Home Sweet Home!

We arrived in Paris for a "quick" (stress: quick!) minute of site-seeing before our flight left for home. Charon's knee, which had been hurting up until now, "popped" or "snapped" - something NOT GOOD - which ended her site-seeing abruptly and sent her to bed. The next morning we were able to get her a wheelchair at the airport, and the 5-star service that comes along with that, and we were ushered to the front of many lines like celebritites. Poor Charon was a trouper throughout the whole miserable thing. We had some slight delays but nothing earth-shattering and we landed home, safe and sound, about 9:30 Weds night. We are tired and will be thrust right into the holiday hoopla at warp speed but we had a great trip, we learned a lot about working in another culture, how "hard" average daily life can be, how REAL spiritual warfare is, how much our brothers and sisters around the world NEEEEEEED our prayers. We'll have pictures to share, stories to tell, and prayer needs - look for us this week, give us a big hug, kiss both cheeks and welcome us home! Thanks for praying for us while we were gone - it made a HUGE difference! Au revoir!

Food Glorious Food

The Journey Begins to End....

Here we are, Monday morning, cleaning the center and getting ready for a farewell luncheon. Yesterday was church day then dinner with our hosts - it' s exciting to see everyone praising God in their own language, drums beating, all ages, all colors, all nations. It really broadens your mind and your heart when you realize God speaks French.....and turkish...and arabic...and swiss...and English! Two little girls dressed in angel wings sang a song about the birth of the savior- their little brother was to join them but suffered from a late night and a minor meltdown at singing time :) Sound familiar?? We are off to a quick day in Paris- a trip on the bullet train, now there is an adventure. A peek at the Eiffel Tower, hours of de-briefing, asking the hard questions about God's involvement in our lives and our trip to France and what we'll be taking home with us in our minds and hearts. Then home sweet home- back to the Christmas rush in the USA, back to piles of work and no breakfast croissants... Just don't be surprised when we kiss you on both cheeks and spend 2 hours eating lunch and drinking mint tea! Au revoir for now- we may or may not post again, depending on the internet situation. Pray for a safe trip home-getting stuck in Detroit a week before Christmas would be NO FUN!! Love to all - Cindy & the gals (oh, FYI- I am trying to stop Lisa from wearing her jingle skirt in the airport - she thinks it would be a good way to keep track of everyone - LOL)

More Pictures!

Photos!

Quickly (church is about to start!) - the Fete de Noel was a HUGE success - more people came than have come in years, the rooms looked beautiful, the food and hospitality were delicious, and a bunch more stuff happened that I can't share :) but God was faithful to bless the efforts of those who worked so hard to make this night a success. We got to bed well (WELLLLL....) after 1am, tired but satisfied. We begin the packing process in earnest tonight - yikes! I will add as many pictures as I can before I am pitched off the computer! Hugs to all - we miss you and look forward to sleeping on the plane (ha!) and seeing everyone!

Friday in France

Bon Jour those of you sticking with us so far. Thanks for your comments- they are a bright spot from home! We are doing well- the last few days have been spent working around the center. Just like any urban location, everything is "harder" here - buying groceries, doing laundry, taking a group in public transportation. We painted a large room and a back room - not as exciting as Kory's beautiful murals- which by the way, little Joshua, 18 mos, loves, loves, LOVES the camel and the ark - he points at all the animals and laughs - sooo cute.... but clean and bright and much appreciated. We have a boatload of work to do today and allllll day tomorrow - cleaning top to bottom, then decorating top to bottom, baking well over a thousand cookies from scratch (you should see the calculations from grams to ounces, etc- hilarious - and trying to figure out the ingredients- imagine buying your baking soda from the pharmacy - ha!) cooking up a storm (moroccan chicken - yum!) then hosting many guests and cleaning it all back up again for church on Sunday, probably welllll past midnight.

