Africa does not need me.

As I sit here in this old house on the banks of Lake Victoria, I am impressed with all we have found in Africa. I have seen a family of five running errands on a 125cc motorbike, I have held a small child fighting for his life against the HIV he inherited, I have danced my praises to God when I did not understand the language, and I have found a new dependency upon my Savior.

           Three weeks ago I arrived in Africa, not knowing the details of the task I had committed us to. My pride and education tempts me to dream of CPMs, EVexplosions, and all manner of “missionary” success scales. Truth is, Africa needs me not. Farm boys? They have millions. White people? Thousands. What do I bring? The Gospel? I see God working everywhere. God did not bring me here to DO, but to BE, to be with HIM wherever he maybe working. 

You might say, but why Africa? Can you not be with him at home? At one time, I could. But now I can’t. Not when I was told go. Yes, there was a time when my obedience looked a lot like Jerusalem, but that task has changed to the Ends of the Earth. So, shall I change? Some change their location, and not their heart. We call these tourists. Some change their heart and not their location. HE calls these disobedient.    

Praise!

We Follow The Man

God has been so good to us by allowing us to live here in Africa. As many of you know, it was three years ago that we felt sure God was leading us in this direction. We knew that we were making our way to Africa step by step, there were so many details to work out, but we took it a day at a time. 

Two things came as a great surprise. First, we did not know we would be here so quickly. With the changes in the IMB and my need for graduate hours, I honestly thought it would take six months to a year longer than it did. The second great surprise was Uganda. Never, did we think that we would even visit Uganda, let a lone live here for a year and a half. I believe that Uganda will turn out to be the best possible situation for the long-term plan.

We have made many good friends here already. I have enjoyed my time with the Ugandan men who work for the Baptist Mission here in Kampala. Last week, a man named Chicongo took us out for driving lessons. He was a patient and joyful man. He helped us make the adjustment to the British side of the road and the African side of traffic, a challenge to say the least. The men here have also helped me learn some Luganda language phrases.  Luganda (or Ganda) is a language spoken by ten-million people; most Luganda speakers live in the Buganda region of Uganda. The language is widely spoken in and around the Capital, Kampala. 

I am excited to learn this African way of life and language. God has brought us here for a purpose, even if we only see the path ahead as dimly lit, still we follow the Man. 

We Have Arrived

Memphis to Newark to Brussels to Kilgali to Entebbe… all in a day and a half's time. Dear Faithful Prayer Partners, What a whirlwind the past 4 days have been. We woke up in Memphis last Wednesday, were in Belgium by Thursday morning, took off from Rwanda Thursday night and landed in Uganda on Friday morning… only with one carseat missing, which showed up today! An exciting way to start a new year, I'll say. I am humbled to say that Robert and I are 4 days old in Africa now and are loving the road God is taking us down.  We are currently in Kampala, which is the capital of Uganda. We will be here from anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 months, waiting on our residency and work permits. In the mean time, we are learning Ugandan culture, dabbling in the Lugandan language, finding our way around town, learning where/how to buy groceries, and attempting to drive on the LEFT side of the road. Notice I didn't say "wrong side," Kate Webster… :) Thank you so much for praying for us. We are still working through some jet lag (we are 8 hours ahead of EST), but we are adjusting to African very well. All of us have been amazed at how God was preparing us while serving in Central and South America… a lot of similarities so far! Please keep praying for… *our paperwork for residency that is still processing. Pray for us to trust God's timing! *us to get plugged in with ministry to nationals. We want to be intentional during this unknown amount of time in the capital as we wait. *the little ones on our team to adjust well. This extensive transition is hard on the 3 year old, 2 year old, and 3 month old. *mine & Robert's marriage to strengthen during this time. Pray that we press into Jesus and lean on each other during whatever challenges that come our way. Please let us know how to pray for you too. We are committed to praying for those who pray for us! Maridith Lane {Pictures, L to R: Bobby sleeping on the plane, the map on the plane ride, me enjoying one last Starbucks latte!}

