I’ve been using Notepad++ for some time now and have sort of a love-dislike relationship with it because it’s very powerful…but some things, notably macros don’t exactly work like I’d want them too…and sometimes, I really think they’re buggy.

Today, I needed to take a list of e-mails and, for each email take the part before the ‘@’ and copy it at the of the line with a tab in between.

So, to start with I have a list of emails like this:

lkjshdflkhsf@lkjhsdf.com
oiuyeruyq@iuywer.com
nbxvnxbv@mnbcx.com

At the end I need lines like this:

lkjshdflkhsf@lkjhsdf.com[TAB]lkjshdflkhsf
oiuyeruyq@iuywer.com[TAB]oiuyeruyq
nbxvnxbv@mnbcx.com[TAB]nbxvnxbv

If you’ve ever had to move contacts from one piece of software to another you may have come across this problem to create an import file for the destination. If Notepad++ macros worked in every situation, I’d have been able to use them, but they would simply “malfunction” on me and not allow me to accomplish this. So I played with regular expressions and became aware of how you can “tag” parts of your search expression and then refer to those tagged portions of text in your replacement string to allow you to move things around and copy things. Really good regex info can be found on the Notepad++ wiki here: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/notepad-plus/index.php?title=Regular_Expressions.

So to accomplish this I was able to use the Notepad++ Search/Replace dialog in “regular expression” mode like this:

In the image, you can see that in the FIND expression, you have two sections in parentheses. This is how you tag a portion of a string, by putting the expression within parentheses. For the first piece, it tags the part between the beginning of the line, signified by the “^” (caret) character and the “@”, signified by itself. The “dot asterisk” means:

• dot = any character
• asterisk = zero or more times

I’ve shaded that yellow. Then the second section that I’ve tagged is between the “@” and the end of the line, signified by the “$” (dollar sign). I’ve shaded it orange.

Now, in the replacement, you can refer to these tagged areas by “\1″, “\2″, “\3″, etc….simply the order in which they appear gives them an ordinal number. You can then refer to them in the replacement string several times if you wish.

I’m still quite the noob in regular expressions and much more can be done with them. But, I found this particular example to be something that I can definitely build on in the future and hope that you can too.

At any rate, recently two messages of his were posted at Bethel Church in fairly rapid succession (Bill must have been traveling a lot!) and they really struck me. The first one is on the 5-fold ministry from Ephesians 4:11 and the second was on Fatherhood, which he gave on Father’s Day. For me these two messages really dovetailed together with things that God’s been speaking to me about.

Several times this spring, I’ve heard extended teaching on spiritual parents/children and about the generational transfer of inheritance. Tied with that is the honoring of our preceding generation and succeeding generations. Tied with that is honoring the special graces that God has placed on each individual person. Tied with that is receiving God’s unique graces through each other. This may be one of the key messages that God is emphasizing in the Body of Christ right now. It certainly is one of the messages that is being emphasized to me and in our community of faith here in France.

There is a sense that God desires to pour out a special “grace”, “anointing”, “blessing” (pick your pregnant term) on His Body in order to impact our society more significantly. The amount of this impartation is what is in the balance. The amount needed to really facilitate change and advance God’s Kingdom is more than individuals can handle…it would crush them. Picture someone with no foundation in their life winning the lottery. We see it over and over again with the real lotteries and with young professional sports “first-round-draft-picks”. The enormous blessing becomes a curse. Lives of promise become a parody of success at best and end tragically at worst.

God NEEDS to pour out an enormous blessing on His Church in order for them to be the Kingdom agents He called them to be (way back even in Genesis 1:28!) How does He do it and not crush us? He needs to pour out His blessing “corporately.” This is not of course meaning on a “business.” In fact if you look at the word “corporately”, you see the Latin root “corp-”, which means “body”.

Sum it up:

• God has chosen to draw the world to Him as a loving Father, King of all Creation, to live in loving, family relationship with benevolent stewardship of His Creation
• God has chosen to use His Son Jesus as the perfect image of the Father and the only way into relationship with the Father
• Jesus’ body on earth is the Church…agents of His Kingdom and His image-bearers in Creation
• His Body on earth is His principal agency of connection between the spiritual and physical realms…those who are tasked with bringing Heaven to earth
• Jesus put His Spirit in us, the spark of life that gives us the possibility to live and function as members of One Body and to be coordinated with the Head…Jesus

At this point then, we’re only “saved individuals” with simply a potential to be effective agents of God’s transforming power in Creation. It’s a pretty good deal, but it’s not enough. The kind of power we need to wield in order to affect the changes needed in Creation is simply too much for us as individuals. God desires to pour out His power, but He’s made us in such a way that we’re unable to effectively carry His power as individuals. He values family and relationship too much to allow us to simply “do tasks” and be rewarded for it…as individuals.

As a corporate body, however…

As a family, however…

That’s another story and that’s where these two teachings by Kris Valloten come in. I encourage you to learn about the “authority structures” that facilitate the impartations of grace that we need in his teaching on the 5-fold ministry and the “family structures” that establish love in our hearts and honor for one another that cause us to flow together as more than an a well-oiled machine or an organization, but an organism…a body…a family. When this occurs, we become vessels ready for God’s poured-out blessing, His anointing, His transforming power. We, as a body, as a family, are then positioned to live as transforming agents of our Father’s Kingdom…our destiny all along.

