Monday Morning we fly away!

January 2nd - noon - flying off into the sky and arriving in Paris 8am the next day. We just saw pictures of our one bedroom apartment from Jerry and Carolyn last night. It is located in the town of Versaille. Yes, that is the same town as the Sun King's palace. This will be a very convenient location for us to travel to our various work places within 20 - 30 minutes by bus or train all over the Paris suburbs and downtown as well.Thank you to Jerry and Carolyn, our field directors, for doing that.

The apartment has walls of lavender and maybe yellows or tan. I see carpet with purple, reds and a modern futon bed with black, tan. There are interesting textures on walls and the bedroom closet. Modern. I'm happy it's not white. :0) For those of you who know me, I like color and texture. We have a few pieces of pottery (small) and small 2D art to take with us to make this our own place.

Adding a few things in our suitcase. Taking out a few others. There is a washing machine in the kitchen. That's how they do things there. No dryer - which is also common. So we find a laundromat for drying and I buy a drying rack. They do have an iron and ironing board. I try not to iron if I can help it. Let's hope there is a laundromat. We do have more wrinkle free clothes than not. It's going to be an interesting journey. We are excited. Jerry will pick us up at the airport and bring some things from their house to help us settle in. Carolyn will be by later to take us grocery shopping and maybe a trip to IKEA for lamps or whatever we might need to make it all work.

Russell is offloading all the files and software onto 2 laptops. He didn't bring his software discs from storage. sigh. But he's figuring it out and calling the Apple people. Delta doesn't let anyone check their large computers as baggage anymore. They must have had problems. Continental would have but since our dear friend and client gave us his airline miles for our tickets we then switched to Delta. He will probably work in our field office to do his design since there may not be space. They may buy a large monitor over there that can hook up to his laptop so he can work on their website as part of his work. I will go in to work  at the field office some days also and it will be a 30 min. bus ride down to St. Remy from our place.

Jason takes dad's iMac for which he is excited to do his projects. We now have a European Skype no. and Jason will take any calls and confers with the European side of the office and can do graphic projects for the US side of BARRgraphics.

So many details to wrap up, had our Button Christmas party yesterday which was a joyous occasion. We visited our dear step mother Vera in the hospital and it was great to hear her talking away telling us her great stories as she likes to do. Since I'm a story person myself, I love to hear hers. Thank you Lord for bringing her out of the fog and continuing to heal her. She had an MRI yesterday and other tests which we are waiting to hear. She had a mild heart attack, seizures, & pneumonia. We would appreciate continued prayers for her.

Pray for our strength and legs as it will probably take 2 weeks to get used to the type of walking/stairs we will be doing since we will not have our own vehicle. That's how long it took me the last time I was there in March and April. Thanks for your concern for our lives. We have had met so many people on this journey and each one is precious.

Happenings in France

As you prepare for your family Christmas we ask if you would put in a little prayer for us as we get ready to leave. There have been wonderful times these past few months with beautiful people sharing in our lives and encouraging us. We hope we are able to encourage and love those along our path too. Our Visa applications have been dropped off at the French Embassy in Chicago. Now we wait for the Visas and enjoy Christmas with family and friends. Here's a little bit about what we will be doing in the coming months.
     Carol will be working with the France Vie director and his wife who oversee the church plants that are ongoing around the Paris region and in Normandy. She will also help administrate the Prayer conference again which will be next April. Carol and Russell will both be tutored in language. We will be working with Baptiste and Emilie and with their interesting projects. We will know more when we get there.
     Russell will also be redesigning France Vie's website & working with French communication team - We will do Specific outside projects and an art workshop to engage others on a spiritual level.
     These days we continue working on Rosetta Stone, reading some French, watching some French TV programs -like Warehouse 13. It's hilarious and interesting to see how much we can pick up. It's actually dubbed very well.
     As we pack and sort, Russell found a bat under a piece of furniture yesterday when moving it out in the barn. He thought the bat was dead and it looked at him with an evil eye and hissed at him. To see Russell hiss at me while telling the story was very scary. The bat must have been ill and didn't move. You don't want to know what my dear husband did to him. Grandpa said he'd never seen a bit out there.
     Here's a great story from one of our teammates in Paris:The season of Advent has already begun and Christmas will soon be upon us. Paris is beautiful this time of year with all the pretty white lights, but for most Noël is just a holiday that includes a big dinner party and gift-giving, with little spiritual significance. In that context we are encouraged by the movement we're seeing here in the heart of Paris.
     At the November event (Faith & Philosophy) 10 people came out to discuss Humanism and Faith. A French pastor gave a talk and then we had a great discussion. Some do not believe that God exists, but wondering and will return. We have these once a month.
     Another of our team mates began her new study last Monday. She wrote the week before begging for prayer as she prepares a group of studies entitled Objections to Christianity, for a special group of friends. The electricity went out just before everyone arrived and she lit candles. This actually helped to "break the ice" and laughter ensued when they realized what happened. Bible Study by Candlelight. Maybe it will be the new thing. She was very excited to have so many attend since many times before no one would show. There is a new season of openness. 7 to 10 have been attending this.
     We would love to hear from you all!

Joyeux Noël
Carol and Russell

January 2nd - Leave Date for France

It's been a while since posting and we apologize. Our schedules have been crazy and we arrived back from Chicago after visiting the French Embassy to apply for our Visas. That done, Russell is doing a few graphics jobs to finish paying bills this month and we pack for Paris, looking for little gifts for our children and grandchildren, parents and siblings for Christmas.

Not having internet at the place where we are staying has put a definite crunch on our time with the computer. We are able to check emails at McDonalds or if we are in Macon, MO at Russell's folks they have internet there. In the mean time we have been staying in Atlanta, MO (no internet) where our furniture is stored to continue to go through things to reduce what we have, give away more things and decide what we take on this leg of the journey. Not much.

World Team has been asking us to read manuals and sign off in agreement with their "Crisis Contingency Plans - 49 pages, US. Sending Country  - 39 pages and Global policy manuals". (no graphics and very serious information - ha!)

