Bonjour from sunny Aix en Provence! The past few weeks have been full of activity, change, emotions, challenge, and steps of faith into the unknown. Here are highlights and areas for prayer:

→ Teal and I officially began leadership of ICCP on June 1. We are both excited and value your prayers as we give leadership to the staff team and the church body.

→Hilary and I celebrated our one-year anniversary on May 3! For a wedding present, some of our friends had pitched in to send us on a weekend away to a B&B. We had a fun and restful time together exploring the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region of France (near Avignon…it’s about 45 minutes from Aix).

→In May, our little dog Talli had several seizures and was in a coma for three days. The vet said that she almost died, but she survived and is back to her normal state again – which is a blessing!

→ We have taken several training seminars on becoming a life coach. A friend in Aix has a professional coaching business, and she offered to give some training to our staff team and close friends! Hilary followed this up by going to a week-long training in Burgundy with Creative Results Management. She is close to receiving her certification!

→ I continue as the main teacher at our Sunday evening gatherings. We are currently doing a large group study and discussion on the book of Philippians. You can click here to listen.

→ Our church has recently been involved in several service projects in the city. We helped clean and organize a local school, and joined with the Catholic church in hosting a Christian music festival at a local park. Our desire is to be involved in serving the community on a regular basis, with major projects occurring each month.

→ We have three interns currently helping us during this time of transition and getting ready for our annual children’s camp!

→ Speaking of camp…our 4th annual kid’s camp will be July 7-11. This is a highlight of each year, as we are able to bless and share the message of Jesus with over 50 international (including French) kids from the community. This year’s theme is…. AIXPLORERS: Digging for the Truth. (Think: Indiana Jones set in Egypt). I’ll have pictures soon of the amazing airplane, jeep, and camel that a member of church built! Here is the flier that I made for the summer camp.

→ I recently finished my second semester of seminary! I have been working hard and received all A’s in my classes thus far (with Hilary’s help in editing my 25 page papers – she told me to write that, but it’s true!) I am taking one class this summer (The Gospels), and plan to take the first of two Greek classes in the fall.

→ I performed my first wedding at the beginning of June! Prior to that weekend, I gave a blessing at a renewal of vows ceremony for some of our dear friends. Both were great experiences and a lot of fun!

→ I am meeting each Tuesday with two French guys, Tom and Vincent, to study the Bible together. Tom has been digging into the Bible with Darrin for the past three years, and Vincent is a friend of Tom’s who has recently begun reading the Bible. We each read the portion of Scripture (right now, it’s the book of Mark), and they come with their questions. It’s a wonderfully challenging and exciting time to journey with these guys!

→ This current season of ministry has been filled with goodbyes. It has been a sad time, but sweet to look back on the times shared together.

→ We are currently putting plans in place for a trip to the states in October! We would love to see as many of you as possible, sharing stories of life and ministry in Aix! I’ll send out more info via email and Facebook as the time approaches.

→ Please pray for our current financial situation as we’ve been hit with several unexpected bills totaling close to $2,000. At the same time, our support level is low and I have received smaller than normal paychecks the last two months.

Please be in prayer with us in each of these situations. We continually know the need for prayer.  Thank you for praying, supporting, and encouraging us as we serve in ministry in Aix!

From class notes by Dr. Charles Baylis…Dr. Baylis highlights the importance of God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12). I was struck by the importance and centrality of the Abrahamic covenant:
“No historical narrative of Scripture can be interpreted without asking the question as to what part this plays in bringing about the Abrahamic Covenant.”
“…all of history [...]

Check out these videos that Jeff Fountain made of the city-wide Christmas carol service and the family picnic. It’s great stuff!

In Judges 1:1-3, the tribe of Judah was to take the land that was given to them by the Lord, trusting God as they fight for the land. Judah, however, instead of taking the land by itself, asks for the tribe Simeon to help in taking the land given to Judah.
Interestingly, Judah was one of [...]

I’m finishing a paper on Abraham’s process of learning faith. A great example of faith in Abraham’s life was the dividing of the land with Lot in Genesis 15.
The herdsmen of Abraham and Lot were in conflict. The solution to the conflict was for Abraham and Lot to divide the land. Abraham’s faith in God [...]

I’ve been thinking lately of how I’m generous (or not) and what drives my generosity. A friend forwarded me a recent email devotional from Rick Warren. In it, Warren writes:
“When you have a need, you give; and what you give away, God replenishes.” He goes on to write that this act of giving - even [...]

I saw this on Andrew Perriman’s blog and it’s worth the cut and paste (I hope that’s ok, Andrew!):

“This beautiful rainbow image, which won an honourable mention in a National Geographic listing of Best Science Images of 2008, was created by Chris Harrison, a Ph. D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, and Christoph Römhild, a [...]

I taught on the book of Philemon last Sunday. It was kind of a large group discussion with everyone at our Sunday evening gathering. You can listen to it here.

Sin has consequences, and forgiveness often means that consequences of sin still remains. In that light, I was struck by this statement, quoted by Dr. Allman in a recent lecture:
“Forgiveness is the determination to live with the consequences of somebody else’s sin.”

from Hamilton, 382-3:
“When Moses lists the forms of graven images prohibited in Caanan in Deut. 4:16-19, his sequence is exactly the opposite of the creation sequence in Genesis 1-2:4a.”
The point is that for Israel to abandon the the Lord and engage in idolatry is, in a sense, reversing God’s creation and purpose for their lives. [...]

I was clearing out pictures from my phone, and I noticed these two (real places)  from the last time that I was in Amsterdam. Both are great, but the “new arrivals” part of the second…so good!

In Joshua 4:14, God establishes His presence with Joshua as the leader of Israel as a result of the crossing of the Jordan.
In what ways does God establish leadership today?
What challenging events is God using to commend a leader to his/her people?

from Hamilton, p.397:
As Israel is leaving the desert, Deut. 8:2-19 states four things that cause our relationship with God to weaken:
1.let memory fail you (v. 2, 11)
2.let vanity possess you (v. 14)
3.let prosperity intoxicate you (v. 13)
4.let security deceive you (v. 19)

“People who believe in the resurrection, in God making a whole new world in which everything will be set right at last, are unstoppably motivated to work for that new world in the present.” -N.T. Wright, “Surprised by Hope,” p.214.

Quoted in “Handbook of the Pentateuch” by Hamilton, p.343:
Faith is “the gaze of the soul upon a saving God.” - A.W. Tozer

Last Sunday, I taught on who we are as “Easter people.” Here is the link: click here.

we discovered a great way to raise money for the team to go to Uganda - singing on the street! by God’s blessing, over 350 euros was raised in just 3 hours! here’s a pic:

I co-taught with Darrin on Easter on what the resurrection accomplishes. Here is the link: click here.

Pictures from Easter morning are here.
(Thanks to Tim and Apryl Anderson for the photos!)

I spent the past week helping the Uganda team finish up last minute details, burning brush chez Anderson, and helping to build a storage loft in our office. a full week, but it was great to be a blessing! here’s a pic on top of the loft: