BARRPottery From the Past

Carol and I have shared how we wish to offer art & pottery lessons in Chevreuse when we return to France. While this will not be a full time job, we want to start an association and this will be a way to meet our neighbors and hopefully become an accepted part of the community. When we closed down the BARRPottery site we left very little evidence of our pottery on line, so to rectify that, here are a few images from our days back in Olathe, KS.…

Manning our award winning booth at a local art fair.

Custom glazes, "Yellow Green Matte" and "Nutmeg"
became our signature look.

Bottles are a difficult shape to throw on the wheel.

More bottles.

Functional ware, like bowls sold well.

Original card holder… and vintage BARRPottery cards.
I'm sure there a few hiding in a drawer somewhere.

This large pot was designed to be difficult to glaze.
It was a test pot for the Yellow Green Matte glaze.
When this pot came out of the kiln, we knew
the glaze formula was a success.

During our family art show in Olathe held in the
lobby of the Comfort Inn.

Some of the pots thrown for the crowd actually survived. 

Our entry in the "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" show at the
artist's guild of Kansas City.

Table top grouping at the Family show in Olathe. 

Moonshine Jug

Fluted Jug 

It gives us great pleasure to know several churches in the Kansas CIty
area serve communion with our pieces.

Carol's hand built pitcher and mugs.

This bottle measures 18 inches tall

Another of Carol's hand built vases.

Russell's first teapot.

"Nightscape"  You see something different
every time you look at it

The beginnings of the dragonfly as a constant
 motif in our pottery.

Wheel thrown and then altered. This large planter
was a special order.

Another classic glaze combination.

These were made using slabs of clay and real leaves
rolled into the surface.

Another classic BARRPottery vase.

"These Shoes are Made for Walking"

A letter arrived from our friends of New Zealand who will rent their building to us in France. 
One of our teammates will rent the place for a while until we get there. We will be working alongside him once we are settled. 

Here's an excerpt of what our future landlord said:
"We have a strong sense that the "Cordonnerie du Progrès" as the house is called, is supposed to be used for God's work. This old shop sign on the front of the building says in French: The Progressive Shoemaker. Pauline started looking for passages in the Bible that she could pray over regarding the whole theme of "shoes" since this is an old shoe and leather store. In their village in the old times they had tanning works along the river, so this was a shop for making leather goods. 

Ephesians 6:15 says,  "Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet" (Contemporary English Version) The Good News version says,  So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace."

Russell also mentioned in Romans 10:15 says, "And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written (Isaiah 52:7) - "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" 

One more reason Russell got his boots shod in France the last time we were there. He wore the soles off. :0) I had to get bigger soled shoes with more cushions. Thank you Pauline for the "shoe" analogy which is perfect on so many levels. 

We are excited about the time when we will leave for France. Those of you who are on our HEART team, our children, and the many others who have come alongside are wholeheartedly cheering us along with your words, and your sacrificial giving plus your deep felt prayers and sharing of verses have been felt from the bottom of our hearts. We are indebted to you. You encourage us so much! Thank you Pauline.

Excellence in Chocolatiering

It wasn't that long ago hubby and I were out looking for a place to buy chocolate because it was a holiday. Trying to be on a low carb diet we were opting for the sugar-free kind. It's really not possible to have sugar-free in the same sentence as chocolate. The FDA requires that this confection cannot be called chocolate if it's sugar-free.

Driving around we came to a fine looking Chocolatier's house (which will remain unnamed) and went inside but there were no sugar-free chocolates to be had. Hard to believe, really. We bought a few wonderful looking coconut pieces. Our server lazily plopped the beauties in a small brown unmarked boring lunch sack and barely talked to us much less say thank you. I say! What happened to wrapping them up very prettily and delicately with a smile and hand them over as if they were a precious gift? We paid a high enough price for them and were so excited for this treat. She didn't seem to care. The chocolate tasted fine although I prefer the toasted coconut haystacks which I thought I was getting. You'd think I was such an expert on these delights.

As we left the store I commented to hubby dearest how things at this Chocolate house are so different compared to our French experience. The patisseries have the most beautiful displays and the chocolate confections are not only a delight to taste but the chocolatier takes her time to wrap this tasty with tissue, shining clear celophane and lovely ribbon. Many even put them in a gorgeous box. They are something to behold. Doing things with excellence seems to be par for the course in Paris.

