Last month...

With respect to our health in March, I'd just as soon forget the month - just a series of colds and recovering from colds. Annoying but it seems we're mostly over it now.

Nevertheless some really cool things happened:

• The multi-church worship gathering was really good. Though I'm not keen on ever playing an electronic drum set again, it was great to see the Spirit of God manifested with different nuances and colors of worship expressed by the different churches.  There was a real sense of being welcomed/hosted by the church where it took place.  There were very good connections that took place and I think it's something that can be built upon to help change the spiritual atmosphere in the region.
   
• Angela celebrated her 50th birthday in style - but I'll let her talk about that next time.  Suffice to say it was a success and the realization that she had about the network of friends that she now has here has been powerful and rather unprecedented in her life.  It's good to celebrate my wife!
   
• Our summer trip feels much more like something to be excited about than stressed about now.  Things are coming into place (though much remains to prepare as well) and as usual, God's plans trump ours every time!
   
• Perhaps I'm most excited about some growth/direction/movement as a result of some training we sent some of our young sound technicians to.  I see where God is providing people and training resources to help me move forward in refining the sound reinforcement effort at church.  It's still challenging for me in the organization/discipling areas, but I see progress and I'm encouraged and also excited about how elements are coming into place for the future - for growth in worship ministry in our area.  This is, in my opinion, vital as a foundational or "grounding" aspect of the various areas where God is moving us forward here.

This month...

• Worship - This month gets a good dose of time in and cultivating of the Lord's presence.  This Friday (Good Friday) we have as a holiday and so our normal 4-hour monthly worship gathering will be a 6-hour affair with a couple of groups invited from outside our church.  This will be a good follow-on to last week's 6-hour event in Mulhouse.  This month our friends Rusty and Janet Richards return to French soil and their presence always increases the worship activity in the area.  In addition they've coordinated a 3-day worship stint at a retreat center in Switzerland which wants to start a house of prayer (http://www.laebeshuus.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=21).  We will be taking several of our youth worship team members as well and really experimenting with creative expression in the Lord's presence.  This should be a very special time.  In addition, the technical side of our worship ministry is growing in the skills and experience of our young sound technicians.  God is putting together the building blocks He's been gathering and it's exciting to be a part of it.  Please pray that we, the so-called "experienced adults" would be examples of those who let the Spirit flow in full measure when we seek to celebrate the Lord in worship and pray that the rising generation here would really grow in their anointing to carry God's presence.
   
• Logistical Spaghetti  - While our peace level has risen a bunch about this summer, we do still have quite the list of details to finalize and would appreciate your prayers for the energy, motivation and clearheaded-ness to get the "t's" crossed and "i's" dotted!
   
• Sozo ministry - The 3-member official Sozo team (inner healing ministry) at our church, of which Angela is a part, has an interesting challenge.  They are raising up the next group of people to expand this crucial ministry.  At the same time, they are working on some really tough/urgent cases that don't lend themselves to observation by the rest of the team (things just too sensitive).  This is encouraging to see some of these really hurting people beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but at the same time the team is getting tired and progress to expand the team has slowed.  Please pray for discernment for the team to know the best way to proceed in expanding the team and treating urgent problems.
   
• School IT work - I've been making some significant progress in certain areas in the IT infrastructure at school but it's been largely new, urgent needs that have gotten most of my attention and not the most difficult infrastructure issues that need to be addressed to really arrive at the next level of effectiveness for student and administrative computing.  Please pray for my discernment as well to know which things to put my energies to and for blocks of uninterrupted time which really allow me to move forward in significant steps (interruptions may be from the Lord or simply distractions - I don't want to miss God opportunities nor be tripped up by distractions).
   

April showers of blessings on you!!!

David