Fatherhood (mp3 24Mb) (link to watch as video on Bethel’s site – free registration required)

The role of the 5-fold ministry (mp3 26Mb) (link to watch as video on Bethel’s site – free registration required)

Del.icio.us : 5-fold ministry, Bethel Church, Kris Valloten, generational transfer, honor, inheritance, spiritual parents
Technorati : 5-fold ministry, Bethel Church, Kris Valloten, generational transfer, honor, inheritance, spiritual parents

Some feedback about last month’s requests:

• School Festival – Well the school festival/carnival (can’t think of a great translation for this great event that combines a school “open house”, good food, a show put on by the students, booths of games, sporting competitions, an evening worship concert, dancing late into the night, etc. – “end-of-year-blowout-celebration”) happened under sunny skies and was a beautiful time of teamwork and display of the richness of life and the blessings of the Lord. Angela manned a stand where she introduced the French to “Smoothies” – a big hit! Even the sound reinforcement went smoothly (from a sound perspective). BUT, though I had a great team and we enjoyed ourselves, it ended up being the kind of effort that I “feared”. My role transitioned from more “doing” to “leading” which is valuable and important for me right now, but the complexity also jumped a notch this year, so even though I rarely had to be at the mixing console, my level of activity was not really diminished any. This has engendered some good follow-up discussions with our leadership about how to raise up additional capable people and about how to deal with our equipment needs.

• Summer Planning – Already deep into Noah and Olivia’s schedules! Noah’s in the middle of two weeks of volunteer construction work at our school with a great group of Canadians who’ve come to help our school as a short-term missions trip. Olivia, meanwhile, has been in the States for about a week now and having a fabulous experience!

• Olivia’s Class Trip – This was a really great trip for Olivia’s class. They went to Dresden and learned much about what they were really capable of with different challenging actives, such as volunteering at a ministry there that welcomes troubled youth to come in and hang out in a positive and safe environment. These were 8th graders from a French school connecting with 18-20 year old German young adults…in German, of course! They also learned much about breaking cultural stereo-types and bridging cultural gaps. This is HUGE in the region of Alsace where cultural mistrust runs deep. There is such a heart among the people with whom we work/minister to see a new direction, a new vision sown into these kids with respect to the scars that Europe has born over centuries of war and division. It’s exciting to see concrete steps like this being taken.

• Health – Other than a bit of a heat wave the last couple of weeks that’s sapped our natural energy, we’re all doing fine health-wise. Thank you Lord!

• Family Camp Prep – I can’t say we’re all set, but we’re starting to get the picture together for what we’ll be doing for the worship at this camp. The momentum is building!

• School Work – As I mentioned, Noah’s working with a great team of volunteers doing work at our Christian school. They finish up this coming weekend. They are working on some new classrooms, new toilets and replacing some rotted flooring. There will still be much to do after they’ve left but they will have seriously moved us forward. In the meantime, I’m also working on the school’s IT infrastructure…the annual summer task of making big changes that I can’t make during the school year. Please pray for the construction team that they would be safe in their work and see the Lord work in their midst. Several shared that they decided to come on this “missions trip” because they wanted to draw closer to the Lord. Pray for their spirits to be stimulated by the Holy Spirit within them as they serve. Pray for Noah’s time with them as well. Finally, pray that they could get one classroom basically ready to be used in September. As for what I’m working on, please pray for insight on how to make complex new systems work correctly and how to implement the changes in the most effective way.

• Olivia’s Trip – Olivia’s in the States now and this weekend she travels to Kansas City to participate in the “Awakening Teen Camp” at the International House of Prayer there. Before she leaves she continues to connect with our family in the States. We’re so grateful for how the trip has gone so far and are excited for what God will do in her and through her in the next 3 weeks. At the end of the trip she’ll board a plane in Chicago and travel non-stop by herself to Frankfurt where we’ll meet her. Please pray for her traveling safety in the States and coming home on the 28th of July. Pray for her family connection time and her connection with her country of birth that she left at 4 years old! Finally, pray for her two camp weeks for a deep deposit from the Lord and precious connections with others (she’s going by herself).

• Church Work – In addition to work needed on the school, there is work needed on our church. The week of the 19th, some folks at church are planning a week of practical work to move us forward in some of the smaller renovation issues. Each morning will begin with 2 hours of worship, then a shared meal, then a long afternoon to “git ‘er done!” We’ll be doing the worship on M-W-F for this week. Please pray for an exceptional turnout to really spur on the momentum of progress in this activity. Pray that this practical investment would be multiplied in terms of the down-payment needed to buy our building (and finish the rest of the renovation). Please pray for safety in the practical work. Pray for real freedom in the worship.

• Family Camp Prep – As mentioned last month, we’re leading worship in August for a YWAM Family Camp. We still have much to do to prepare. Please pray for inspiration for Angela about the direction of these family worship times and our ability as a family to come together and model “family worship.”

Thank you!
David

Olivia is head-over-heels in love with Tim Burton’s latest film Alice in Wonderland. She’s seen it in English and in French in the theater and David and I finally watched it with her, albeit on a small screen, this weekend. Considering what Olivia is living right now, I completely understand her reaction. And I’m compelled to fill all of you in, especially now that she has starred in a film of her own!