We've updated our wills, shared our wishes with witnesses, got forms notarized, and got 2 limited Power of Attorney forms for various events that could happen (we are hoping not). Our pictures are taken, applications filled out, our thumbprints and all our fingerprints are now officially with Interpol through France.

We just found out our French team found us an apartment and signing the papers today!! We can't wait to see it. Jerry, our director, said it's very nice. Thank you God. We are so looking forward to this new work experience with people we already dearly love with whom we will work side by side. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their work on our behalf.

There are so many people who have come alongside us to help us on this journey. You know who you are. Even today Wyatt's Automotive is helping us get our car working again putting in a fuel pump, fuel filter and a fuel line. ugh.. From experience that we've already had we know they are awesome people.

Prayer requests:

1. That our Visas are processed quickly.
2. That we use the limited time we have left wisely.
3. Our brains are full, pray that we would have clarity of mind for the remainder of decisions that need to be made.
4. We are using Russell's dad's truck until the 15th and will drive with his family down to the KC area. We may be carless after our extended family time during parts of the remainder of the month and our car  more than likely will not be ready when we head down to the Olathe/Lawrence area from the 16th until we leave or parts therein.

Blessings to all during this wonderful season to remember our Lord's birth!

Carol and Russell

An Extra Blessing

This picture was taken in August while we were attending ICC (the Intercultural Communications Course) in Waxhaw, NC, at the Wycliffe JAARS campus. One of Carol's aunts had been a translator in Mexico for fifty years before she died and we hoped we would meet someone with Wycliffe who had known her aunt. Carol was thrilled to meet Dottie. She worked with Carol’s Aunt “Rie” in Mexico. Dottie also took us to visit Rie’s translation partner, “Bish”, who lived in a nearby town. We had a wonderful time hearing stories of Mexico, some of which stretched back fifty years. Dottie told us that if she wanted to visit her friends Rie and Bish, she could either travel fifteen hours by horse or fifteen minutes by plane. Guess which she preferred.

We're Going to France!!!

We've been asked by World Team to come to France for five months as soon as arrangements can be made—no later than the 1st of January, 2012.

     First there was "Career" missionary status. Then we started talking about plan "B." Now World Team is asking both of us to come for a five month "Midterm" assignment.
     At this point, some of you are probably asking yourself, "What's all this about?" The following bullet points highlight a few of World Team's reasons and our own personal GOALS and DESIRES in agreeing to put plan "B" on hold and pursue this option.

1. There is an immediate need on the French team for our gifts and talents. The French team has wanted us to come for a long time now and reassured us there are several areas where our involvement would move the ministry in France forward. (Carol's recent two month trip to help administrate this years Paris Prayer Conference helped confirm this assertion.) This assignment will also help both of us bond with our team on a more intimate level.

2. Support raising has been rough, and referrals hard to come by. Don Best, Member Care Manager for World Team told us we are not alone in this challenge, as several other appointees are finding raising support for ministry in missions slow going. We hope these months in Paris will reenergize our efforts. We'll return with first hand knowledge of ministry needs, as well as fresh stories and examples of divine appointments God will have given us during our stay.

3. Those of you who have patiently invested time, money and prayer on our behalf will again see a visible return on your investment as we spend five months in focused, task specific ministry in France.

4. This assignment will give us a chance to face up to challenges and move forward. Occasionally, and for various reasons, we've had to confront questions as to our effectiveness in cross-cultural ministry in France. World Team, with our approval, feels it is time to explore these questions head on. The structure, job description, interactions with teammates, nationals, and other agencies' personnel will serve as the final “on the ground” test of our fit with World Team in France.

     If all goes as well as we expect during this short term assignment, we and World Team will know with certainty the goodness of fit for an ongoing partnership and long term ministry in France. This conclusion will be based, of course, on our demonstrated abilities during this mid-term assignment.
     The months ahead promise more than the usual dose of ambiguity. They also provide a real opportunity to walk by faith. Pray that we do so.

Details forthcoming!

Hi all,
     We are trying to finish up our newsletter and have to apologize for the delay. As we work with World Team on the details of our 5 month plan we will work with one of the church plants in St Quentin en Yvelines (southwest of Versailles, France) with Baptiste and Emilie who live there and have begun a new work there and also in downtown Paris for the prayer conference as well as with the France Vie office in a nearby town named St. Quentin.
     (Emilie tell me if this pronunciation is correct. - She has corrected me a couple of times!)
     Saint Quentin En Yvelines
     Sounds like: "Saw" with a nasal sound  and "Kaw - (nasal)-ta" - like cat.  En is pronounced "Aw -Yvelines is pronounced - "Eevawleen" Saw Kaw-ta Eevawleen. Try to say that a few times in a row.
     We keep waiting for the dust to settle with more details in place so we don't have to keep updating. The next couple of days should net us some results.
     In the meantime we have ramped up our language learning en Francaise and continue to meet with folks. We were given 4 names of pastor friends and families of the pastor here in Macon, MO (where Russell's folks are members). Their pastor hales from Arkansas and so we will try to get meetings set up in Arkansas before leaving for France. We also gave an application to a missions committee of a church in New York.
     Thank you to all who read this and are doing the work we have asked you to do.
     :0)
     Carol (along with Russell)

What's Mid Term?

     Over the past two or three months Carol and I have been in discussion with World Team about a cheaper alternative to long term missions. Our support, overall, has been slow in coming and we've been approved for what is termed "Mid-term" status.
     Mid-term for us would be a renewable two year term. As “mid-termers” instead of “career missionaries” we do not have to buy into the French social security system. Other expenses will also be less, resulting in a lower overall cost. This scenario would kick in when the short term 5 month assignment is completed and we are invited back to the field. We would return to the U.S. and finish our fundraising.
      Our original overall ministry goals remain intact but the details are being worked out by the French team and we will have a more complete update for you later.
     It’s our intention to renew this two year term and to eventually raise the additional support needed to stay on the field indefinitely. We also seek to honor your commitment to faithfully give and pray for our ministry in France. This new turn of events also reflects our wish to give you a return on your investment.