Going back to our recent holiday, we decided to try a different location for sugar-free chocolate and found gold when we went to Sees Candies. I have been partial to RussellStovers since we're from the Kansas City area where this delectable chocolate is produced but Sees in California is right up there with other forms of delicious dark wonderfulness. And they had sugar-free, but as I said before they couldn't call it chocolate because chocolate has to have sugar in it.

We decided to take some home anyway (which by the way was very yummy and didn't taste like sugar-free). The store was packed with customers lined up in two lines and cutely decorated. The employees were decked out in their See's corporate finery. Everyone matched. They handed out free samples to us and I was delighted that they cared, truly cared about the customer. It gave me some hope that there are still some in America who also strive for excellence.

It didn't help my diet though.

A place to roost in la Vallée de Chevreuse

Russell and I have developed a fun fascination with roosters—never dreaming that so did France. The rooster is France's national bird. The name comes from the Latin term 'gallus' loosely relating also to the Gauls in Ancient Roman times. Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia on the history of their national bird: "The association between the rooster and the Gauls/French was developed by the kings of France for the strong Christian symbol that the rooster represents : prior to being arrested, Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed on the following morning. At the rooster's crowing, Peter remembered Jesus's words. Its crowing at the dawning of each new morning made it a symbol of the daily victory of light over darkness and the triumph of good over evil. It is also an emblem of the Christian's attitude of watchfulness and readiness for the sudden return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment of humankind. That is why, during the Renaissance, the rooster became a symbol of France as a Catholic state and became a popular Christian image on weathervanes, also known as weathercocks." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_rooster) 

     The Gallic rooster's popularity faded away until the French Revolution in 1789. It's used as a mascot in sports and in the corporate world. Most only see the rooster now as a secular symbol and probably don't even know from whence it came. One sees the rooster on top of many very old buildings, gates or fences in France—especially on Catholic buildings. We have a special collection of roosters going with us to France. I found a magnificent one during my traveling days selling wall coverings to the interior design industry. My sister-in-law really wants that bird but I told her it's going with me to France. We have to represent.

     Our exciting news relates to this roosting creature as we look forward to our new roost in Chevreuse. Roosting is perching aloft to sleep at night. Russell and I will be perched aloft in our rented 3 story building upon our return to France. The ground floor is a small storefront, with a storage cellar below and a small but beautifully restored 2 floor apartment above. This is a huge gift from God, and from our friends who own this building. They attended the church plant we've been working with in Magny les Hameaux. They are "Kiwi's" from New Zealand who bought this 16th century building a few years ago in downtown (population 6,000) Chevreuse. They thought they would use the upper part for a vacation rental and rent the storefront for commercial usage. But when they decided not to return to France and considered what we were going to do when we returned to France they thought, "Let's allow the Barr's to live there." They told us it was their way of continuing to bring the good news and hope to the community they've been a part of for decades.

     The building is located in the outer SW suburbs of Paris with the forests of Versailles around this ancient 11th century village - 20 min. from Versailles. The town is a 5 min. drive to the last train stop to downtown and 10 min. to the France Vie office and 17 min. to the church plant's worship place in Magny. We are being offered this building for the same price we would get for a 2 bedroom apartment. Thank you Pauline and Simon! This moves our ministry efforts at least a year ahead. 

     Our desire is to form an association under the umbrella of France Vie to have meetups/events/classes with the community. Join us in saying, "Cock-a-doodledoo!"

I will remember Your works, O Lord;
Surely, I will remember Your wonders of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
And consider all Your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as You?
You are the God who works wonders;
You have revealed Your strength among the peoples.
You redeemed Your people with Your power,
The descendants of Jacob and Joseph. 
Psalm 77:11-15

