Giving Thanks

Coucou tout le monde! Hello everyone!

It has been a few weeks since my last post, and A TON of things have happened! God has been teaching me a lot about what it means to live gratefully and to give thanks for all of the beautiful, mundane, and difficult aspects of my life. He has also been blessing me (and my team) abundantly in the midst of a lot of busyness and things to organize. We have so many reasons to be thankful! Let me share just a few with you...

1. In the beginning of November we were able to go apple picking as a team (the five of us girls) to a nearby orchard owned by a family that knows the Skurs - a family on staff here last year. We had a wonderful time playing, juggling, laughing, and picking apples, and came home loaded down with many enormous bags of Pink Lady apples. We have made so many apple crisps! It was really fun for us to be able to get out of the city and spend time together.

2. Johanna came to visit! Johanna is a dear friend of mine and an Agapé student who has been very involved in the movement here since it's beginning several years ago. This year she is in the U.S. doing an internship with Glaxo-Smith-Klein and so I haven't seen her since I left to go home to the States back in June. It was so wonderful to talk with her, to catch up, to eat frozen yogurt (one of our traditions), and just to hug her. I'm so glad she was able to come and see us!

3. We got to be a part of new life! Pierre has been coming to our once a week Parcours Alpha (Alpha Course) seeker Bible study and recently showing a lot of openness to spiritual things. He went with the group for a day-long outing into the country to focus specifically on a study of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. During the course of the day, there was an opportunity given to anyone ready to accept Christ to pray and ask Him into their heart. Pierre prayed to accept Jesus that day, and has already started making steps of faith and growing in his relationship with God. He was also able to come to our Thanksgiving dinner, and wrote on his hand turkey craft how thankful he was to the Lord for his new relationship with Him.

4. We also were able to have our first ever Agapé weekend retreat with our Christian students who are involved in the movement. It was such a wonderful and encouraging time for myself and my team as we were able to experience the whole weekend from it's beginning planning stages through to it's completion. It was a weekend full of learning, building new relationships and deepening old ones, relaxing time in nature, shared fun, and delicious food. God's hand of blessing and provision was so evident throughout the whole process! Our speakers for the weekend were a young pastor and his wife from Paris who came to share several deep, Bible-based, and immensely practical messages on the Trinity. They also directed a women's time/men's time about purity, relationships, and marriage - and what God says about them. The students were very impressed by the teaching they had to share, and very appreciative of their willingness to come down and speak to us. I am also thankful for the part our student leaders played in organizing the ice-breaker games, planning food quantities, and leading the hiking trip. I am immensely thankful for my teammate Megan who did a fantastic job of planning the menu for the weekend and organizing the purchasing and preparation of the food. We ate very well! Although we (the team) returned exhausted, it was the grateful exhaustion of those who have worked hard and experienced God's blessings on their endeavors!

Some of our students around the table at dinner 

The beautiful country house we stayed in for the weekend

5. November also means Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving for my team and I means a traditional, American-style Thanksgiving dinner for about 100 people. Thanksgiving is one of our huge outreaches of the year, and so we have the opportunity to invite many of our friends to enjoy celebrating and eating with us, and also to hear the testimonies of our two of our students who shared the reasons that they are thankful to God. There was so much planning to be done, and so many details to organize! But the Lord granted us favor, patience with each other, and His supernatural, incomprehensible peace. We all made it through, and were able to celebrate together on the other side. Some of the highlights in photos:

 My sweet teammate Joelle with her hand-painted signs

Setting up the room before the big event

Chrystelle, a Northern Irish study abroad student experiencing her first Thanksgiving! She joked with me after dinner that she would make her mom cook her Thanksgiving dinner every year! She also added, on a more serious note, that she wished we could know how much our team had blessed her by inviting her to the dinner and pouring into her.

Chelsea, an American study abroad student, thanked us for helping her celebrate Thanksgiving away from home and combat the homesickness associated with this holiday. She was able to bring 4 other study abroad students, none of whom are believers.

Amandine (near the middle holding the whipped cream) brought 4 friends to Thanksgiving (many of whom are repeat visitors!). All of them helped out serving platters and clearing up after dinner, and all of them were able to hear the good news of Jesus from Amandine herself.

My teammates and I after dinner and clean-up standing in front of our Arbre de Reconnaissance (Thankfulness Tree)

Our Thankfulness tree in all it's glory (each leaf features a reason one of our students who came is thankful this year)

One of my favorite pictures - Joelle "eating" some of our leftover corn!

I wish I had more time, space, and energy to share all the blessings God has showered on us during November! I'll stop here for now, and just add a hearty and sincere thank-you to all of you who are supporting me financially and through prayer. I am thankful for each of you - thank you for helping to make this movement possible!

"Soyez toujours dans la joie. Priez sans cesse. Remerciez Dieu en toute circonstance: telle est pour vous la volonté que Dieu a exprimée en Jésus-Christ." -1 Thessaloniciens 5 v 16-18

("Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Intellectual assent vs. Trusting faith

Bonjour tout le monde!

It has been some time since my last post - not because I have nothing to share or because God hasn't been at work, but rather because I have too much to share! These last few weeks have been very busy (in a good way!) and God has continued to provide the energy and motivation to persevere in loving and serving. Rather than give another ministry update, I would love to share some of the things the Lord has been teaching me recently.

I often find in my own life that God teaches me in themes. What I mean by this is that I will often have the same or similar messages coming at me from multiple sources - in sermons, in my time in the Word, through conversations with friends, in other books I'm reading, etc. In recent days, the Lord has been teaching me about faith - what it means to really have faith and to trust Him. This message, this theme, has been coming to me in a variety of ways.

One example comes from our recent weekend trip to Lyon (myself, some of my teammates, and our dear non-Christian friend Adam went to Lyon to visit the childhood home of my teammate and dear friend Joëlle). Friday we hung out with her twin brother Ben and visited the beautiful city of Lyon.

On Saturday we visited the town where Joëlle grew up, Brignais, and got to have lunch with her dad, Marc. We were also able to check out a visiting exposition at her church that shared the story of the Bible through a series of paintings by different artists. We even had audioguides to go with the paintings! It was a very beautiful expo, and just one of the many times over this weekend that Adam got a chance to hear the message of the Gospel!

On Sunday, we attended church with Joëlle, and got to hear her share an update of the ministry with her church family there that helps to support her financially. Her dad, one of the elders at the church, shared a message with us about faith. He preached on John 3:36 - "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." In light of this verse, he asked us what it means to have faith, to believe in Jesus. He challenged us to think about the difference between someone who believes - someone who believes God exists, that Jesus is real, and that He died for them, and someone who has faith and trust. You can believe in God without entrusting Him with yourself and your life - it's the difference between an intellectual agreement of belief and a life-changing faith of surrender. As he said, and it's clear in John 3:36 as well, an intellectual agreement kind of belief will not save you - only entrusting all of yourself to Jesus through faith brings life everlasting.

