February 28, 2005

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The month seems to have gone by swiftly. As you read this, the time for the Baptist Faith Missions Spring Conference will be near. We hope that you will be able to attend. It is a great encouragement to us to have churches and individuals who support us regularly and to have those who give of their time to serve us in receiving and disbursing the offerings, editing the Mission Sheets and posting our news online. We are grateful for the contribution of each one and thank God for providing through you.

We have had good services and Bible studies this month. Sunday we had a house full. There were some first time visitors present as well as some who do not come too frequently. I was preaching for another church in the city of Toulouse whose pastor is traveling. It was a blessing to meet a number of believers there for the first time. One lady that was a new Christian is a Persian from Iran. Her husband is still not saved. This would be a good time to pray for all those who are followers of Islam. It would also be a good time to look around in your own community and ask God how you might be able to build relationships with outsiders that God brings to live in America. He may have brought them there so that you could witness to them.

You may remember Shantha, whom we have mentioned in past letters. He is from Sri Lanka and married to a French lady. He has shown a great interest. His wife, Nathalie, however, had not shown much interest. The Lord has rearranged their schedules so that we have had more opportunities to see them together. Recently, she volunteered that she had tried reading Shantha’s Bible but had difficulty understanding the English. We gave her a French Bible and marked it for her to begin reading the Gospel. Pray that God would open her eyes and give her a hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Last month we mentioned Aude in our letter. She was saved while studying in the US and is now living back in Central France in an area that does not have a church. She would have to drive over an hour to go to the nearest church. This is a major difficulty. She has been able to find only minimal employment. She does not have the money to buy a car or pay the expenses (very high in France - $5.50/gallon of gas) of operating one. She was very discouraged living back in France and had no desire to stay here. But, France needs people just like her, those who are French and saved. There are very, very few saved. Of those who are saved in France, a good number, probably most, are of foreign origin and the French tend to chalk up their religion as a cultural thing. Last week, Aude called to say that she knew that God wanted her to stay and be a missionary in France. This is a major matter in her life. She has had a number of opportunities to witness. Pray for Aude. Pray for us to know how God wants us to help her and be an encouragement to her. We would love to see a church started in her region. It is a four hour drive for us.

For the Gospel of Jesus in France,

John and Judy

Sunday morning children's class in Tournefeuille, France