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Rollercoaster

The first weeks of the Discipleship Training School (DTS) can only be described as a Rollercoaster of highs, lows, surprises and excitement. In the space of one single week we have baptised one of the students (A definite high point), lost a member of staff (defintley a low point) and then there was Benjamin. He came as a translator for the week, God took hold of him and he is now staying for the rest of the school as a student (That was a surprise).

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Vapor, vapor, everything is like vapor

Yesterday we had the privilege of the Tour de France coming to our little town.  Our town was overflowing with people from all different nations as they came to cheer on the cyclists. I thought that we had found the perfect spot to watch the riders and sat on the kerb with nobody in front of us. However I didn't realise quite how close to the  spectators they get. Neither did I realise quite how fast they ride, even when they are going 'slow'. As you might be able to guess I found out how close they get to the kerb when I had to roll backwards out of the way to avoid being ridden into! And after taking just a couple of pictures they were gone.

A Small Victory

Not a reference to the song by Faith No More (1992) Our car is now officially French and it wasn't too difficult to do, in fact it was almost too easy! It has now been tested, registered, has french number plates and is insured. However I do worry that it may be having an identity crisis. It is a french car (Renault) made for the UK market so it is right hand drive, but now it is officially french but still has the GB stickers on the back. Confused?

Thank you

First of all we would like to say a big thank you to every body who ate with us, talked with us and prayed with us during our visit back to the the UK is was great to see each and every one of you, if we didn't manage to catch-up with you there is always a place for you to stay here in France. 

During our visit we attended the Globe UK Candidiates school and we have just heard this week that we have been accepted by them, there is just the paperwork etc that remains to be sorted out. 

We have settled back in to life here, Ruth has just come back from a week long seminar by Tom Bloomer (Google him, he has a cool moustache!) on how the culture and spiritual history of a nation affests our thinking in terms of our relationship with God and ability to receive the gospel.  

As well as continuing with preparations for the next DTS and practical works around the base we are able to announce that Ruth will be pioneering a brand new training school called the school of Intercession and Evangelism (SoIE) which will hopefully run next April, more details to follow.....

We have a had a couple of busy weeks visiting friends and family in the UK (if we haven't seen you yet we are still around for a little while and it would be great to see you). We have also just returned from a week of training with Globe UK on their candidates school, Globe UK is a missions agency that seeks to assist the body of Christ to fullfil the great commission.

We spent the week at Shekinah Christian center (http://www.shekinah.org.uk/index.html) in Newchurch-in-Pendle, Lancashire, where we had 5 days of fellowship, teaching, and fine food served in farmer sized portions. It was an amazing time of learning and sharing with the directors of Globe UK (http://www.globeeurope.org.uk/index1.html)who between them have an enormous amount of experience and knowledge to draw upon. It was a real privilege to spend time with each of them and to benefit from their passion in serving the King of kings and Lord of lords. Now we just need to wait to find out if they have accepted us.

L-R, Mark, Ruth, Brian Clark, Lesley Gomez, Janet Thurston, Brad Thurston, George Alexander

Suitcases and answered prayer.

Without going into too much detail, we have, or at least me as Mark is still in Cameroon, have had an amazing 3 days! I discovered that our cave, or cellar, had been broken into on Wednesday. They stole all our suitcases, 7 in total,(4 large, 3 small that were in the large suitcases), a load of my summer clothes for Senegal/outreach, Mark's backpack with holdalls in it, Mark's bike and my sun lounger that I hadn't even sat in yet! I will probably remember other stuff too. Anyway, they didn't take the boy's bikes.
What was difficult for me was that there are 2 doors that are locked and only neighbours have the key. Anyway, I learnt yesterday morning that our insurance won't pay out as we only had a padlock on the door into our cellar. We've been praying about joining Globe UK and doing the school and the necessary finances, especially as we need to see our current support level increase in order for us to stay here. Only on Tuesday night Mark and I had decided that we were definetely going to go ahead, even if we don't have the school fees. So, to learn that we weren't covered was a kick in the teeth,  but also a great learning moment with God about where my trust had really been - in the insurance company. I repented over the boiling kettle, (I was making a much needed coffee), and began to think about how now, we were going to replace suitcases and buy Mark  a new bike and pay for the school, and to still do the school knowing that we don't have enough support.
This last year in France has been an incredibly hard time for us, and there have been moments when I could easily have given up and gone back to the UK, and Mark has given me the opportunity to choose to as well, but I know he knows that he knows God wants him here. 

One of the things I have been struggling with and I have been praying about for the last 14 months is for God to tell me I am supposed to be here. I'm here because I am Mark's wife, and I have peace that God wants us here, but God hadn't actually said to me we are supposed to be here. It's been a big deal for me bacause I am used to hearing God speak very plainly and spefically, and I haven't been able to on this. He's given me lots of Scriptiures about being here, what I am here for, but for me it's not been the same as hearing Him. I know it has been a growing and a trust and a test thing, but it has been a very painful process.
As I made my coffee I began to question whether this was an indication that we should be leaving, and laughed and said to God "I can't leave even if I wanted to. I haven't got any suitcases." and I heard His voice for the first time in a long, long time. He said, " I allowed the suitcases to be taken to show you you are here to stay."

I took my coffee to the computer and opened our email account. One of the emails was from the man in our church who oversees our finances. He was writing to tell me a cheque had arrived in the mail that morning for £1,000.  Only God can do that. That is how perfect He is. And I have the privilige of knowing Him, of serving Him, of being totally loved by Him. Who wouldn't want that?