Summer Daze

What a whirlwind the past couple of months have been! Bobby and I have been keeping the roads hot since mid June, hopping around between some of our favorite places. After an awesome summer at SWO, we rolled into some much needed down time together to celebrate our third anniversary in the Outer Banks. Bobby then headed to Dallas to complete another class for his master's and joined me a week later in Florida for a beach vacation with my family. For the past two weeks, we've been at my parents' house, spending great time together. We set this time aside to truly be able to invest in family relationships before leaving for Africa. We will continue this pattern until our stateside training starts in Virginia, visiting with more friends and family along the way. Please pray for us as we make so many transitions... saying goodbye to those we love, making decisions about the work ahead of us, packing up our stuff, and all the while maintaining a solid, loving marriage relationship. One of the hardest things to do while living with our family is to make time for each other, so pray that we would be intentional to do so.

Here are some photos from our recent travels... enjoy!

Bobby with Rhys and Ryan, dear friends and SWO family

Ocracoke Lighthouse, North Carolina

Ocracoke Island, North Carolina Outer Banks

Gator hunting with my dad - Lake George, FL

Coffee at sunrise, about to watch Bobby surf - Crescent Beach, FL

Maridith here.

Summer school and jobs are in full swing and it is HOT in Texas. We made it back from vacation to the land where everything is bigger and made an immediate transition into our new summer abode. We will be house-sitting for a lady in our church until August, and then who knows where we will live next. It’s always a wait and see game for the Lanes…

Our 3,700 mile road trip of the southeast was awesome. It was my very first time in New Orleans and I was far from disappointed. The food (oh, the food… I gained 6 lbs… whatever), the music, the culture, the everything… it was brilliant. Plus, we stayed in this awesome apartment of some missionary friends of ours for free – holla! We were able to go to a Gulf Aid benefit concert where we heard and experienced the Preservation Hall Jazz Band featuring your friend and my friend, Most Def as well as many other zydeco and jazz bands. This concert was all things NOLA and was definitely the (non-caloric) highlight of the trip.
Florida with my family was good down time at the beach. Spending time at Snowbird was so rich and fun. The trip through Tennessee on our way back to Texas was great as we got to stop and spend the night with Mama and Papa Lane. We cherish every minute we get together with our friends and family as our time in the States will always be so limited.
Please be in prayer for us this summer as we push full ahead with our studies. Trying to finish up our undergrads so quickly in such a short amount of time presents a lot of stress. We know it’s simply what God has for us during this time but sometimes it’s just easy to forget that (because of daily new mercies) we are well equipped for what we do.
And lastly, THIS JUST IN: Bobby will be taking a vision trip of sorts to Africa in October with our dear friend and future boss, J. This trip will be vital during this preparatory phase in the life of Echelon. Bobby and J will be meeting with other missionaries who are already in Africa in order to gain insight to how our team can most effectively hit the ground running upon our arrival there next year. More details soon to come, but please be in prayer for us as we will be raising the funds needed for this trip. Also pray that this trip will harmonize well with Bobby’s fall school schedule. We trust God with each detail.

Thanks for loving and supporting us!

The End is near!

All is well in this marry month of May. Maridith and I are working hard to keep the grades up and not go crazy. School has been a challenge. Praise the Lord, we are doing well. Our Jobs are going good as well. We are in our last week of the Spring semester. We will be studying during the summer. It is for this reason that our summer break is but a short two weeks. If two weeks is all that we get and we are going to make it count. We leave out next Saturday for a short vacation en route for the sunny state of Florida, for to see the Wades. I cannot tell you to joy Maridith will have in putting her feet in wet sand. Me, I am looking forward to the food. From there it is on the Andrews, NC to visit with the SWO croo. We miss this community dearly and can't wait to be in the Mountains. I will have my fly rod with me, trust you me. God has blessed us with so many wonderful people in our lives. I wish I could live in about eight places at once. From Andrews we will ball hoot our way to BBQville. Unfortunately this is only a short stopover in West TN. But hang-on, we will be back in June.

