Incroyable! (Incredible or unbelievable in English, but a great French word. I recommend putting it into google translate and listening to the prononciation.)
What's incredible? Where do we begin? We have just finished Christmas and started a new year- 2017. Christmas, while December 25th has come and gone, is still something that we find absolutely amazing and awesome. Christ, a member of the trinity, left heaven and came to earth as a human with the most lowly of beginnings- as a baby in a manger. He lived a perfect life, full of compassion, worked many miracles, paid the price for all sins on the cross, and was resurrected on the 3rd day. These events from 2000 years ago continue to impact and change lives today. He has changed both of our lives, and he is the reason we are studying French and will soon be headed to Togo!
As we reflect back on this past year, we are amazed that we have already been in France for 1 year. We recently completed the coursework for the level of b1.1, and we took our 3rd round of exams. We are pleased to report that, despite having the flu and sleepless nights, we both passed. Grâce à Dieu (Thanks to God)! We are steadily learning and improving in our French (although we may or may not still rehearse a line five times in our head before it comes out of our mouths, or replay a conversation over and over after we had it). It's really hard to explain the challenges related to learning a second language. Let's suffice it to say that we still have a lot to learn about French. In fact, we could probably study this language for several years and still not be fluent. That being said, we are able to understand more and more and communicate some of what we want to say. We are thankful for God's help as we learn French and his grace as we make lots of mistakes along the way.
This past year we have had the help of several women with our children. Learning French is really a full time job with several hours of homework most days, and thats after being in the classroom all day. These women allow us to study, complete homework assignment, meet with language partners, and off load some of the other tasks that keep us from studying. Their investment in our family and ministry has been a great blessing. We honestly wouldn't have been able to progress in French at this rate without their help. Our last helper, Olivia, will be starting school in January, so we recently started looking and praying for one more person to fill the final gap until Natasha's mother is able to join us. We were amazed to have several women who were interested. Linda, a member from one of our supporting churches, felt the Lord leading her to serve in this way. While there are many challenges and obstacles to face when considering leaving your home country, friends, and family behind for 3 months, she has graciously said YES to this call. We couldn't feel more blessed or excited to have her join our family next week. Please pray for her as she finalizes her affairs stateside and travels across the ocean to join our family.
The start of a new year brings with it new opportunities, challenges, and change. We have begun thinking about 2017. We have started to prepare for finishing our language study here in France. Next up, we will be headed to Togo! We recently learned that the construction of our home there has begun!! We also learned of another surgeon and his family who have committed to come join the team after completing all of their preparation and language school. These are both encouraging, and we thank God for continuing to provide in so many ways. We don't know exactly when we will make the transition there yet, but it should be during this year. This is both very exciting and a little scary. We know from this last year, that being in a new culture and setting brings many challenges and changes. However, we also know that God will be with us, sustaining us, through this journey in the good times and bad.
Please continue to pray for our team as the medical work there is challenging. Please pray for the current staff and that God would send more laborers. Our team is especially in need of teachers for the 2017 to 2018 school year. Our team has a school house and has lots of kids, and we need teachers to help train up our precious children. Having teachers helps make it possible for team members, like Natasha, to work more in the hospital and other venues of ministry. Right now there is just one teacher for 20 plus school age students of various ages. If you or someone you know are interested in coming for part or all of the school year, please contact us.
We are excited to begin working in Togo, but we still have lots of work and ministry opportunities remaining here in France. Please continue to pray for us and our remaining time here. We desire to finish well.
We want to end this year by thanking the many people and churches that help make it possible for us to continue on this path God is leading. We are so grateful for your FAITHFUL support and encouragement. We are thankful for YOU and for God's continued work in your lives and in ours.
