Greg here, thought I’d take a minute to update everyone on what exactly is happening with our family as we do our best to get on the field as soon as possible.
Originally we were leaving our ministry duties (in their full-time capacity) at the end of February. Earlier in the month of February we were asked to stay on board to help with the transition toward a new staff member at HCC until the end of May (perhaps the beginning of June). We accepted this as the best plan for lots of reasons- one being that we never wanted to hand off the ministry and the very real people who are a part of it to no-one. Rather, we wanted to work as closely as possible with any future minister to make sure they started out in the best situation possible.
Just a break here- I feel strongly that many times we (ministers/pastors/whatever you call yourself) do a horrible job at this. True, the church asks so much from us but we ask much from it in return. Have churches dropped ministers like hymnbooks? Sure. Shouldn’t it be our job to do the best we can to leave any local ministry on the best footing possible? Yes.
We will still be traveling and speaking. In fact we’ll be at the South Mills Church of Christ (South Mills, NC) in a few Sundays and the Bowersville Church of Christ (Bowersville, OH) in April. Our goal of course is to do as much speaking/meeting as we can to communicate what we are doing and why church planting in France is important. We want to make more appointments. If you happen to be reading this and want to set something up, drop us a line!
In more exciting news we heard back from France Mission, or at least one of the key people in the organization. The group is starting a new church planting training in 2015 in Loches. Loches is where the church was that we got to visit while in France in May 2013. This seems like it would be a great fit and all the indications are that they feel this way too! Pray for this situation!
So what happens after the end of May? We work like we’re biking up the Pyrenees. Stretch ourselves. Lean on God. Every time we are approached by someone who is willing to support this work or hear from a church who has some interest it is a huge boost.
This has never really been about people supporting us. I mean, yes, we need support to go. We need prayer partners and love. This has always been about returning to God the same kind of sacrifice and love that He gave for us. I think John (who wrote a few books collected in The Bible) wrote about this kind of love. I can only love because God first loved me. I can only GO because He CAME for me and everyone. Sweet.