Prayer request: We need a place to stay! We only have bout two months left in the mission house.

P.S.-Stay posted for stories from our 2010 Great Southern Road-Trip Adventure coming soon.

I see Spring!

Winter has been all over us. This past month, Dallas had the biggest snow since the last ice age. It made for a memorable time and a great opportunity to test out the 4-wheel drive. The bulk of our time has been on campus at DBU. We are in the full swing of the spring semester and classes are going wonderfully. Work has been a blessing. I truly enjoy my job as a mechanic. By the next update we might be telling you about the new job that Maridith has. You can be praying for this.

Well, this week is officially spring break for DBU, and Maridith and I have had the pleasure of hosting Bob and Janet Lane. We have enjoyed the best Texas has to offer: chicken fried steak, baseball, and the Ft. Worth Stockyards to name a few. This afternoon we visited the International Museum of Cultures (pictured above). Tomorrow, the varsity Lanes will be on the road to Tipton County. And by God's good grace, Mrs. Keli Wade will be flying in to DFW. I am sure that there will be a whole passel of great stories to come from this trip.

Monday starts the last half of the first semester and we are ready. This has been a great year thus far and there is much waiting for us in the months to come.

72 and sunny - can you believe it?

There is an old saying in Texas that “Tennesseans make great Texans.” And so it is that I have made the ancient Lane pilgrimage to the “Lone-Star” state, the place of my birth. We arrived in the great state of Texas, to the warm welcome of Tex-Mex fast food. It was amazing! I would put the Tex-Mex found here in gas stations up against any Mexican restaurant in the world, save Monte Alban of course. We were amazed to see the house that the Lord has blessed us with. We will be staying at the missions home of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Cedar Hill, TX. It has plenty of room and is truly unbelievable. We lived in the camper for the first year of our marriage (shout out to Shawn and Bethany!) then our little apartment in France. Now we live in a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom house (pictured above). It feels like we are on vacation every day. The house is right next to the church’s building. Sunday we had a wonderful time worshiping with the folks at Hillcrest. It is a great place and we truly appreciate the people there. The campus of Dallas Baptist University is stunningly beautiful. This is where we will be studying for the next year and a half. We just finished our first week of class and Maridith and I are very excited to see all that God has waiting for us during our time in Dallas. It is amazing to see all the good things that he has given to us. We have found the people here to be first class and the classes to be wonderful. The professors are both passionate and knowledgeable about their respective subjects. Last Monday I talked to the University administration in regards to employment. Fortunately, I was given a good reference by a friend who is a former employee of DBU. I found that they were in need of someone with knowledge of basic mechanics. I started this week.

“Thank you God for all your good gifts. Help us to be good stewards of all that has been given to us.”

P.S.

Last week, I walked into a local barbershop. The sign on the door said open but except of the two fellas in the back watching TV, the place was empty. I shouted to the back, “excuse me, are y’all working?” The bigger fella kept his eyes on the TV but the smaller one shouted in a confused response, “are you trying to get a hair cut when the Cowboys are playing?” Typical Texas.