     - Russell

Processing

Hi all,
     This has been a time of hustling and bustling! From Monday, September 5th, when we left ICC in Waxhaw, NC, through Friday, September 23rd, we made our way back to Kansas with stops in Highpoint, NC; Hadden Heights, NJ; Warrington, PA; Cortland, NYk; Alto, MI; Chicago, IL; Macon, MO; and finally we've stopped for a few days to catch our breath and spend time with our kids here in Lawrence.
     We continue to raise our funding for France. The gift of the mobile home in Santa Cruz is now supplying our income. We have it listed as a vacation home on www.VRBO.com. It has been doing well.
     Russell has been preaching/speaking more and new opportunities continue to come in. Our hope is to go to Arkansas in October or November for Russell to speak down there.
     With the monthly gifts that have been committed and a shift to a renewable "mid-termer" instead of full-time career (which we will explain in detail in the next blog entry), and a portion of our income we bring to the table, we are now at 68% of our goal. We have others who have committed to supporting us but have not decided on a figure yet. It is very encouraging. All of this could bring us to 75% or higher.
    We met with Sister Carter and Sister Sherman in Philadelphia. Sister Carter attended the Paris Prayer Conference this past April. She wants Russell to design some greeting cards and tracts for her that she can sell for missions. She is writing the text. We enjoyed our time with them.
    Our home team in PA has told us they want us to be in France as soon as possible to begin working with the French team and we will be there in December or early January for a possible 5 month stretch, as a dry run. We are waiting to hear what duties will be. If it's language school for a shorter time first then we will do that followed by working on projects with the team. We will learn about each other, the culture and soak up the language. Russell and I have been practicing French quite a bit and will beef it up even more with our Rosetta Stone program, French movies, French news, & meetups with French people, etc.
     Yesterday, at Olathe Bible Church, our sending church in Olathe, KS, we were blessed to hear from James Hudson Taylor IV - great, great grandson of the very special person, Hudson Taylor and all their organization's work in East Asia. Very exciting to get first hand stories. Part of the heritage of our organization comes from the original Hudson's work and friendship with H. Grattan Guinness. Guinness wanted to go with Hudson to China in the 1800s but was asked by his dear friend to start a training school for those who want to go out. He did, and the school is still open today in London. But Guinness also started several missions sending agencies from the late 1800s and beyond.
     Isaiah 6:8 has been coming up a lot. "Then I heard the voice of the One saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "here am I, Send me!"  Isaiah 6:8
     The following writing comes out of this verse and the follow up verses: I just read this from a letter from a friend and his wife working in Amsterdam. It's from Frederick Buechner, Isaiah in Peculiar Treasures, a ... Who's Who.
     "Then one of the winged things touched his mouth with fire and said. 'There, it will be all right now,' and the Mystery Itself said, 'Who will it be?' and with charred lips he said, 'Me,' and Mystery said 'Go'. Mystery said, 'Go give the deaf hell till you're blue in the face and go show the blind heaven till you drop in your tracks because they'd sooner eat ground glass than swallow the bitter pill that puts roses in the cheeks and a gleam in the eye. Go do it.'"
     Wow.....Carol

We bid ICC Farewell

Carol and I receiving our certificates of completion at ICC

The Intercultural Communications Course is done. We left the Wycliffe JAARS campus in Waxhaw, NC, with our heads spinning and our hearts full. There is too much to tell, but we will try, over the next few weeks, to unpack some of what we learned about cross-cultural ministry, about ourselves, and about what it will mean for the journey ahead.

      The ICC experience was a month of constant input—overwhelming at times. One of the things I enjoyed the most was the emphasis on Spiritual Vitality. The two things that impact missionary effectiveness the most (and ultimately whether they last on the field) are spiritual maturity and team dynamics. Guess what we spent a lot of time on?

      Aside from scripture memory, and a great deal of time doing an inductive study of the book of Ephesians together, there was a three hour block of time one Saturday set aside for a personal spiritual retreat. Usually, when I get alone to pray I pick a spot in the woods or on the water, away from everything. I take my Bible and my journal and try, between reading, praying and writing, to sort out what I've been through and get perspective on the days ahead. This time I decided to forgo the usual and do something entirely different. There was a laundry room in the apartment building next door that Carol and I used while we were there. We were not on the rotation list for cleaning and I decided that for my three hours I would do just that. I cleaned and dusted inside and out. While I occupied my hands with work I let my mind and my heart be still and enjoyed a time of openness to the Spirit. No agenda. No expectations. Just a time when I could free myself to listen.

      I was on my knees trying to get to a spot behind the hot water heater when it came to me that there were places you could only get to on your knees. It may sound trite but try to accomplish anything without prayer and see where it leads.

      Thank you all for praying for us.         -Russell

Outside the French Congolese Church with new friends

An exercise dealing with world views

Carol during break time

Inside our apartment 

French Church and other worldly things

Hello again!

We've had a great week. One of our highlights has been to visit a French Congolese Church last Sunday. When they began to sing it was not only in French but with some African language as well. While singing during worship we heard some of the women making high pitched sounds with their tongues. It was quite wonderful when you add the bongos and all the other instruments. Throw in some movement up and down or from right to left which was a great way to praise. They put their whole selves into it. This is a mission church with 50 or more attending of all ages. Most of the women were dressed like they were going to a special event but they had accepted our culture and it was in the western style. I couple of the women were in beautiful African style dress. Either way they look beautiful. The meeting place is in an industrial area and they fixed their room up very pretty. Our hosts were very loving and wanted us to introduce ourselves. They did have the service translated in English along with French because their District pastor was coming to preach that day. He and his wife are helping them with their mission. We will return for the next couple of weeks and join them in prayer for one of their mid-week services.

