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Teaching English and Art together, putting on the GospelCafé concerts, prayer, meeting with our new French friends. It's a good life!


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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

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.

1 comment:

  1. Carol and Russell,
    This is awesome!! I am so thrilled to hear that you're going to go to France. It's been too long since we've talked! Keep us posted....
    Grace,
    Shalene

    ReplyDelete