Another way God reminded me of this message and caused me to reflect more deeply was through our Parcours Alpha (the Alpha Course) that we have each Tuesday. For anyone  who doesn't know, the Alpha Course is a type of seeker Bible Study pioneered in the U.K. that's designed to help educate people about the basics of Christian faith and to draw them into dialogue about spiritual topics. The topic this past Tuesday was Assurance of Salvation - How do I know that I have faith? Once again, we were talking about the difference between an intellectual agreement and a faith that bears fruit in our lives. During the presentation part, we watched a short animated film that really challenged me to think about the nature of faith and trust. The cartoon introduced us to "The Great Blondin" - fearless daredevil and tightrope walker who traversed the Niagara Falls each day in front of an awestruck crowd. Each day he added a new challenge, a new dimension to his show. One day, he crossed the falls on his tightrope while pushing a wheelbarrow with a sack of potatoes in it. When he got back to shore, he asked a man in the crowd, "Excuse me sir? Do you believe that I can walk back and forth across the falls pushing this wheelbarrow?" The man replied, "Of course I believe you can do it - I've seen you do it!" Blondin then asked him, "Are you willing to climb into my wheelbarrow and cross the falls with me?" The man was shocked and too afraid to accept his invitation. What a concrete example of the difference between believing that God is real, and trusting Him enough to entrust yourself to Him!

A third example of how God has been bringing this theme of true faith and trusting Him to the forefront of my mind is through the book I'm currently reading with my spiritual coach Lindsey. The book is called "Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin's Path to God" and is written by Brennan Manning. In addition to being beautifully written, this book is wonderfully challenging, thoroughly convicting, and extremely encouraging. I would highly recommend it to anyone who, like myself, too often finds themselves working for God instead of being with Him, trying to control and micro-manage areas of life that God wants to take care of, and doubting or not living in light of our identity in Christ. I wish I could share the entire first chapter with you here, but instead I will limit myself to two key passages that really touched me. Firstly, one that perfectly exemplified the distinction between intellectual belief and trusting faith that God has been teaching me about. Manning writes, "The faith that animates the Christian community is less a matter of believing in the existence of God than a practical trust in His loving care under whatever pressure. The stakes here are enormous, for I have not said in my heart, 'God exists,' until I have said, 'I trust you.'" If I want a faith that animates me - that gives me life and pushes me to action - I need to practice trust in God's love for me in concrete, daily ways.

The second passage I'd like to share comes from midway through his first chapter. He writes, "The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of a pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it His presence and His promise." Through reading and reflecting on this passage, I clearly heard the Lord softly whispering to my heart and extending me His hand saying, "Kristin, do you trust me? Are you willing to leave what is comfortable, logical, and expected to follow me into the unknown? Will you trust My love even when times are difficult? Are you willing to die to your reputation, expectations, and need to control in order to follow where I'm leading you? Are you willing to do all of this without any promise of clarity, understanding, guarantees, or rational explanations simply because I have assured you of My presence with you?" More often than I care to admit, I am not ready to say yes to Him in all of these areas. I would rather stand on the bank of the Falls and pay Him lip-service than commit myself to His will and hop into His wheelbarrow.

I am so thankful for the ways that God has been teaching me and helping me to grow in relation to my trust in Him and my entrusting all of myself to Him. I hope this longer-than-intended sharing of my thoughts and reflections has been an encouragement to you! My prayer for myself, and for our movement here in Montpellier, is that we would trust God and follow where He leads, even and especially when it seems obscure, ambiguous, and undefined. That, like Moses, we would say, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." (Exodus 33:15) I pray that we would seek God's will for each moment of our days and earnestly strive to follow where He is leading for the simple joy of His presence and the assurance of His promises.

Transformed Lives

Coucou - hello there!

This past week has been another full, busy week with many events, coffee dates, meetings, and to-do lists. God continues to provide for us physically, emotionally, and relationally as we work with Him to the praise of His glory and the expansion of His Kingdom here in France. Our Lord is in the business of radical transformation, and He continues to be hard at work. I would love to share just a few stories with you that I have heard this last week or so.

Last Thursday I met with my discipler Lindsey at a cozy little café called Kalysthé that I had visited once or twice before. Lindsey, a missionary with Pioneers, shared with me how she had come to know the café's owners Nanou and Jean-Louis. After she moved in across the street, she brought them some cupcakes as a neighborly housewarming-type gift. She got to know them better over the course of the following months, and invited both owners and the whole staff to the outreach Thanksgiving dinner her and her team were putting together. Jean-Louis was the only one who came, but he was very touched by the hospitality and kindness he experienced at the dinner. He was also exposed to the truth of the Gospel, which God used to draw him to Himself. He accepted Christ shortly afterwards and started going to a Bible study for new Christians with his non-believing wife. Nanou talked to Lindsey and asked if they could meet up every other week or so because she had so many questions she wanted to ask Lindsey. She kept going to Bible study and meeting with Lindsey for several months, and finally in February called Lindsey up to tell her that they didn't need to meet up anymore - all her questions had been answered by the Holy Spirit coming into her heart and her life! Both Nanou and Jean-Louis are now members at our church, and Nanou has been taking classes through the church to learn more about the Bible. Their staff and many of their regulars have remarked on the change they have seen in both of them since they committed their lives to Christ. 

This past Friday, I was working Chez Théo (the lovely not-for-profit café run by a partnership of four Protestant churches and Agapé) when a lovely young woman named Anisa came in. Anisa was meeting with Richard, a pastor at La Clé (one of the partnership churches), about getting baptized. Before they went upstairs to talk, Richard asked her if she'd like to share her story with us. I'll just share the highlights here. Anisa comes from a family of North African immigrants, and grew up Muslim. After starting her studies in Montpellier, God brought Christians into her life and orchestrated encounters as only He can. She was able to meet other women with Muslim families and pasts who have come to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and through their prayers and witness she started going to church with them. God broke down the walls around her heart and brought her to a knowledge of the truth in Christ Jesus. After her conversion, God gave her a burden for her other family members who are still Muslim. She told us that she would spread their photos out on her bed and spend hours in prayer, interceding for them. When she first told her mom that she had become a Christian, she was outraged and felt betrayed. Anisa kept praying for her, and introduced her to some of the formerly Islamic Christians she had met. Now her mom is coming to see the truth found only in Jesus, and is close to making a decision to follow Him herself. She will also be coming to Anisa's baptism.