Catching Up

From Carol,
I clicked my way to dear 'ole Blogspot to see when I posted last and there was a gasp when the words said Feb. 2nd!!!! What??!!  Alas, my most recent post in early March was not there. My Macbook is too old now for new software updates. A dear artist friend gave me this computer to help us when ours got stolen in France. Blogspot must have updated their software and I no longer can save, or publish any documents to their page. sigh... I will type it separately for now and send it to Russell, who has a newer computer, to upload. Don't you love "work-a-rounds"? At least this computer is still working and I can save my own documents.
     Let's try this again and "catch you up" (as we say in Missouri)....
     Snow and more snow fell upon the heels of our car as we left the Midwest while keeping ahead of it the whole way. Of course, our 1999 Saab (or Sob) is out of the auto shop and we left Missouri sometime in mid-February racking up time in California since then. The car drives like a dream now but the console in the center heated up quite hot along the way. The gear shift cable was taken out and a new one was put in.  But, why is the heat from the engine getting into the console? Love the smell.  While checking the heating and cooling buttons we were sometimes able to get the engine smell out of there and the heat next to Russell's leg to subside.
     Our time in California revolves around when I can get my teeth fixed. A broken tooth, an abscess that affected 2 teeth and now surgery. Our time table (never the right one) was to leave California by the end of March. Now the dentist is saying I could have the last appointment on the 10th, if the infection is gone. We are still battling that. This is a serious infection and I'm on my third round of anti-biotics after going in yesterday for more work.
     In the meantime we have enjoyed our time in Santa Cruz in our mobile home, visiting churches and sharing our ministry. There was a visit to see James and Rebekah in Burbank and since our home is going to get rented out this coming Sunday we will be leaving again, to spend Easter with them, and visiting others while we are there.
     Recently, we created a Facebook Event page that shows how we are doing on our monthly pledges to leave for France. Currently we are at approximately $1350 per month in pledges remaining to raise! That's quite a bit less than the previous month!
     As a thank you we want to give gifts.  Artists love to give art as gifts. New pledges through our Facebook event page have gifts for certain levels of pledges. If you are not on Facebook and want to give a pledge we will certainly give you a gift!
     All of our financial supporters from the beginning are getting a PARISBarr's t-shirt specially designed by Russell. For those pledging $10 - $49 per month are also going to get a CD of cover songs that our son, James, and daughter-in-law Rebekah, are singing and playing on. Being in the TV and film industry, they have great friends who have professional skills and equipment to help them in this endeavor.
     For any new pledges of $50. - $100./mo since our Facebook event started will receive a print from our daughter Emily.
     Emily's special print edition of 15 entitled "Holy Ground, Light of the World" is a Mixed Media Varied Edition. Watercolor, Teabag Paper, Stippling, Ink 8" x 10". Each print is hand painted and drawn using stencils for each layer. Emily uses the highest quality watercolors, archival inks and 100% cotton printmaking paper.

     Wouldn't you love to own this?
     New Pledges of over 100.00 will also get a piece of pottery from Russell or a small painting from me.
     We've done a better job of updating on our Facebook pages so if you want more up-to-date information about our trek BACK to France. Please ask to be our FB friend, if you are not.

He knows.

Our car remains in the auto repair shop. The old part is still in the car but the new part arrived last Friday. They spent the afternoon trying to get the old part out but to no avail. The weekend is over and today is a new day for the guys to try it again. It had been a frustrating week when we really wanted to be in California the week before.

He knew I would break a tooth and what that would do to me. Thursday evening it happened. Friday it began to swell a bit. Saturday I began to look like elephant woman in the jaw and the pain it created sent me to bed. No dentist office was open on the weekend. Ibuprofen every 3 hrs (I couldn't wait for 4) and a nurse at the hospital said to get Ambusol to numb the area. It was excruciating but I was determined to make it through until Monday. There was no sleep to be had. You'd think I had swallowed a golfball by early Sunday morning. Russell saw my predicament and we headed to the emergency room at the nearby hospital. Armed with anti-biotics and vicodin, we left the hospital for Russell's folks house (our temporary home) an hour later and I went straight to bed.

He knew. I wouldn't have been able to take a 25 hour trip to California, I couldn't have helped Russell drive the car, nor visited with some of our supporters along the way.

"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools." Ecclesiaste 7:8

Optimistic Perseverance and 60 DAYS Left to Leave For France!!

Every person knows what it's like when they are ready to do something and they are stuck in time; no way they can move forward. Maybe it's just standing in a grocery line or there's a predetermined schedule but, No! you aren't going anywhere until this roadblock is moved. Today it's been 10 days since a part was ordered for our 1999 Saab 9-5 wagon. We were supposed to leave for California 2 days ago. This car is only needed another 60 days before we hope to leave for France to work and live. It cannot break down permanently until we get on that plane. I mean it! 

Granted, I'm trusting that everything else will be in place for this big move to this far away country in 60 days but just hang with me and "let's believe" (like getting 2000.00 more in monthly financial commitments to join with us on this journey). All my friends say we are the most optimistic people they know, and persevering. Those two words are synonymous in our book. If you want to have a great life, be optimistic while you persevere. That's our motto. Or mine. I have to keep reminding Russell to switch from pessimistic to optimistic. We've been trying to get to France to work there full time since 2007. Hey, we've had over 6100. per month to raise and we are down to 2K now. It's expensive to live in France with their health insurance and ours combined, taxes, fees, etc. etc. besides our salary and benefits and ministry expenses.