We have begun Language Acquisition learning and will meet with our French LRP (language resource person) today as we learn new techniques to help us in our learning and also learn some French phrases and sentences. There are many new friends in our midst as we have 40 folks doing the same thing we are. Did you know Papua New Guinea has 900 different languages? I was amazed. Wycliffe has 600 people that work at their center in Papua and half of the people in our cultural training are going there. 200 of those 600 people are Nationals. Yesterday we learned about the Theology of Suffering. Very powerful as we saw a video from a couple where the husband and one of their teammates  had been shot while serving in Uganda with the Olangi people. The Lord let both of the men live but now the man we heard testify lives with serious chronic pain and they were not able to go back to the field after that. And yet, he has a powerful teaching ministry here in the states.

Many of us will be in areas of the world where the spiritual darkness and forces of evil are very powerful and some of those people don't want those serving God in their midst. But thankfully we serve a God who is all powerful and He has overcome this world of darkness and he loves them! I'm so thankful that we are overcomers and I'm thankful for our friends who want to help us bring the light of Christ to a dark world! Thank you Lord, Thank you!

Carol

Arrived at JAARS - Waxhaw, North Carolina

Hot and humid lately all around the midwest and into the east and south. Cooling temps today as Tropical Storm Emily came onto the east coast leaving us a nice rain which brought the temp down to 77-80. Nice for us, but flooding in Charlotte. Charlotte is about 20 or 30 min. from here. We have been assigned a French church to visit this month in Charlotte. This was our first day in cross-cultural training. One of the fun things I enjoyed was going to a market in the building. There was a group of us as buyers and a group as sellers. Each were given our distinctives as a buying or selling group. Myself the buyer had to look down, no eye contact, no conversation, pay for my items, no negotiating and shake hands at the end of the deal. The sellers on the other hand were trying to make eye contact, shake our hands and get to know us and our families. They wanted to bargain. The sellers didn't know what we would be like and we didn't know what the sellers would be like. Oh and I forgot to mention that we were to spit when we got bored. Crazy, funny, intimidating, loud, obnoxious!

We also learned about the differences in describing people in photos,  judgmental thoughts about what was happening in the photo and what emotions or feelings came out from looking at the photos. Then the teacher would tell us what was really happening in the photos. We had to discern what was real descriptions of things and what were our judgments. Sometimes what we think are real or true is really a judgment call and could be totally wrong.

4 tenets of learning to be around people you are not familiar with:
Assume Goodwill (about the other person)
Suspend Judgment
Tolerate Ambiguity (you don't have all the facts or information) and sometimes you have to wait for answers or act with less  
       information than you think you need.
Think Gray (instead of always black and white) -regarding culture.

Enough to chew on?

2012 Paris Prayer Conference Brochure

The team in France asked me to design next years Paris Prayer Conference Brochure. Click the link to download your copy. Register now! - Russell
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/60399008?access_key=key-11des7y6659xb47pb3j2

Intercultural Communications Course

We are going to cross-cultural training early!
August 5th to September 2nd

     This is one of those good news/good news sort of things. Our cross cultural training will take less time and cost much less than originally allotted. It's for a month instead of two, and will cost less than a fourth of what we were planning on. This helps us in several ways. The most obvious it not having to raise the extra money! It also adds at another month to the time we need to raise additional support.
    For a sneak peak at what we will be doing log onto: 
http://icc.drupalgardens.com/    –Russell

Can't wait to see what this is about!

I don't even want to know what's on those plates.

A Poem

     We were invited to a writer's workshop over the lunch hour yesterday and asked to speak for a few minutes about what we are doing in France. That was very enjoyable. Every month they meet and have a theme to write a 2 page paper or poem related to that theme. The individuals critique each other's work at the workshop. The theme this week was Time Travel. I must admit I am not a Science Fiction nut like Russell is. My mind can't go there. But I quickly wrote up something more dear to my heart showing the essence of moving through time.

Paris Shining

In the 1860s, my love for Paris hiding

in salons of tall rooms with paint a'drying

Monet, Cassatt, Degas.

stiff lapels and long dresses flowing

colors bursting,  brushes coursing

dripping by the airy windows.

In the 1920s, my love for Paris writing

by the tables drinking, pens in hand, papers crinkling

Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein.

On the banks of the Seine, my feet a'walking

book stalls of the 20's, couples there a'plenty  

art stalls of tomorrow.

Shimmering water, abiding

people are out riding, or in hiding, leaving, loving, lying.

city of light, getting dim

Now, my love for Paris shining

people lost and lonely, looking for some meaning 

unfulfilled by creativity.

transport me.

(In the vein of e. e. cumming's - one of my favorite poets) -Carol

Prayer Conference Pictures!

Quintessential French Child

Town of Gisor - New work

Magny church service

Prayer Walking

French Church History 

Praying inside

Doing the work.

Beseeching the Lord of the Harvest

Sisters from Australia and Pennsylvania

Kevin and Stephanie our new Pastor and his wife in Gisor

Downtown Paris to hear about ministry to new believers from other nations

Salem and Jerry, Our French Director

Easter morning walking along

These tulips (just the flower part) were at least 5 in. high and 3 in. wide!

Easter weekend Egg and Game Hunt

Wonderful church fellowship with our French brothers and sisters

On another bus to a new area to pray with our Australian and PA sisters

And they instantly left

Some friends of ours who do medical missions every so often were reading Spurgeon's morning and evening devotions. Russell reads them most days online. That day, recently, it talked about the disciples giving everything up instantly—leaving their boats and following him. It so struck our friends that the disciples instantly left their boats. They had been talking about financially supporting our work but hadn't called us in a while. They decided that day was the day and knew they had to instantly get up and call us. I sit here with tears in my eyes. If they only knew that we'd instantly leave if we could. And I appreciate their willingness to "up and call us" when they finished reading that scripture.