But this is our main task here so we are excited to help and to see what the future brings as these relationships with friends and neighbors blossom. Again, the workers here are on duty night and day, a very fast pace - a lady (from Italy) wandered in last night around 9 pm as we were finshing cleaning and we invited her in for tea and ice cream and a nice visit! The workers make friends with everyone so we visit the shopkeeper next door, the hardware guy, the souvenir guy, the bakery lady - the nice one AND the grumpy one. Just like their logo, they are a lighthouse in a very dark place. Lift us up over the next few days- this event is huge for our friends and while it is a lot of work, it is a blessing ot serve! Missing you and looking forward to coming home soon!Awesome photos coming, I promise!! Hugs, Cindy

Thursday Update

Our schedule is pretty wild so we update as we can- let me try to think back on all we've done..... We did another day of the thing I can't tell you :) and that was good. That night we had a very french dinner - most things were delightful but the blood pudding and (very) stinky cheeses will not be missed - lol. We drove down to the south of France past all the vineyards and the olive trees-even in the windy rain/snow it was a beautiful sight. We then toured what could be called a dungeon or prison tower, truly a castle-like structure used to imprison early believers. Mary Durrand was a woman who was imprisoned for 38 years in this cold, stone prison-google her story, it is fascinating. The early Christians paid a high price for the freedom we enjoy today. We also saw some cathedrals and the palace of the Popes-more stops on the journey to religious freedom. I will post the names and some photos as I get the chance.

Today we are painting the front room of the center and baking a million more cookies for the big party on Satuday. Lift up the Christmas party- many many friends have signed up to come. This is a HUGE opportunity to interact with many cultures and leads to long-term relationships. Lift up the workers here - it is very expensive, very complicated, very dark, and the enemy is always trying to defeat and discourage. We are all doing well, getting along with each other and with the team on-site. Charon's knee is not good but she is quite a trouper. Kristen continues to be the constant- she never gets lost, never gets annoyed, never lags behind, never complains, ALWAYS wears her hat and helps old ladies cross the street - she will NEVE R be voted off the island! What a blessing she has been to all of us:) We are mastering the fake-french accents and have many silly jokes that keep us in a good mood. We can take the bus and tram and metro, we can "almost" shop competently, we can find the bathrooms, and read many signs- we have mastered "pattisserie" which is a bakery:) and the front desk lady at the hotel teaches us a few french words each morning. Several girls washed our clothes at the Indian laundry down the street:) There are many chinese here as well - certainly more of a mix of cultures than I was expecting.

Thanks for following along with us - we appreciate your prayers! Thanks for the nice comments from everyone, especially those from Pastor Brian which did not at ALL make us feel guilty for leaving the office short-handed at a busy time:) Feel free to say hey, it tickles us when we hear from our friends and family back home! Au revoir until the next time!

Say Fromage - Fotos from France!

Quick Note!

We are doing literature prep so I thought blogging would beat putting stickers on papers - jk! Here are some of the tasks we'll be doing, just in case you wonder what on earth people do for 2 weeks in France in the winter! We do lots (thousands....) of literature prep for distribution, we hosted a dance night (soiree) for the local women which entailed cooking and cleaning up and a LOT of interacting with the ladies. We had a pot luck after church on Sunday and we had a yummy lunch with the church members, then we did a lot of dishes and clean up. A LOT of the ministry here is hospitality which involves a lot of cooking and cleaning, much of that late in the evening.

Later in the week we will be baking cookies for the Christmas party, decorating for the party, making treat bags for the families as well as the children, cooking and cleaning, and more. This party is a major outreach for the work here so it is one of the main focuses of our trip and the reason we come in December. We brought 6 suitcases full of party supplies - everything from baking supplies to paper products, crafts, party favors and decorations. We are also painting a large room in the center - no wonderful murals like Kory's but clean new paint!

