That's my effort at being poetic and a very real way of saying... 'wow, has it really been 6 weeks since we blogged?' So yes, January came and went. We enjoyed our first Christmas here in Loches and sharing it with many friends and new friends at the church. The Sunday before Christmas there was a light meal and there were quite a few people in and out of the building. January was a busy month for us. We continued working with our tutor twice a week and are now something like 8-10 weeks from prayerfully accomplishing our goal of finishing the B1 level. It's become very clear to us that the longer one TRULY studies a language the richer it becomes. While I can't say I totally understand how to say all the things I've learned it becomes more and more clear that languages are rich (and something we, as fluent speakers, take for granted). We also continued our internship through preaching (Greg), leading worship (Nikki) and working more on understanding personal evangelism and a clear and well defined discipleship model used here in Loches. This month ending with a 'Learning Community' for our network of churches in the Touraine region. Basically France Mission (our French organization) works with local churches but with a vision of sharing resources (both physical and spiritual) to grow existing churches and plant new churches. This was an INTENSE weekend of work and vision casting that helped our team tremendously. A clear vision will allow us to work smoothly and faithfully toward the mission of the Gospel. This all leads us to this week. Thursday is our team's scheduled meeting with the mayor of Descartes. This seems a bit superfluous and almost bizarre but is crucial for our work. Small towns in France are basically hugely influenced by their local authorities. The French mindset for local government is truly to keep citizens safe and secure. This includes an innate desire to question any sort of religious or philosophical movement. Clear and good relationships with the mayor will allow us to be seen as partners with a desire to work towards the health of the community and not to be a smaller community within the community that seeks to divide. One of the projects we did complete in January was a year end report that hopefully many of you received by email. If you have not seen this report I've included a link below which allows you to download the pdf report and a fundraising form for those of you who desire to partner with our ministry who have not already done so. Again we'd like to thank the many of you for your faithfulness. As you will see in the report, we have a team who is very much excited and ready for the future but it truly isn't about US. It is about God and what he wants. The new campus in Descartes also won't work if it is just crafty or done with our own desires but will work by the power of God (1 Corinthians 4.20 -God's kingdom isn't about words but about power -CEB-). Click here to download- Year 1 Report (This is a download via dropbox) We were very blessed to take part in a weekend with 24 others that concentrated on the vision of our churches for our area. Join us in prayer for not just Descartes, but the Touraine! We like to sprinkle this blog now and then with more topics of cultural differences. There are already plenty of books written on the topic, so this is just going to be based on personal experiences. We know that we are partially moving within christian circles, in which there is already a sense of fraternity, but we can only speak from what we see and know. For many years now, we Christians have been talking about earning the right to speak (i.e. the right to have a conversation about someone about their faith). While this is understandable in American culture, where being blunt about anything without first having some sort of rapport will sometimes get your permanently shut out of someone’s life, it is an even bigger point of life in France. Now what I am about to tell you is still a little mind-boggling for me as a chatty American whose idea of privacy is more based on pride and fear than anything else: in France you are ONLY allowed to discuss 2 things with strangers: the weather and food - anything else is considered private and therefore out of bounds. You CANNOT ask someone that you don’t know well how they are or how their day/month/year/family/job is. In America we say “How are you?” as a greeting. I think that alone might clue you in to some cultural differences. How am I supposed to get to know anyone without knowing everything about their life while at the same time keeping my own personal distance? Here people are, for example, prone to covering their books so you