The auto makers decided to create a road block when they chose not to make Saab's any more! Of course we had to have one of those. I thought it was a great deal to buy a used one with a rebuilt engine for 4K in late 2009 to drive across from California to New York by way of Kansas City many times telling people we need money to work for our "non-profit Christian church planting" organization to reside in Paris, France. The car, so far, has cost us about $8,000. which isn't bad considering the miles we've put on it. And it gets 32 mpg on the hwy. The people at the auto repair are telling us it's probably not a good idea to go to California once again and yet we don't have options. So, let's not only believe, let's pray that this car will make it.

Other roadblocks along the way is the "Paris, France" part of the equation. Some of the responses we get when we tell our story is, "You want us to give you money to go to Paris, France? I'd like to go to Paris, France. I tell them that I am working with refugees from North Africa and Turkey and there are a some French Christians over there asking for help and yes we are artists, but it's for a good cause. Come on somebody, anybody?

My dream wasn't to ask God if I could go live in France in my 50s, share the Good news of Jesus Christ and leave my children and 2 beautiful little grand daughters behind. I did manage to win a trip to Paris originally in 2000 and thoroughly enjoyed it but never in my wildest dreams did I think God would call me to go work there. He called my husband too and so there you are. We can't get this monkey off our back and we just want these roadblocks to go away so we can get on with it. Life happens, and time goes by and here we are. Ready for blast off if we could just get the Saab out of the repair shop.

It was 70 degrees yesterday and did I say a snowstorm is coming tonight?

"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."
Hebrews 10:36

King Obama in a Manger and a French Christmas

We hope you are looking forward to a wonderful year. We are. I wanted to share French Christmas traditions and what our team does over the holidays.  I'll get to the Obama manger story soon enough.

     Paris is a place for lights and Christmas is no different with special Christmas lights in historical settings and holiday displays. Christmas markets are all around with ice skating rinks and snow villages. The markets are open from the 3rd week in November until New Year's Eve. Christmas day they all have a day of rest. There is even a Christmas market at Disneyland which is in the far NW corner of Paris west of the Charles de Gaulle airport. The markets are taken from an Alsatian tradition in Germany so there will be Alsation gifts and other creative crafts which are truly unique.

     It's a time of wonderful events to share the Good News to those unfamiliar or for those who love great music, fellowship, sharing the wonderful story of Christ's birth and great food (just like us in America). This is a busy time for our team.

     Parisians are familiar with great music, art and food. Meru, our church plant up north, offered a wonderful concert from a professional Christian singer. Christmas Carols were sung in December one evening at our newly formed Gospel Cafe right across from the Palace of Versailles. Many French are curious how Americans or other expats celebrate Noël. This is the name for "Christmas" in French. Natalis, for noël, means birth in Latin. The more developed church plants have music, share about Jesus' birth and the history surrounding this time, and there's always great food just like we would do at our home churches but with French songs and French food. If someone would come into our home we would share our personal Christmas traditions. They are very interested in that. This would be a time to invite our neighbors. Some of our team is from Australia and Germany besides American and French. Each have unique ways to celebrate the Lord's birth.

     You may see manger scenes and some areas of Europe have craftsmans who've carved figurines of local dignitaries to be part of manger scenes! go figure. In some areas where our team sold manger scenes for a small fee and giving away Bibles the person running the sale in their area said we couldn't have religious objects like Bibles because it was a secular event. Really? They must not have thought a manger scene was a religious object. People were buying them and I know it was annoying for our teammates that they had to take the Bibles off the table. It shows you how secularism has affected many people.  I just read an article that there are even an Obama and Romney Italian carved wooden figurines to put in your manger scene. Now Romney has tears streaming down his face and Obama wears a crown! 

     The church bells do ring on Christmas Eve at midnight and worship services are available at the churches which are still open. Some will come out for these events where they may never enter a church any other time. 

     Also on Christmas Eve, the children leave their shoes by the fireplace (if they have one), to be filled with sweets, fruits, nuts and given small toys by Pére Noël or even may believe the gifts come from the Christ Child (le petit Jesus - pronounced zhayzu). Some gifts are hung on a tree (outside).

     In Paris they have a Three Kings Cake and they may make one for their children. A bean is hidden inside the cake. Whoever finds the bean is the queen or king for a day.

