into two parts, this one with more personal family updates and the second about God’s work over the past month or so with us here in Normandy.
D-Day 75th Anniversary
Many of you WW2 buffs may recall that this year marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day landings. Our little village was the site of an instrumental Allied military maneuver that happened the night before the D-Day landings. It involved some brave men flying and landing three gliders and taking the Pont du Bénouville, which is now known as “Pegasus Bridge”, making our little village the first to be liberated in all of France from Nazi occupation.
Needless to say for the celebrations, our little village was heaving with tourists, bag pipers, and visitors dressed in full military uniform. The kids spent weeks preparing banners that hung on the bridge. Then on June 6th, all the school children and parents who could accompany the classes (including Joanna) walked in a parade from the school to the center of the bridge where there was a ceremony, fly-overs of war-time military planes and bands marching and bagpipers piping ‘Amazing Grace’. It was a deeply moving event to be a part of and we are keenly aware of the spiritual significance as well. We are praying for the liberation of the people of France, that they would find their freedom in the love and amazing grace of Jesus.
Art Show
At the end of May, Joanna’s painting association were a part of an art exposition in the village. Joanna was able to display her art for the first time in public which was a big step for her. The art association has been a great place for Joanna to meet people in our community and learn more about the French culture through art. We visited the opening as a family and then our house church went all together to see the expo that weekend. This is the living out of some of the vision God has given us for France, reaching people through the arts!
Hosting in our Home
Summertime is great time to have people over for a BBQ and we are definitely doing this in France! In the past month, we have hosted 8 events with cumulative numbers over 100 people. We love to be able to open our home to friends and neighbors! As a result, we are seeing more people engage with our church and we are making friends in our community. Please pray for continued favor, as we have a few more BBQs planned this summer with new families!
Language and Visas
We are so excited to tell you that Tom has achieved B2 level French language ability! This is the language level required by GEM before fully transitioning from the language and cultural acquisition phase on our mission. We are tremendously proud of Tom for going from zero french to a B2 level, YAY! We will always be learners when it comes to language and culture in France, but it is wonderful to have achieved this goal! Also, we have managed to renew our visas for another year! Thanks for your prayers.
Prayer Points
Wellness for our Family
We are seeing progress in Eli’s walking praise the Lord, but I think all the kids (and us) are tired at the end of the school year. Eli was sick for a week and a half right after school let out. We think his body is needing some good rest and recovery. Please pray for all of us to be well this summer and find time to recuperate after a busy and difficult year.
French Language
We speak English in the home, and when the kids are home for the summer, that means that there is a lot more English in our lives. Please pray that we can continue to grow in our French language even over the summer months. Elodie is set to start school in the autumn, where she will be in a full immersion French environment. We are doing what we can to prepare her!
Social System in France
In March, we submitted an application to enter the social system in France. They lost our application for a while and it has not come through yet. This is important for us as there may be a large sum that needs to be payed once it is processed and we are waiting to see what that sum is! Please pray that the application is processed quickly and that the sum is not exorbitant.
Travel
At the end of July we are driving to Frankfurt, Germany for GEM’s Annual Conference, which is the gathering of all of GEM’s missionaries across Europe for us to be together to worship, add to vision, and be equipped. In early August, we (Tom and Joanna) are having a week away for retreat, especially to help us process this last year. We have some amazing friends who are coming to stay with our kids in our home so we can do this. Please pray for safety as we travel and for the week we have apart to be fruitful, safe and healthy for our family.
If you’ve read to this point, thank you and congratulations! We appreciate all your support and prayers for our family. Watch your inboxes for a ministry update tomorrow!
Love,
The Appels