I know the Lord knows we are following him right here in Kansas City, but our path leeds elsewhere. We have a call to France. And, of course, sometimes we wonder how we could "up and leave" for France and continue the work. Why do things have to be so complicated? Paul experienced shipwreck, prison and years of preparation for his work. We have done our prep, our children are all in good places, our house is sold, and the only thing left is...     - Carol

We get asked, "What will your job be as a church planter?"

This is a general overview of our work, and we will share more specifics we learned recently from my work in France in February and March.
     Even though the church planter will do the job of a pastor at the beginning, this will change dramatically. We will be on a team who each have different gifts and we will use our gifts in a variety of ways to bring people into the Kingdom of God and train them to become disciples to take over our ministry. This will become their church that they will lead and we will leave. They have to know this at the beginning. They have to want to take over and then train others to start a new work. The following excerpt is so exceptional on this topic.

Craig Ott and Gene Wilson in their book, Global Church Planting:
     “From the outset national(s) must be trained to do all essential ministries: evangelism, preaching, teaching, counseling, administration. The church planter must surrender the desire to have “up front” ministry. His or her primary role is behind the scenes, equipping others. The church planter who loves to preach must learn to focus on equipping others to preach; the church planter who is gifted in counseling will need to shift emphasis to empowering others to counsel.
     The lay sermons will probably not be as homiletically polished or theologically astute as those the missionary could preach. But the reward will be the development of truly empowered local leaders who will serve the church well after the church planter has departed. The missionary is constantly working himself or herself out of a job, performing a ministry only so long as necessary to train a national. Indeed, apart from evangelism and initial follow-up, if a national is not available and willing to be trained, the ministry should probably not be initiated. This may make for a slower start but will result, we believe, in a more solid finish for the church plant.”
     One of the essential attitudes, though, needed to keep our hearts and minds focused on the endpoint is gospel humility. Without a heart mastered by Jesus, convinced of His incredible love for us, we could not keep an other-centered focus, where we would always seek to equip others in ministry and release them to that task.
     Don't you love that?!     - Carol

Rush, rush, rush - Time for a Breather

We've been running around like "chickens with our heads cut off" to move out of the house we've been staying in, visiting churches, having some meetings, writing letters to send to new people telling them about our work and consolidating our junk down to one car load. If you would tell me that I would go from a 4 bedroom 4 bath house to one car load and move 6 times in 2 years plus work in France for 2 months I would think you were crazy! God is honing us, stripping us of so many things, and yet blessing us beyond measure.

We are continuing to speak to groups of people "in person" in the Kansas City area between Lawrence and Raytown and all points in between. Then we will use our Macon, MO location to come back to for home base. There are some great folks all over these here parts. I'm starting to speak like my country folk and at the moment thinking a little less French. Tomorrow we will get back to French lessons once arriving at our friend Jana's house.

Our son-inlaw, Joe, is graduating from KU in film and Biology and we are very proud of him! Let's hope it doesn't rain for commencement. The school will put off the ceremony every 2 hrs. in the event of rain and if they put it off so long they will cancel it. Can you imagine?!! I hope that doesn't happen.

My brain is full. Life is good. Pray for Russell's dad, Sherman who has had some complications with his heart. We are glad to have spent this past week with them. He is doing somewhat better and went for a stress test today.

The World Team staff said we scored high on our Inter-cultural survey to see if we could live cross-culturally. That was good to hear. Some people have such a hard time melting into a culture and trying to get rid of the American mindset. We'll see how we do when we get back to France.

We believe 2 churches from this area are going to add to our support needs. Thank you Lord. Pray that God would move more people to want to partner with us in this venture. Pray for our new work in Gisor, France; for Kevin and Stephenie, Eliezer and Esther in this Normandy town. For the people they are meeting, a few in Gisor have met Kevin and they are Christians who are excited to have an evangelical church in their own town (there is only one Catholic church in an area of probably 40 or 50,000 people) and also pray for those who don't know God yet but have a spiritual need and want Kevin or Eliezer to help them find Him.

From France, to Britain and Home in the USA - nothing ordinary about that

William and Kate got married last week. I was so excited to view this historical event. How many high profile weddings do we get to actually watch on TV? Only this one. We didn't see Chelsea Clinton get married.  We haven't seen any president's get married or future presidents. But we did have an opportunity to see a future King get married. So many people passed this off as a ridiculous thing. But this is a future King who will rule one-third of the world. Many think the Queen is just a figurehead. But she works over 300 days a year along with the Prime Minister. They confer and run nations. I watched this wedding from my little dorm room and enjoyed it thoroughly. Christ was proclaimed!  It was a day in church with much scripture read. It was a day for Christianity and showed God's plan for couples. It was a big day for marriage. Let's hope the pressures of such a media life will not break this couple.

I'm glad to be back home but feeling wobbly and drained since arriving on Saturday. Immediately we had things to do and I was ready to do them. The children's musical at First Baptist in Raytown on Sunday was a great event. I didn't want to miss "Happily Forever After". Everyone did a wonderful job. Russell was glad to be a part of the set design. Then off to our daughter's scholarship art show at KU. I was glad to be able to attend. I could sleep later. It was a wonderful day to be back.

It's amazing how one day can change our world with the next big media event about the killing of Usama Bin Laden. Many emotions for everyone, including myself.  I was chastised by my daughter and her friends for being gleeful and was very glad that he was gone from this earth. Maybe I was too glib repeating something I saw on a home made poster that said,... When I heard they buried him at sea I thought, how perfect. There will be no place that people can make a shrine for him. They won't know where he's buried. No country would take him and as a Muslim he had to be buried within 24 hrs.

Even with that raw emotion many people have felt these last 2 days, we should take time to pray for the families of the victims, our military and those of our allies who are working hard to end this terror. One of my friends said, "the head of the snake is cut off!" We know there are many others working in the name of Al Qaeda and the war is not over but this was a victory for our nation.

I'm glad to be back but hoping we will be moving forward to working full time in France very soon. It's all in His hands, isn't it? Lord, help me to be plugged into your plans...

As I was packing..........