In case you haven’t seen it or read the books, the film is a combination of both books about Alice by Lewis Carroll, but with more of an actual plot than the original stories. I’d call it an improvement, but then I’m not a big fan of fantasy literature. In this movie still, you see Alice, looking more like Joan of Arc, facing her greatest fear. If I think of Olivia and take this image further, I see the White Queen resembling the Holy Spirit and the Mad Hatter as Jesus, standing with her. (Great spiritual armor too!)
And that pretty much sums up Olivia’s last few months as an 8th grader. Up until now, she’s been enjoying her role as the baby of the family and it was easy to treat her that way. But this spring, the French school system demanded that she stare adulthood in the face. Dealing with one fear after another in quick succession has been exhausting and exhilarating, but God made sure she had a real spiritual breakthrough with Him in order to get through it all in one piece!

The first hurdle was a test of her piano-playing called “Fin du Premier Cycle” that is taken after achieving a certain level on your instrument. After 6 years of study, this was the first time her playing had ever been judged, so you can imagine the stress. She received the equivalent of a “B” and I would call that a fair assessment, considering how much she’s struggled this year with her teacher and her classical pieces. Her final recital was last week and it was a beautiful performance, closing this chapter of her training. From here on out, her focus will be improvisational worship-leading, which she has already gotten a taste of in the context of our monthly tabernacles. Have a peek here!

The next hurdle was “The Stage” (pronounced with a French “ah.”) This is when all the 14-16 yr. olds in France must descend on businesses who agree to let them observe the workplace for 3 days. They are taught to write a formal letter of inquiry to 5 businesses of interest and await a positive response. The stress started when all of Olivia’s contacts refused her request (and her self-esteem took a dive when all her other friends got several affirmative replies!) This meant we had to start cold-calling at the last minute, and frankly, calling a French stranger on the phone makes all 3 of us quiver in our boots. But God had mercy on us – Olivia reluctantly agreed to consider the local Christian radio station since she knew a classmate had gotten accepted by them but ended up choosing another option instead. I had a friend who did translation for the director of the station and she gave us his personal e-mail. So in the nick of time, Olivia was taken on, and it turned out to be a dream internship, where she was showered with attention by the employees and learned all the secrets of radio. She has to do this again next year, but now she’s looking forward to it!

Now about her screen debut: Our school decided to enter a Christian short-film festival this spring that had to be based on the 10 commandments. The script was conceived by the 8-10 yr olds and Olivia’s classmates were the primary actors. The theme was “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me,” illustrated through the parable of the banquet in Luke 14:15-20, and they needed to cast a rich man and his wife. Apparently, all the girls were extremely reluctant to be seen on screen as the wife of a boy in their class, except for Olivia. The film won third place – the “love at first sight” award by the judges, partly because this was the only one of the top 12 finalists that was done by students! They spent 3 days shooting for an 8 min. film and happily, the only French is the introduction of the story in the first minute, so read the parable, be prepared to put it in a modern day context and and enjoy a taste of our school and local surroundings!

Her final hurdle will happen this summer when she flies to America without us. Our friend Alana (Olivia’s activities also get good press on her blog) will accompany her almost to Indianapolis, and then she will take a direct flight home alone from Chicago one month later. As if that is not scary enough, she will also travel to Kansas City during that time to attend a 2-week camp where she won’t know a single soul. Of course, time with her sister after 18 months apart and with grandparents after 4-6 yrs apart will be a fabulous recompense for conquering the fear of a month’s separation and international travel. (I just wish I could surgically attach her passport to her body for safe-keeping!) Prayers on her behalf during the month of July would be much appreciated!

In summary, I think this quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland sums up Olivia’s life quite nicely right now:

“…so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.”

Love from a proud mama,

Angela

PS: My trip to Paris was wonderful in every way and the escape I needed!!

Some feedback about last month’s requests:

• Summer Plans – Olivia’s summer plans are shaping up nicely, but not without a good deal of logistical running-around on Angela’s part to get a 14-year-old ready to travel alone internationally. The technological miracle that is international flight seems to pale in comparison to what is necessary logistically/bureaucratically! Noah will be home for the summer and the Lord is getting us excited for the extra time with just him during the 1 month that Olivia’s gone. Not sure we’ve ever had that privilege! Kind of cool!

• Tabernacle/Business Investment/Seminar Weekend/Head Cold – The last two weeks of May were a whirlwind! I spent several days with my business client and friend near the beautiful French Alps in what was a profound time of heart connection, concrete business advancement and Holy Spirit presence in the midst of a significant family trial they are currently walking through. Hard on the heels of those days was our 4-hour worship tabernacle (literally from the train, to the house and straight away to church where I arrived late). I had not been able to participate in the planning of this tabernacle because of my absence on business. This meant I arrived with no initial responsibilities or worries…what freedom for a person like me! Combine that with a deep gratitude to the Lord for the previous days and a ultra-profound appreciation for my “family of faith” here and I was propelled into a worship that belied my physical fatigue. The next morning began an intense 2 1/2 day seminar on identity at church (seven 3 1/2-hour sessions!) for which I frequently was in the technical rotation. On Monday afternoon my body quit and I got my first cold in about 9 months and it hit me HARD. Then Angela got it a few days later. We’re both just now coming out of that.

