This is the prayer room 'before' picture. Check back next month for the 'after' picture

Many thanks to those of you who read this and pray for us – here’s our February offering:

1.  We leave France tomorrow for the Children’s Ministry conference in Eastbourne. Over 1000 will gather and we’ll be part of the exhibition and the main celebration team.

2.  We have just about finished painting and preparing all the rooms in the flat and now, this month, we will concentrate on getting the prayer room ready. Please pray that we will have creativity and insight as we do this. Also, that through our connections with the local church here, we may have the information displayed in both English and French.

3.  Please pray for a new flat-mate for our son Ben. Renting out our property helps support us being here, so it would be good to get a new tenant asap.

4.  We would appreciate your prayers for our relationships to grow with the people at our church. Some of them speak English, but we are mainly relying on our limited French, so prayers that this will continue to develop would be good too. (We are finding that being more immersed in a French town/church is already helping with this.)

5.  Please pray for our families back in England – that they will know God’s love in tangible ways.

Please feel free to e-mail if we can pray for you in any way.

Blessings from Dieppe

Dave & Sharon

Widely travelled chicken

Thanks to all who have prayed for us over the last couple of months. Our move went well and we’re grateful to our friends at The Bridge who helped with this. Carrying heavy boxes of books over cobblestones and up a flight of stairs has to be a true expression of friendship!

Here’s our latest requests for prayer:

1.  Please pray for us as we get the place ready (painting rooms, etc) and prepare the prayer room. We are hoping to complete this process by the end of February and will keep you posted.

2.  We’ve met some of our neighbours, but would be glad of your prayers that we’ll get to know them more over the coming months.

3.  We are joining the Apostolic church here in Dieppe and would appreciate your prayers that we will settle in and find ways to serve, and build relationships with people.

4. Pray that our grasp of the language will increase and that our conversation classes will go well. There is an opportunity for friendship building here too.

5.  We’re going to Prague later in the month to teach and minister to mission activists from as many as 25 nations. We sense this is a very strategic gathering, Please pray for us as we share. We’ll also be back at The Bridge in Paris for our regular monthly teaching time in the Sunday gathering. We value your prayers for all of these opportunities to share about the extent and reality of salvation through Jesus.

Once again, thanks so much for praying for us and if you have a moment, send us an e-mail about how we can pray for you as well.

Dave & Sharon

As you may have heard/read, we have a few changes coming up. We’re moving to Dieppe to deepen our involvement in French life, culture and church. We’d value your prayers for the following:

1. Please pray that we’ll see God in the details of our move; in the packing/transition process in Paris and the same (unpacking) in Dieppe.

2. We would value your prayers as we make new connections and friendships in Dieppe, and Normandy generally. We already have a few fledgling friendships there – pray that they will grow and develop.

3. We will be joining a French church (with a bilingual pastor). Pray that we may continue to learn the language well as we are more immersed in the culture.

4. We will still be involved at The Bridge (once a month). Please ask God for continued growth, both in people’s relationship with Him and also numerically.

5. We believe that our new home in Dieppe will be a place where people catch a vision for prayer and mission. Pray that people will come and find God at work in us and in them for His glory.

We really do appreciate your support and hope that we can pray for you too. Let us know if there are any specific needs.

We have incorporated 2 months of prayer requests as we’re a bit late getting the information out. We’ll be back in January. We hope you all have a Christmas that is full of joy.

Dave and Sharon

Visited a church in Paris where they meet in a coffee shop!

Many thanks to those of you who pray for us; it’s a real encouragement to know that you are part of what we are doing, through prayer. It can work both ways, so please keep in touch as to how we can be joining with you in the things you are talking to God about.

Here’s some prayer starters for this month: (bonus sixth request this time!)

• We had a good time at our Dinner with Friends group in September. Please pray that our gathering this month will be a time of enjoying good food and conversation together, and that we might be aware of God’s blessing and presence as we eat, talk and listen.
• Our weekly quiz night has started up again. Please pray for the ongoing relationships with those we go with and those we meet there. Resisting the temptation to ask for prayers that we might win!
• It would be good to remember The Jesus Lifestyle course we are hosting and helping the leader with. We meet once a week for a meal (food again!) and then watch the DVD and it’s opened up for discussion after. It’s a follow-up to Alpha based on the Sermon on the Mount.
• It’s easy to be busy doing the stuff, so we would value your prayers for time to ‘waste’ with God and to make sure that we are giving out from a place of fullness, rather than running on empty.
• Dave continues to preach at The Bridge and Sharon is helping encourage prayer. The numbers are growing past the 100 mark and include a wide variety of people from many nations. They include several exploring Christianity for the first time or returning to Jesus.
• Dave is at a strategic missions conference in early October about reaching the 2.1 billion children of the world with the message of Jesus. 100 people are gathering from around the world. Pray for a really fruitful 6 days.