First of 2010

What adventures and trials 2010 will bring to us. God is so very good and his graciousness is indescribable. Maridith and I have been in the US now for two weeks. We arrived after a two-day trip by way of Paris, London and Chicago before landing in Memphis. It was a beautiful trip on that little commuter jet. We left Chicago in a snowstorm and as we flew south, the sky changed its over coat for a sweater. As soon as the mighty Miss Sipp came in view of my double pained window, the air was clear. We could see that brute river, brown and beautiful as she passed the Bridge, the Pyramid, and the island named after the very silt that gives the Mississippi her milk chocolate tint. It was wonderful seeing Mamma and Daddy after five months apart. We went straight away to Ihop. You know, the French call breakfast “coffee and bread.” We call coffee and bread a warm up lap. And so it was. I had to go with the steak and eggs, a rank American tradition. From there is was family visits and long talks. We had a wonderful time hearing all that the Lord is doing in and though so many family members. We were overjoyed to experience Christmas from all sides of the family. God is good. I praise him for what he has given us in family. Our Christmas extended far past the 25^th. We left Tipton County and made our way to Rome (Georgia, that is) to spend time with Maridith’s extended family. From GA we went right up to Andrews to visit our church and enjoy the community there. We dearly love those there at SWO and praise God for every second spent there. From there it was out of the cold and in to the cool into the sunny state of Florida. There, we had a fantastic time with Maridith’s nuclear family. Once again God has blessed us with an amazing family. We truly enjoyed our time with the Wade clan. We would have loved to stay longer but we had to be back in Tennessee for the social event of the season, the wedding of A G to my dear friend L J. The honor of “Best Man” was bestowed on yours truly and I hope that I did this honor justice. We had an amazing time and of course the wedding was a beautiful reunion for the friends of L and A. It was a memorable time. We all parted ways and said our good-bys. To some we said “see you later,” to others it was “see you in Africa,” and to others we said nothing because we simply did not know them but I’m sure that they were fantastic people nonetheless. We are back in Tipton County with Mamma and Daddy, the lovely couple that raised me and fed me all my life. Still to this day, I am fed quite well every time we have the pleasure of passing through West Tennessee. But for now it is on to “The Great State of Texas” and the next chapter in our lives.

What adventures and trials 2010 will bring to us. God is so very good and his graciousness is indescribable. Maridith and I have been in the US now for two weeks. We arrived after a two-day trip by way of Paris, London and Chicago before landing in Memphis. It was a beautiful trip on that little commuter jet. We left Chicago in a snowstorm and as we flew south, the sky changed its over coat for a sweater. As soon as the mighty Miss Sipp came in view of my double pained window, the air was clear. We could see that brute river, brown and beautiful as she passed the Bridge, the Pyramid, and the island named after the very silt that gives the Mississippi her milk chocolate tint. It was wonderful seeing Mamma and Daddy after five months apart. We went straight away to Ihop. You know, the French call breakfast “coffee and bread.” We call coffee and bread a warm up lap. And so it was. I had to go with the steak and eggs, a rank American tradition. From there is was family visits and long talks. We had a wonderful time hearing all that the Lord is doing in and though so many family members. We were overjoyed to experience Christmas from all sides of the family. God is good. I praise him for what he has given us in family. Our Christmas extended far past the 25^th. We left Tipton County and made our way to Rome (Georgia, that is) to spend time with Maridith’s extended family. From GA we went right up to Andrews to visit our church and enjoy the community there. We dearly love those there at SWO and praise God for every second spent there. From there it was out of the cold and in to the cool into the sunny state of Florida. There, we had a fantastic time with Maridith’s nuclear family. Once again God has blessed us with an amazing family. We truly enjoyed our time with the Wade clan. We would have loved to stay longer but we had to be back in Tennessee for the social event of the season, the wedding of A G to my dear friend L J. The honor of “Best Man” was bestowed on yours truly and I hope that I did this honor justice. We had an amazing time and of course the wedding was a beautiful reunion for the friends of L and A. It was a memorable time. We all parted ways and said our good-bys. To some we said “see you later,” to others it was “see you in Africa,” and to others we said nothing because we simply did not know them but I’m sure that they were fantastic people nonetheless. We are back in Tipton County with Mamma and Daddy, the lovely couple that raised me and fed me all my life. Still to this day, I am fed quite well every time we have the pleasure of passing through West Tennessee. But for now it is on to “The Great State of Texas” and the next chapter in our lives.

Au revoir Paris!

It is a bitter sweet departure. The time has come for us to "quitter la France". It has been an amazing time. God has thought us so very much through our stay in France. True, we have learnt the the fundamentals of the French language, but what we will take with us far exceeds grammar and vocabulary. God has done a work in our lives that will not easily be undone. The people that we have shared our lives with have impacted us. It has been a pleasure to take part in the community here at Les Cedres. To those we leave behind, we love y'all and look forward to hearing all that the Lord is doing in and through you in years to come. And who knows, we might just cross paths again.

