| Spring has come to Paris!
Similar to what many of you are experiencing, the weather here in France has been behaving very unseasonably. Thankfully, this last week of the shining sun, blooming flowers, and buzzing bees has better reflected that spring is upon us. I (Jessica) have always loved spring and its visual reminders of the power of creation, rebirth, and new beginnings. The past few weeks have certainly left our family with a renewed sense of energy and purpose as we enter a new season of ministry and life in France focused on making disciples and planting simple churches.
As you might imagine, the most notable recent event for us was the wonderful opportunity for our family to celebrate Easter with our brothers and sisters at Église Saint-Lazare. At this time last year, we had been living in France for a little over three months, trudging through language school and still working on transitioning to a new culture as a family. This year, we could more fully appreciate the Easter celebration as part of the church body. Glen and I both were also able to take more active roles in the service, particularly with the children’s church service. Glen co-taught the lesson with another leader, while I helped with the worship and craft times. I also enjoyed making a flyer for an upcoming church picnic that is designed to help follow-up with the visitors who came on Easter Sunday. Serving in these ways is a huge answer to your and our prayers! God has helped us with our language learning so that we are at a point where we can serve more actively and effectively, and it has been such a blessing.
Looking forward, as we continue to build relationships and develop ongoing ministry strategy, we ask that you continue to cover our work, our family, Paris, and France in your prayers. Pray that God leads us and our ministry partners to people of peace (Luke 9 & 10), to those people who will help open the door to different families and community groups to hear and receive the Good News. Pray for wisdom and boldness for us as we invest in others.
As we have mentioned in previous newsletters, we are returning to the States this summer for 8 weeks. During this time we will be traveling around Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky sharing about our work, participating in Vacation Bible Schools, and meeting with current and potential ministry partners.
Following is a condensed list of the dates and cities where we will be visiting.
June 24 – 29 : Markle Church of Christ VBS (Markle, IN)
July 1 : Park Christian Church (Dennison, OH)
July 8 : First Church of Christ (Bluffton, IN)
July 12 : Maddie’s 3rd birthday!
July 15 – 19 : Rush Church VBS (Rushsylvania, OH)
July 22 : Stroh Church of Christ (Hudson, IN)
July 22 – 28 : Lake James School of Missions family camp (Angola, IN)
July 29 – Aug 1 : Peebles Church of Christ VBS (Peebles, OH)
Aug 5 : Western Hills Church of Christ (Cincinnati, OH)
Aug 9 : Broadway Christian Church (Lexington, KY)
August 11-12 : Jonesville Christian Church (Seymour, IN)
We hope to see you this summer!
Blessings,
Glen and Jessica Shady |