can’t see what they’re reading. In America, we might read something for appearance’s sake! They close the shutters on their windows (gasp, what if someone might see into your house??), really like tall hedges around their houses when possible, though fences also work in a pinch, and take great pains (or so it seems to us) to keep others out. BUT what they lack in American-style openness, (which often is matched with a lack of personal openness) they make up for in warmth, once you get past the personal security checkpoint. Sometimes all it takes is joining a club, being introduced by a mutual friend, or anything that builds a sense of camaraderie. It’s sometimes still slow-going but here everything is built on relationships. Here, it really IS who you know. Trust is king. French people are wary of strangers, but love a good friend. Who doesn’t? What we as Americans have to ask ourselves is are we capable of being a good friend here. It can be an uncomfortable thing, letting someone else take charge of your day, your need, and even your perceived need without asking or being asked. But to a French friend, your need is important and they will do their best to help you meet it. In fact, if you do state a need but it’s not something immediate, you have to explain that too or they might set straight to work on it, even if it means ignoring their own needs and plans. Am I capable of doing the same in return? Will I pick up on their hints when there is a need I didn’t already see? (They will rarely bluntly ask for something.) I’ve lived with a bit of this already with ministry life, but I must admit that sometimes I complained or even felt frustrated when things popped up if it was something I didn’t want to help with (or for Greg to help with!). In God’s sense of humor and the need for me to be more flexible, this is exactly what I’m going to be facing but perhaps on an even more personal level. And maybe even more importantly, there are little ears and eyes who follow me everywhere now`so it’s time for me to set an example of love in action rather than one of complaints. - Nikki -Eat a palmier the size of your face
-Pray with friends -Walk around a castle with your daughter -Play a game -Splash in a river -Watch fireworks -Buy ‘melange cajun’ -Use said spice mix to make something delicious -Bless someone -Be humbled by being blessed -Allow yourself to be transparent -Worry for a few minutes. Get upset at something trivial.* -Laugh with your spouse -Thank God for all of it *Part of that whole transparent bit. So as some of you know, Nikki and I have moved on to phase 2 of our ministry in France. After seven months in Albertville, France at a language school we moved last week to Loches, France to begin our one year training and internship after which we will move with a team to Descartes, France to plant a new church in the town. The church here in Loches is small but so full of love and spirit. There have been quite a few people who have prayed for us, sweat for us and even bled a little while helping us move. It’s not all gone as expected (more on that in a bit) but in reality nothing goes as expected (see Jesus walking out into the sea in the middle of a storm or the fantastic story of a women deep in illness being brave enough to reach out just to touch the bottom of Jesus’ robe). We’ve learned some difficult lessons of missionary life in the past 7 months. Sometimes you will feel lonely and desperate. Sometimes you will feel full of everything good. Sometimes you will laugh and cry at the same time. All of those lessons are journaled somewhere in our minds because we know it will be a cycle but that Jesus doesn’t work on that same up/down circus route. His route is straight, direct and true. So, the quick story: On our way to Loches last Friday there was a sudden traffic jam around the city of Lyon. I slowed the van down enough but the woman following me (pray for Loren, by the way, I’m sure she didn’t want to meet a strange american that day) didn’t. The accident was actually quite small on our end. We both got out of our cars and looked at the damage and figured out how to fill out the required accident report (small victory, all in French). When we got to Loches we took the car to a garage where one of our brothers in Christ works. The report came back that the damage was worth more than the car so the insurance company would like to ‘total’ the car and give us money for a new one. On the bright side the money is slightly more than the taxes and payment we made for the car. On the brighter side the garage had a car we could borrow for the week. On the brightest side we had to park said car at the Loches Train