Video Update from The Appels

We made a little video update along with some French Lessons from the Appel Boys!

Prayer Points

Thank you for praying for us! Here are somethings that we would love for you to keep in your prayers over the next few weeks.

• Pray for the development of church partnerships. We are currently in process with two churches that will be making important decisions this month about partnership. We are also looking for more congregations who might feel led to partner with us in ministering to France.
• Pray for our family health. We feel like God is calling our family to rest, heal, and strengthen as we prepare to go to the field. We also are praying for continued health in Joanna's pregnancy as we get ready to become a family of six!
• Pray for France. We are burdened for the people of France to know Jesus. Pray for the strengthening of the church and the ministers already hard at work in France. Pray that people would continue to be open to the message of love and hope that Christ brings to all.

Vision Trip: Answered Prayer

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! We are grateful for you and especially thankful for your willingness to pray and journey with us in this exciting season! We have arrived safely back in Texas after spending two weeks with Joanna’s parents in Arkansas. This was a joyful time for us to be back together as our little family unit after our long separation during the vision trip. The trip also gave us some much needed time to reflect and pray about all that God was working in us while we were in France.

Clarity

In our last post, we shared some moments with you in which we saw glimpses of what our future ministry might look like. Please have a read here if you were unable to do so before. We didn’t mean to leave you with a cliff-hanger, but we did also mention how thrilled we are that the Lord brought us to a such a strong place of clarity about some significant plans for how we are to join in His work in France:

We are GEM

Greater Europe Mission has an incredible team in France! We felt strong confirmation that they are the right fit for a missions team and sending agency for us. We were able to meet almost all of the the GEM France team at their annual retreat (silly face pictured above) and it was impressive to see such a strong group of leaders moving with one vision, but with a variety of styles and approaches to ministry. GEM values the unique design of each missionary and also puts a high priority on missionary families thriving on the field. We loved the sense of family that has been cultivated with GEM France, and it seemed like a wonderful group for our boys to fit in with too.

We are going to Angers

While we are holding our plans about where we will land and what sort of ministry we will be leading with open hands, it looks our long term role with GEM will be as city leaders in Angers, France. This is a city we love dearly and the part of France that has been on our hearts since we started pursuing this call.
 

Language School

When we move to France, the first thing we will do is attend language school. Our conversations with French people highlighted the need to work hard at language and increased our passion to learn.
 

Intentional Partnership

We felt such confirmation about GEM as our team, but we also felt a strong sense of confirmation for us to partner intentionally with Bless and Messenger Fellowship. The exact nature of what these relationships will look like is developing still, but our meetings and connections confirmed that God is doing something there.

Summary

We asked you to pray with us that God would give us clarity about where and with whom we would be focused in ministry, and God answered our prayers! It is so exciting to not only have confirmation about going with GEM in Angers as city leaders, but also to have strong relationships growing with the amazing folks at Bless and Messenger. This is more than we could have imagined, and truly a call and vision that sets our hearts on fire!  

Next Steps

Next up for us is a season of inviting partnership. We will be praying and actively seeking people and churches to invest prayer and finances with us towards this Kingdom work in France. We would love for you to pray about how God is calling you to participate in reaching the French people with the message of Jesus. More to come on this soon!

Again we want to thank you so much for praying for us and our children while we were away. We are grateful for you and how you are already partners with us in what God is calling us to do. Have a grateful day!

Blessings,
The Appels

Paris Attacks

My Dear Friends, 
We have watched and been broken by the reckless acts of hatred and terror that have transpired in France over the past 24 hours. Our prayers are with the wounded, the families of those who have lost loved ones, and with the people of France who have been terrorized by these horrible acts of violence. 

We have been preparing to send you an encouraging report about all that God did in us when we were in France on our vision trip a few weeks ago. Those newsletters will be coming your way in the next few days but, we felt we had to respond now to what the enemy is trying to do in the country we love so much. 

The best thing we can do right now is to pray together for France.Our most important work is on our knees before the Lord interceding for the French people. For those who mourn personal losses today. For their leaders, their government, the pastors and priests, the lost and broken, the poor and needy, the immigrants and refugees, for those living in darkness. Let us pray for healing in this nation that is bleeding. 

Please join us in praying for France: 

God who knows our suffering, 
You are our light in darkness even when it feels
that darkness has won the day.
Comfort your people in France and be close to those who have lost loved ones.  
Let us not succumb to fear or hate but would follow your example
of love for our enemies, especially when it hurts.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord who bore the weight of all our sin.  

Amen.
 

Thank you for praying for us while we were away. Please continue in prayer for France over these next few days, weeks and months.

James 5:16 "The effective prayer of a righteous person has great power."

Love and Blessings,
The Appels