Remember, everything we do here is several metros, a bus, a tram, and walking ever-so-far to do/buy anything we need, which adds time to our days. We are having croissants (!) around 7:30 am and out until 9 or 10 pm, if not MUCH later. We are learning a lot about this part of the world, praying for the team here who have invested in this ministry for many years, learning much about the history of the church and the roots of our faith - so many things that God is teaching us here. Pray for stamina, good health, team unity, good fruit, encouragement, and great impact. We miss you all but are having a successful trip on this side of the pond. Pictures are coming - the old joke, how many women does it take to upload a picture into a laptop comes to mind....lol!! Talk to you soon!

Busy Busy Busy!

The dance night was a big success - and ohhhhh, the pictures we have. Let's just say Sandy enjoyed the jingling:) The local women were so fun and friendly. The church service yesterday was great-three languages, one God:) Awesome. Dinner last night was a local sandwich place where we sampled the regional kebabs - they shave off thin slices of veal and serve on a crusty pita-like bread with some mint/dill sauce - YUM!! Oh, and we had authentic french food: french fries! Today and tomorrow (we are 6 hours ahead) are our spiriutally tough days (can't explain, just trust me:) - please pray for safety and effectiveness. The girls are eating breakfast behind me so I must go fight them for a choclate crossiant (ohhh I know, the suffering.... :) Our weather has been cold but clear - a real praise since the rain definitely puts a damper (ha,ha) on our outdoor activities. Breakfast calls, au revoir....

Live from France......

After several flights starting Thurs afternoon and ending Sat morning, including an awesome 40-gate RUN through the Memphis airport (okay- why we flew from Columbus to Memphis then BACK directly OVER Columbus is puzzling, but anyway, the BBQ sure smelled good as we ran by...) we arrived safely at our location in France and met up with Sandy who had arrived a day early. It is very crowded in our city - there is a winter festival here that is very beautiful and very popular all over the region. The weather has been everything from blinding sun to cold rain, grey skies and comfortably cool to freezing cold wind. Riding all of the transportation has been interesting - today we were on a bus, a tram, a subway - and a funicular, which is almost like a cable car/pulley system - on the way home it was so crowded" sardines" does not even come close to describing it. PSA: when the bell rings on the orange line, GET IN OR OUT or you will be squished in the door- note from an unnamed team member who was indeed squished when the door closed.

Oh, and it is true, we are REALLY loud- our host team member had to shush us all day - imagine that... Well, except for Kristen - I don't think we had to shush her! We are staying at a small hotel near the center - it is a great place but we feel pretty lucky that the only problem we have is no lights in the upstairs sleeping area - the other girls don't have a toilet seat - ha! Dan, we had some delicious chocolate croissants for breakfast - Maureen went to the bakery and picked them up, using her awesome french skills. Along with our lesson on public transportation, and successful shopping skills, we are quite sure (!) we could find our way back to the center if need be.

Today we went (and by "went" I mean hiked totally UP a mountain on cobblestone paths-Charon wins the mountain goat award for climbing up, up, UP with a bad knee) to several historical areas of our city - we saw ancient roman ruins-think coliseum-like- and the first church in the city - a huge church on the top of a mountain overlooking the city. It was so beautiful - even the floors were magnificient mosiacs. The church has a long history of persecution here and that attitude still prevails- it is a very hard area for the gospel. The workers here are great- very committed - it is a great blessing to see their work up close and understand the challenges and great joys. Lift them up - the darkness is all around.

Tonight is a "dance night" for the women of the center - it starts at 8, so since it is now 8:15 we can put the tea on and wait for our friends to come - that was a little regional joke, ha ha. We expect to be here until midnight (!) after a long day - this culture is very relational and parties go on late. This is how friendships are formed and walls are broken down - mint tea and jingle skirts. Sunday morning is an "early" trip to the market, a church service in 2 or 3 languages, a potluck with the local church, then an afternoon of stuffing literature for distribution later in the week. The days are long, the culture/s (there are several) are new and often opposite from our norm, few of us speak/read much of the language, though we all have mastered the important signs :Toilet means....toilet :) - but we are all well. Lisa is doing a great job trying to juggle 5 "active" ladies, keeping us out of trouble and on task with our work. I (Cindy) am FINALLY feeling better after a month-long cold and cough that would NOT go away - I hope walking around in cold rain doesn't bring it back! Overall, we are having a great time- our hearts seem to break a lot but we are happy to see the work progressing despite the darkness. Lift us up - there are still many days left, many hurdles, many things to learn and wrestle with - thanks for following our journey and we'll update as we can!