Nanou and Jean-Louis' story gives me such hope, and is a great reminder that God can (and does!) save older, set-in-their-ways, atheistic French people. Anisa's story helps me to persevere in prayer and hope for our Muslim friends. God can break through darkness and lies with His truth. He is mighty to save - no one is impossible or too far gone! There are so many more stories of God's power transforming lives, but I just don't have space for all of them. Instead, I'll leave you with these verses that I hope encourage you. Thank you for your continued prayers for me and my team! Please pray that our lives would become brighter and more beautiful as we become like God, and that the Lord would remove the veil of blindness stopping our non-believing friends from truly seeing Him.

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MSG)

My pleasant boundary lines

Bon dimanche tout le monde! (Happy Sunday everyone!)

This past week was another busy one, full to the brim with good gifts and blessings from the Lord. Every night we had a different event, in addition to our meetings, campus time, and time spent with friends. Monday, as usual, was English Club at FitzPatrick's. We still have quite a crowd coming, and a whole new group of "regulars" who seem committed to continuing to come. I got to spend some time with our favorite Indian doctoral students (Hindu friends of our good friend Girish - a Christian Indian student in their same program). They recently moved into an apartment, and during the course of the night (I think we were discussing good Indian restaurants here in Montpellier) they invited us over to be their first dinner guests! They hosted us last night for dinner - which turned out to be a full cultural experience! We ate traditional food, (though they told us they cut the normal spice amount in half...I was still at my limit of spice tolerance!) in the traditional way (they showed us how to eat with our hand - Megan and Kim had pretty good technique), accompanied by a traditional drink of sweetened almond milk. It was delicious!

Tuesday was the first Parcours Alpha (or Alpha Course) meeting. The Alpha Course is a seeker Bible study developed for churches to help teach the basics of Christianity and create space for dialogue and exchange. I participated last year with a Muslim friend Doaha, but she was very busy and so we didn't go to all of the sessions. This year, Richard (a pastor from La Clé - another Protestant church here in Montpellier) is leading an Alpha Course specifically for students! We invited our friend Aline (see previous posts) who has already showed an interest in spiritual things, and she told Jeanette afterwards that she really enjoyed it. She said it wasn't at all preachy or boring like she thought it might be, instead she had a really good time and is excited to come back!

Wednesday was a game night instead of our normal Agapé meeting - and we had a ton of new faces! Kimberly introduced us to the perfect opening game for a game night called "Over the mountain." We all sat in chairs in a big circle, with one chair-less person in the middle who asked us to cross over the mountain if...and then picked a possible descriptor like "if you wear glasses" or "if you are a student." If their statement is true of you, you have to get up and try to find a new seat before they are all taken, and the last person standing gets to share their name and the next "over the mountain" statement It was a ton of fun, and a great way to get people talking to each other and decrease any initial feelings of awkwardness. My personal favorite was "Cross over the mountain if you have violently run into one of your neighbors during the course of this game." There were very few people left seated! My favorite part of the night was meeting Judith, a non-Christian friend of our non-Christian friend Israel. It meant so much to me to see our non-Christian friends inviting their friends - what a testimony to see that they trust us that much!

Thursday night we had our second groupe de serviteurs (servant leaders) meeting at our house. Four out of our five student leaders were able to come, have dinner with us (cooked by my lovely and talented roomie Kimberly), and talk together about the upcoming Agapé weekend in November. It was a lovely night, and such an encouragement to us to see how God is growing this group to really be a movement, and a movement after His own heart.

Friday night we had dinner with our dear Priscilla - a sweet Swiss girl who came to Montpellier for two weeks with her class, and wanted to stay with a Christian host family. Little did we know that responding to Daniel (a pastor at the Pompignanne church) and volunteering to house her made us a French host family! The irony was not lost on Megan or myself as we picked her up two weeks ago, surrounded by French families, at the bus stop. We are not a traditional family, nor are we French, but we had a wonderful time together! It was so much fun for us, and such a blessing, to be able to host Priscilla. She wanted to cook for us before she left, so we ate a delicious meal together before exchanging small gifts and notes, and accompanying her to her bus. It was very sad to see her go! She did tell us that we are welcome to visit her anytime we are in Switzerland, so maybe we will see each other again.

In the middle of all of this crazy busyness, I realized that I needed to take some extra time with the Lord. After meeting with my coach/discipler Lindsey on Thursday and talking with her about my spiritual and emotional state in the midst of a very full week, she shared some insights with me that really pushed me to reflect. I took Friday morning off and headed to my favorite coffee shop with my Bible and journal. I poured my heart out to the Lord, and He gently brought sin issues to light and helped me to bring them before Him and to confess my dependence. Over and over, I kept coming back to the phrase "I need you." As someone who is often competent, fairly responsible, and gifted in several areas, it is easy to depend on myself - on my own talents, capabilities, and strengths. God lovingly reminded me that my relationship with Him is one of dependence, that I truly need Him every minute of every day for everything! He led me to several passages in Psalm 16 that really challenged me to think about where I have been finding my joy, purpose, identity, and value outside of the Lord. After bringing those different idols to Him, I reread this Psalm and was reminded of who God is - that He is worthy of my trust and dependence! I'd love to share just a few insights that God gave me in reading this passage.

"I said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.'" (Psalm 16:2) God is the giver of good gifts, so everything good comes from God, and without Him I don't receive anything good. In another sense, even the good gifts He gives are not good apart from Him - when I separate them from God and He is not in them, they become idols in my life and separate me from Him. Unless He is in it, nothing is good.

"Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." (Psalm 16:5-6) The Lord is my provider - He is the One who knows me best, who knows exactly what I need, and He is able and willing to provide for me. There is never a reason to be discontented, the Lord gives all that I need. Not necessarily all that I want, or even all that I think I need, but I always have what I truly need when I come to Him to provide for me. God is the One who defines my boundaries, and He makes them fall in pleasant places. When I am stretched too thin or exhausted by my commitments, how often is it because I have not asked God to show me the boundaries He has defined for me, or because I didn't listen when He told me? As in everything else, I need God's wisdom to know when to say yes, and when to say no, as well as where - and with whom - I should invest myself. And He promises that the boundary lines He will draw for me are pleasant. In all this, I know that my ultimate joy comes from my eternal inheritance. God has provided for me in a big way, and as His child I can claim Heaven as my inheritance.

"You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand." (Psalm 16:11) Lastly, joy, life, and true pleasure comes from following God - and I need Him for every step of the way. He is the one who showed me the path of life, and enables me to live for Him. He is also the one who fills me with joy and gives me His eternal, lasting pleasures. Like any good gift, I cannot expect to find it apart from God. No wonder my vain idols failed to bring me joy, life, and pleasure! These things can only really be found in God. I need to be near to Him, in His presence, to be able to truly listen to His guidance, to receive His provision, and to live joyfully. Anything else this world can offer is not a lasting, eternal pleasure, but instead an earthly, temporal one.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support! This journey is not an easy one, and it is never fun to be confronted by my own insufficiency and idols, but I know that God is continuing the good work He began in me, and I know that the eternal pleasure and joy I experience in Him is worth all of the growing pains. Please continue to pray that God would work in my life, my teammates' lives, and the lives of our students to sanctify us and help us reflect Jesus Christ more and more each day. Merci beaucoup!