      Have two months really gone by? Believe it or not, it has, so I'm preparing for my journey back to the states leaving this Saturday morning. I would appreciate prayers for safe travel. As I was packing, I was reminded of a conversation with a widow who lived here at the Language school, working with various groups. She recently moved to Nice to work with an organization (pronounced Neece). While at the airport in London, a while back, she was asked to be completely searched - herself and her belongings. This woman is a seasoned traveller.
     The woman/officer searching her things had on her own nationalistic dress, not a security uniform and began going through her papers. The officer asked her what kind of work she was doing. Then asked her more specific questions about who she was working with—and confiscated her paperwork. This woman, we'll call her Maggie, became very nervous. I don't recall if they returned her papers which had all the names, addresses, type of work, her schedule and where she was going, etc. I imagine they did return her papers but she said it altered her view on traveling, even in countries which have freedom of religion. She said going forward she would not have any of her work information in paper form with her. So far, even though our computers are put through the screener, they are not being read while trying to get on the plane.
     I've decided not to have personal info about others I work with, or about the conference, in paper form in my purse or suitcase. Am I paranoid? I shared earlier on this blog about a woman who came to our school to get information, trying to take pictures, and was asked to leave. She was of another belief and they caught her snooping. If you know me at all you know that I love all mankind, no matter who they are but we are living in interesting times which call for using wisdom.
      I am looking forward to seeing family and friends. This trip was a fantastic time, and an opportunity for me to use the skills and gifts given to me. It gave me more insight into our future work and the wonderful team that is here working diligently, waiting for our full time arrival. Thank you for sending me. - Carol

Joyeux Paques!! - Happy Easter!!

     Easter in France is known as Pâques. (pronounced "Pack"). Something I read said, "The historic country of France is widely famous for its deep rooted religious faith in Catholicism; hence Easter festivities in France are in perfect tune with the secular French rituals of today." They leave for the vacances (vacations) here as they have a week off. Many go to Tunisia or other warm places by the beach but it was in the 70s all week so many stayed here. People here rarely go to church. Some might show up on Easter morning - but few. They are willing to go to the malls to get ready for spring and they have a meal with families and of course have the bunnies and chocolate eggs for a hunt with the children. I did not buy one chocolate egg or boil any. A little girl in church today handed me a blue foiled chocolate egg. It's still in my purse and her beautiful dark face and large dark eyes will forever shine in my mind as she handed me that precious little gift.
     One of our churches had an Easter egg hunt in a neighborhood yesterday which I helped with. 30 children came to hunt eggs and the parents had their cameras as the 3 to 6 year olds played a bunny hopping game to pick up the boiled eggs in the center of the field. The older children played a "ball" game while some of our adults and youth hid the chocolate eggs in various places around the park. I helped to poor the drinks and cut the gateau (cake) for them after the celebration.
     Pâques, the French word for Easter, comes from the Hebrew word Pesach which means Passover. The Jewish feast was at the setting for the Easter events recounted in the Christian Gospels.
     The only written record explaining the origin of the word Easter dates to: AD 725. The English historian Saint Bede explained the origin of the word Easter in his work "De Temporun Ratione". Eosturmonath, meaning "Easter-month", was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of April. Easter comes from ancient roots meaning "shine and dawn". East—the direction of dawn, came from the ancient root, aus.
     For those of us who may do an easter egg hunt in the states but have gone beyond our wonderful Easter family times to know what Easter truly means, we say, "He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!!" He lives forever with his saints to reign!
     Thank you Lord Jesus! We are forever in your debt. - Carol

From a French perspective

       R spoke at one of our gatherings at the conference last week. I wanted to share his powerful story with you.
     He grew up in Burgundy, France and never knew a Protestant in France. In school they did talk about Protestantism and he knew a little. He grew up with a little Catholicism. (He's probably in his 40s now). His father was an atheist and his mother was rejected by the Catholic church because she married a divorced man. As an adolescent he liked most to make fun of Catholic Christians. His friends and he formed a "hard rock band" and they mocked people who believed in God.
       It was ironic because in his band they were involved in the spirit world of demons - making tables move and dealing with spirits themselves. He met friends who were in secret societies like the Masons. His experience went deeper into esoteric studies. While in high school and later he began doing more religious study, and more into the occult world. "The Bible is a reference for those in the occult but they twist its meaning". As he began to understand the Bible better he hadn't met an evangelical Christian yet but one day he and a friend were playing their guitars and singing down in the Metro train area to make some money. Someone with a "shining, smiling face who looked peaceful" dropped a paper into his case. He thought, I'm going to read this later. But he didn't find the paper and forgot about it. A year later someone was in his guitar case and found the it stuck in a section of the case. His friend asked him if he was interested in Christianity, Jesus and the Bible as he'd read the paper. He told him that yes he was so he read it too. It was a tract about the Gospel.
       Next he went to Grenoble, France to school and got into another secret society. But on the floor where he lived at the school there were others there who invited him to come to a Christian meeting. He told the guys that he didn't believe in their ideas and felt that truth could be explained by esotericism and secret societies. He decided to go to the meeting to explain his thoughts. (I looked this up - what is esoterism? Here's what Wikipedia says).
       The term energy has been widely used by writers and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality. Spiritual energy is often closely associated with the metaphor of life as breath - the words 'qi', 'prana', and 'spirit', for instance, are all related in their respective languages to the verb 'to breathe'. Sometimes it is equated with the movement of breath in the body, sometimes described as visible "auras", "rays", or "fields" or as audible or tactile "vibrations". These are often held to be perceptible to anyone, though this may be held to require training or sensitization through various practices. Many energies of this type lack scientific evidence.
       R told these other students at the meeting that you can't gain understanding from the Bible. They weren't convinced but glad he came anyway. He talked to the guy from the US who led the group and was shown that from their perspective Jesus was the Savior of the World and that the Bible was the inspired words of God. The man was patient with R but R was not interested in believing. 2 years later the group leader felt R was so closed. He said this guy will never believe.
       R said to us, that fortunately, the guy was wrong. He felt God was opening his mind. His conviction was strengthened by reading the Bible more. He'd found out a certain number of Christians had been praying for him. "I began to believe that something was happening to me." I came to believe that Jesus was the Savior of the World and that the Bible was the inspired word of God.
       I didn't understand about rebirth. Six monthly later he said, "I received a strong conviction about my sin. That evening alone in my room, and has never happened since, I saw scenes of my life played out. You know how people see their life flash before them before they die? I began seeing things in my mind that I had done and how impure I was. I fell apart. It was like a pin in a balloon. I became more conscious of God. I remembered the holiness of God. I felt I couldn't come close to him. But, in the midst of this conviction I realized Jesus had taken my sin on him. The revelation of the cross became real to me and what it meant for me. In that moment God truly revealed himself to me. The room was full of light. I understood the love of God for me! A watershed moment. I never turned back." he said.
       "It was a revelation from God. As we turn to him we are completely forgiven."
       His studies led him first to become a computer professor. He went to Bible school in Grenoble for 3 years and to school in the US for 1 year. He got his Masters of Arts in Missions and he studied French history in the US. For 10 years he helped to start churches south of Grenoble. Then he began to get involved in a group where churches work together in France. He's been a pastor for 10 years in the Paris area - not far from where I'm currently living. He feels the doors are opening for the gospel in France.
       He said, "God's church goes across boundaries to work together. That's what we are doing." He's starting to see college students coming to Christ in the universities and in the ivy league schools here.