Thank you for your support

Dave & Sharon

Cley - part of our Norfolk trip in August

We trust that you have all had some time for rest and relaxation over the summer. We had a good and enjoyable time back in England and received fantastic hospitality from many of our friends at Living Stones and elsewhere.

We also enjoyed a few days away in the New Forest, and Dave led the main sessions at a weekend family event in Norwich.

Back in France, Dave recently preached on the prodigal son at The Bridge. We were very encouraged as we prayed after the service with a ‘returning prodigal’.

Here’s our 5 prayer points for September:

1. Please pray for the two new life groups we are involved with; one we are leading, called Dinner with Friends. We are hoping this will be a relaxed gathering around the dinner table where conversation and friendship will take place. We are also helping to lead another group called The Jesus Lifestyle, which is a follow up to the Alpha Course. We’re believing that God will be at work in these two settings and that all of our lives will be transformed.

2. Please pray that the ‘tent-making’ work will continue to come in so that we can help support what we are doing here.

3. Our quiz night returns later this month. Please pray for ongoing relationships to grow and new ones to form. The owner has now started to introduce us to people who come in and enquire about an international church, and one person, along with his family has been along to The Bridge!

4. It would be good to pray that The Bridge will continue to grow and flourish and, as team members return home after their short term mission, new people will continue to step into the gap that this inevitably leaves.

5. We would value your prayers for our family back in the U.K. Please pray that God would be their strength and source of life.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers – we really appreciate your support in this way and are aware that it underpins everything we do. Pleased contact us if we can pray for you in any way.

Found at the Merci store here in Paris

Here’s a picture from a shop we visited called Merci. The wealthy owners donate all the profit from this shop to children’s work in Madagascar as their way of saying thanks. We’re trying to be a thankful couple and indeed Sharon is writing about it once or twice a week.

We have much to give thanks for as we have had visits from family and friends, been involved in preaching here in Paris and have helped lead two prayer walks in the area where we live. The book that Dave wrote with Roy Godwin was recently No 1 in the UK Christian Book Charts and sneaked into the Amazon top 500. There is now also a video of Dave talking to 500 leaders in Budapest about the priority of mission to children – scroll down to view that.

Sharon’s brother was baptised in Spain and it was great to support him on the day and take part in the actual baptism.

So, here are our prayer requests for the next 2 months:

1. We would appreciate your prayers for this coming Saturday, 9th July, as we are involved in a ‘Grace Outpouring’ conference with Roy Godwin in London. Please pray that all the details will work out smoothly on the day.

2. For the ongoing friendships with people in our town, i.e. neighbours, people running businesses, such as tea rooms, restaurants, etc.

3. A good time with family visiting towards the end of July.

4. In August we are participating in a Bible Week in Norwich. We would appreciate your prayers that this event will be helpful to the many families who attend.

5. Dave is creating a new global magazine about mission to children. It will launch later this year but much of the work will be done over the summer. Please pray that he will know wisdom, insight and creativity as he seeks to equip others for mission.

How can we pray for you? Please let us know.

If anyone would like more specific information about any of the above, please get in touch at dave@tahilla.com

Thanks for all your support – hope you have a great summer.

Thanks

Near the Place des Vosges - Central Paris

Thank you to all those who check out the site from time to time. If you pray, here’s a few starter points:

1. We’ve had quite a few people staying recently and it’s been good. We have more to come, so please pray that the time spent together will be meaningful and that everyone will feel at home. We believe that many of these conversations are important for us and those who stay. (Catch a flavour of who has been at www.uneviederemerciements.com)

2. We would appreciate continuing prayers for wisdom and creativity as we seek to become more involved with people and events in our town. There are a few friendships which are forming – please pray that these will grow and that we would be good representatives for Jesus and what it means to follow Him. We’re getting to know key figures in the international community here who are not Christ followers but are not hostile. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will ‘go before us’ in these meetings and conversations.