-Much Love, the Lanes

December is here with cold weather and Christmas cheer. We truly have had a wonderful time over the past few weeks. We returned to class after the fall break and I have to say that we found the class to be tougher and more demanding then our first two months in school. Maridith was moved into my class as we charged ahead into the final chapters of our textbook. We completed our first textbook last week and now we are in the B1 book. This means that we have finished basic grammar and pronunciation. There is still much to learn and I have already looked into taking classes with the French Alliance in Dallas. But there is more to France then French. Maridith and I have taken advantage of these last few weeks that the Lord has given us in spending time with the wonderful people that we have around us. Two weeks ago we went to a flute concert. Yes, that iss right a community flute concert. It was fun. Also, I have been going to visit a shantytown of Gypsies that live in the back of the town park. This last time I took Christian Sarazen and Matt Vinson with me. We took boards to them for their houses. We arrived to an odd welcome of polite hand gestures and angry yelling. I was able to talk to some of the young guys that were standing there watching the scene. It was a good conversation and not a hostile as I had encountered earlier. All at once a man walked up and in broken French said to me “you believe in God, don’t you?” Then a woman came out of her house and asked if anyone spoke Italian. Fortunately, Matt was there and he responded in Italian, “I speak a little.” That was all that she was wanted to know and with sweet smile she went back into her house. (All the Gypsies here all speak Gitane, which is their common Gypsy language, in addition to Gitane, individually, they speak a mix of languages from the various countries and regions that they have lived and worked in.) The man that came up and referenced God said that he had lived in Spain. This was great news and I then began to talk with him in a Spanish/French mix and I was able to explain that yes I do believe in God and his son. He talked for a bit about the difficulties of life and then I shared with him about the help that comes from God. This was the first time I have been able to talk to a Gypsy about Christ. This is a tough situation and I ask for your prayers as I make my visits to this community.

Some of you might be asking what Matt and Christian were doing here with me. Well, through a crazy chain of events, we had the pleasure of hosting the SWO Europeanée vacation. We hosted Matt Vinson, Christian Sarazen, Rebecca Steele, and Betsy Helms. We had a truly amazing time (make sure to check out the photos on Facebook). We spent some great time in Paris. We explored the city center and some of the outlying areas. Then on Saturday we have the SWOThanksgiving diner. It was a wonderful experience and truly a great memory. It was sad to see everybody go but it was truly amazing to see all that the Lord has done in our lives. He is the common factor that brings the Church together.

Maridith and I have been practicing singing some French Christmas hymns with some other students and teachers here at school. We will be going to sing and minister to some older French people in a nursing home just before we leave to go back to the States. It seems a bit odd that these people look so forward to having students from Les Cedres come each year. With the 2% Christian population that exists here in France, it seems doubtful that these people are Christians -- rather it seems like they would just appreciate the company of our visit. Either way, please be in prayer that we would be able to accurately display the love of Christ during our time with them. Also, Maridith has had the opportunity to sing in chapel the past couple of weeks. It took some time for her to build enough confidence to sing in French (singing French is completely different than speaking it), but as it turns out she's done an awesome job -- and finds singing easier than speaking! It's cool to see God give us opportunities to use our gifts.

Well... our time in France is wrapping up! We fly out 2 weeks from tomorrow and we are so excited to be home for Christmas. The Showtimes have indeed arrived to their destination and we are trying to get together with them before we leave. It would be such a time of encouragement on both ends, so please be praying that we would financially be able to work it out.

merci pour votre amour et vos prières!