     The Christmas tree has not been very popular and even though the yule log has faded, a chocolate yule log cake called " bûche de noël" is a favorite. I am glad the French love chocolate! We do too. 

     Russell and I celebrated a French Christmas with some of our French friends in Olathe, KS. There are two French couples now who are members of our home church and this is the second year they have invited many French/Francophiles to attend this wonderful event. The bûche de noël was there. Very yummy! They talked about the significance of Christmas and we all get to share in music, stories, food and small gifts for the children. It gave us a time to speak with these folks and many we got to meet 2 years ago came back again.

---Carol

Celebrating Thanksgiving in France

Thanksgiving has come and gone here and we like many others are very thankful for our many blessings. Our team in France didn't celebrate the American holiday on last Thursday but still came together in gratefulness on Saturday with a few French friends to share with them why this holiday is so important to Americans. 

     Finding a turkey in Paris, like a Butterball in the frozen meat section, is non-existent  but if one asks the butcher at the local Charcuterie one can be ordered for a "pretty price." There will be mashed potatoes, maybe green bean casserole but one won't find Campbell's mushroom soup, maybe it can be made from scratch. Pumpkin pie and probably even French desserts will be found at the table, and maybe cranberry dressing if the supermarché has fresh cranberries. It's highly unlikely that the jelled cranberries in the can will be found. One might be surprised what can be found in the "gourmet" section which is more or less for expats who are lonely for a food item.

     Doing missions work far away from home can be tough on missionaries during major holidays. Especially those who may be just starting out and also those who have been working in another country for many years and have older children who are in the states going to school or working while they remain on the field. We are just beginning our work in France. While in the states now we wait for our return knowing that we will be going back next time for much longer periods missing time with our immediate families during holidays. I know that being thankful for God's word will be very helpful during these times and having a great team as ours in France who will come together as a family for holidays will help.

     The Puritans surely didn't have the 21st century dining room table setting but they had some wonderful prayers of thankfulness to God and those nearby Indians to keep them from starving. The Puritans also had determination to remain faithful to him during very tough times. There is a wonderful book called "The Valley of Vision" that has many Puritan prayers. They were thankful for God's greatness and deliverance through trials. Here is a prayer from a Puritan. It may not have been on that day but it will give you a glimpse of how they viewed life.

Help me to stand with wary eye on the watchtower of faith,

And to cling with determined grasp to my humble Lord,

And if I fall let me hide myself in my redeemer's righteousness,

And when I escape, may I ascribe all my deliverance to Thy grace.

Those of us who love God with all our hearts have so much to be thankful for  - 

  If we dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest even in the shadow of the Almighty then we will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." He will cover us with his feathers and we will find refuge under his wings. His faithfulness will be our shield.  

     I am thankful I do not have to fear from terrors that may fall or arrows that may fly in my direction. They will not come near me. Even the Lord's angels will guard me in all my ways. They will lift up their hands to protect me.  The Lord will rescue me and protect me. He knows me by name.

     When I call, you will answer Lord. When I am in trouble you are with me. Thank you for delivering and honoring me. Thank you for giving me peace and satisfaction in my life. For this even words cannot say how truly grateful I am. (Carol's version of Psalm 91)

Election

This is from one of our teammates in France. 

"While some of you very likely gave up watching for the sake of a good night’s sleep, I had the opportunity to roll out of bed this morning, turn on the TV, surprised to find right at that moment Obama giving his victory speech. I found that to be more convenient than staying up past 1AM. We chose to follow the events on the English-speaking international news channel, though it’s interesting to follow it all in French from time to time as well.

I avoided going out yesterday, in part out of fear that Frenchmen would grill me about the election, Frenchmen who very often know more about American politics than I do. It was indeed a subject of conversation over the meal at last night’s Alpha Course, questions about electoral votes, Mormonism, time zones, campaign trails…

I was overseas the day Bush was elected for a second term, but this was the first time I was overseas for the entire campaign, or la folie, as I’ve referred to it. Apart from feeling generally out of the loop and ignorant to all that was happening, I can’t say I really minded.

As our team started the day in prayer yesterday, we prayed for the United States, but most of all for the Christians there, that above politics, they would be more concerned with improving and protecting their own unity as the body of Christ and in advancing the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of America, of Democrats, or of Republicans.

