Dear Co-laborers,
Greetings from Bordeaux--though not for too much longer. We have just purchased our tickets and will be leaving for the States in a little over 4 weeks – on July 14. We will begin our six month tour to see as many of you as possible. Between July 14 and August 14 Tsiry Razafindrabe will be with us. He is a 16 year old young man who has grown up in our church. He has a love for the Word of God and is really growing in the Lord. He is an excellent musician– both on the trombone and on the piano. He also plays the guitar well. His English is limited, and he hopes to pick up a lot while in the States.
Even more imminently exciting is the fact that Tim and Ruth and children will be arriving here in just 10 days – on the 25th of this month. It hardly seems possible. In just over one year’s time, the Lord has brought in most of their support, half of that after the financial crises hit in January. Their original plans to come replace us and return to continue deputation have been changed. They are now coming with one-way tickets and will probably not be returning until their first furlough. How we praise the Lord for his goodness.
To temper the euphoria, their passports and visas were deliberately delayed in the French Embassy in Atlanta for several weeks, while the personnel there decided if they should be admitted into France without the sanction of the most liberal Protestant body in France, “la Federation protestante.” At length their stamped passports were released, but they were told that they would be the last who would be admitted into France without the approval of this liberal organization. The incident underscores a new initiative to control “sects” in France by having one protestant “clearing house” which scrutinizes all non catholic, Muslim, or Jewish religious missionaries in France.
On the other hand, to add to the euphoria, Ruth is expecting our 9th grandchild! He or she will be a little French Christmas baby--adding to our desire to return to France and our work!
The yearly ladies dinner took place the first Saturday of June. It was a great success with 36 women present, and as usual a good number of them unchurched women. Rather than an invited out of town guest as speaker, we had 5 of our own women give 7 minute prepared summaries of 5 women of the Bible. Bonnie said she was very proud of all of them; they were well presented, and had good content. Check out our “Bixby Bordeaux Bits” (bixbys.blogspot.com) for more information and pictures. Just yesterday we heard that a couple of ladies from the downtown church were so encouraged by the presentations that they want to attend the Bible study next fall!
We are looking forward to seeing many of you over the next six months. It is rare that we get to the States except for several weeks during the summers, so this will, hopefully, provide the opportunity to see more of you who have been a part of our ministry for so long. As soon as possible we will post our itinerary on our Bixby Bordeaux Bits website. May God bless each of you, and we hope to see many of you very soon.
Your co-workers in Christ,
Bob and Bonnie Bixby
Grandchildren are definitely a wonderful gift from the Lord. We are so thankful for this time to see them. We were with Micaiah and Miriam (Tim's 6 and 4 year olds) for three weeks before leaving France and have now enjoyed a few precious moments with the rest of the gang. Starting at the top left-- Stefan (Johanna's 19 month old). Corban (Bob's 2 1/2 year old), Elise (Dan's 14 year old), Isabelle (Dan's almost 8 year old), Patience (Bob's 8 year old) and Ben (Dan's 12 year old). Great kids with great parents :-)
