We all need fellowship with other believers. We do a lot of that with the people in our own church but from time to time, we have the joy of fellowshipping with other missionaries and pastors. This has been one of those weeks. On Monday, we enjoyed a meal with the Christy family, BMM missionaries who have a church here in Bordeaux. Tim and Ruth and their children were also invited by Ed and Sylvia for a great meal and evening together.
Last night we had Ando and Lala and their 3 children over for a meal. It was good to catch up with them after our six months away. Some of you might remember that their oldest son Tsiry was with us for a month in the states.
Then this morning was the monthly pastors' breakfast. This time it was at our home. Normally, there are five pastors who come but one was unable to make it this morning.
At noon, a former student from 1998 came for a four day visit. Susan was almost 50 when she came to Bordeaux to study French. Pretty brave of her. And now 12 years later she is back for a visit.
Tonight is a regular soiree, but Ruth and I are making tacos for the group. Normally, they make the meal on Friday nights but we thought they needed a treat and a break :-)
Tomorrow morning there is a men's breakfast here at church. This is a first for us.
And then it is Sunday with all of it's normal responsibilities.
Full week-- but one full of Christian fellowship!
Here in France, even though they strongly believe in separation of Church and State, they still love all of their religious holidays! Thursday,May 13, was Ascension Day. Traditionally, the church has a picnic at a park about 45 minutes away. This year as always, the food, fellowship and fun were all great.
Last weekend our "sister" church here in Bordeaux sponsored a Bible Quiz. Our kids studied hard the book of I Thessalonians and came home with first prize! We were very proud of them. There are two university students in the group and 3 high schoolers. We are looking forward to hearing them recite the entire book soon.
Today was a very special day for us here in Pessac. The morning service was planned to center around the great truths of the Resurrection. The choir sang and an instrumental group played. Then instead of eating together as we normally do, we split up into 4 homes. So that the adults could enjoy the meal and fellowship, we keep the 4-10 year olds at the church with us. I am sure our group was the liveliest one! The second picture is of the group that ate at Tim and Ruth's home.
We all need fellowship with other believers. We do a lot of that with the people in our own church but from time to time, we have the joy of fellowshipping with other missionaries and pastors. This has been one of those weeks. On Monday, we enjoyed a meal with the Christy family, BMM missionaries who have a church here in Bordeaux. Tim and Ruth and their children were also invited by Ed and Sylvia for a great meal and evening together.
Last night was the annual Repas Agape. Since we had just returned from the states, there was not a lot of time to plan, but we are thankful for the great help we had to pull it off! It was a great evening. We were fewer students than in year's past, but we had many first time visitors. Bob emceed the evening and Tim preached. Several of the visitors promised to come to church tomorrow so please pray that the do!
What a joy to be back home in France after six months in the states...and the joy was more than doubled to be met at the airport by family!!! Here we are meeting our newest grandson Zacherie. We were, of course, just as thrilled to see Micaiah and Miriam and their parents!