• France en Feu – Angela’s time in Paris was a huge blessing in every way!

• Provision – Our school’s provision situation remains a challenge, though I know of a recent gift from the States and a recent fund-raiser for the elementary school class trip was a huge success. I’ll take those as the first drips from a well that’s being uncapped!

• Sozo – The visit from the UK leaders was very good. Or church leadership team all received personal ministry times that impacted them and they have given the approval to launch the ministry in the church. What a blessing this will be!

• School Festival – The last Saturday in June, our school will have it’s annual carnival to celebrate the year, raise money and awareness of the school, and mostly demonstrate that our good God offers another way to live. It is typically a time when significant new connections are made for the school and old relationships are renewed in a sort of homecoming. The effort to pull this off is an amazing thing and beautiful to behold. That being said, my role as sound technician for this event is one that weighs on me in a more-or-less negative way. When it comes to expending energy, I’m much more of a distance runner than a sprinter (though I was a pretty awful distance runner in my youth!) and this event is like a four-day heavy sprint with a strong lean at the tape. It sort of makes me think of those intense 400 and 800 meter track and field races where it always looked to me as if they handed every contestant a heavy refrigerator to run with somewhere between the 3rd and 4th turn! (the 3 track and field fans among you will understand.) I’d just as soon watch from the stands! I’ve let people know that I’d prefer to not do it this year. I’m working on documenting the responsibility to help pass it off to others. At the moment however, we lack available and qualified “others.” My eyes of faith need glasses! Please pray for those qualified “others” to materialize, for my abilities to effectively coach them and for God to receive the glory at a school festival that celebrates His goodness in a way that many are drawn to Him.

• Summer Planning – This month we’ll have Noah home from the 11th on and we’ll be getting Olivia ready for her trip to the States. Please pray for ability to create a healthy routine for Noah and fear-free logistics for Olivia’s trip.

• Olivia’s Class Trip – Olivia’s class of 18 14 yr. olds will take a train to Dresden, Germany, her teacher’s home town, and stay June 12-19th. Please pray for protection in every way and that the class would be a blessing to the city, the foster home where they will serve, and to each other.

• Health – We’re on the mend from these heavy colds/flu. Thank you Lord! Please pray for Angela and me for complete restoration of strength in our bodies.

• Family Camp Prep – We’re leading worship in August for a YWAM Family Camp and we would like Olivia to participate in the leading. As she’s gone in July, we’d like to get some prep in before she leaves. Please pray for inspiration for Angela about the direction of these family worship times and our ability as a family to come together and model “family worship.”

Thank you!
David

Some feedback about last month’s requests:

• Worship Week – This was a tiring-but-enriching week. I helped “too much” with the worship at a family camp for a Swiss church. It was too much in the sense that it’s not an activity in which Angela participated. So, next time, I’ll be setting better boundaries on it that keeps the family separation at a minimal level. It was, however, a rich, rich time. I was blessed to participate extensively in the worship and to hear most of the great teaching on spiritual parents/children. I was very blessed to have an extended time to get to know the speaker 1-on-1. We’d known each other at a distance and this closed the gap. Very precious! At the end of “my week”, Friday, Olivia began a long weekend at church dedicated to her age group. It was a weekend to learn how to encounter God, hear His voice, etc. and how to share that with others. We purposely did not participate in any of it as parents/staff so that she could have complete freedom to be herself. What a blessed time it was for her and her friends! It dovetails extremely well with what God has been doing the last two years in this age group at church and at school. As parents, we couldn’t be more grateful to those who led/staffed this weekend. They really sowed eternally!

• Receiving – I’ll simply reference Angela’s newsletter for this one!

• Home Improvement – No visible change in the situation. Still praying for a solution that: blesses our neighbor, blesses any construction workers on our house, enhances our house in terms of living and value.

• Summer Plans – Just yesterday we bought Olivia’s plane ticket to spend the month of July in the States. During that time she’ll be in Indy and some time at IHOP in KC for a youth camp. We (not to mention her!) are really excited about this opportunity for her. We have signed up Noah for a Math camp in the States as well during the same time. He’s on a waiting list for the camp and they expect to know something in late May. At this point, we don’t have the money for his ticket nor the acceptance for this camp. So we need some direction and (and special provision if he’s State-side bound!) from the Lord for Noah for this summer. Please pray for Olivia’s preparation for her experience in July. Pray also for our wisdom to know how best Noah should spend this summer and any provision necessary if that includes going to the States.

• Tabernacle – Tonight we have our monthly worship tabernacle for April where we consecrate 4 hours to corporately worship God. These continue to be key times for us as a community of believers to focus on the One from whom all life flows, and in Whom all our lives have context. They’ve also been times where other worship leaders come in and serve us by leading part of this time. Tonight is one of those times as well as is the tabernacle for May on the 21st. Please pray for our unity of heart and spirit and music as we cobble together teams to lead people into God’s presence. Pray also for sufficient help in the technical responsibilities.