Station which doesn’t include parallel parking (thank you Jesus). Having said all that we are currently having the same brother (Damien, who we spoke of during our presentations after witnessing his baptism a few years ago) search for a car for us. We trust Damien and know he will find the right vehicle for us. The reality of that search is that we will need to raise a bit more funds to find a new car (around $1,500). So we are asking you, your churches, classes, or friends if you would help us offset this cost by giving toward it. With just 15 gifts of $100 we can have this need met. You may either give via credit card at this KMUSA's donation website (click here) or send a check to Kontaktmission with a note with our name (you can find all the information you need on the link above). We are very near to having our budget set. There are some expenses (health care being the major one) that need to be realized but when it is set we will provide each of our supporters with that budget and make it available for those who wish to see it. We thank you all in advance for your amazing support. We are honored to be a part of your life and feel we are in the right place that God wants us to be. We look forward to the challenge (of being able to say more than 2 complete sentences at a time in French) of serving the Kingdom here in Loches and beyond in Descartes. Just below this post are a few pictures from town, many many more to come. Don’t forget if you’d like to be a part of our new car fund to give as mentioned just above. Thanks again for all you do, Greg, Nikki and Ophelia Saldi It's been a truly eye-opening last 6 months here in France. Some things are different, some things are very different. Some things are confusing. The more we are here the more apparent it is that Freedom through Jesus is a foreign concept in France. Now that we are to a point where holding a conversation is somewhat easier, that means we get to chat more and more with French about life. I got a few really good questions in the last few weeks. 'Why do you have to learn French?' 'Who sent you here?' 'Who is in charge of the 'evangelical' church?' 'Why would you leave your job to come here?' The questions are stirring for me (Greg). Usually they are from French people who have quickly let me close to them and sometimes over a glass of wine or meal. The questions are always with respect but my answers seem like a foreign language to my audience (THAT USED TO BE A RELEVANT SAYING....NOW I'M NOT SO SURE). We claim, as Christians, that Christ brings freedom. To many French, they have never seen that or heard it truly expressed in a way that makes sense to them. Our prayer is that relationships can be built so that we have the opportunity to explain and answer more questions about who Jesus is and why 'the Church' matters. It never was easy even in Greensburg, Cumberland or Roanoke Rapids but the added cultural and language barriers mean more and more care must be taken. So today we are reminded of not just the freedom that our home country (the USA, in case you didn't know) holds, but also the freedom that Christ promises not just for certain people who do certain things or speak a certain language but for all people. Isaiah 49.9 (NLT)- I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’ Esaïe 49.9 (LSG) 9 Pour dire aux captifs: Sortez! Et à ceux qui sont dans les ténèbres: Paraissez! ----- Schedule update for the Saldis In 2 weeks we have our final level tests. Pray that we will study hard like last time and do well! In about 3-4 weeks we will be moving to Loches, France for our time in training. Pray that we will have a smooth time moving and that our new work will be fruitful. Due to our movements, we ask if you would like to send something to wait until closer to the end of the month and mail it to our new address. If you would like that, please contact us via email, iMessage or Facebook. Greg had the great pleasure to play a few games with the Albertville Vikings Baseball Club. It was great to get to know some guys who share the same interests! Our family visited Lyon with a few friends over our last break. We had a really good time and got to see some great sites. The photo is from La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière looking down on the city. Thanks again to all of you who do so much for us. We are so thankful for you! The Saldi family has been in France for almost one week. It was about a week ago at this time that we loaded up in a United airplane and found our way to Europe and soon after to France. This week has been incredibly long. My (Greg) head is still swimming somewhat and we are all adjusting to our new home.