Because what would happen if we put an equal amount of energy and (the) $6 (ad) billion dollars towards making disciples of all nations? What if we proclaimed just as loudly our message of true change and real hope? What if we kept our eyes fixed on our story that lasts longer than four years, on the One who always delivers on the many promises he makes?"

2 in one Day!

It's completely non-existent that we would post 2 times in one day. But 2 wonderful news items were sent to us by our team in France that we had to share it with you, our partners. You know what to do and we are counting on you and thanking you at the same time.

Oh my gosh! Such exciting news. Russell just told me that one of our France Vie partners is getting his desire fulfilled by starting a coffeehouse and our field director and his wife just passed off their church plant (the one we were assigned to - Magny-les-Hameaux)  to Baptiste to be their pastor and will be helping the other French guy with his Gospel House. But what is so incredible and shows God's goodness is they found a space across the street from the palace of Versailles. At first they thought it was to small when they went inside; but, it had a large room in the back too. The owner wasn't going to rent it to them and they became discouraged until later when he came back to them and said they could use it for FREE!!!! This will be in the area where we will be working too when we return. We have not met this Frenchman yet and look forward to that day. He had been in the states for a while trying to see how to do a Christian or Gospel coffeehouse while we were in Versailles working. I am so happy for them. Lord, get us back there! soon.

Here's the second story we want to share. Some of you may remember that we helped the church planting team in Gisor with the beginnings of the Alpha Course this spring. An Alpha Course which is available in many areas of the world including the United States is like a Christianity 101. Who is God, who is Jesus & what does He have to do with me. It's a 15 week course with a new topic each week. There is always a meal each week, a video then a chance to talk about what was on the video.  

The Catholic church in this town is active and the priest invited our group to use a room in their church since we didn't have any place yet. This is still the beginning stages of starting our own church. Don't forget many French have never met a Protestant and some have never met a Christian.

Our team accepted their offer. It's been a great collaboration because THEY also show the Video Alpha Course series. This video series is not about a church denomination.  Soooo... Guess what just happened recently? Read this update from Nate and Erica who just got moved there and are part of this team.

"Imagine you are at ..mass at the Catholic church on Sunday morning and the priest announces: 

"The Evangelical Protestants in town are starting a new Alpha Course next week, and you're invited to attend."

That's not really normal, but our team was surprised to hear it happened last Sunday. We hadn't received the package of posters, brochures, or invitations in the mail yet, and we'd been praying about publicity efforts. God's answer is to have the priest help us!

"God called me five years ago to be a part of organizing an Alpha Course, so this has been a long time in the making. I'm ready to help." 

That's what one woman shared at our first leadership team meeting for the upcoming Alpha Course. There were eleven people present, all gathered in the new living room of our teammates that had moved just a few weeks before.

Some in the group are Catholics, some are Charismatics, some are charismatic Catholics, all helping out a group of traditional Evangelicals. Each one from different areas, different backgrounds, different walks of life. I found myself smiling, wondering, "How in the world did God unite these people in this town for this project?" There is one important thing we have in common: a desire to announce the good news of the Gospel in this town. 

So here we go, the kickoff night is tomorrow, October 2nd. There are still a lot of unknowns, but God is once again opening doors in surprising ways. We'll keep stepping out in faith and see what he'd like to do with it all...

ACTION POINT: For those of you have told us you would like to be actively participating in what we are doing we ask you to pray for these fellow leaders and believers who want to share the "Good News" to a lost and lonely people.

Latest Adventure through the people we meet.

No one can say we don't have an interesting life. We'd like to be working in France right now but there are things to accomplish before going back. We are enjoying meeting new people, seeing our family  once in a while and we are thankful for the many opportunities we've had to impact our world, no matter which world we're in. While in the United States we do not have a salary from our organization so we have to find money making projects until we can get back to France.

Since our home base has been in the northeast part of Missouri in recent times with Russell's folks, we ventured up to a Chamber of Commerce in Kirksville. There upon, we met some nice folks who own a vineyard and named it after their adopted son Jacob who has down's syndrome. Their idea is to have their 501c3 help children and adults with disabilities by teaching them about agriculture, preserving, canning and running a business.

Our relationship has deepened and I'm painting a mural on their 29 ft. x 9.5 ft wall. College students had painted on this wall before a few years ago and they wanted it to look more professional. We struck a deal and now I'm taking a few of their elements and re-designed the whole look. Here's a photo.

The far left side will be grapevines on top of the earth. I'm working on the background right now.

