| Some feedback about last month's requests: - Worship Week - This was a tiring-but-enriching week. I helped "too much" with the worship at a family camp for a Swiss church. It was too much in the sense that it's not an activity in which Angela participated. So, next time, I'll be setting better boundaries on it that keeps the family separation at a minimal level. It was, however, a rich, rich time. I was blessed to participate extensively in the worship and to hear most of the great teaching on spiritual parents/children. I was very blessed to have an extended time to get to know the speaker 1-on-1. We'd known each other at a distance and this closed the gap. Very precious! At the end of "my week", Friday, Olivia began a long weekend at church dedicated to her age group. It was a weekend to learn how to encounter God, hear His voice, etc. and how to share that with others. We purposely did not participate in any of it as parents/staff so that she could have complete freedom to be herself. What a blessed time it was for her and her friends! It dovetails extremely well with what God has been doing the last two years in this age group at church and at school. As parents, we couldn't be more grateful to those who led/staffed this weekend. They really sowed eternally!
- Home Improvement - No visible change in the situation. Still praying for a solution that: blesses our neighbor, blesses any construction workers on our house, enhances our house in terms of living and value.
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| - Summer Plans - Just yesterday we bought Olivia's plane ticket to spend the month of July in the States. During that time she'll be in Indy and some time at IHOP in KC for a youth camp. We (not to mention her!) are really excited about this opportunity for her. We have signed up Noah for a Math camp in the States as well during the same time. He's on a waiting list for the camp and they expect to know something in late May. At this point, we don't have the money for his ticket nor the acceptance for this camp. So we need some direction and (and special provision if he's State-side bound!) from the Lord for Noah for this summer. Please pray for Olivia's preparation for her experience in July. Pray also for our wisdom to know how best Noah should spend this summer and any provision necessary if that includes going to the States.
- Tabernacle - Tonight we have our monthly worship tabernacle for April where we consecrate 4 hours to corporately worship God. These continue to be key times for us as a community of believers to focus on the One from whom all life flows, and in Whom all our lives have context. They've also been times where other worship leaders come in and serve us by leading part of this time. Tonight is one of those times as well as is the tabernacle for May on the 21st. Please pray for our unity of heart and spirit and music as we cobble together teams to lead people into God's presence. Pray also for sufficient help in the technical responsibilities.
- France en Feu - As I type, Angela is speeding her way to Paris by train. She will attend, along with our pastor's wife, the France en Feu (France on Fire) annual conference. She will also have the occasion to stay with her penpal friend of 30 years...always a treat and decidedly more difficult to actually accomplish than either would have thought now that they both live in France! She'll also have the opportunity to meet with a lady who hosted on more than one occasion our outreach teams from Scotland when we visited Paris way back when. So, she's really looking forward to this trip; freedom from mom/wife responsibilities, time with girlfriends, a visit to Paris, and a conference to boot. The weather forecast is not quite what she'd hoped for however. Please pray for her traveling stamina, her time with her friends, her connections at the conference and good weather! Should be a real blessing for her!
- Provision - We mentioned the provision for Noah. We're in a bit of a lean time at the moment personally, but I'd like to primarily lift up our Christian School and our Church. I've mentioned that our Church is before a financial challenge to come up with a sizable down-payment to facilitate the purchase of our building the commencing of construction. At the moment it remains in the realm of "impossibility." On the school side, we've hit a significant trough. Last month, no salaries were paid...at all. Needless to say, this is a significant situation. Additionally, another group is coming this summer to continue the construction work started from last summer. Typically they provide the manpower and we provide the materiels. The funds are not currently there for the materials. Please pray for provision and wisdom for the leaders of both the church and the school to know how to proceed.
- Sozo - As we've mentioned in the last 6 months or so, Angela and several others in our church have begun to implement the inner healing ministry of Sozo in our community. At the moment, the ministry has not been released to the church at large as the team still is in a training/practice mode. The coordinators of the ministry in the UK will be coming this month to go through it with our pastor and elders. This will be the final step before it can be opened up more fully. The team members are excited for this to happen and ready to begin to see more lives transformed. So it's a key month for this ministry. Please pray for maximum impact from this visit from the leaders from the UK. Pray for smooth solutions to the language difficulties so that hearts can really be touched during the ministry sessions. Pray for Angela and her team members as they launch out after this step.
- Business Investment - This month I'll be spending a couple of days face-to-face with my primary business client to discuss how to move his web-business forward. We typically communicate by phone and email as he lives farther down in France, south of Geneva. There are strategic activities that are more difficult to handle this way though. Additionally, the whole idea of what role "business"/"work" is to play in our call to France is still something I struggle with considerably, so I look also to this time for the Lord to help illuminate my path a bit. Please pray for the travel safety (May 18-21) of course. Additionally, pray that the Lord would guide this business endeavor and the stewardship of it that is discussed during this time.
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