• France en Feu – As I type, Angela is speeding her way to Paris by train. She will attend, along with our pastor’s wife, the France en Feu (France on Fire) annual conference. She will also have the occasion to stay with her penpal friend of 30 years…always a treat and decidedly more difficult to actually accomplish than either would have thought now that they both live in France! She’ll also have the opportunity to meet with a lady who hosted on more than one occasion our outreach teams from Scotland when we visited Paris way back when. So, she’s really looking forward to this trip; freedom from mom/wife responsibilities, time with girlfriends, a visit to Paris, and a conference to boot. The weather forecast is not quite what she’d hoped for however. Please pray for her traveling stamina, her time with her friends, her connections at the conference and good weather! Should be a real blessing for her!

• Provision – We mentioned the provision for Noah. We’re in a bit of a lean time at the moment personally, but I’d like to primarily lift up our Christian School and our Church. I’ve mentioned that our Church is before a financial challenge to come up with a sizable down-payment to facilitate the purchase of our building the commencing of construction. At the moment it remains in the realm of “impossibility.” On the school side, we’ve hit a significant trough. Last month, no salaries were paid…at all. Needless to say, this is a significant situation. Additionally, another group is coming this summer to continue the construction work started from last summer. Typically they provide the manpower and we provide the materiels. The funds are not currently there for the materials. Please pray for provision and wisdom for the leaders of both the church and the school to know how to proceed.

• Sozo – As we’ve mentioned in the last 6 months or so, Angela and several others in our church have begun to implement the inner healing ministry of Sozo in our community. At the moment, the ministry has not been released to the church at large as the team still is in a training/practice mode. The coordinators of the ministry in the UK will be coming this month to go through it with our pastor and elders. This will be the final step before it can be opened up more fully. The team members are excited for this to happen and ready to begin to see more lives transformed. So it’s a key month for this ministry. Please pray for maximum impact from this visit from the leaders from the UK. Pray for smooth solutions to the language difficulties so that hearts can really be touched during the ministry sessions. Pray for Angela and her team members as they launch out after this step.

• Business Investment – This month I’ll be spending a couple of days face-to-face with my primary business client to discuss how to move his web-business forward. We typically communicate by phone and email as he lives farther down in France, south of Geneva. There are strategic activities that are more difficult to handle this way though. Additionally, the whole idea of what role “business”/”work” is to play in our call to France is still something I struggle with considerably, so I look also to this time for the Lord to help illuminate my path a bit. Please pray for the travel safety (May 18-21) of course. Additionally, pray that the Lord would guide this business endeavor and the stewardship of it that is discussed during this time.

Blessings on you all!
David

Reading back through old newsletters, I realize that I have never mentioned that April has been a real spiritual mile marker for me over the years. God had me on his calendar again this year, and here’s a little history to prove it: (Good thing I took some notes – my memory isn’t that great!)

My parents married in April 50 years ago. (I arrived in March 2 years later, and spring has always been my favorite season.) My first (prophetic) French contact and oldest friend was born in April, 2 weeks after my birth. David proposed to me in April 1986. We dedicated Noah to the Lord with a celebration on Easter 1994. I took my first solitary spiritual retreat as a burnt-out mother of 3 young children in April, 3 years later. I cried all the way through a book called “Experiencing God with Your Children.” I just picked it up again in April, 14 yrs later, and started crying all over again as I process the emotions of letting go of Noah during this adolescent season of “breaking free.” We received our “call to France” in April 1998. We packed up for our 4 month YWAM school in Germany the following April. In April 2000, we sent out our first support cards for our move to Scotland. In April 2001, I got away to France for a women’s conference, birthday celebrations with my French friend, and then met David for a memorable romantic weekend in Paris (celebrating the 15th anniversary of our engagement.) We also started the marriage ministry at our church in Scotland when we got back! The following April, we made the decision to attend language school in the fall. I got my French driver’s license in April 2005 without a test, a fee, or an expiration date – one of my favorite miracles! In April 2006, I gave my first teaching in French to the women at our church. Last April, I got a long detailed prophecy from a French prophet who knows nothing about me, and have been watching it unfold before my very eyes since then!

Are you convinced yet? Has anyone else seen a pattern like this in their life or is it just me?

Last month, I gave out enormously in every domain: substitute teaching at school, strangers hosted every weekend, trying not to over-parent Noah home for spring break, and overtime babysitting for the pregnant mama living on the 4th floor during the days surrounding her delivery. (He was due on my birthday, but stayed put another 4 days!) It continued into April with a big Easter and David playing worship the following week at a nearby camp, while I spent my mornings with one of Olivia’s classmates. (He’s got a learning disability that the French won’t diagnose and book reports have been a nightmare for the family. So he and I digested an easier book together and regurgitated a book report while his mom was at work, saving her sanity.)

Let’s all sing together now, shall we? “Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord…”

What kept me from total meltdown was knowing that it was APRIL and I knew God had me penciled in. David, Olivia and I were booked for a 3+ day conference with Bill Johnson (pastor of Bethel Church) at a church in Germany, 2.5 hrs away. We had been feeding on his books and Sunday morning teachings on the Internet all year, and we were eager for the anointing of a live experience. And we were so grateful that he was coming to us. Neither David nor I can fathom surviving air travel from the east side of France to the west side of America. Isn’t that almost half way around the globe?? But by the end of the conference, we felt like we had done just that!