       Pray for R today as he embarks on a very big job in the coming months.

- Carol

Remember praying for Lambert?

Lambert (pronounced Lahmbare) accepted Christ as his Savior 2 weeks ago! I shared with you that he is dieing and Pastor David told him he needs to make a decision for Christ because he's going to meet God soon. Lambert finally told David that he believes but that he didn't think he had sin in his life. David said to Lambert, you are a really good man and you have loved your family and your neighbors but it is not good enough for God Lambert. David asked him if it was okay to lead him through prayer to Jesus and Lambert said it was fine so David led him into salvation after 8 years of trying to get this man to understand. Praise God!

I have so many wonderful stories I will share in the upcoming days but for now I need to rest after a great week. Enjoy this week of preparation for the celebration of our resurrected King - Jesus!

Paris Conference

   The conference is going well and I am enjoying this very much. It's hard work and long hours since I'm working during all this. But I get to hear the speaking and join in after we get the lunch ready for everyone. I have a few helpers and we get to the site early and go to a nearby store to buy our groceries and baguettes at the boulangerie every morning. Then I help the participants get to the sites an hour or more away from the downtown conference area following the speaking and worship. If you ask Russell he'll tell you they are helping me get to the sites. Sometimes they have a better sense of direction as we all try to figure out the train and bus rides. Some locations I've gone to before and other times it's a first for me. A couple of the old timers who have lived here many years are going with us on the train to some locations. I am sooo glad!
     Yesterday we had a little break in the afternoon and took some attendees down to the Eiffel Tower. It's a marvelous monument. People are all over and some are trying to entertain others but what you hear and see is a very dark side and you can see these things in America. We don't really have a gypsy problem, though, like they do in France, or in Europe for that matter. The gypsys were really out trying to ply money off people with a handicap scam. (asking for money to give to people who have handicaps) I noticed the police rounding a bunch of them up as we were leaving. We prayed for the people of France while gathering there.
    Today, after the morning session, we will go to a town that we pronounce Jeezors (spelled Gisors). We will hear what is happening with the new work there. I will update on the blog this weekend. Tomorrow we will go into an area where Said (pronounced Sah-eed) and his wife will share their work. We were able to hear him speak in 2005 and I am very excited to see them again to hear about their work in the downtown area.
     We will share more specifics through our newsletter that we send via email since some things are more sensitive.

Dieu vous binesse! (God Bless You!)
Carol

Cowboys, Indians, the Wild West & Kansas City in a Paris English class

     I'll have 45 min to an hr. to share about anything I want with an English class. One of our teammates, Suzy, has been doing this class for a few years now. I have decided to share about our "Middle West" cowboy/Indian heritage in Kansas City. (The first cowboy boot was made in Olathe and continued the tradition until the late 1990s) I'll share about some of Russell's Cherokee background. France calls Missouri and Kansas "The Middle West." I like that.
     I decided to add in the part we heard from a Belgium guy at the "Perspectives" class in Olathe, KS who was approached by 2 large cowboy clubs in Belgium to do Cowboy Church. "Include everything", they said. "We want it all." So he came to Kansas City to speak and had to find out what a Cowboy church was. He didn't know. Someone told him there is an active church in Lone Jack. He had to find some cowboy boots and a hat. They are so expensive when bought new, so he found some used ones in the area. Off he went to experience it all. One of the cowboy clubs in Belgium has 250 members and the other one has 500 members. They do country line dancing and anything they can think of that relates to what American cowboys do or did.
     I thought I would throw in some Cowboy songs for my little French group. I googled Cowboy church to see what I can find.  Maybe she'll provide the harmony. I found some fun ones to play. One has a bluegrass sound and the other from Johnny Cash.   I'm getting excited! I heard the folks here are crazy about Black Gospel. So how about Country Gospel?
     Please see my daily requests for the next week, as the conference starts on Saturday!  -Carol

