In order to keep us covered in prayer, David posts a "Prayer Bulletin" every month with praises and requests. If you feel called to support us in this vital way, use the form below to have it sent directly to your inbox. Archives are included to testify of God's faithfulness!
(required)

Leigh Family Prayer Bulletin - July 2006

Feedback...

Deep and grateful satisfaction...(well that and fatigue!)
That's probably my feeling right now as I reflect on the past 72 hours or so of life on "full blast". See Fete below...
  • Fete - Friday evening and all day yesterday (June 30th-July 1st) marked the official celebration of the 20th anniversary of our kid's school, Collège-Daniel. Our whole family was involved in one way or another with the planning and/or "execution" of the celebration.

    This was a massive volunteer undertaking and everywhere you looked you could see some very satisfying result of someone's incredible hard work and ingenuity; literally labors of love everywhere! I observed the same thing last year but this year the fete included the addition of Friday evening meal and alumni celebration in addition to the annual "carnival" and school musical show...and this year our involvement leaped up several notches too!

    We are exhausted with the late hours and hard work, but we also celebrate this 20th anniversary of the school with passion as their pioneering perseverance and obedience to God's call during that time made a very real place for us to land as a family and for educating our kids and opening avenues of ministry. Last night, until 1am, we were able to worship with the crowd as a wonderful worship band from Paris lead us in a joyful celebration.
  • House - No significant movement yet on the repair work needed on the back of the house, though I've had recent contact with one of the guys who has offered to help us and I see some signs that lead me to believe that we should probably work with him as opposed to other options...it feels like a blessing of direction/discernment.
  • Finances - God continues to prove His faithfulness. We were able to pay our sizable tax bill and continue with just-in-time gifts to keep all "the wheels" moving. Just this morning, we learned of another unexpected and sizable gift that should help with some upcoming expenses, especially with Rachel's schooling and the above-mentioned work on the back of our house that needs to be done. God is good...ALL the time (even when we're not aware!)
  • Alsace Walk - The first part of the logistical work is done. Much remains to be accomplished before the walk starts. Already we're seeing a good deal of interest and enthusiasm for the project.
  • Worship Workshop - The last one happened on the 16th of June and I must say that I'm glad that it is over. it was, all in all, very hard and the last week did not, unfortunately, change that perspective. I learned much about how God can give creative ideas when needed, but also what some of the specific challenges of working with Junior High students are. I'm still evaluating what this means for next year. You can read more musings about it in this blog entry.
  • Establishing - I was blessed to receive an email this month from a guy with whom we had consulted about our immigration situation. I had not heard from him in a while and had thought, based on his last email, that he had pretty much "resigned" from our "case". So, it was an encouragement to hear that he was still searching for "angles" that might work for our situation and was still observing the evolution of some immigration laws.

    With respect to any work or business ideas, there has been no change in that front, though we're still listening to hear what God may be saying about our situation and what direction in which we need to go.

Please Pray...

  • House - With a little infusion of cash, now it's (I hope) mostly a matter of getting all the people together at the right time/same time to get the work done. Please pray for timing and schedule coordination and that God gets as much mileage out of the work as possible (witness, contacts, relationship building, etc.)
  • Family Visits - We are blessed to have our niece with us (since June 29th) until this Friday. Already it's been a great relational blessing to strengthen this important family tie! July 18th - 31st will be the visit of my (David's) parents and sister and brother-in-law. We will be visiting Normandy and, of course, the Alsace region. We are very much looking forward to this time. Please pray for health and traveling safety and fruitful family connecting...especially for our children who see far too little of their State-side family.
  • Alsace Walk - As I mentioned, there is progress here, but much work remains. In particular, I would point out that what we are doing, in a very real way, is "staking our claim" as the Body of Christ to this region of Alsace. This is not something that normally goes unnoticed in the "enemy camp". We are on the offensive here because we want to steward this gateway region for the King of Kings, Jesus. Please pray for protection for all involved before, during and after the walk. Pray also for provision for those coming from farther away and for the right people to be involved. We're particularly interested in having Germans and Swiss join with us!
  • Establishing - This past month, with the school fete and other end-of-school-year activities not much "visible" activity has happened with respect to 'establishing' us in France. But I'm convinced that being established by the Lord in our relationships here is still the bedrock upon which the rest will be built. And in that, we've continued to be very blessed in the tapestry of relationships that the Lord is weaving here.

    I've just read in the book When Heaven Invades Earth the great insight that when Paul says "Faith comes from hearing..." that it is not "Faith comes from having heard...". it is the active listening that unlocks the opportunities to act in faith. It's hearing what God is saying today that will give us direction for specific steps to take. Please pray that we would be in intimacy with our Heavenly Father and attentive to what He is saying this month and that we would step out in faith where He directs.
Until next month!

David