So busy, so blessed

The past few months have been a blur. Honestly, upon reflection, we have probably been way too busy at times. But it is hard not to be with so many good things going on, especially now, as we begin to pack up boxes and get ready for the first big move, this one back to Ohio (not that we’ve actually started that yet, ha). There is so much we are transitioning out of and so many people we are saying goodbye to. Not goodbye goodbye, but goodbye to seeing them everyday or on a weekly basis.

Our time here in Mass has truly been so busy and so blessed.

We have worked hard at growing as followers of Jesus and as a married couple. Ryan has received two graduate school degrees, we have worked hard at our jobs, and poured into our church, and learned so much from all three; school, jobs, and the body of Christ. 

We have learned how to love each other better. We have learned how to make friends, how to serve and how to be served. We went from having no friends here to being surrounded by great ones, many who now feel like family. Through the modeling of awesome people, we have learned how to ask better questions, and really care about the answers. We have learned how to cook better, somehow, and to open up our humble home. Lately, we have only been eating at home once or twice a week though, because amazing people have us over to feed us, and love us, often even when they know we are about to ask them for money. It’s truly awesome and humbling. 

We have seen God provide for us physically, spiritually, monetarily, and relationally time and time and time again. We have known times of plenty and times of want, but even when we had want, we actually still had plenty. We have walked through a church division and seen how God’s will for His church bursts forth from the ashes like a phoenix, sometimes slowly as He restores the brokenness, but His love and His plans prevail, but even in that, it is up to us to allow Him to use us for His purposes.

We have seen God’s confirmation that He is leading us to start new communities of believers in France. We saw it in Ryan’s first week at Seminary, when a famous African Pastor spoke with clarity and conviction that their vision matched our own, to plant new churches in every major city in Europe. We saw it when we raised over $10,000 in 3 months, to go to France for 7 weeks and see first hand what church planting in Paris looked like, and again when my job allowed me to take the full 8 weeks off to go. We saw more confirmation still when we applied and were accepted to join World Team (after a rigorous screening process called RACE) and then a couple months later when we were invited to join the team in France. We continue to see it, with each and every new Partner that joins our team along the way. 

So I guess what I am getting at is, dang, we are blessed. As we look forward to the next step of moving to Ohio there is excitement, and honestly some relief that we won’t be quite as busy, but the Lord has truly done so much and grown us so much during this season, so there is much sadness too. I hope that our friends in Mass know how thankful we are for them. They have made these 5 years some of the best of our lives so far. 

Pray for the first Gospel Café

As you know, Ryan and I are still in the U.S. and actually are quite busy with preparations because next month (literally 1 month from today) we are moving back to Ohio. We will be there until God provides all the financial and prayer partners we need before we can go to France. 

One of the encouraging blessings during this time, though, is when we get to connect with our leaders and teammates in France and hear about the work that is happening there, and lately there has been a lot going on. I wanted to share about one new ministry starting this week in Versailles and ask for your prayer as our friends and teammates begin this new work. 

It is called Gospel Café. The basic concept is quite simple, once a month there will be a Gospel concert, put on by a couple of our teammates with the help of some great musicians (side note: Gospel music is actually quite popular in France and brings many people together, Christians and non-Christians alike). These events will be a great way to meet new people and gather with existing friends. There have already been many answers to prayer in this new venture, the biggest one being just a couple weeks ago when the leaders found the perfect Café, literally across the street from the Palace of Versailles, that is excited about hosting the events and is doing so for free. This was after our teammates visited dozens of other Café's and were initially even rejected by this one, but God proved faithful and gave them favor in the eyes of the Café owners.

The first Gospel Café is this Thursday, October 18th. Please pray with us that it will be a great success and a great way to meet new people that can hear and learn more about Christ's love for them and to also meet existing Christians who are searching for a community to plug into. 

Yard Sale: Next Friday & Saturday

Get excited because Ryan and I are selling a lot of our stuff August 24 & 25, next Friday and Saturday, from 8am–1pm (and you know how great our taste in stuff is right?). But in all seriousness, we need to do some purging before we go to Ohio and definitely before heading to France, so in a way, by buying some of our things, you are helping us get one step closer. So if you are local, come on over to the church parsonage yard (italicizing "yard" to emphasize the Boston accent) next Friday and Saturday!

