Friday, April 8, 2011

You get to live where this summer?

France!!  We are going, as a family, to spend 2 months living in Marseille, France.  You may wonder how can this be?  We work with RUF and raise all of our money so we don't have the kind of money laying around to "summer" in the south of FRANCE!  You are right!  We have this opportunity through the PCA mission organization, Mission to the World (MTW), and their partnership with RUF.

Here is how it works:
1.We already mentor college students through RUF and have done this for years.
2. MTW has a program called Thrive in which RUF and other college students go overseas
   and work with MTW missionaries.
3. This caused more work for the missionaries in the field already and MTW wanted a way to have a part time pastor to help mentor the students.
4. We follow a school schedule so our summers usually consist of more support raising and sometimes making another Indelible Grace CD.
5.  MTW believes so strongly in the Mentor program, they have full time staff to raise enough money for the Mentors and their family so they do not have to draw from the support base they have for RUF.
6. Our children will be 11, 9, and 7 which I feel is the perfect ages to take a family adventure overseas!
7. We know the pastor in Marseille, Pete Mitchell and his wife from CCC years ago!

We have gotten the kids their passports and are getting things in order.  The whole family is very excited and we have been trying to learn some French in the car to and from school.  We are going to arrive in France a week before we have to report and hop on a train and take a family vacation for one week in Italy!  We will spend about what we would normally to go to FL for a week, but we will be in Cinque Terra, Rome and Venice:)

We are excited for lots of reasons.  We are looking forward to a family adventure and sharing something with our family I am sure they will aways remember.  We are excited to live by the Mediterranean Sea for a summer.  We are excited to explore the area.  We will be very close to Provence and the lavender will be blooming in July.  (Oh the locations for photoshoots!)  We are excited to get to know 3-4 college students and walk with them through this adventure.  We hope to use Kevin's musical gifts to enliven the worship music for the French church.  We are most excited to see God already at work in France and see how we can learn from the church already at work in France and see how God will expand our vision of His love to the nations!

Come follow us and pray for us this summer!