Pas de foi / Steps of Faith

Coucou! / Hey there!

I hope you are doing well and enjoying some lovely Fall weather! (I'm still waiting over here...I can't complain about the sunshine, but I sure would love to see some fall colors!) This past week has been, like the weeks before it, very full of blessings and God working in exciting ways. I just want to take some time to highlight a few ways our students and friends are taking "des pas de foi" - steps of faith.

STUDENT-LED MOVEMENTS
For some time now, it has been the vision of Agapé Campus Europe and our national leadership to see students catching the vision, stepping up, and taking ownership of their own movements to be a part of God transforming their campuses in radical ways. We want our role as staff to be simply about being there for students, to ask them "How can we help you or be a resource for you?" instead of asking students to help us with "our projects." Last year in Montpellier, we tried to begin implementing several student leadership teams with the goal of getting students more involved and invested. We had some successes, but it was difficult to maintain and communication was a nightmare. This year, as I've mentioned before, we have one student leadership group made up of a core of truly committed, faithful students. We have been praying, hoping, and waiting to see how this new system would work. This last Wednesday at our weekly Bible study, we saw the first fruits of what God has been doing. One of our student leaders, Lucille, is a Messianic Jew and a recent convert to Christianity. Jeanette challenged her to share her testimony (the story of her faith journey) in front of the group Wednesday night, and she gladly accepted. Lucille got up in front of the whole group (almost 30 people - praise God for growth!) and shared her story. It was touching, easy to relate to, coherent, and interesting - everything you could ask for in a testimony! - and many people were deeply impacted by what she had the courage to share. Next, Loïc, another of our student leaders, got up in front of the group to explain the concept and the content of what we will be doing this semester for our Bible studies as a group. After his brief but very clear introduction, he had us divide into guys and girls, and he and Agnès (who he has asked to help him out) directed our smaller groups through the study and the questions. They both did a fantastic job listening, asking questions, directing, and adding their own insights. It was so much fun to be a participant in this study, and we were so proud of our students for stepping up in such a big way, and doing such a wonderful job!

DISCIPLESHIP
This past week has also seen many different people taking steps of faith in discipleship. I was able to meet with Alice, who came to Christ last fall, and challenge her to grow in her faith with me through a study of the book of Ephesians. God was so clearly guiding our whole conversation, and even the area of study! She said the thing she wants to learn about the most this year is how to receive and better understand the love God has for her, even though she doesn't deserve it. What better book to study than Ephesians? This past week when we met, we talked about her identity in Christ - how her value is received from God and not something she has to (or even can) achieve herself. It was exactly what she needed to hear from the Lord, and I know that I needed the reminder as well! Yesterday, my teammate Kimberly met with Christie, a friend of our mutual friend Grace and a medical student. They met up for lunch, and ended up talking about baptism, since Grace is going to be baptized on Sunday at church. Christie shared with Kimberly some of her doubts and fears about getting baptized, and said she didn't feel ready to get baptized because she knows she still sins. Kimberly was able to share with her that getting baptized represents a commitment to God and to living for Him, but doesn't mean that you no longer sin. She asked Christie at the end of their time together if she would like to meet up again to continue exploring what the Bible says about this and other topics, and Christie said yes! Kimberly will meet with her again next week and hopefully will continue to have opportunities to pray with her, to pour into her, to share truth with her, and to encourage her. Hooray for discipleship! Lastly, my friend Isabelle contacted me yesterday about coming to Parcours Alpha (more on that later!) last night, but I explained to her that it's geared more towards people who are not yet Christians. I asked her if she would be interested in studying the Bible outside of our weekly Agapé meetings, and she said yes! I will be meeting with her later today to talk to her about what discipleship is, and to ask her if she would like to continue growing and learning alongside me this year.

Please pray for me and for my teammates (Megan, Kimberly, Jeanette, and Joëlle) as we continue to challenge and encourage students to take steps of faith in leadership and discipleship. Pray for courage for us as well as we take our own steps of faith! 

I still have so much to share, but I'll have to save it for next time! Thank you very sincerely for your thoughts, prayers, and support! God is so good, and He is definitely at work here! Bisous, et à la prochaine!

Building Relationships

Bonjour tout le monde! / Hello everyone!

This past week was our first week of "phase 2" of our strategic plan - relationship building. After two weeks initiating spiritual conversations with students on campus and hoping to make as many new contacts as possible, our new goal was "second appointments" - meeting up again with contacts we had made the previous weeks. So while we were still going out on campus to meet new people, we are also trying to set up many "dates" - dinner dates, coffee dates, lunch dates, juice dates, etc.

On Saturday, I went out to dinner with a sweet friend from last year named Marion (a student in English and Chinese) and a friend from her program. Since Kate was here from Paris, Marion wanted to make the most of it and meet up with us (Kate, myself, and Jeanette). So we went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants - a British pub called the Beehive. Marion and her friend had never been before, and were so excited to eat fish and chips! It was a lovely evening catching up from what we had done over the summer, how the school year was beginning, and what we have going on in our lives. Marion has such a natural friendliness and enthusiasm, and her friendship is such a gift from the Lord. As we were parting ways for the evening, she gave my teammate Jeanette a hug and said, "Now I've got you back and I'll never let you go!" She was just as excited to see us as we were to see her again, and thanked us for making time to hang out with her. She told us she will definitely be coming to English Club this week.

On Monday I had a different kind of date - a skype date with Hannah from Jesus Film Ministries. I met Hannah at our Stint Mid-Year conference in January, and saw her again at Stint Briefing right before leaving to come back to France. She emailed me a few weeks back and asked if our team would want to partner with her and JFM to use their media to reach students on our campuses. My team was really excited by her offer, so I said yes to being the "point person" for our partnership. Hannah and I talked Monday about a short film produced by JFM called La Liberté de l'Interieur (Freedom Within), and how we could use this film in Montpellier to begin spiritual conversations. It was a really exciting brainstorming session, and I'm anticipating with hope what God will do through this film. If you have a chance to watch it (or better yet, to use it yourself!) I would highly recommend that you do it. Like all short films available through JFM, it's free and can even be downloaded to your smartphone or tablet through the free JFM app! Check it out :)

On Tuesday I had a lunch date with Megan and our good friend Israel. Israel is a Mexican graduate student studying the economics of film and hoping to return to Mexico to work with the Ministry of Culture. He came to know Agapé through our mutual friend Ben who is also not-yet-Christian. He has been a faithful English Club attendee for the past year or so and we have been able to share the Gospel with him on many occasions. Yet, we realized the other day that we really have no idea what he believes. So Megan and I had lunch with him, and then went through the perspective cards survey with him to get a better understanding of where he is coming from. In many ways, it was a very good conversation - it was very clear to both of us that Israel has carefully reflected and thought through the things that he believes. Yet, despite his intelligence and cultural background of Catholicism, he is drawn more towards the god of nature, a real spiritual presence that nonetheless is incapable of interacting with us. So although he believes in the supernatural and in spiritual things, he chooses not to have a personal relationship with the Living God and believes Jesus was just a good man. Even though Israel is older than most students, and pretty firmly entrenched in his beliefs, I know that our God is a God of the impossible, and I'll keep holding out hope for his heart to be changed.

