It is Christmas time!!

Christmas is on it's way.  We are back home in France and enjoying the Christmas activities! On Friday night, I had a ladies/girls decorating party.  In years' past, I have had the University students in for an evening together, but decided to invite all the "females" this year.  It was fun to have the young girls as well as our oldest member here.

Then Sunday afternoon, we had our English service.  It was a bit special for Christmas  as we sang Christmas carols, had musical pieces by two American families and then a beautiful array of American Christmas goodies!  We had a good group of almost 30.

Family Thanksgiving!

After 6 years, we were able to have the whole family in one place for a few days.  What a wonderful treat it was for us all.  Here is a picture of all 23 of us.  Some of you will remember when our children were the age of the tiny tots in the picture.  God has been good to us.

and here is a shot of us with those 12 precious grandkids!

A New Church Member

Last week, one of our families had a new baby boy.  David and Esther live about an hour south of here, so we drove down to meet the new arrival yesterday.  Oscar was born on August 15 and both he and his mommy are doing great.  It was a joy to see this young family who love the Lord so eager to raise their two children for Him.  Esther comes from a Christian family.  Her parents were visiting from Italy and we had fun trying to communicate.  Children are indeed a heritage from the Lord.

Musical Mission Team

This weekend we hosted the Musical Mission Team from Bob Jones University.  It was a wonderful weekend.  They arrived Friday afternoon just in time for a snack of crepes and then they walked over to the nearest tram station where they  handed out invitations to the two church wide concerts.  That evening we had a "family time" after a cookout.  Saturday morning they were back here for two sessions with Bob and Michael Cole.  Then we served them "Raclette"-- a first for almost all of them and a big hit.  The concerts were both well attended.  We had over 100 in our meeting room.  We were especially excited that one of our neighbors came for the first time as well as several other first time visitors.

English Service

 Once a month we have an afternoon service in English.  Most of the time those present (besides the Americans!) have very limited English language skills so we try to use "special English".  That means nice and slow with a limited vocab.  This month we were happy to have another American missionary family join us.  Jonathan and Cherith Teachout have just moved to Bordeaux and are helping out in the downtown church.  Their family sang a special number for us.

Our Easter!

On Sunday we had a special service with several of the young people participating. We were really surprised that we had 50 people for our special meal of raclette (cheese and potatoes). There were several visitors present, too.


Then on Monday (which is a holiday in France), we had the missionaries who live in Bordeaux over for lunch. It was a good relaxing time of sharing and catching up with each other's news.

Trust that you all had a wonderful day celebrating the Lord's ressurrection.

Bible Institute Students

Last week the students from the Bible Institute in Algrange where Bob teaches once each semester were in Bordeaux. We were happy to have them share with our students for the regular Sharing time lunch on Wednesday and then for the student soirée on Friday night. It was an encouragement for all.