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)