On Wednesday I had "coffee" (it was actually juice) with two new friends - Hélène and Isabelle. Hélène is a student in her first year of a Masters program here in Montpellier. She studied in Lille (in the far north of France) for her undergrad and is new to the city. Although not a Christian, she is friends with Laura (a friend of Joëlle's) who has already shared the Gospel with her many times. Hélène is very open and super sweet - it was so clear to me that she is looking for meaningful friendships and connections here, and God brought her to us! I pray we can be a blessing to her as well as a witness to who God is. After juice with Hélène, I met up with my new friend Isabelle, a Christian student we met during our first week on campus. Isabelle shared with me via text message on Monday that her and her boyfriend had broken up over the weekend, and when we met up, I could tell she really needed to talk about it. We talked together for almost two hours! It is so clear to me that God is blessing me through this friendship with Isabelle. I'm hoping to ask her next time we meet up if I can keep meeting with her this year to do discipleship together. I know God brought us together for a reason, and I hope that I will be able to pour into her and help her to grown this year.

On Thursday, Kimberly and I had lunch with Mona-Lisa on the science campus. We had met her and her friend Sasha a week or so ago, but were unable to talk with her very much because she got an important phone call and had to leave. It felt like God really redeemed that situation by giving us another chance to speak with her. Mona-Lisa shared the history of her family and their faith with us, and how her Muslim parents taught her and her siblings about what they believed and why. It was amazing how many things we have in common! We asked her if she considered herself a Muslim and she said that while she knows God is real, she doesn't feel like she knows enough to make a decision about who God is. We asked her to describe to us how she sees God, and she told us that she feels like she is just barely beginning to see God and to know more about who He is. Then, she asked us how we see God and we were able to share with her about the God of the Bible and how we interact with Him personally. It was such an encouraging conversation, and I am excited to see her again and talk more with her. Thursday afternoon, Megan and I met up with our dear friend Julie from last year for some smoothies. Julie is very sweet, genuine, friendly, and open to spiritual things. Last year after watching Cru's evangelistic video Falling Plates with us, she said, "Ca donne envie de croire!" (that makes me want to believe). It was so great to see Julie again after a summer away and to catch up with her. Our relationship with Julie is such a gift because we are truly friends, we are able to interact and hang out just like I would with any other friend.

On Friday, I had "coffee" (hot chocolate this time) with a first-year student Maude who is studying English. Megan and I had a great time talking with her, getting to know her a little better, and just relaxing together. It was really fun! Later that afternoon, I was able to meet up with Elena as well - a friend from last year. I met Elena through Kathryn (my teammate) and loved getting to know her last year. This year she is beginning her Masters program in psychology, and although she has a lot more in her schedule, she still made time to see me! In a job where most of my interactions with friends are initiated by me, it is so nice to have someone reciprocate a friendship!

Saturday we were supposed to go visit the zoo - an outing organized by our student leaders - but then because of the bad weather, we decided to go to Plan B. We met up at Jeanette and Joëlle's apartment, snacked on cookies, and played games together. It was, as we say, super sympa! (really nice/fun) We had a good mix of new friends and old, of Christian students and non-Christians. We played mostly whole group games, which was a lot of fun and a great way to get to know each other. One of the French girls, Claire, asked me if charades were the national sport of the States because she thought Kim, Megan, and I were "just too good." It was a lovely, cozy afternoon, and a great chance to catch up with friends and enjoy each others' company.

I am so grateful for the friendships God has provided in the past, and is continuing to provide for us now. It is so clear to me that while building these relationships is our goal, God is the one doing the work. Please continue to pray for me and my team - we are so appreciative of your support and prayers! Pray that we would continue to pursue relationships and invest emotionally in our French friends. Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel and our lives as well with our friends. Finally, pray that God would be our source of life, strength, and motivation, and that we would always seek to glorify Him.

A la prochaine! / Until next time!

God is guiding!

Coucou! / Hello there :)

It's another beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon in Montpellier, and I feel so blessed by the Lord and reassured by His presence here guiding us. After this second week on campus, I have many more encouraging stories (and updates!) that I want to share with you.

This past week, we had our first English Club of the year. (English Club is basically what it sounds like - a time to get together and speak English with our friends at a cozy Irish pub called FitzPatrick's) We invited all of our new contacts from our first week initiating spiritual conversations on campus, and we had about 25 students show up! It was incredible, and incredibly fun - a great mix of old friends and new ones. One of my favorite parts of the night was seeing Isabelle again - our new Christian friend Kimberly and I had met the previous Friday (for her story, see my previous post). I introduced her to Jeanette (on staff with Agape/Cru here in Montpellier), only to find out they had already met several years ago when Jeanette was here on Stint! She had a lovely evening, and Jeanette invited her to our Agape Bible Study on Wednesday. She accepted, and was able to come, meet other Christian students, and get connected. I hope to see a lot more of her! :)

On Tuesday, Megan and I were on campus together, looking for a new person to talk with and feeling slightly frustrated by the group of giggly first year girls we had just talked to who couldn't seem to take anything seriously. Then we saw a girl sitting on her own, so we went up to introduce ourselves. Sophie told us that she is from London and spent the last few years studying in Edinburgh, then asked what church we go to. Megan asked her about her story, and she shared with us that as recently as four months ago she considered herself an atheist, completely against the idea of God, faith, and religion. Now, she finds herself as a new Christian in a new city (she's studying here for the whole year), looking for a church and Christian community. We were able to tell her about our churches, and share that Agape might be exactly the community she is looking for! Sophie also was able to come to Bible Study on Wednesday, and begin making new friends and connections. I'm so excited to see what God has planned for her in bringing her here to Montpellier this year!