3. Sharon’s brother, David, is getting baptised this month. Pray for a great celebration and many more adventures with God as he embraces this new life.

4. We would value prayer that we would serve faithfully in the areas we’re involved in at The Bridge, i.e. Life Group support, prayer, hospitality, teaching. We’re seeing real fruit in several of these areas but we’re keen to see more.

5. We’re reluctant to create a fifth prayer point just for the sake of it BUT we would like to encourage you to ask the Lord what you can pray for. Thanks.

We’ve seen some prayers answered:
Dave’s brother is on the mend now after suffering a small stroke.
Dave had a great time in Budapest. He spoke to over 500 leaders about children and the mission of the church and received positive feedback from many. He also spent time with 50 leaders looking at ministry models for work with children – another conference is planned for 2013.

Please send us a message if there are things we can support you with in prayer.

We're thankful for our balcony

Hello to everyone who visits this page. We’d like to start this month by thanking you for your prayers, and God for the way He’s been answering them.

The Alpha retreat went very well, with good discussion, prayer and reflection, and we look forward to ongoing friendships with all who came.

We would appreciate you talking to God about the following this month:

1. Dave is speaking to 700 church leaders in Budapest next week about the urgency of mission to children. He would value your prayers for this.

2. We are continuing to form friendships within the community, although our form in the quiz competition has dipped recently! Please pray that we will find more opportunities like this. (The forming friendships bit, not the losing at the quiz bit!).

3. We have more people coming to stay this month. We would value your prayers that this would be a fruitful time and that everyone will feel at home.

4. The church we are involved with  – The Bridge – are continuing in their search for a building. Please pray that we find a suitable place in the right location. Numbers are growing and around 120 people came to our Easter celebration.

5. Dave’s brother had a small stroke last week. We would appreciate your prayers for him to make a full recovery.

Thank you once again for your support and friendship. Please check out www.uneviederemerciements.com if you’re interested in the more day-to-day stuff about living here.

Dave & Sharon

A little garden near our house!

Prayer Points – April

Thank you to all who come and visit this site and check out our prayer needs, etc. Please see the following for our specific requests this month:

1) We’re travelling quite a bit during April (especially Dave) so we’d value your prayers for strength and protection, plus God’s wisdom for the different places and events we’re taking part in.

2) For Alpha – there’s only a couple of sessions to go now. Please pray that the relationships that have formed will continue to grow, and also that our relationship with God will have deepened or be ignited for the first time and overflow out to others, as a result of getting together in this way.

3) We have some Easter celebrations planned at The Bridge. Please pray that God’s resurrection life will be known and experienced through our time together.

4) Please pray that both of us will live and serve out of a place of love, gratitude and fullness and not merely from a place of duty or performance.

5) Dave is preaching in Bexhill this week and then travels to Philadelphia for a planning meeting for an international conference on mission to children. Pray that his contributions are valuable and build the Kingdom of God.

Thanks again so much for remembering us. Please keep in touch so we can pray for you too.

Sharon’s still exploring what it means to live a thankful life, now from the perspective of living in a different country. Check out www.uneviederemerciements.com

French Florists Display

The month of February seems to have flown by so it’s time for an update and to say thanks again for your prayers. Here’s some things we’d appreciate you talking to God about for us:

1.  Alpha – it’s going well – please pray for us as we plan the retreat time away, that God will be at work in all of us and that we will find a suitable venue.

2.  Please continue to pray for our family:  Dave’s mum hasn’t been well, but she seems to be recovering now.  Dave’s brother Ken is in the middle of a house move. Sharon’s brother David is well but pray for him as he comforts others.

3.  Life at The Bridge: for the next few Sundays as we start a new series on Mission, and for the various Life Groups – that good relationships will be formed with each other and that we will all grow in our relationship with God and our ability to live it out before others.

4.  That we will be people of grace and that our home will be a place of hospitality to those visiting, either friends and family from England or people connected to The Bridge.

5. Dave is hosting a Grace Outpouring conference in Bristol in mid-March. Pray for the details of the day to run smoothly but also ask God to pour out an abundance of the Holy Spirit. (Find out more here)

It really  is a huge encouragement to know that people are praying for us – please make contact if we can pray for you about anything.  If you’re interested in more of the day-to-day stuff about life in France please visit www.uneviederemerciements.com

Thanks and may God bless you

Dave & Sharon