We’ve been to the grocery store next to our house (Carrefour) a few times, had a few glasses of wine and cake with our neighbors and ventured into downtown Albertville a few times but the work and learning has still really yet to begin. This week we had our placement exams, which we placed about where we thought we would and begin school in earnest beginning tomorrow morning. Ophelia has spent two days in the nursery and has done very well. School for her starts at 8:30 every day while we start at 8.45. The days will be long and fairly intense (5 hours of only language classes is something I’ve never done). There is also something very disarming about not really knowing how to say anything to anyone. Really, Nikki and I have to keep ourselves accountable by going out to places where we will need to use our language to really get things done. It will be a task but the ultimate priority is language learning (even in small bits and chunks) to clearly communicate what God would like us to in France. Rather than giving a long devotional thought or any deep theological writing (which I’m not sure I ever do) I thought it would be better just to answer some basic questions here and perhaps if you have any more questions just comment and we’ll do our best to answer! --We live about a 15 minute walk from the school. It is quite chilly in the mornings but so far we have managed just fine. While the mountains around us are mostly snow covered, all the snow on the ground here fell before we arrived. --We have a 3rd floor apartment that is shared with a few other people from the school. Maria, the schools bookkeeper lives on the second floor with her family and a Norwegian couple live on the first. --We have yet to go out to eat in town yet. Instead we buy food at the grocery and cook in the house. So far this has worked quite well but we are looking forward to eating in and around the town. --Albertville is quite a busy town. There are cars, busses and trains almost always moving around. By no means is it a metropolis but there is quite a bit of life in the streets. --Language learning will be taught by French faculty here at the school. For the most part none of the faculty speaks English so the learning curve is steep but necessary. --There are many different types of missionaries at the school. Their purpose ranges from medical missions to engineering missions to church planting or language teaching missions. The background of the group is far and wide. It is a blessing to be around people who come from different backgrounds. --We were able to attend church at the Evangelical church in Albertville this past Sunday. Nikki sat in the service while I took Ophelia to her class. The class was all in French (except for a language student who thoughtfully translated for the new children). We have great faith in the people and teaching at the church here. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and we’ll try to answer them all! -- Last year about this time we were blessed with some generous gifts that really set the tone for our year of fundraising. Perhaps some of you gave those special gifts that truly helped launch this ministry that is totally supported through donors like you. If you feel that this ministry is again worth those gifts or would like to give for the first time toward our ministry, any gift is tax deductible and an extreme blessing to us! You all mean so much to us! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. To give click ‘financial partners’ at the top of the page and ‘donate’ at the bottom of that page. Also, thank you for your prayers for France. The attack in Paris today is just another indication of our lost and broken world. There have been multiple times in my life where I have reexamined my goals and plans and asked myself “What is this worth?” It’s when you reveal or discover your motives that the actions you take begin to make sense. My goals have usually been “good” goals, but there is sometimes a niggling suspicion that they are not “best”. I started out wanting to be a teacher because of noble reasons (feel free to start humming “To Sir with Love” here) and the fact that I thought I could do it. I function well in classroom environments, I love learning, and I want to share that love with others. I thought I wanted to be a high school English teacher in America, helping struggling teens to learn to love the language they’ve been born into. But the funny thing is, that shifted over time and I found myself wanting to lean more toward literature, only wanting to teach the best students so I don’t have to deal with the kids who don’t want to do their homework. From there it morphed into wanting to teach at a college, and pursue (for myself) studies in Old and Middle English because I love looking at language development and want to read Beowulf for myself sans translation. (And yes, I'd still like to.) Press pause there and follow me in another direction a bit.
Entering into the picture at that juncture was a renewed sense of who God is and how precious life is. I lost a good friend and another acquaintance due to auto accidents within weeks of each other. Plus, due to circumstances largely out of my hands, my life as I knew it was fraying faster than I could cope and I began asking myself very hard questions, questions that still pop up whenever I begin talking about what I want to do with my life. And a verse that hounds me even today is found in Isaiah 55:2 which begins with “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?” (NASB) I might have taken some liberties there when it smacked me in the face, but really, when it came down to brass tacks, I wanted to go study for me, and study in a field that I find terribly fun but really isn’t going to give true meaning to anyone’s life necessarily, including my own. Fast forward, I am in Bible