In Christ's perfect timing

We shared this in our July newsletter but I thought it made sense to share it on the blog as well so here goes. Through much thought, prayer, and discussion we have decided to transition back to Ohio in mid-November to complete the rest of our partnership development for France there. We see this as the logical next step for several reasons, a couple reasons being:

• We want to have time to say goodbye to family and friends in Ohio.
• We have numerous opportunities available to us for partnership development in Ohio as well because we have more years invested in relationships there.

It is going to be very sad to say goodbye to so many people who have become dear to us over the course of time that we have been in Massachusetts. Our entire marriage has taken place here and we have grown so much, through Ryan’s two degrees, my work at the Harvard School of Public Health, our involvement at church, and the amazing friendships we’ve made, it feels strange to wrap up what has been an amazing season of our lives. But we are confident that this is the Lord’s leading and that it is the next step on our way to serving Him in France. The first stop before France just happens to be Ohio. So with this news, our timeline of getting to France has adjusted slightly and this is the new plan. 

Our hope is to arrive in France by August 2013. Once there, our first year will be devoted to language learning and immersing ourselves in the culture, and then we will take part in an internship with an established French church. With the guidance of World Team leaders in France, we will research locations and begin working with a team to establish a new community of believers. In this new church community, we will disciple and train French nationals to be leaders themselves with the goal that the church we plant will multiply itself in years to come under the initiative of French Christians. This will happen as we share the Gospel, build relationships, and demonstrate the love of Christ in our community. It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will work through our efforts to yield a vibrant body of believers grounded in the truth of Scripture.

And we can’t wait to get started!

A thought on the Olympics

I really enjoy watching the Olympics, and I love the excitement of the opening ceremonies. The host country always puts on an elaborate show followed by all the athletes marching in dressed in styles and costumes that represent their countries. It’s such an amazing spectacle. But it struck me as I watched the opening ceremony this year that this is just the smallest taste of what Heaven will be like. People from all over the world gathered together in excitement and celebration, diverse but united at the same time. We won’t be celebrating sports, but Jesus our Lord who gave his life for every single one of us.

I like thinking about it.

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, 
who sits on the throne, 
and to the Lamb’” — Revelation 7:9-10

Vacation Bible School

Recently I had the privilege to share about our ministry with a Vacation Bible School at one of our partnering churches. I got to tell them about how God calls all of us to be a part of his mission, and that He wants people everywhere to know Him. It was fun and the kids had a bunch of questions about what it means to be a missionary and about France. My favorite question though was, “What’s the deal with mimes?” If you’re wondering that now, I don’t have an answer, but I do have some pictures from the time.

June 2012: What, when and where

As you may have noticed, we didn’t have any blog posts in June or so far in July. This wasn’t intentional, we have been so busy we’ve only had time to think or daydream about blog posts rather than actually bring them into reality. But, a lot of great things have happened that I thought I would share. 

• Memorial Day Weekend: We enjoyed a visit with our friends, the Wailes, who came to Marblehead.
• June 1st: We met with our World Team coach Becky, who gave us encouragement and direction for the month.
• June 2nd: Our dear friends hosted the first ever French Night for us in Marblehead, MA and it went great.
• June 4th: Our small group began studying the book of Matthew.
• June 7th: I attended our church’s bi-weekly Pastoral Search Committee meeting as we continue to seek the next leader God has for Grace Community Church in Marblehead, MA.
• June 14–25th: We went to Ohio and had the privilege of sharing our vision for France with 2 church pastors and 10 individual families.
• June 17th: We spent the weekend with my parents and had a fun Fathers day at the Cincinnati Zoo.
• June 18th: The second French Night was hosted in Springfield, OH!
• June 19–22nd: Ryan got a fever and lost his voice for 3 days (sad).
• June 23rd: We attended a Bennett family cookout and had a great visit with some of Ryan’s immediate and extended family.
• June 26th: I caught the cold Ryan had and fought it for a while.
• June 29th: We made the last payment EVER for our college debt, we are now completely debt free!
• July 4th: We spent the birthday of America with our great friends, the Albertsons, in East Boston. We had to dodge a few of God’s fireworks (lightning) but it was a great time. 

Our zoo fun! 

French Night in Springfield, Ohio

It has been such a great summer, filled with many visits with our families and dear dear friends.