I don’t know if you remember the details of my trip to England last fall, but it was so bad that I compared it to being a D-day soldier. I’d venture to say that this trip was just as tough. I know God would not call our family to Europe and then make travel an impossibility, so I must conclude that the enemy is trying to make us believe that this is the truth. What he doesn’t realize is that I will NOT stay trapped in my dark little house and miss what God has for me through the nations at my doorstep! I know that God uses me to bless my family and others with my home, but MY needs are not met until I lock up all the daily demands with my house key and walk away rolling a suitcase behind me.

Back to the trip. I justified plagiarizing St.Luke’s book title because though we didn’t have to endure shipwrecks and beatings, we did have to deal gracefully with volcanic fallout and constant combinations of weakness, colds, and migraines. We David also made the round trip twice. This was because the conference ran from Sat. night to Tues. night, and Olivia decided school would be more fun than hanging out at an adult conference with a sick, grouchy mother and a tired dad. We couldn’t blame her. The big name worship leader couldn’t fly in from Ireland and Bill was delayed, driving instead of flying from Norway! So we drove home Sunday night and drove back Monday morning, after a refreshing night’s sleep, glory to God. Though physical struggles continued, we hung on every word during the teachings, enjoyed a few meals in outdoor cafes with old and new friends, and I got a breakthrough I needed after Bill’s impartation by laying on of hands to every one in attendance. Another big blessing/healing for me was the German’s embrace of English. (I have issues about German because everyone in the family has studied it except me, so I feel like the village idiot whenever we visit!) They worship with just as much energy in English as they do in German and everyone speaks enough to get by. Have I mentioned that this is not the case in France? And because our hotel owner spoke so well, we were able to pray with her when we checked out. She was very receptive, as a fully booked week had just gotten canceled because of the volcanic activity. What a privilege to be able to take what you have received and give it back out to a hurting world…

As soon as we got back, the demands clamored for my attention: I got calls to do more substitute teaching, to host visiting students from Holland, and to help out my 4th floor family, who were all sick as well. And I said “NO” to all of them. (But I did attend a prophetic art seminar on Sat. and worked through those pesky mother/son issues with pastels and mixed media. Aaaaah…) Now I’m looking forward to a week to recover and reflect on all I’ve received before I hop on a train next Friday and escape for some “Paris in the Spring” tonic with girlfriends during the France en Feu conference. Will the devil give up and leave me alone this time? You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!

Love, Angela

Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic legacy notwithstanding, I’m having trouble “making contact” in 2010. Each prayer bulletin seems to come out later!

Some feedback about last month:

• Our contingent in Mexico (11 in total) arrive back this week from 3 intense weeks of encounter with the Lord. While I don’t know the complete report, I’ve heard that one lady whose hip and back have caused her so much pain lately that she’s had to reduce her mobility and walk with a cane has put away her cane in Mexico. We’re praying for a complete healing. Also our pastor’s youngest son, who has had a good deal of trouble finding his way scholastically and vocationally is loathe to leave Mexico as he’s really experienced a huge blessing and touch from the Lord. He may be staying there for a while. In addition to him really finding his destiny, this will certainly help build important and personal relationships between this church and ours. Good preliminary reports!
• Our time of hosting guests this month has been very rich (though tiring for Angela), The only one left in the parade of visitors is Noah…(no, he’s not really a visitor ) It’s been wonderful to share our lives more with others and to have a hand in connecting different people with what God is doing here. We count that as a real part of our calling here.
• Angela’s time of substitute teaching this month was a real blessing for her.
• Worship times have been rich this month and we’ve managed to survive the juggling of the schedule of responsibilities…including this morning when I realized that I didn’t have a sound man or piano player or lyric projector…we found last-minute replacements for all and wonderfully celebrated the resurrection of our Lord.
• One of the hallmarks of this year has been the establishment of two youth worship teams thanks to the arrival of Alana Smith who is particularly gifted in coaching, and motivating and organizing young musicians. This month our school participated in a contest of schools to create a short film. For this Alana asked one of the young worship leaders if he could write a song for the film. He quickly wrote it and it needed to be recorded. This was a fun (if unexpected) opportunity for me to help in this process of raising up young musicians, as I did the recording, drumming and mixing of the song (Olivia sang backup)…a fulfilling project that has taken up a good part of this last week.
• I finally finished my US taxes this week (French ones next). I typically owe a bit every year as I have to pay my self-employment tax. I was surprised this year to have a sizable refund because of two rather “one-off” credits that I had never heard of and didn’t expect. This will help us be able to send Noah and Olivia to the States this summer. There is still more to pay for those trips but the Lord surprised me with this and He’s able to surprise us with more provision as well!

• Worship Week – This week is a “heavy” worship week. It started this morning with leading worship for our Easter service. Tomorrow will be my weekly “Monday-afternoon worship” and then the real activity starts. This week a church from Switzerland with which our church is connected will be in the area for their annual church camp. Several of us will be with them this week to help in leading their twice daily worship times. This is a wonderful opportunity not only to participate in their worship but to sow into the relationship between the two churches. Please pray simply for strength in giving service, but also for increased heart connection that crosses the important French-Swiss border.