college, a missions student and doing well in my classes overall. I wanted to learn everything about everything and crammed in as much as I could. But I wasn’t going anywhere with it, per se. I was just acquiring knowledge. A good friend called me out on it and said I wasn’t there to learn and hoard it for myself; I was there to learn so I could teach it to others. It was a hard pill to swallow, but he was right. He saw right through me. Now don’t think that after graduating I didn’t toy with the prospect of what I would need for that English degree that would send me in the direction I wanted to go. Nothing ever seemed to pan out, but I didn’t want to let go of my plans. God eventually had to say to me, “Give it up.” Did He provide some other personal goal right away? No. In fact, I had to *gasp* concentrate on what I was already doing, which was working with teens who I deeply cared about at a church and helping to teach them those things I learned in college and through my own life. I still have goals that have nothing to do with being a church planter or official missionary. I still would like to teach, but the field, audience and place have changed drastically. But I have also embraced the fact that if it is in line with God’s will, it will work out and if it isn’t, it won’t. God will be the one to provide the outlet for how and where I teach. If I never complete graduate studies (and yes, I want to very much), I am not a failure. My goal at 15 involved prestigious universities and excelling in academia. Instead I went to a small Bible college that had only recently become accredited and learned invaluable lessons about God, myself and the world. At 17, if you would have said I was moving to France to help plant churches, I would have laughed. I possibly still would have laughed at 25. God crashed into my fears and prejudices head on and suddenly I felt convicted that going to France was in the plans, so I’d best prepare. My values and God’s are often at odds. I’m willing to guess that yours have been or are as well. I still find myself doing stupid things that God said no about because, well, I feel like it. Some days it is very hard to live the life I know I should. But I simply could not walk away from His call to France, which hit me in a place so deep I knew I wasn’t making things up. I’ve been incredibly blessed by embracing it and there is a sense of peace there that no exciting old tome could ever provide. Again I found Him saying to me: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.” (Isaiah 55:2, NASB) May God show you what is good and what is empty, what is for Him and what is just for you. May He reveal what is in your heart and give peace and satisfaction where He is pleased and conviction where you have been selfish. May we all aspire to do what He has equipped us to do, no matter how great or small it looks to our peers. Yesterday was full of many tears as we said our au revoirs to dear friends at the church we’ve called home for 11 years. But au revoir doesn’t mean goodbye; it means “see you later”. - Nikki We knew, getting into this phase of work, that it would be hard. We were told repeatedly that the difficulty would be multi-dimensional. Fund-raising and leaving what you know for something totally different will tax your-
marriage finances relationship with your child relationship with your friends spiritual well-being sanity I’d just like to verify that all of those things are true. This has been a difficult ‘season’. Make no mistake, every day is a blessing. Every phone call is an opportunity for personal, relational and spiritual growth. Every day is a new day to praise God and show him to others (starting with my family, the family we are living with and beyond). Those blessings and the eternal promises that people of faith can hold on to do not make it easier. -- Sure, on the scale of easy to mortally difficult I’m not sure where we are currently falling but I know it is no where near the latter, but there are several aspects of this that are tiring. It was a tremendous experience to be involved with a small group for married couples last night at our church. We weren’t leading (in fact we were the youngest couple) but we did get a chance to be involved. -- I love the field of France. I love talking about it. I love raising awareness and perhaps a few more Christians on mission that will follow where we’d like to go. I wouldn’t pass up any chance to talk about the field but there has to be something to be said about the sustaining value of fellowship outside of teaching. This reminds me of a valuable lesson that is tied into some goals we have. Without a local church there would be no opportunity to grow like that. I’m not sure what the local church always looks like nor do I think there is truly a fail-safe formula for what it should look like but I know that it must exist. The Church is a part of God. It was commanded by Him and should be seen as a necessity in following Him. I pray you have and love a local church that is part of The Church. I pray you see the importance for every tongue, tribe and field to have that same experience. We were not made to seek out Christ alone. We were made to seek Christ together. 1 Corinthians 12.13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. We've had the priviledge over the last two months to share how God had placed France in our hearts with so many, both kids and adults. We moved out of the house on Thursday, stored our boxes, and we are on the road in NC. After a few weeks of chaos in packing, with VBSes and meetings in the mix, it feels like relief, even with more speaking engagements and meetings on the horizon. We've worshipped at three different churches the past three weeks and were blessed by the people that we've met who have encouraged us and asked earnest questions about what we're doing.