The left side is a view to the outside. The right side of the mural is from within.  Just remember it's a fantasy. :0)

There will be a stone floor with more grapevines in the background.
The wall will have a clock and there will be a table and chairs in the background on the right side floor.

close-up view of Lucy stomping the Grapes 

Knee Deep in work - Kneed to get back to Blogging

One month ago we posted. That's terrible. It's easy to get distracted by the urgent of the day and forget about our friends and family who like to keep up on where we're going from here.

We've been back in the US since the middle of May to Emily's KU graduation, moving Jason and Elyse in Lawrence, flying to California to see James and Rebekah the month of July and to work on raising more support with our churches out there while taking care of our home in Santa Cruz, California. A return to Lawrence, KS was made to help move Emily and Joe to Manhattan while Joe begins his Master's program with his study in Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Entymology combined. This is not the Big Apple Manhattan but the Little Apple in Kansas. Joe will be focused on the mating changes of a certain cricket. You'll have to ask him all about it. Emily is glad they don't have to keep them in their house but will use the research lab at K-State for testing. Emily is focused on getting her art studio up and running and enjoying their new little church a block away.

Jason and Elyse are having fun with their new life a couple of blocks from their old house. Elyse has a new job in an Aveda Beauty Salon where she gets additional training and heading to New York soon for some of that. Big, 5 year Charlotte, started all day kindergarten and was writing her complete name the first week. Harmony, 2 years old, decided to potty train again and having "Jabber Cool". Translated that means Jasper School. Jasper, Jason and Elyse's friend, is helping watch Harmony in the mornings until Jason gets home. Jason is setting up his new art studio at their new house as he continues his work at the Lawrence Art Center.

James and Rebekah are working on various movie projects and TV shows. James latest is with a new Food Network show called "Sugar Dome". It's about incredible edible art that will be on this fall. He was an assistant to the Assistant Director and Rebekah got her first crack at Art Coordinator to a recent movie of which the name escapes me.

I think we have to add BARRmoving to our latest jobs. Please don't ask us to move you though. After moving two of our children we are tired. It's been incredible what we've been able to accomplish while back here as we keep moving forward in our mission to get back to France for a much longer period.

Our new art friends we met in Magny-les-Hameaux, France are encouraging us to teach art classes in English when we return. We are trying to work out those details right now and would appreciate your thoughts for this kind of thing to happen. Thank you for your concerted involvement in our lives. Russell has been in contact with our new French friends since being stateside. Who would have thought we would be continuing the dialog with people we only recently met at a community gallery event before leaving France?

Our main focus this week is updating our prayer and financial supporters network of information (over 350 families and 8 churches). We plan on calling each of you who have financially given to this work to personally thank you and "catch up" on your lives.

Our taxes finally got completed the month of August. That was a huge chore!!! What a relief to finally get all of our banking updated for the last year and a half. We continually find other reports and things that are missing (from the stolen computers) that we need to be able to get our work done. We have a HUGE thank you to Olathe Bible for giving us funds to replace Russell's computer and also to Cheryl Blum (a friend/graphic designer buddy, from the Chicago area for my computer replacement.)

We don't know the exact date of our leaving over the pond. We may have to raise an additional $1400. per month.  That is still being decided by World Team. We also have lump sums to raise and we are waiting on totals from World Team. We want to get art equipment which could run about $4400. for a used kiln and 3 potter's wheels, etc. We are personally going to raise the art equipment fee with the help of Facebook and anyone else who would like to contribute.

We will be buying a vehicle in France this time. We are going to set aside 10,000. American dollars for that which is around 8,000.00 euros.  Currently, we have 10,000.00 or so in our World Team account. There will be more language study and I haven't heard yet how much more we will be allotted for that since we had 4 months of language study while there last time. We are planning on shipping our goods this next time and I don't know how much that will cost.  If we can leave no later than March our tickets to return will be around $1400. total.

Many of you have been a part of our team for a few years now and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. There is excitement about what God is going to do for the future and our hope is that you will want to continue on this exciting journey with us. We couldn't have done what we have without you.

Many Blessings!
Carol (along with Russell)

Maybe I'll use a plastic bag as a scarf.

We are back in Santa Cruz taking care of details about our house, taxes, France fellowships, and working on getting back to France. I forgot how chilly it is here in the mornings and how foggy it gets. Why didn't I bring my nice scarves from France? They would have come in handy. Surely, there is a store around here who sells scarves. Russell asked, "don't I have enough scarves already?" A woman can never have enough scarves as they go with many different outfits. come on!