• Receiving – We have the opportunity to receive some extra blessing this month. Angela, Olivia and I will be in Germany the 17th-20th for a conference with Bill Johnson and Kathryn Scott. We’re very excited about that. This coming weekend, Olivia will be participating in a special youth week-end at church. Much has transpired in this last month with the youth and their thirst for God. This is already an answer to Olivia’s prayers for her classmates. God is stirring their hearts in a new way. More Lord! At the end of the month Angela may attend a national gathering in Paris of France en Feu that seeks to make France a worshiping nation by encouraging and facilitating extended worship gatherings all over the nation…calling the Church back to her First Love and her priestly calling in the nation. In all these opportunities this month, please pray for our receptive hearts and also for safety in the different longer trips we’ll be on.

• Home Improvement – We’ve discussed at times (here, here, here and here) the lamentable state of the back of our house and our inability to do something about it due to financial and time constraints. For awhile I’ve wanted to fix the problem in a way that would open new possibilities inside our house. Our neighbor at one time was ok with our plans, but he’s become fed-up with our inaction and has rescinded his accord with our intentions and has gone ahead with modifications in his courtyard that essentially nullify the possibilities that we had envisioned. Additionally, he has concerns about the safety of the back our house with respect to his courtyard and has written a letter to the mayor’s office stating his position that if anything should happen, he would hold us responsible. We have an acquaintance from Olivia’s school that is in the construction business who is sympathetic to our situation and has helped me already with fixing our roof. He’s come and offered his counsel based on the situation. He suggests that we do away with the part of our house that juts into the neighbor’s courtyard (which houses our only toilet) and that we begin some significant changes on the inside of our house to accommodate this. I’m ready to act..mostly because this situation has been a MAJOR thorn in my side for about 5 years now and I’m just ready for it to go away. Our biggest constraints at this time are this man’s exceedingly packed schedule and finances (oh, and we’ve already received our furnace man’s 2nd warning that the end is near for our furnace too). These are exciting times to see how God will provide! Please pray for discernment to know how and when to act and for God to use this situation as a testimony of His goodness to those around us…especially our neighbor.

Your partnership is vital and precious! Thank you!
David

I felt strongly that God wanted me to set aside Feb. for Him – Call it an early Lent. I had already started fasting all sweets in January and the church asked us to fast in some way during Feb., so I continued and David fasted solid food on Mondays. Thanks to a book called Listening Prayer, I also discovered the pleasures of journaling at last, really enriching my time. With a 2-week school vacation this month, demands were light, making it easy to spend most mornings in my “new” leather recliner, tasting the joys of being filled up with God on a daily basis. Even though I had an amazing grace for the fast, I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t alleviate a few migraines, nor did I lose a single pound, though it did break my snacking habit! February ended up being the calm before the storm, as now I’m deep into a month chock full of hospitality, accompanied by loud construction in the courtyard that jars my “quiet time.”

The church had also planned an extended tabernacle on Feb 27th from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. that coincided with Purim and ended our fasts. David and I were among the handful of people that attended the entire 12 hours. This is still part of our vision here, so we gave it our all. It was miraculous that I was able to prepare all week and still have energy to participate fully – Another benefit of my fast? While I did most of the work ahead of time to transform the church in the visible realm, David was sweating it out as it happened, making sure the invisible ran smoothly in the technical and sound areas. When we were down to our last musical group change, he was finally able to step down and accompany on the drum set, worshiping with the last bit of strength he had left. So what does a 12 hr.”sacrifice of praise” look like? Here’s a handy step-by-step illustrated guide:

How to prepare yourself for a 12 hour Purim event: Move closer to God the month before and fast something that your flesh clamors for. Volunteer to create corners in the sanctuary where participants can enter into the story of Esther and interact with the Trinity in a personal way to break up the corporate worship time. Lose sleep the week before while creative ideas flood your mind. Meet with a small team and get it into order. Deep clean the church, move out all furniture except 60 chairs, and build corners while only spending $30. Make 6 dozen homemade traditional Purim cookies. Create worksheets for the children to get all age levels engaged in the theme. How to worship God for 12 hours straight: Get your adrenaline up by being greeted by the accolades of others for all your work. Lead the first 90 min. of worship. Try out your corners and find out that God’s presence is there, even for you! Draw a picture in the art corner and give it to someone you don’t know. Enjoy worshiping as a participant with a French Christian recording artist. Keep incense burning at the entry and refill wine and food at the banquet table. Film your youngest daughter fulfilling her destiny and leading worship! Project words for German worship team with the help of someone who actually speaks the language. Take daughter home midway through the day and stop by the local sandwich shop to refuel. Bring back a sandwich for David and eat yours in the nursery while checking on the worksheet supply and playing with your favorite kids. Repeat #4 and receive more accolades from late comers. Worship with corporate movement while the older youth team leads. When families show up for the 7-9 pm service slot, gather the children up front with shakers for the traditional reading of the Megillah (Jewish story of Esther, punctuated by making lots of noise when Haman’s name is mentioned.) Take photos. Enjoy the sermon on the deeper truths of Esther. Teach your favorite 3 yr old how to draw a face at the art table. Start policing older children whose parents aren’t, to protect the ambiance. (They can’t resist running/skidding on the laminate floors across the front of the sanctuary during our exuberant worship times, and I seem to be the only one who notices when it gets out of hand.) Breathe a sigh of relief when the families head home at 9:30. Celebrate the end with dancing until you can’t stand up anymore. Put the cutest face drawing in the world on your refrigerator. Welcome your first guest into your home the next evening – a German angel who stayed 5 days… Still praying for spring! Love, Angela

As I mentioned a month ago, we’ll be adjusting our newsletter templates to hopefully make them more “fool-proof” (today’s email clients are pretty foolish!). I can’t say that “I’ve arrived” with this design, but it’s robbed my time enough for today that I’m ready to simply write some and get it out!