Many people have expressed to us over the last few months how difficult it would be for them to step out and to leave their jobs, routines and comfortable places behind, but let me reframe this thought. While our steps have been made in faith, they've also been made in the certainty that this is God's plan, not ours, and made in response to the reoccurring affirmation we have been receiving that we are on the right path. For me personally, it's the realization of what I've been sure God started calling me to years ago. And it's been a beautiful thing to know we are being continually supported and encouraged by our brothers and sisters in different churches who are in turn responding to a call that God has placed on their lives to be supporters and encouragers. It's the kind word, the thoughtful note, the smile and "holy handshake" (thanks, Bane, for that new term), the earnest prayers and the thank-yous that keep us on task when times are stressful or we're just tired. Sure, some days it would theoretically be easier to walk away, get 9-5 jobs and just check out. But we cannot deny that the spirit of God is moving in us and is lighting the path for us. We cannot ignore the way that things have just clicked into place for us in ways we could not have foreseen. So in a way, it would be more difficult for us not to take these steps. Not taking these steps would be turning aside a call from God. This week we are blessed with the opportunity to share with teens and adults about our calling and to visit with long-time friends. We know that God's call for others will probably be radically different than ours and we see this as a chance to encourage the people we meet to respond to it, whether it be to serve next door, raise money for charity just by doing something they love, or minister to others in an official capacity. Whatever it is, it is something worth responding to. You never know where or how God will lead you, but it will always be a life worth living. - Nikki I'm late!Well this blog post is a little late. (My personal due date was Wednesday and here we are at Friday evening). A lot has happened this week, not all of it very exciting, but a lot has been going on. Some of the events of the week have certainly left me (Greg) with mixed emotions. This was the last official ‘midweek’ group we’ll have at church. I’m not quite sure how many we’ve had (it has to be 300+) but each incarnation of what midweek has been has been very fun and rewarding to be a part of. I’ll remember mostly the things I learned from students. I’ll remember the ridiculously funny times that can only happen when there are 12 kids crammed inside the downstairs level of a tiny townhouse. In just a few more week I’ll be at our official last Sunday night youth group. Will we be at more? Maybe, who knows. Will the church stop moving because of us? If they do, I’ll be very disappointed in myself. The next minister at HCC is a wonderful person who cares deeply for God’s kingdom and I know is equipped to take the group to amazing places and to be there when more and more kids are added to the kingdom of God. It is necessary to move on for our new ministry to take place, but it is a little bittersweet.
In a few weeks we’ll start our season of sharing (i.e. June, where we’ll be in 6 different places in 4 different weeks for an extended amount of time). All of this will be incredibly rewarding. We look forward to speaking to the individuals, missions teams, Vacation Bible Schools and camps that we have scheduled so far for the month (and I’m sure Ophelia’s grandparents won’t mind the extra time this means they’ll have with her). In other news it has become apparent that September language school will be a stretch for us. To put it bluntly, our support level is not where it needs to be for us to enroll in school. We did take placement tests for Les Cèdres (which we both scored around the same number on). We also will shortly have our follow up candidacy meeting with France Mission. While the idea of not being able to start language school on the field in September is hard news to hear and not particularly what we wanted it is what is going to happen, it is hardly discouraging. We will have the ability to potentially be accepted to France Mission, a group we’ve loved since we first met. We can move ahead with this news with the knowledge that we have a lot of positive contacts that have been and will continue to be made and God will be doing what he wants no matter what. I hope that all doesn’t sound too relaxed, but Nikki and I have been confident up until now and that certainly won’t change with this news. What it does mean is that, as we knew, we need to step up to the challenge of finding others who are interested in the vision that is church planting in France. We kick off on June 8th with a meeting at a local church with their missions committee! Pray for us as we meet with this group of committed individuals and as we move on to all the other chances we’ll have to present our work to what could be hundreds of individuals during the month! |
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