Wednesday through Friday of this week I was in Toulouse (a neighboring city) working with some fellow staff members to begin planning for CNA (le Camp du Nouvel An) our Agape France Christmas conference. It was a lot of fun to see the city a bit and enjoy the different flavor of architecture. Toulouse is known as "La Ville rose" (the pink city) because of the particular shade of bricks used for most of the city's buildings. It was really exciting for me to cast vision for the conference this year, to discuss practical details, and to begin praying already for all that God will do in and through Agape students. It was also fun for me to reconnect with Sharla (on staff in Toulouse) and Vivek (stint in Paris) my co-planners and friends, as well as other friends in Toulouse. I was able to catch up for a bit with Julien, who was an intern in Montpellier last year and is interning this year in Toulouse. It was encouraging for both of us to hear about the movements in our cities and to share some stories about what God is doing. I also got to see our friend Ben Guibal (resident philosopher and deep-thinker) who left Montpellier this year for a teaching job near Toulouse. It was great to hear about what he's been up to this summer, including his visit to the U.S. to see his new girlfriend - my dear friend and former teammate Amy! For two and a half days of meetings, my time in Toulouse was really fun - and very rewarding when I think about all the work we put into CNA already (and the work left to do) so that students can experience God in authentic, personal ways through the conference. Throughout our times of planning, even in our disagreements, it was clear that God was guiding us towards what He wants for CNA. Every time we sat down to make decisions, we prayed and invited God into the midst of it. His presence was clearly felt!

Friday night I arrived home to Montpellier to a hug from my former roommate and teammate (and current friend!) Kate visiting from Paris. She came for the weekend to figure out the details of her residence card, to pick up winter clothes and assorted sundries left in our apartment, and (of course!) to hang out with us. It's been wonderful (albeit a bit strange) to have her around our apartment - that used to also be her apartment! I have loved the chance to share together about our lives since we no longer get to "debrief" each day before bed.

(from left to right: teammates Joelle, myself, Kate, Jeanette, and Megan)

While sharing about sharing, we also got the chance to video chat with former teammates Amy and Kathryn while Kate was here and we were all together. It was so fun and so encouraging to share with them some stories of how God is moving here. Both of them have invested so much of themselves and their time here, so it is even more meaningful for them to hear about what the Lord is doing here - they can picture the places and they understand completely the context we are working in!

I am so grateful for God's presence with us and the clear ways He is guiding our personal ministries as well as our Agape movement! Thanks to all of you as well for your faithful prayers. As James says, your prayers are powerful and effective! (James 5:16) 

Que Dieu vous benisse! (God bless you all!)

Answered prayers

Bonjour tout le monde! / Hello everyone!

I would love to share with you a "brief" update (sorry, I really tried to keep it short!) of this past week - our first week on campus initiating spiritual conversations with students. God showed up in amazing and encouraging ways to answer our prayers! Before, during, and after our times on campus we prayed for many things, but especially for three specific requests:

1. We prayed for opportunities to meet first year students
2. We prayed to meet to students who were open to talking about spiritual things and willing to share with us
3. We prayed for new contacts - students that will continue to be connected with Agape, for lasting friendships

After four days spent on three different campuses, I can honestly say God blessed us with many new relationships and contacts, guided us to specific people, and orchestrated many divine appointments. I have so many stories I would love to share and bless you with, but I will limit myself to only a few.

Firstly, I would like to tell you about Angele (pronounced like Angela without the "ah" at the end), Ophelie (like Ophelia from Hamlet - that's what she told us!) and Calypso. I met these three sweet first-year students on Tuesday at Paul Valery (the liberal arts campus). All three are studying Art History, and were just as open and friendly with us as they were with each other. At first, we thought they had been friends for a while, but then they told us they had only just met! These girls were so willing to talk to us, to laugh with us, and to share personal things with us. While Angele and Calypso described themselves as "athee" (atheist) and agnostic, both were very open to discussing spiritual things and shared that they really respect people of faith. Ophelie shared with us that she considers herself a Catholic, and has really felt God as a source of comfort through the difficult times in her life. Although she grew up in the Catholic tradition, she said that only in the last year has she really felt like her faith became her own decision. I can't wait to see what God has in store for them this year! I really feel like we could develop a real relationship with these girls.

Secondly, I want to share Sasha's story with you. I met Sasha and her friend Mona-Lisa (I'm not kidding, I promise!) on the science campus while they were hanging out in between classes. Both girls were very willing to talk with us, and put a lot of thought and reflection into their responses to our Soularium (photo survey tool) questions. Part way into our conversation about their view of God (the third question), Mona-Lisa received an important call she had to take, and we ended up talking with just Sasha for about an hour in total. She really opened up to us about some difficult, hurtful things that have happened in her past (some of which have been done to her by the church and by religion) that have convinced her that we are the only ones that can help ourselves - she doesn't feel like God has ever "showed up" in her life. She shared that over time, she has come to be able to understand people who have faith, and even to respect them when she doesn't agree with them. At first, because of the hurts she has suffered, she said this wasn't possible for her, but now she feels like she is in a place where she can agree to disagree and still be friends with someone of faith. She also told us about the challenges and changes she has lived through the last year or so, and why she is hopeful about this new stage in her life. She told us about her new English boyfriend, and seemed very interested in coming to English Club on Monday. God really blessed us with a deep, open conversation with Sasha, and I am very hopeful that we can continue to keep in contact with her.

Thirdly, I want to tell you about Jessica. Megan and I met her on the science campus while we were talking to her friends. At first, there were three students talking with us, but as more of their friends began joining them, it quickly got chaotic and a bit out of hand. They were no longer really focusing on the conversation or responding seriously. I started to get frustrated and tried to think of ways to get out of the conversation gracefully. Jessica had just arrived, and she started hurling very pointed, almost aggressive, questions at me about my belief in God. She seemed very hostile and accusatory, and I began to feel uncomfortable. I prayed as I talked, hoping not to aggravate the hurt I could feel behind her anger, and tried to respond honestly and respectfully. As we were talking, her friends got up to leave and Megan said goodbye. Instead of leaving, Jessica sat down and kept talking with us. Little by little, she became more open, more calm, and more at ease with us. I could almost feel her relaxing as the edge came out of her voice and questions. Eventually, she shared with us that she used to believe, but that a family member she was very close to died in a tragic accident even though she had prayed for them. She felt betrayed by God, and could no longer believe that a good, Sovereign, all-powerful God existed. She still believes in spirits, ghosts, and (weirdly) the devil, but thinks that all spiritual forces (good or evil) are the ghosts of people who live on. Thus Jesus, though a good man (and now a good spirit), could not help her when she prayed, because his power is limited. She was very open and listened carefully as Megan was able to share her own testimony of how she came to faith, and we both talked about periods of doubt in our faith journeys. By the end of the conversation, she and Megan exchanged phone numbers and she told us she would love to meet up again to continue our conversation. I knew as she left that we had come to talk to that whole group and had that entire conversation just for Jessica. God knew exactly what He was doing in guiding us to her friends.