Flyers for the train people

     As you know I'm on the train most days traveling around the area usually taking an hr or more most ways. Our church plants are spaced out around the city and into the suburbs. Our team is getting ready to start a church this summer in downtown Paris.
     The church I visited today distributed small flyers that said at the top, "Venez decouvrir la FOI qui change la VIE" In other words, Come discover the FAITH that changes life.
     2000 flyers were passed out to people while getting off the train and also in the nearby neighborhood where the church meets at a community center of indoor tennis courts. One young man came  because he got a flyer. About 20 others came who  attend very infrequently. We probably had around 40 adults and a good number of children. They don't have a piano player but have a guitarist so they asked a small group of musicians from another church to come and play to make this day special. The jazzy choruses and hymns were a lot of fun. It definitely added to a sweet spirit.
     I thoroughly enjoyed it. They had testimony time where three of the French shared their thoughts and why they decided to trust in Christ as their Seigneur - Lord. Franck gave the message. He is very tall and very enthusiastic. He's also a bicyclist. The Lord told him one day that he should start speaking to people more. He was on his bike and saw another biker and began talking and after a while he realized the man had ear phones in and didn't hear anything he said and then rolled away. So he had to try again another day. This time the man he spoke to was listening and told him that he had followed Christ a long time ago, before he got married, but then fell away from his faith. He told Franck that he had never told his wife. One's whole life can change with one conversation.
     Are you looking for opportunities to share what God is doing in your life? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Ask him for opportunities. He will. - Carol

A Bible for a special baby

     C & A (initials only), asked a couple of our teammates, their friends, if they'd be godparents for their baby. They said they would. A is a Christian and has come to the church on and off for a while. They'd moved further away and she has not been able to be as faithful. After the ceremony for the baby they gave her a Bible. 

     C & A had other friends there for the party and they scoffed at the gift. The husband, who is not a believer told them it was a beautiful gift. Our friends watched as the others came up and flipped through the children's Bible looking at it. Today C & A were both in church. Please pray for him. Normally he's only attended at Easter and Christmas. Sometimes a heartfelt gift can make a big difference.   -Carol

Getting to know Mademoiselle artiste

     Yesterday was eventful. I accomplished purchasing my monthly transportation pass with the help of a sweet young woman who worked at the train station. Then I went back to the small artist atelier/boutique to buy a gift for Rebekah, daughter-inlaw for her birthday. This gave me an opportunity to visit with la mademoiselle, the owner, and artist of many fun, sweet, very creative things she's made. I gave her my business card so she can look at our art work. She was very interested. This provides a common ground. She had an older woman behind the sewing machine with her today. She listened to us talking as I tried to speak in a little French and she spoke in a little English. The older woman was responding to our weak conversation too!  I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to get to know them better.   -Carol

Postal Workers Strike and the cute artist jeweler

     Over forty strikers met yesterday morning at the departmental Post in Montigny-le-Bretonneux to mark the national day of mobilization. Strikers were in various places around the city wanting more hiring and better working conditions. The government laid off over 11,000 workers last year. Montigny is where I watched a couple of cute boys last week - Pavel and Jonas. Even though it's an hour away from downtown Paris where many of the striking workers are picketing and causing a disturbance - BESIDES NOT DELIVERING MAIL, they are also picketing within the whole of Ile de France. Needless to say, I have sent out some cards and letters but don't know if they've been mailed or not. Striking workers is a common occurrence in the Paris area.  The truckers will even help out and block traffic for them if you want them too. You won't see this in such a dramatic way in America except recently in Wisconsin with the teachers union. Maybe it will be a new thing in America. With all the other protests going on in the world. Hey, why should we be left out of the fun. Interesting times, isn't it?
     On my way today I'll buy my monthly Navigo pass to be able to get around for next month. I do have to talk to another live person instead of a machine. Hopefully the line won't be too long. It is the end of the month and yes, I should have done this before now. Franziska and I were coming from the Verrier station down the hill and around the corner and she had us stop in this cute atelier (workshop) and boutique. Mademoiselle makes all her jewelry and gifts. She looks like she is in her late 20s or early 30s. Everything is very well done and beautiful. Rebekah, our daughter-inlaw, had a birthday yesterday and so I'm going to see if I can find a necklace for her (the prices are very reasonable). This might be an opportunity to get to know this woman a little better. :0)
     Our little Charlotte will be 4 on April 3rd and we bought the book "The Cat Who Walked Across France" for her. I would highly recommend it for young children. It's wonderful.
     Bonne Journée (meaning, "Have a Good Day!")      -Carol

A recipe for the best Brownies - in French

La meilleure Recette de Brownie
I had to find a French recipe for brownies so I can figure out the temperature in their ovens. It also gave a recipe for Brownies using Nutella. mmm. I thought I should make this ahead of time to see how it ends up tasting. - Read down the recipe of what I'm having to think here.

Facile
Pour 4 personnes:  I have to make enough for 20 - to take to the conference.
250 g de chocolat noir - Dark chocolate. x 4 for 20 - that's a lot of chocolat.
150 g de sucre en poudre - powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar. x 4
150 g de beurre - Try saying this - it's butter. The letter "r" is very difficult for Americans.
1 sachet de sucre vanillé - Regular vanilla is very expensive and people buy vanilla sugar here.
60 g de farine tamisée - I think I have this.
3 oeufs - eggs - this can't be right - 12 oeufs for 20 personnes? Oh dear. Maybe I'll use a regular American recipe and look up the correct temperature setting. Sometimes these things are tough to translate.
1 pincée de sel - pinch of salt

Préparation:  20 mn Cuisson : 15 mn Repos : 0 mn Temps total (Time) : 35 mn

• 1  Faites fondre le beurre dans une petite casserole sur un feu très doux et cassez ensuite le chocolat noir dans un saladier. Laissez le fondre doucement au bain-marie.

• 2  Plongez un pinceau dans le beurre fondu et badigeonnez votre moule à manqué. Préchauffez le four thermostat 6 (180°). - Aha! it's 180 degrees with this oven.
• 3  Mélangez le chocolat fondu avec le beurre. Hors du feu, ajoutez le sucre en poudre, le sucre vanillé puis les oeufs battus en omelette avec une petite pincée de sel. Ajoutez enfin la farine.
• 4  Versez dans le moule et enfournez pour 15 mn. Laissez reposer 5 mn dans le four éteint.
• 5  Laissez refroidir environ 1/2 heure, puis mettez au réfrigérateur au moins 2 heures. Démoulez le gâteau et découpez le en parts individuelles.