Half-Time

It is hard to believe that we have been here for 62 days. It seem
as though we have been in France for such a short time. This has been
a very busy time for both Maridith and me. We have been enjoying the
language learning experience at Les Cedres. This is a wonderful
language school with a high emphasis on excellence in education. We
are progressing quickly. Maridith came into the semester at the most
basic level but she has worked so very hard and has reached a level
that caught the attention of the administration. Last week she was
moved out of the beginner’s class and into the same class as me. We
are enjoying the challenge of the French language.
We are in the last days of our fall break. The time has been a
wonderful and much needed time to rest for the last two months of our
time here in France. This time has allowed Maridith and I to spend
some much needed time together. I have to say that the highlight of
the break has been the time that I have had with my wife. We have
spent day after day enjoying the company of each other. This has been
a wonderful time for us to see the blessing of marriage and know the
strength that it brings. We also have spent time with many of the
friends that we have made from all over the world. This language
school brings us in contact with people from Germany, Serbia, Holland,
Norway, and elsewhere in the world. I am always amazed to see how the
Spirit of God overcomes so many cultural barriers.
Please be in prayer for Maridith and I as we make preparations
for study in Dallas this January. There is much to do in the way of
paper work and contacts. We are praising God for the way that he has
provided for this time of education. This week we will register for
our classes and fill out our information for scholarships. We are very
excited for this next phase that God has for us.
Also, please be in prayer for the preparations of the Echelon
team. There is so much research and process that goes into an endeavor
such as this. There are many details to be worked out from many
different levels.

42 days down and counting

These past few weeks have been wonderful. There is some much that I could say about our first month here in language school but for time sake I will hit the high points…

Our classes are going great and the education here at Les Cedres is quality. We are full in to the French language learning process and all the “new student” nervousness is long gone. It is a challenge to keep up with the pace of the class but with much prayer we are doing well. Thank you so much for your prayer support in this area.

Here at the school there is a Baptist church and Maridith and I have enjoyed our time meeting with these believers. I must say that these people have added so much to our time in France. We have learned a lot through the people that God has brought into our path. Christianity is very different in a country that is only 2% Christian. It is shocking to think that France has fewer believers than much of Africa. My eyes have been opened to see that there is a lot work to be done here in Europe. The gospel must retrace its steps through these post-Christian countries that once facilitated the spread of Christianity to the world. But we have seen so many encouraging things here in France as this faithful 2% stands strong in the face of so much adversity. I went to a bible study in the home of a man in Massy the other day. It was amazing to see the men and women there, though few, strong in heart and dedicated to the cause of Christ. Pray for Maridith and I as we seek to take part of the work of Christ here in France.

God has also given us much to do and many people to share His love with. I have made a very good friend here in Massy. His name is JM. He has done so much for me in the way of language help. But our conversations go much deeper than verbs and pronouns. He is a man that loves God dearly but has had a very difficult life. Pray that I will be an accurate expression of Christ to JM. In fact, when I get through with this update, I will be going to meet with him.

There are many here at the school with whom we have been able to build good friendships. We are continuing to have people over for supper and that is going really well. Last night, Maridith made some amazing fajitas for our friend John. He is from the mid-west and a wonderful fellow. Also as a matter of prayer, you can pray for our interaction with the people we run into at a particular place in town. It was there that I got into a great conversation with a North African man. He is of the major religion in North Africa. We talked about many things and he mentioned a bit about God. Before I left I had him teach me a bit of Arabic. We all had a lot of fun with this. I hope to see this man soon and resume our conversation. This past week we had a wonderful and much needed visit from our friends Dewayne and Becky Smith. We took some time and visited Paris. Then from there we had an amazing opportunity (thanks to our friends) to visit the North Coast of France. The trip took us to the little town of St. Malo with its accent ramparts. From there we followed the coast to the beaches of Normandy. We found ourselves on Omaha beach the next morning and the American cemetery that evening. The emotions that we felt were indescribable. I have to say how overwhelmingly proud I was of our young men and their courage to fight in a land that was not their own and to die in order to free a people they did not know. Praise God for the liberators of France; one of whom I call my friend. We mustn’t forget the sacrifices made nor the lessons learned by these great Americans. Maridith and I would like to say thanks to the Smiths for making such an unforgettable trip possible for us.

The next few weeks will be tough. We will start mid-term test next week. Please pray for this. Also much is being done in the preparation of Echelon. There are hundreds of hours of research that go into launching a team like this. Pray that we will all follow the Lord in His endeavor -- for we know that it is His work and that we are His laborers.

