Almost There!

Well, it is June! We leave in 5 days for Zurich, Switzerland and will be taken from there to Guebwiller, France. I cannot believe it’s here. This is the update on a few things that have been going on with us. Firstly, we sent in our money a few weeks ago. Most of us paid for our own airfare, but the generosity of our supporters covered most of the rest of the costs of the trip. We have received about another $2500 since we paid GEM for the trip which will go towards team expenses. Whatever is left over will be used to refund some of the costs of plane tickets.

We have purchased most of the equipment we’ll need to bring for the project. This includes goggles, gloves, masks and some really fun coverall jumpsuits. I think we’ll be the best dressed young adults in France! The project is going to be quite heavy so if you could continue to pray for physical strength and stamina we will need it. We are all super excited to serve the church in this way. Please also pray for the students who will grow in Christ in those classrooms and who will be prepared to be a light in a very dark world.

Dustin Karzen and Sarah Davis have been preparing songs to play in France. It looks like on Monday they will be playing for the students of College Daniel. We’ll be presented to them during their chapel time and will have some question and answer time with the students. Most of Dustin and Sarah’s selections will be played when we do some street evangelism in the evenings we have dinner in the town as a team. Pray for confidence for them and for opportunities to make cross-cultural connections through music.

We are all also both anxious and excited about outreach. We have the Holy Bible in French in audio on mp3 disks that we are making copies of to distribute to people who seem like they would make use of them. What we are looking to do is have conversations with as many people as we can. Love, wisdom, holiness and righteousness are the motivations we need to have for everything we do. Pray for us to be revolutionized by this mentality and be effective ministers.

We are staying with families whose children attend College Daniel. This will be an incredible opportunity for us to understand the French culture first hand. We hope to learn a lot from this experience and start to see the distinction between our own cultural Christianity and universal biblical truths. Our interactions with these families will be times for us to take note of cultural differences and to also connect with other members of the body of Christ. Despite differences of opinion and lifestyles, we will share with our hosts the most important thing about us-a relationship with our Creator and Savior. They are our brothers and sisters and are more like us than any friend, relative or neighbor that doesn’t know Jesus.

We plan to update this blog as much as possible during our trip. We would love it if you left us comments to encourage us as you pray for us or have any questions. Our teamail is francemissions2009@gmail.com and would love to hear from you! On Sunday, July 5 at 6:30 we will be at Long Beach Alliance Church (3331 Palo Verde Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90808) to share our experiences with you. Thanks and God bless!