February finished with such a flourish that I’m holding on to it for March Momentum. I’ll let the feedback from last month’s requests explain…

Our 12-hour worship celebration capped off the month on the 27th of February when we sang and danced before the Lord from 11am to 11pm. Since the day we chose for our “tabernacle of worship” fell on the date of the Jewish festival of Purim, we, as a church, studied the story of Esther in the Bible (where this festival has its origin) to help guide our time. Angela, Olivia and I were all involved in some of the worship leading. Angela directed the decoration efforts which included different themed “stations” where one could meditate in specific ways. I also was in charge of the technical side of things (sound, words, recording). It was a challenging and tiring but very rewarding effort that we believe was quite important in the activities into which the Lord is leading our congregation. Angela will undoubtedly write more about it. You can check out photos and videos of the time in our gallery.

This also capped off Angela’s monastic month where she swore off sweets and sleeping-in to focus on God and what He’s saying to her right now. It was a very profitable time for her, but I’ll not steal her thunder. Thank you so much for lifting her up!

Major progress was made in the project to purchase and renovate our church building to house diverse Kingdom projects. With jack hammers and any other number of tools, a small open vertical shaft was made from the basement to the attic of the building (4 floors). This was important because the first activity in the renovation is the installation of an elevator. We feel this is significant, in that our desire is to join heaven and earth in practical ways and to make the Kingdom accessible. The elevator reminds me of the dream of Jacob in the Bible of the angels ascending and descending to carry out the Lord’s plans and purposes. In the near term, this allows us to have an accurate estimate on the cost of the elevator since the companies will now actually know what opening the entire shaft will entail. The brochure has also been made to announce the project and seek funding from donors. The image at the left shows the new logo and a picture of our building with the vineyards of Guebwiller behind it.

The progress of this building project has come to a point where our pastor’s wife can turn over the leadership to others and now she can concentrate more on the establishment of the language school. Unfortunately, it was not the only thing she’s been working on and in March she will be gone for three weeks in Mexico. So, we are still in need of more forward progress on this front. This is becoming critical.

A meeting was held in February where everyone could give their feedback on the progress of the high school so far this year and their opinions about whether to add the next year in the education cycle in September or to continue to concentrate on how to make things better with just a single year of high school. I don’t believe that a decision has yet been made. Still a matter of prayer.

• Priming the pumps – In February, 3 leaders from our church spent 2 weeks in Redding, California visiting Bethel Church to connect more deeply with this ministry. In March, a dozen or so people from our church, including the pastoral couple and other leaders, will spend 3 weeks attending the “Master Builder” course at the Comunidad Cristiana Internacional in Monterrey, Mexico. In April, others may go to Bethel and Angela and I will be attending a conference in Germany with Bethel’s Pastor, Bill Johnson. This is a time of drinking deeply at different “wells” where God is moving in concrete, society-changing ways. This is what we want for our region, so that our region can be blessed to be a blessing. Please pray for strong connections with the right people that will enrich us (and them) so that we grow in our ability to impact our world.

• Hosting! – Right at this moment, we’re hosting a wonderful young German lady in our home for a week. She is here on a 6-week internship to learn about Christian Education for her university studies. Next week is the annual visit of American high school students from Illinois. We’re not as involved this year but we will be doing some things with them. We will be hosting a lady from Paris one weekend as she comes to visit the school to see if it’s the right place for her son. Then we will host a young English lady for several days who is on a “reconnaissance” visit before she comes to do a year-long internship here next year. These are enriching times for us and we are glad to be able to facilitate the visits of those who desire to drink of these “wells” here also. They, of course, can be tiring, especially for Angela as she does most of the work. Please pray for her strength during these times and for good relational connections that will grow for the future. Pray also for our family of faith here as we know that these visits will only increase and we need a team in place for logistics and hospitality.

• Teaching! – This month, Angela will be a substitute English teacher in the elementary school for one of the teachers who is going to Mexico. Please pray for her energy levels and teaching inspiration. It’s normally a joy for her, but these kids can be a handful sometimes.

• Worship! – Some of the worship team leaders will also be going to Mexico. So, this month could be particularly interesting with respect to Sunday worship and technical responsibilities. Please pray for the smooth coordination of the remaining “skeleton crew” and endurance for increased levels of responsibility for us in this area this month.

• Summer planning – Noah is home for his spring break towards the end of March and we hope to spend some time finalizing details of how he will spend his summer…hopefully in the States. This will take a fair amount of coordination and, of course, finances. Please pray for clarity and provision for Noah’s summer plans. We believe this could be a key summer for him with respect to his university education direction.

Marching with momentum!
David