Week Three

Last night, Maridith and I were talking about how our language learning is progressing -- how there are areas that we need to work harder on but also how quickly we are learning. Then she said, “we have only been studying for THREE weeks!” and I couldn’t believe it. We came here with such little French, and God has surely done a great work (une œure) in our lives. We are enjoying the learning posses and we are gaining speed as we push on further in the French language. Please pray that God will increase our language learning capacity more and more each day, and that we will work harder as we pursue Christ in the task that he has put before us. 

What does a day look like for us? We get up about 7am… we spend time with the Lord and have an American breakfast of eggs, toast, and some ham or beef (we can’t find bacon here). Then, we are off to class. We have our first session at 8:30am. This is a general French class 

with grammar, verb conjugation, sentence structure, and vocabulary study. In my class we are studying basic verb usage (past, present, and future tenses) along with the French pronouns. It is quite exciting. Then from 11:20am until1:30pm, we have our two-hour French lunch-break. I go for a run as Maridith prepares a wonderful lunch. We have lunch together then do a bit of schoolwork before it is on to chapel. Chapel is everyday and is student-led. I gave a devotion last week and this week I will be playing my banjo during the music portion of chapel. All this is done in French and helps us to learn Biblical vocabulary. We then start our afternoon classes, which are oral and written expression as well as Biblical French. We are in our afternoon classes until 4 o’clock. We then take some time to process what we have learned and take care of any errands we may have. For supper, we often have friends over as we are getting to know the others that live here at the school. After supper, we do our assigned homework and then study what we have been learning. During this time we also practice our conversational French in the lab or with one of our French-speakin

g friends. It all makes for a really busy day, but we find time to relax on our free days.

We are getting to know the people that live here at the school. Last night there was a big cookout for all of the students who live on campus. I manned the grill and Maridith made some amazing mashed potatoes. We have many people from many different countries that live here in the dorms. It is a blessing to know so many wonderful people from all around the world. Most of the students here are in preparation for the mission field, mainly for Africa.  

         Maridith and I would like to thank all of you for your continued support during our time in France. It is with much humility that we receive so many blessings from the Father. 

These past few weeks have been wonderful. We had a truly memorable time with our friends in London. From there we caught the Eurostar (chunnel) to Paris. It is amazing to me that one can travel from London to Paris in two and a half hours while comfortable sleeping on a train. We got off the train and made our way to the metro station and got our tickets to Massy (I was hoping it was the Massy that we needed). We got off there and then found a bus to our school. I will stop to say that this was the first time I have put my French into action and it got us where we needed to go – thank you, Rosetta Stone. We found our way on foot to the school. We arrived mid-day and received a warm welcome from the staff of Les Cedres. We were showed our dorm where we will spend the next four months of our lives. The first week we got settled in and found our way around Massy. The next week classes started. We have been learning very fast, not only the language but also how to live in France. The school is housed at the Baptist center here in Massy and there is also a church that uses the facilities on the weekends. We have been pushed to learn quickly and be disciplined in how we live our lives. Time is short and we know that we are not only here to learn language but also to learn all that God has for us here in France as he conforms us to the image of his son. We have made many friends here at the school. There is such a need for Christian community here in the school. There are people coming and going all the time and it can be easy to get caught up in the work and forget to love those around you. So we have had a great time inviting people into our little home and shearing meals in the homes of others. We have been so encouraged by the people here and have had many opportunities to be an encouragement to others. I will add here that this time has been so wonderful for Maridith and I to spend together. We spend so much incredible time together talking about what we are learning or just going for walks as we explore this little town of Massy. My wife is such an amazing encouragement to me and I am so grateful to the Lord for her. Tomorrow starts another week and we will be serving coffee for the church that meets at the school. Then comes Monday and a new week of classes. Please pray for Maridith and I as we are challenged to learn this language quickly and accurately. Pray that the Lord will keep us from laziness and that we will not let moments slip away from us as we summit each day to him.       

St. Paul's, maybe the coolest place in London