The 3rd was the relaunch of our home group. There are 6 of us currently in the group. A huge prayer would be to have other people come! There have been punctual guests, but at the same time people haven't 'stuck'. We're also missing some spouses who do not come, so this is all kind of a huge point for us. How does an atmosphere get created where people who are not yet Christians feel invited and welcomed to this space? Do we move it somewhere else? Lot's of questions for this bi-weekly group.
The 4th-5th were a weekend in Paris for our 'Communauté Apprentissage d'Implantation' (CAI). This has been a bi-annual meeting of several church planting teams from around France that we have learned a lot from. As the final meeting of the 'think tank' this means that we move on to a new phase of the church plant that also might mean more isolation. As with any work the older it gets the more it has to watch that it holds to its core values and continues to strive to reach the surrounding community at more or less all costs. We were happy to bring a teammate from the Loches church, Jêrome, with us (he's in the top left picture below).
In the middle of those events we said goodbye to our longtime teammates Manu and Becki who left to join a new project in St. Etienne. This was a sad but also joyous time. Sad because our friends are leaving, joyous because they are called to serve God elsewhere. We hope to be able to see them in February.
On the 6th of October we had our annual meeting for our Church association. This was a good meeting but also signaled some issues that need to be watched over. The association is the legal representation of the churches of Loches and Descartes to the state of France. It seems complicated to me and is always something that hangs over Greg's head. The association is shrinking as many missionaries have left over the last few years and will continue to leave. We add a few people, lose a few people. The association also has a lack of leadership. There are very few leaders left which means it is truly our priority to train and equip new leaders here in Loches and Descartes. In the next few months we'll be adding Samuel and Sylvie to the association. They both are Christians who will add a richness to our church.
In all of that Ophelia got sick! That meant that Nikki missed the meeting and had to take care of her. Add that to the next week and it was very busy for Nikki being full time mom and dad while Greg was gone.
The 8th-11th brought a leadership meeting for Greg in Germany with Kontaktmission. This is a great event but means more travel (at least we live in a place where train travel is easy and accessible! This is a true blessing and adds to the cultural differences between Europe and the States. Instead of arriving at an airport 2 hours ahead of time we can get to the train station, board and the train takes off. These leadership meetings help to steer Kontaktmission and all of the missionaries it oversees for years. Very important and is a moment where a few Americans are able to gather together. This is neat. The third picture below is Greg and Clay, our member care coordinator.
The 14th was a meeting for both Greg and Nikki in Loches with other pastors from our churches in the area. We got to discuss what being a pastor looks like, issues that we commonly face and how to deal with other small things that crop up in our ministry lives. This is a group of around 15 people from many different backgrounds, nationalities and contexts so it brings with it a varied set of knowledge and skill sets.
The 19th was our kids and family event here in Descartes. We used a video tool from a Church Plant in Paris this time around. Two sock puppets telling us about encouragement (image above). This is an event that has been happening for almost 2 years and has seen a lot of fruit. Fruit in that it gives individuals in the church community a place to serve and that it allows people to easily come to something. This last one had high points, we saw some new faces and people wanting to volunteer and some low points, mainly not as many people as we would like. We take the fruit that comes anyways!
The last week of the month we went to England. This was a two-fold trip: one for vacation (which was much needed) and two for meeting with a church in Bath that supports our churches. We want to investigate how we can continue these sorts of relationships. Is it sending people? Is it receiving people? Is it sharing ideas? The possibilities are nearly as endless as we dream up. This last image is our family with Steve and Carol, friends who are a part of the church and live near Bath.
So in between all of that, preaching a few times and leading some prayer meetings we had a very full, very rewarding month! Thanks to you for the support that you give that is known and unknown (someone generously gifted our church $1000 which pays a month and a half of rent in Descartes.
How was your month? Any projects going? Thanks for staying in prayer for us :)