Finally, I want to tell you Isabelle's story. Kimberly and I met Isabelle on the business campus on Friday, where she and her friend Agate (pronounced ah gaht) were sitting outside the cafeteria on a picnic table. We approached them with the Soularium photo survey, and both girls were friendly and willing to talk with us. As we introduced ourselves, Isabelle told us she used to know someone who worked with Agape about 5 years ago. She shared that she is a Christian, but that she has been struggling because she doesn't feel like she can talk to her friends or her atheist/Buddhist family members about her faith for fear of being judged, poorly received, or rejected. Agate, though an atheist herself, shared with us about her devout Catholic grandmother, her faith as a child, and her subsequent rejection of God out of the anger she felt when her grandmother died. She told us she blamed God, and then came to believe that He couldn't be trusted, and maybe didn't even exist. Despite this hurt in her past, she was very willing to open up to us and share personal stories. Both girls were active participants in our discussion, asking questions, sharing their thoughts, and engaging in listening when either Kimberly or I was sharing. God gave Kim a beautiful opportunity to share her aunt's story, how she reached out to the Lord in her grief over her husband's death instead of turning from Him, and the peace she received in return. She used her aunt's story to transition to the Gospel and was able to share a lot of God's truth with both of the girls. It was a wonderful conversation, and as we were leaving we thanked both of them for their time. Both girls responded by fervently expressing their gratitude to us as well, and seemed very touched by the things we shared. I didn't truly realize the impact of what God was doing through us until later that evening when I texted them to confirm that they had my phone number. Isabelle responded to my message by saying that she also really appreciated our discussion, and then added this post script: "By the way, I have to tell you something I find incredible - as a great "coincidence," yesterday I was praying [to] God and told Him that I really wanted to change my life in a good way, to focus on my present and my near future, to live fully. And [with] all my heart, I prayed that if following Him is the best for me, I asked Him to show me a sign of His presence in the week to come, in the next few days, and even the day after (but I thought, no, tomorrow is too quick. I can't just ask something and expect to be satisfied tomorrow...But He did.) Not only it was a pleasure to meet the both of you, but for me, it is God's answer as well. Have a nice evening!" I sat in my bed reading this message, and couldn't help myself from starting to cry. Although in many ways I am aware that God is using us on campus and speaking to people through us, it was a bit of a shock and a beautiful reminder to hear someone say so clearly that we were an answer to her prayer.

This week, God answered our prayers in amazing ways, He answered your prayers as you lifted us and our ministry up to Him, and He answered Isabelle's prayer for a sign of His presence. He is so faithful to answer us and to meet all of our needs! As I finish this first week on campus, I am tired but very encouraged and completely at peace. I know God is with us, and I know He is going to continue to work miracles, to answer prayers, and to do amazing things this next year. Thank you for praying and holding out hope with me; please continue to pray for us, for our new contacts, and for young Christians like Isabelle looking for community and reminders of God's presence in their lives.

A la prochaine! / Until next time!

Miracles

Our God is in the business of miracles, isn't He? How else can we explain the "heroes" of the Bible like David (the adulterer), Moses (the doubter), Samson (manipulated by a prostitute), Peter (famous for putting his foot in his mouth), and so many others? Moreover, how can we explain why God - who needs NOTHING and NO ONE - chooses to use us to accomplish His plans and bring about His Kingdom? It's one of the most beautiful mysteries of the Christian life - that our perfect God works miracles of transformation in the hearts, minds, and lives of the people He calls to be His children. When I think of miracles, and of the craziest dreams I hope to see come true in France, I think of sweeping transformation. I think of revival and new life filling up quiet museums of churches, of French people embracing the rich faith tradition woven throughout their history and coming back to Jesus Christ. My dreams for revival in France can be completely summed up by the lyrics of Page CXVI's song "Wash Me Clean." In particular...


In those days
His Son will save
His Spirit will pour
on all who call on the Lord

In those days
His Son will save
His Spirit will fill
Empty jars of mud and clay

To me, these verses speak of a future hope, of a time where God will fill His children with the power of His Spirit though we are only humble vessels. They speak of people turning back to the Lord, crying out to Him, and calling on Him to save them. As touching and meaningful as these verses are, it's really the next one that moves me to tears.

In these days
Barren field will sprout trees
The deaf and blind will hear and see
The dead will raise and begin to breathe

To me, this verse brings my dreams into the present - it is in THESE days that God will bring revival, rebirth, and sweeping change to France. Places that were formerly deserted and lifeless will be full of new growth - God will bring the seeds planted by many generations of faithful people to fruition. People that were formerly deaf to the truth of the Gospel and blind to God's presence in this world and their lives will finally experience Him and understand He is real. People who were spiritually dead in their sins will come back to life through the saving grace and sacrifice of Jesus! Nothing is more beautiful to me than this image of a France radically transformed by the love and Gospel of Christ, and this vision is one of the forces helping me to keep persevering in hope for the salvation of my French friends.
Thank you so much for your prayers - in our first week on campus God has already done many miracles, and we have felt Him intervening in powerful ways to direct our conversations and give us opportunities to love people and share truth with them. A more detailed update on our first week on campus (as well as our first Agape group meeting) will hopefully be coming soon! I love you all and am so grateful for your support. Thanks for hoping and praying for miracles alongside me!

Beginning a new chapter

Bonjour mes amis! Hello friends!

It has been an amazing summer, and God has been very good to me. This past week has been a blur of goodbyes, driving around, eating out, and emotional ups and downs. The Lord has divinely rearranged schedules and given me some very sweet moments with some very dear people. The past few days have been spent doing laundry, packing, and trying to prepare myself (mentally, emotionally, physically...) to go back to Montpellier.

The hardest part about leaving this second time has been trying to balance the grief of leaving with the excitement of going back. In the midst of trying to sort out all of my emotions, God gave me this verse:

"She who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with her." Psalm 126:6

Even though I am sad to leave behind people I love and miss out on parts of their lives this next year, God has promised to bless the seeds we sow, and I know that we will return with joy and a plentiful harvest. This is my prayer for this next year!

Thank you for your prayers for me and my ministry - I am so thankful for all of you!

Long overdue, Looking back, Looking ahead

I may have set the record for tardiest blogger ever... For all of those who have been faithfully following, checking, and waiting for news - I apologize! I have many excuses (some legitimate, some less so...) for my over three months of "radio silence," but I won't bother you with those here. Rather, I would love it if you would take some time to read through my reflections, my words of thanksgiving, and my increasingly nostalgic thoughts as my STINT year here in Montpellier draws to a close. Thanks for your patience as I process through a lot of this stuff...

