Letter from Junior April 2009

Dear friends

Thanks for praying for us. We see what you do as
very important and encouraging to us in our work here.

BRAZIL TRIP - Junior has been invited to go to Brazil again like last
year. He will be preaching, doing dramas and sharing about our work in
France for 2 weeks. But he will also get a week to spend with his
family in Cabo Frio. His Mum's very pleased of course - but she is
disappointed that the girls aren't going. It's really 3 years since
she last saw them.

ENGLISH TRIP - Whilst Junior is in Brazil I and the girls are going to
England for 2 weeks (the girls Easter holiday). We'll be spending most
of our time with family and friends in and around Worksop.

EASTER DRAMA - On Saturday 11th April Junior and his drama group are
doing a Drama linked to the Easter Story but with a contemporary
style. They will perform at Auchel, a town about 1/2hr away in the
small Baptist Church there.

THE GIRLS - They are fine. Both are doing very well at school. Melanie
is happy in her class and rarely gets stressed now with the many tests
that are part of normal school teaching methods here. That's a relief
and a contrast to the beginning of the the year when she was afraind
to go to school. Melanie is celebrating her 10th birthday with a party
for her friends on Saturday afertenoon. She wanted to invite 15
children but we managed to cut the number down to 8! Stephanie is
still her 'cheeky bright little self.

CHILDREN AT CHURCH - It's a great relief to me to have 3 other adults
helping me once a month each with the Sunday School. A 4th person
helps once in a while too. So now I am only out with the children once
a month. It is doing me good to be able to hear the messages after
all these years! This morning there were 5 in the Sunday School (range
1 1/2yrs to 10yrs old)

THE VARIOUS MEETINGS - We have a good number of people coming to the
meetings on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Monday one,
at 2 pm, is a follow up to the Alpha Course. Annie, a lady who helped
us with the Alpha Course, does it when Junior is not around. There is
a catholic man coming to the Wednesday meeting now. He is an English
teacher in a secondary school in the area. He met Junior at a Catholic
meeting in February. Junior's Drama group was performing at a meeing
organized by the group who are responsible for the Catholic Chaplaincy
for the Schools in Bethune. This man heard about our Revelation course
on Wednesday and asked if he could come. The Alpha course on Tuesday
is coming to an end, and Junior is going to propose to the people
coming to that meeting to do a follow up on the book of Ephesians. On
Fridays at 10 am, we are studying the Sermon on the Montain. There are
about 5 people coming.

A FUNERAL - Last Tuesday Junior did a funeral for an old lady whose
ancestors were protestants. She was born near Bethune in a town
called Anezin. Her father was the mayor of Anezin a long time ago. She
married and moved away from the area, but still had family around
here. One of her cousins is a member of our church but is very ill and
doesn't come to church any more. The meeting took place at a Catholic
church in Anezin. Junior did nearly everything, from singing to
preaching. The only other believer at the gathering was a cousing of
the lady who lives near Paris. She did one of the readings. The church
was packed. Junior preached about the peace that God gives us when we put our
trust in Him.

NEXT SUNDAY - A brazilian pastor Junior knows from Belo Horizonte,
will be preaching next Sunday. They were missionaries with WEC before
and now are working with a Church in Oxford, in England. We haven't
seen them form many years, so it will be nice to spend time with them
when they come to eat with us.

Thanks for praying for us.

Junior, Susan, Melanie and Stephanie

webmaster, 09/04/2009