Three Church Retreat- 2010

Over the November 1st holiday weekend, we had our annual "Three Church Retreat" in the château near Tonneins. There were 90 people this year and there was an excellent spirit. The speaker was a retired French teacher. His messages on the book of James were very encouraging and convicting!
Bob did two workshops while there. The first one was a choir and the group sang for one of the services. The second one which he presented two times, was on "Simplifying your Spiritual Life." He based a lot of it on the book by that title by Donald Whitley. We had just finished reading it together.

This post is late since I have been battling a virus since coming back from the retreat, but we wanted to let you know that we were blessed by it again this year. We had 30 people go. One young Hungarian couple went who are non-believers. The young man comes from a Pastor's family and knows the Gospel clearly. Please pray for them.

English Service

For many years, we have had an English service once a month. We often have visitors-- students who just want to hear something in their mother tongue or students who just want to learn more English. This past Sunday one of our visitors definitely caught our eye-- he was 6ft.10in. tall! Now our son Tim is tall, Dan Seely is even taller but they were both looking up!
Actually, the young man is an American who plays on a professional basketball team here in Bordeaux. He was one that "just wanted to hear something in his mother tongue" but we are praying that we have many more opportunities to share the gospel with him.

Special Visitors!

It has been our joy and delight to have our brother and sister here for a couple of weeks. Steve, Bob's brother, and Donna, my sister, are one of the main factors that the Lord used to lead us to France years ago. This is the first time that they have been back here to visit in many, many years. We had a great time together and were overjoyed to see them enjoying the "old" and the "new" things here in France. Steve was able to preach here at our church one week and then last Sunday in the church that he started near Paris.

Baptismal Service!

On Sunday, September 19th we had a baptismal service for Tsiry, the son of one of our families. It was a big day. Over 100 people came to the afternoon service. Tim and Elisabeth Knickerbocker were in town so he preached. Tsiry had surrendered his life 100% to the Lord while at their camp last summer (Camp Arc-en-Ciel). Afterward we had a wonderful time of fellowship.

We are so thankful for the work that the Lord is doing in the families of our church. Two other young people were saved this summer.

Please pray for Christian families as they endeavor to raise their children for the Lord in a very hostile environment.

A Day in the Country!

The first Saturday in September about 25 of our church people went out to the new home of the Licois family. It is almost an hour away, but the drive was well worth it. We had a wonderful time together-- playing games, sharing in the Word and eating a great meal. The Licois wanted to thank the Lord for giving them a large home where they will be able to entertain more.

Replacement Ministry in Draguignan

One of our fellow Baptist Mid missionaries and his family went home for a short furlough this summer. They asked Bob to replace them for 3 weeks. Since Timothy could replace us, we came here to the southeast corner of France. Sunday as soon as church is over, we will start home. It has been a rewarding experience for us to get to meet a small congregation (smaller than ours!) and to minister them. They have a beautiful church building.

It has also been fun to get to know another corner of this beautiful country. Draguignan is about 45 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea and about an hour from Italy.

One of Bob's major "projects" while here was to translate the cantata "The Journey of Christmas" by Glenn and Jan Christianson. He is just now finishing up the last song. There is still much work to be done before it is completed and ready for the first practice the end of September.

The Dan Seely Family arrive in Bordeaux!

Yesterday we were able to greet the Seely Family-- BMM missionaries to Cameroon, where they have been serving already for two years. They are coming here for their French studies. We are excited to have them and to have them a part of our church for the next year. They are the same age as Tim and Ruth with 3 small children-- so you can imagine the excitement around here! Pray that they will be able to find housing soon and get settled in before school starts. We are leaving in a few minutes to go to Draguignan to replace a fellow missionary for three weeks, so the burden of installation will fall on Tim and Ruth.