Speaking of stores...I went to Safeway to get some groceries yesterday and the sign at the "self-checkout" said, PAPER BAGS 10 cents. I asked the cashier down the way, do you have plastic bags. There were none in sight. She said, "we banned plastic bags back on May 20th, as if I should have known about this." Well, I never. Really?

I know you of the environmentally conscious group are trying to get us to bring in our re-usable bags. I'm trying to do a better job at that and have them at home in the closet never to remember to put them in the car. Then I have to remember to get them out of the trunk. France encourages re-usable bags and most people use them. BUT, they didn't ban plastic bags. They have nice people as their cashiers who will give you FREE plastic bags if you forget.

Don't get me started on people's agendas. What happened to being nice and freedom of choice. Well, I have a choice and I'm going to go to Sav-On today (I forgot to buy butter). We'll see if THEY'VE banned plastic bags.

I want to share something really personal today.

Do you know what a flannel graph is? It's a piece of flannel (think of some of those thicker sheets you can buy that keep you warm.) They used to put flannel on a board and use it in a class. This was before technology became what it is. When I was a kid in church they'd put cutout characters from the Bible on the flannel. The paper dolls, so to speak, would stick on the flannel. You could move them around and tell a different story every week. I loved them. 


Is Jesus just a flannel graph figure on a board from stories you may have heard before? Maybe you feel separated from him through time, space and culture? Maybe you know of him intellectually but not personally. Maybe you believe in his truths and creed and even in the text but you are not tapped into Him any more. 

His compassion displays the heart of God for the hurting. (for mothers who lost their sons - bringing them back to life), Feeding people, Loving them, guilding them, teaching them. But he's alive people! It's a holy mystery. 

He goes with me! He can go with you but he's not pushy. He won't go if he's not wanted. I call and he answers. I have been amazed at how he has answered my prayers over and over - especially in the last 4 years. While in France - I saw the wonder of God more than ever. I was stripped bare in so many ways and called him, asking him to place me where he wanted me. He guided me everywhere and gave myself and Russell (my beloved husband) many divine appointments with people!!! 

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Ps 34:18

We sang this song today which once again reminded me of our journey.  "I called and He answered." - Hillsong

Falling on my knees in worship 
Giving all I am to seek your face 
Lord all I am is yours 
My whole life 
I place in your hands 
God of Mercy 
Humbled I bow down 
In your presence at your throne 
I called, you answered 
And you came to my rescue and 
I wanna be where you are, 
In my life be lifted high 
In our world be lifted high 
In our love be lifted high 
Higher and Higher! ...


Thank you dear God for this journey you've put us on.

Let's talk France Fellowships

There are those diehard fans of Facebook and those who prefer reading Blogs. We try to cater to both but I know I'm more lacking for blog entries.  Let's talk "France Fellowships". One of my jobs with France Vie is to raise awareness and help motivate others into concerted caring. Our French team would love to have people in the states gather in groups every so often to pray and talk about France and her people as well as think up ideas and projects to encourage our young church planters. Sometimes we have specific projects that come up we need help on. A big project for the future would be starting a coffee house near a university to meet students or others who happen by - besides offering drinks/snacks we can offer art and music classes, band night or opening nights for the gallery, being able to relate with them on a personal level and share about unconditional love and getting them connected with a community.


I am going to set the month of July to see if any of you would call up some  friends to meet somewhere to eat, talk and pray about what God would have you do. He's already working. Let's tap into what he's doing.

Our young French/American/German couples who work for France Vie do struggle sometimes and need encouragement. France Fellowship groups can find ways to encourage them. Eventually we are going to design a website where groups can post their ideas and projects.

We have one church who has been involved with us quite a while now and have a big book sale once a year. People donate their old books. Every year it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Maybe you are already part of a Book club and this would be another type of thing your group could do. You are already meeting - why make up another date on the calendar? 


Would your men or women's groups through your church/work/school, like to focus on France? Some of you learned French in High School or college. Find other like-minded Francophiles and think up something Frenchified. Some have "Raising Awareness for France events", during the day or evening, show a video of our team, hear their personal stories and pray. Serve French tarts or quiche, chocolate or whatever and play French music.

Many of you have been involved with us already and have been praying and financially giving. We SOOO appreciate you! France Fellowships are a more concerted effort within a group setting and targeted toward France Vie as a whole not one couple.

It only takes one who is excited to invite a few friends to get together. 
If you like the sound of this let us know.


Carol and Russell