One thing I'm extremely thankful for, looking back over this year, is for all the ways that God has provided for me. I am still amazed and occasionally speechless when I think about how God provided for me to be here with the financial and prayer support of so many - how He put together a support team for me that has come alongside me in incredible ways to help me and to help make ministry possible. God has also provided community, friendship, support, learning, encouragement, and family in my teammates here in Montpellier. I am so grateful for each and every girl on my team, and I know that God knew exactly what He was doing when He put us together. We complement each other perfectly, and each of us was essential this year for the work He had planned for us. God also provided an apartment for us to live in - no easy task! After several weeks of sleeping on Amy and Caroline's floor, I was beginning to get frustrated and wonder what God was doing. In the end, as usual, He knew exactly what He was doing. We found an apartment that is perfect for all of our needs, great for hosting people, and ideally located. He also blessed us abundantly with the real estate agent who manages our apartment, Emmanuel. Emmanuel (God is with us! What a great reminder!) has been extraordinarily helpful, patient, and available whenever we have needed him. In addition, God has provided many rich, beautiful friendships for me this year with many Christian Agape students and other non-Christian friends. Beyond friendships with students, He has blessed us in our relationships with our "people of peace" - individuals who are not associated with Agape or with a church, who may not even be believers, who bless us by helping us out in different areas. When I think about "people of peace," my mind goes straight to our favorite bartenders at Fitzpatrick's Irish Pub and the wait staff at Le Ranch. Fitzpatrick's is the pub where we have English club each Monday night, and the staff there has always been extremely kind and friendly with us, allowing us to use their space. We have been able to develop great relationships with them, and I enjoy our interactions each week. Le Ranch is a restaurant near one of the main university campuses that allows us to host our discussion nights there every other Thursday. The staff reserves a section of seating for us, despite the fact that we are often loud and few people actually order anything to eat or drink. They are very friendly as well, and being able to meet in that location is a huge blessing. God has also provided for me with two (TWO!) thriving church communities where I can worship, be welcomed and cared for, learn, pray, and connect with Him. Finally, God has blessed me by providing numerous ways and opportunities for me to connect with friends, family, and supporters at home. Feeling connected despite being so far away is something that I really need, and God has richly provided for that.

Coming out of this very rich, intense, and challenging year I am also extremely thankful for all the ways God has helped me to grow. I have grown in my relationship with the Lord, learning how to depend on Him and trust Him in new and deeper ways. I have grown in my knowledge of His Word through personal and collective study. I have also grown in prayer through our focused times of prayer as a team throughout this year. I have grown enormously in the areas of initiative evangelism (walking up to someone and striking up a spiritual conversation with them), and relational evangelism (sharing the Gospel in the context of friendship). I have gotten more comfortable sharing the Gospel and having spiritual conversations with students (and in French!). I have also learned how to listen carefully - both to the person I am speaking with and to the promptings of the Spirit. I have learned more about asking thoughtful and thought-provoking questions, and about how to build relationships with new friends.

Throughout this year, I have seen God do many miraculous, amazing things. Probably the most awesome has been the ways I have seen Him working to grow Agape here in Montpellier and across France through new believers like Alice who came to faith in November, and through Christian students getting more involved in ministry. This year, we had many students step up and give of their time and energy to serve on different leadership teams. We have also seen more students committing (and recommitting) to internships with Agape - trusting God to help them raise support and giving a year of their lives to do ministry with their peers. In Montpellier alone we have Julien who has recommitted himself to do a second year of internship, Joelle moving from working part-time with us to doing an internship, and Christian doing his first year of internship. Please pray for each of these dear friends of mine - Julien as he raises support again and gets ready to move to Toulouse for his next year of life and ministry, Joelle as she moves to full-time ministry and begins raising more support, and Christian as he gets ready to beginning raising support for the first time, moving to Rennes, and doing all of this in the context of extreme hostility and persecution from his non-Christian family.

This year has also been very challenging and occasionally difficult for me. The most difficult thing about this year has been continuing to hold out hope for our friends and for the students we meet on campus; continuing to share the Gospel, take relational risks and pray with hope, trusting that God is working and thus our work is not in vain even when we don't see much visible fruit; persevering in hope and belief that God will save our friends. In the midst of this, I know that God has continued to encourage us in many diverse ways. I am sure of it because without Him renewing us and encouraging us daily to keep praying, believing, and hoping, we would have despaired and given up long ago. He has continued to use us in each others' lives to point one another to the truth of His promises and to remind us of His presence with us.

I have been disappointed this year as well, especially as I near the end of my time here, that God hasn't worked the way I hoped or expected He would in the lives of my friends. I am disappointed that more people haven't come to know and trust Jesus as their Savior this year, particularly as we have made salvation and revival here in France a specific focus of prayer this semester. And yet, despite my disappointment, I know that God is working, that His timing is perfect, and that He is calling me to trust Him in this as well. He wants me to continue trusting Him with more and more of myself, and He also want me to trust Him with the lives and eternities of the people here who have become so dear to me. After all, He loves them even more than I do! He has a good plan for their lives as well as for mine, and I am not responsible for their salvation - He is.

Along with spending some time looking back over this year, I have also been spending a lot of time thinking about what God has for me next - looking ahead. Looking ahead to this summer - to homecomings, reunions, reconnecting with family, friends, and supporters, and enjoying American food and culture after time away. I have been thinking about raising support again, stepping out in faith to ask for prayer and financial support and trusting God to once again provide for all my needs. Looking ahead to next year - to moving back to Montpellier, adjusting to a new team and new roommates, and beginning a new year of ministry. There is still so much I want to learn, and so much am I asking God for in this next year. I have already seen God working to change the atheist, humanist, naturalist culture among students and have personally experienced shifts in their thought patterns and beliefs. I pray that God would continue to transform how they think and what they believe, that this this city and this country would experience radical change, awakening, and revival. I pray that people would begin to really hunger for truth, to hunger for God, and that He would bring many to salvation. I pray that those people would turn around and reach their friends, family, peers, colleagues, and neighbors. I pray that God's Kingdom in France would advance, that more and more people would be able to hear the good news of Christ's death to pay for their sins and resurrection to bring them new life, freedom, and restored relationship with God. I am holding out hope for dear friends like Adam, Julie, Mathilde, P.J., Israel, Marion, Elena, Ben, and others. I am praying that God will save them, and trusting that He will do it.

I don't know exactly what God has in store for me this summer, or this next year, but I am really excited. Thank you for your patience with me and my lack of communication, for your prayers and support, and for all your encouragement and kind words. God has used you to bless me in innumerable ways, and I am grateful. Please pray for me as I finish up the year and transition home. Pray that God will help me strike a balance between joy and thankfulness for this year and the adventures to come, and grieving well as this chapter comes to an end. Que Dieu vous benisse! (God bless you!)