Leigh Family Prayer Newsletter - July 2003

June 30, 2003

We have much to be thankful for this month!

• You - Yes, you! Your prayers for us have been vital to carry us through our first transition phase of this summer - finishing language school, moving out of Albertville and back to Scotland for the "Visa Wait".
• Health - I had a lung infection that impacted me fairly severely during the last 3-4 weeks in Albertville. I finished my 2nd treatment of antibiotics on Thursday past and it looks like it's really going away now. Praise God!
• Graduation - Our graduation ceremonies went well in Albertville, including those things for which Angela and I were responsible. God was gracious and all went smoothly.
• The Move/Travel - Our packing, cleaning, storing, traveling was indeed hard work at times, but it all went without a hitch and we can really thank the Lord for that!
• Our New Friends - We parted company with some beautiful people in Albertville and we can thank the Lord for them and for the new relationships that take our hearts to new corners of the earth where they go. Also for the welcome that I'm increasingly feeling from the people I'll be working with in YWAM France. I can see the Lord drawing us into our next season.
• Our Home - After 9 months in a campus apartment in Albertville, our home in Scotland feels like a sweet refuge for us. It's bigger. The beds are nicer, and the washer and dryer don't force us to feed them expensive tokens!
• Scotland - I must say I didn't expect to say this, but even though my heart is "pining" for France right now, the cool weather here, the friendly people here, and the sense that Scotland will play a role in our future all give me a reason to be thankful to be here.
• Our Paisley Church -The welcome we received yesterday was overwhelming and very affirming. God used that as a confirmation for us that our time here will be purposeful. It was also very refreshing to our spirits.

So, seeing as how God answers prayer and desires to give a blessing to His people, here are some ways you can pray for us this month!

Prayer Requests

• Language - Ok, we made it through language school, but we're not surrounded by French right now. Sure, it often seems like a foreign language to us here in Scotland, but somehow it doesn't help to try and speak French! ;c) Anyway, pray for our motivation to continue to study our French here in Ecosse (French for "Scotland").
• Health - We got home and all of us have felt run-down/coldy a bit. Pray for our strength and wisdom in pacing ourselves and the effects of the climate change.
• Finances - As mentioned ad nauseum in these newsletters, our time in Albertville was a great financial drain due to tuition costs, laundry costs, food costs and a dollar that lost 30% of its value in the past year against the Euro! Before we left, we bought a mini-van from another student family there in France so we have our vehicle lined up when we get back but it was $3,000. Moving our stuff down/over to France is a large expense that lays ahead of us soon. Add it all up and...well...it adds up to too much in comparison to our visible resources. We appreciate your prayers to release the provision that God has for us for the time to come and the faith to trust Him (i.e. to reject the enemy's lies!)
• Visas - The process starts Friday, July 4th with a meeting at the French consulate in Edinburgh. Please pray for favor with the French government, particularly with respect to the "religious" nature of our work and the atypical and "non-guaranteed" way in which we receive financial support.
• Moving issues - We will need to prepare our house to sell and arrange those logistics. We've yet to figure out just how we'll move all this stuff cost-effectively. We need a miracle of God to find a place to buy that's big enough and in our price range in France. God has answers for all of this. Pray that all obstacles to His answers would be removed!

Boy do we ever appreciate you!
David (for the rest our intrepid clan)