| As far as the month of April goes, I think we have entered into a different rhythm of life than we had been in for Jan-Mar and that is a welcome change. As you've read from Angela's newsletter, our two-week school vacation was not quite what we (I) bargained for, what with being sick and car buying/selling. The Lord continues to show me where I don't walk in His peace, but He provides for me anyway (Matt 6:24-34). In the "annual school cycle", we are now in the time where, in addition to the activities/responsibilities of right now, we are looking to see what the Lord is building for next year (the two are obviously connected). It is an exciting and challenging time. We find it even more so (both exciting and challenging) because it affects the ministry with which we work (the school), our children (who attend the school and who are themselves experiencing life-forming/transforming transitions) and our own life as a couple and as individuals as we begin to ask God, "How would you have us invest our lives in this coming year? Are there changes? What do we need to eliminate from our lives to follow Your leading? How are you provoking the the areas in our hearts that need to be submitted to Your Lordship?"
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- God's Spirit at work at school - There are signs of new life in the students at Collège-Daniel where we work! Junior High-age spirituality is such a mixed bag due to the enormous changes that are happening in life at that time. We who seek to impact their lives must often sow consistently with little visible fruit...simply believing that seed has fallen in good soil and is germinating in the unseen places. Well, we're seeing some tiny buds crack the dull, brown earth!
There is now a prayer meeting once a week after lunch that is student-led. There have been requests for more/longer times of worship in the Monday chapel services. Last Monday, even without the 9th graders, to whom we attribute the lion's share of the emerging spirituality, there was a refreshing freedom in the worship and prayer time. There are two passages that speak to my heart about what we're seeing - use them as your prayers into what God is doing right now among us: Please pray John 4:35-38 which echos (at least for me) Amos 9:11-15
- Noah - At 14, he continues to be an affectionate and obedient son at home, but continues to be bored, critical, and negative at school, alienating others and hindering friendships. I think we will see how the first trimester plays out for him next fall before making any radical decisions, as the school has a different flavor every year (including in the spiritual atmosphere), and Noah needs time to mature. We would like to see his spiritual life take off -it has made all the difference for his sisters - and are considering sending him to a camp this summer. Please pray for a faith-filled perspective on our part and a hunger for more of God in his life. Discouragement will not reign in this house!
- Teaching and worship - Angela will be teaching during one or two of the chapel services at school this month. She also just finished creating worship flags for each of the elementary kids at church (who attend the school as well) and she has a real desire to impact the middle school kids at church, who are all soft-hearted and visibly coming alive spiritually, but have no program of their own. Increasingly we're seeing powerful worship resources (notably at IHOP) that are being translated into French and are praying about how to plant those seeds in this young group. We want to invest where God is visibly investing around us. Please pray for preparation for these chapel times and direction/discernment as to how we are to sow these seeds into what God is revealing as very fertile soil.
- Construction Help - This summer our school needs to renovate some recently acquired old buildings into storage space. We've had the blessing of beginning to work with the EuroTeam construction ministry (fruit of our contacts via Rachel in Germany) for planning, but for this summer they won't be able to lead a team to do the physical work. Please pray specifically about a site supervisor and skilled teams willing to come and work.
- Financial Transition/Establishing - We've seen a change in how God has been providing for us financially in the last 3 months or so. It is, at the same time, encouraging and de-stabilizing. Of course, in my little compartmentalized male brain, I just want financial provision to be a humming machine generating quiet background noise...kind of like the refrigerator kicking in automatically when things are getting too warm or the furnace whirring to life when things are getting a bit chilly. I'm certainly not looking for a challenge in that area! :-)
To give it a broad evaluation, I'd say that the source of our support, at least in part seems to be migrating to this side of the Atlantic. I find that encouraging as a general direction, given the US economy, the dollar-euro exchange rate, and the link that has with being established in France. I find that very challenging in that it's still just a direction of change, whereas I'm looking for that "established, automatic, humming" system of financial support! ;-)
So, please pray for the growth of our hearts in peace and faith during this time of transition and discernment for specific steps we need to take and advancement of the steps necessary to establish us where the Lord wants us.
Thank you for your faithfulness!
David |