CountDown to France

The NLG-France Team elves are packing, packing, packing - groaning at the weight of 12 suitcases, wondering how-on-earth we are going to get all this stuff to France and still have room for ohhhh....junk like...clothes and maybe...shoes...or coats........ We seem to giggle a lot- which is good - because there is much sickness, stress, and hurdles for all of us to overcome before our plane leaves Thursday afternoon. Getting 6 busy women out of the country a few weeks before Christmas is rough but we know there is great work ahead and many, many blessings to give and receive.

Please follow our blog- we will attempt to get photos to entertain you - and we welcome your comments- though we will be checking them and approving them the next day. Remember we are serving a restricted population so much of our communication might seem vague or hard to understand - hang with us, you'll get it. Imagine us winking and using hand motions... We will be doing a lot of work with women and children as well as some community activities and other things I can't share:)

How to pray for us: safe and efficient travel - to be stuck in Amsterdam - or even worse, Detroit, is no fun and eats into our work hours on the field. Protection from our enemy - spiritual darkness is real - and alive and well at our destination. We need covered! Genuine love and compassion for, and friendship with, the people we are going to serve - the workers and the community members. The practical needs at home - even with us out of the country there is work to be done, gifts to buy, tasks to accomplish, meals to cook - life goes on and we are not there to help! No matter how great our trip, it IS true - there is NO PLACE LIKE HOME - so pray against homesickness! Pray for good health - we can't afford to be sick and need to be able-bodied and alert for two whole weeks! And yes, we have a GREAT group of ladies but live with anyone in a teeny-tinyFrench hotel for two weeks and you'll soon realize we need a big heap of grace and a LOT of prayer for unity!

That's it for now - pray for us Thursday afternoon, 12/4 and I'll post our first entry from France as soon as I can get to the computer - ohh, sorry, "un ordinateur!" Cindy, for the NLG France Team Gals

Look Out France - Here we Come...

Six of us, all women- go figure- are headed to France in December- we'll be helping workers there with some Christmas activities and other things. Much of this blog will sound idiotic and very cryptic as we try to keep tight security - we will use all kinds of kooky initials and "winks" and shortcuts but we hope you can figure out what we are talking about - LOL! Begin to pray right this minute that God will be glorified in all we do in this dark region -that His Word will come alive and we will be ambassadors for Christ through the activities and relationships we experience

Pray for team unity among the gals- Lisa (team leader) Cindy Charon Kristen Maureen and Sandy- and for the workers there and the people they minister to - what a blessing to interrupt the craziness of "Christmas" in America and travel across the ocean to experience "Christmas" - Immanuel, GOD WITH US - in a foreign land. Pray NOW - Oct/Nov- as we begin to get ready - remember that as moms and aunts and daughters we ARE the Christmas ELVES in our families - we have to continue our regular busy lives, PLUS pack and shop and prepare for France PLUS prepare ahead for Christmas and even Thanksgiving so that when we arrive back home on Dec 17, jet-lagged and exhausted, we'll be able to make it through Christmas in one piece- LOL! And don't forget the spiritual component- we are headed to a very dark region, a huge battleground for the souls of many - and the evil one is active, have no doubt. Please pray - in the words of Paul Borthwick, missions author: if YOU are not praying, WE are not going! Please lift us up, now and while we are in France, and pray for a binding of the enemy plus a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit to empower our work - THANKS!!