First Funeral in our church--

On Wednesday, our church in Pessac said "farewell" to our oldest member. It was a sweet funeral and Bob was so thankful that he was able to be there. Tim actually preached the message and Bob gave the eulogy and a testimony as his pastor of 19 years. He also preached at the grave site. Lala gave a testimony on the part of the families of the church and Laetitia, who returned just for the occasion, gave a testimony on the part of the students.

We are so proud of the church as they have pulled together to help Marcelle in many different ways. (She is the one in the middle bottom picture along with their 42 year old son, Daniel, who is in a mental instituation.) She is truly a "widow" in the Biblical sense.

I thought some of you would enjoy seeing the difference in a burial in France to the US! The plot was actually above ground. You can see our grandson Micaiah getting ready to throw in some petals. They have a family tomb (it was already marked with the family name) with 3 places and it is their's for 50 years. I doubt that they will care in 2059 what they do with it!!

Bob returns on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Thanks for praying for him during this time. He spoke at a Family time tonight and will be preaching on Sunday.

Change of Plans! and Prayer Requests.

Yesterday, Tim called us from France to tell us that Rene Rottier (86) had gone to be with Lord just minutes before. Rene and Marcelle have been with us at the church since our very first service and was very precious to us as a family. After prayer and talking it over with others, we decided that Bob needed to return for the funeral. So, we quickly threw things in suitcases and drove up to Boston where he flew out last night. I am staying here with Johanna while he is gone.

Would you please pray with us for:
1. His wife, Marcelle-- they were always together as a couple and the loss will be great.
2. Their son Daniel-- Daniel is 41 years old but is in a psychiatric hospital. He probably knows Bob better than anyone except his parents.
3. Our church-- this is a "first" for us as a congregation. Everyone has jumped in and are really helping out and doing all they can.
4. For Timothy-- He has been "tested" in his new position--learning French laws quickly! His loving spirit was much appreciated in the first few hours after death when, among other things, he helped move and dress the body !
5. For Bob-- He arrived safely tonight and went directly to see Marcelle. He was met at the airport by 4 families and a bunch of kids shouting Papi!! (Grandpa). Pray for wisdom as he plans and directs the funeral.
6. The funeral-- It will be Wednesday at 10 at the church. May it be encouraging to believers and convicting to unbelievers.

As I mentioned, our plans were changed. We were going to take a trip out west to see Bob's old home, etc. for our 40th wedding anniversary. We were thankful that we had saved the money for the trip and it could be used for this important "change" which was a surprise to us, but not to the Lord.

Grandchildren !

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 :-)

In The States!

We arrived in the states on Tuesday, July 14. Yesterday we spent the day getting re-established into the "american way." We have a 16 year old with us for a month. Tsiry is the son of Lala and Ando Razafindrabe, a key family in our church. He is excited about seeing lots of states as we start furlough with family visits.

Tim and Family in France!!

Thursday Tim and Ruth and Micaiah and Miriam arrived here in France. What a joy for us as parents to see our children here in France ready to serve the Lord! It was a great day for us ! Thank you so much for praying. The "turn-over" is now under way-- we leave July 14 and want to help them settle in as much as possible before then.

BIXBY BULLETIN--Summer 2009

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 25^th 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

Mother-Daughter Banquet

Today we had our annual Mother-Daughter Banquet. There were 35 who attended. The theme was "Hidden Treasures." We chose that theme to summarize the "choice nuggets" that we had learned in our Bible study this year. Several woman worked really hard to make it a success--the food, the program, the decorations, the clean-up etc.