Eglise Protestante Saint-Cyprien

     This past Sunday l'Eglise Protestante Saint-Cyprien had it's first church service. Praise God! Such a huge and encouraging step! It was definitely a very happy Sunday. Jonathan C. shared over Ephesians 3:1-14 and we discussed the questions: What is the purpose of the gospel? What does that change? And how do we respond? It was a great message accompanied with worship and followed by lunch and games. It was such a joyful day of fellowship. (Side note: I also learned that Apples-to-Apples French edition is a great tool for learning lots of new french words!) Keep praying that we can find a building for our church in the Saint-Cyprien area (by January) and for the funds necessary to pay rent and other financial obligations.

I keep going back to the lyrics of Christ Tomlin's song "God of This City":

"You're the God of this City 
You're the King of these people 
You're the Lord of this nation 
You are

............
For greater things have yet to come 
And greater things are still to be done in this City 
Greater thing have yet to come 
And greater things are still to be done in this City" 

"Our desire is to give glory to God by allowing many to know Jesus Christ, the power of the gospel and the joy of a life transformed by him."

Here's what's happening!

Coming out of a somewhat tranquil two weeks, we have a busy and exciting week ahead of us! 

Here's a small recap on some things that have been happening...

   The weekend before last we got to do some street evangelism together with other christian youth from churches here in Toulouse. It was a pretty awesome experience! Since Halloween was coming up, we had little bags with candy in them that we handed out to people as we asked them about their thoughts and opinions on the celebration of Halloween, which then opened the door to other conversations and questions. Some conversations not as deep as others, but all interesting and all an opportunity to engage the lost. I've been reading through Acts and I was reminded of how Paul approached everyone differently, and in a way they, specifically, would understand. The conversations and the way you share with the French people in Toulouse who have very little to zero knowledge about God, the bible, and Christianity is much different to the way you would approach and talk to most people in America. It seems like a pretty simple concept, but it's a huge part of missions here that I'm glad I was reminded of. Overall, it was also a joy and encouragement to meet and spend time with other Christians here in Toulouse and to spark good conversations with new people!

    That same weekend, on Sunday, we had another biking accident and surprisingly it wasn't me! We were biking home from eating dinner at a yummy Kebab shop, and my friend, Becky, hit something in the road and did a front flip off her bike. We had our first encounter with the French firemen- the people they send for such incidents instead of paramedics I guess? Some people who saw her fall came over and helped us call for the ambulance. We were so thankful for that cause Will and I had no idea who to call! She ended up going to the hospital for stitches. It was a pretty crazy night, and it was just by the grace of God that she wasn't hurt any worse than she was. She's already pretty much all better! It's a praise that she recovered quickly. :)

   Last Monday I started a new French course which is specifically for oral practice. It's such a blessing because it's an extra month of classes hat I hadn't originally planned on having, but God has allowed me to have! Maybe it's cause he can hear my French and is thinking more along the lines of, "Poor girl, she needs all the help she can get..." Either way, I'm thankful for the opportunity. :)

   Something else along the line of languages is that Becky and I got to prepare this weeks lesson for English Live! It went well, we even learned that next time we use video clips for the lessons we need to bring bigger speakers. haha :) Although it was just something little, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to help and serve in this way.

-----------------> Here are some things happening soon!

Thursday (Nov 6th)- We're going on a prayer walk around the Saint Cyprien area. Currently looking for a place to rent for our new church to meet- we will be praying that we can find a good building/place for that. It would be awesome if you guys could pray for that too. :)

Saturday (Nov 9th)- We have another Soirée RAP (read previous post for info on RAP). Pray that lost of new people can come and that it will be another great night of fellowship! 

Sunday (Nov 10)- Our first service as a new church (this week it will be at the Gibbons home)! Such a praise! An exciting and big step. :)

Saturday (Nov 30)- Thanksgiving Chinois-- together with our Chinese team we are having a 'Chinese Thanksgiving' night at the Residence San Fransico. This is just a fun night to spend time together, hang out, and meet new people. It's a night open for anyone to come and we're praying that lots of people do!

We've got lots of important things happening! 

Thanks for your prayers! :)

 

A month later...

     Sorry for my lack of communication and updates, I'll do my best to get better at it. There's so mucht to share, I'm not even sure where to start! This last month has been one of the most unique and yet most awesome months of my life. Every day brings new experiences, trials and blessings!
I guess I'll start out by actually telling you guys more about what exactly I'm doing here. Our Reach Global team, along with a Chinese Team we are partnered with, has started an association here in Toulouse called Connect.Our association was created in France in 2011. It allows Toulouse youth to meet by providing interactive activities for socio-cultural and humanitarian character in keeping with Christian ethics. (You can check out our webpage here: http://www.connect-toulouse.com)
     This last month we've started up English Live again for the year - a discussion group we have every Monday for people who want to practice their English; this has been a great opportunity to meet new people and a joy to be able to be a help to others. In an odd way it's been an encouragement by reminding me that I'm not the only one trying to learn a new language and there there are several French people who are also taking on the challenge to learning a foreign language. it's also been such a pleasure to just be of aid to French people in this aspect. Mondays are definitely days I look forward to!
Two weeks ago we had a soirée film (film night) where we watched the movie "Pay It Forward" and discussed the idea of how to make the world a better place. The room was packed with about 20 people, 3 of which were girls from my class and another couple were from the residence we're staying in. It was a solid night with great conversation and community. We were all very thankful for such a great outcome!
     An additional aspect of responsibility on our team is volunteer work. I've had the pleasure to partner with a home for abused women here in Toulouse, Henri Dunant, where I get to babysit on Wednesday evenings. The nursery is open from about 15h to 20h so the women can leave their children in our care so they can have time to run errands or get anything else done that they need to do. The children I've been able to spend time with these past two weeks have been nothing but a joy and a blessing! One little boy in particular, Yanis, has been so sweet to actually help me with my French whenever I'm there. So yes, I'm being taught French by a four-year-old. It's been a very humbling experience.
     Another special event we have is RAPP. This is a small bible study we have about every two weeks for Christians and non-Christians. We have dinner, worship, a message, and a discussion. This last Saturday at RAPP, Becky and I had the pleasure of giving the announcements at the end of the night. We were definitely nervous that nobody would understand us, but I think we did pretty well with the little conversation/skit we put together along withe the video of our team dancing to a rap (aka RAPP--pun intended) song. We got everyone to laugh, so I think that was a good sing? It was definitely a great night of fellowship!
     These have just been some of the highlights of what has happened the last month. I've also been attending language school- this week, in fact, is my last week. It's been a great help to remember what I have studied int eh past and also to learn a lot of new things. I've also had the opportunity to make many friends at school. Besides school, Happy People, a language exchange cafe, has been a great tool for practicing my French and also for meeting lots of new people. I've been able to hang out, talk, and practice French with a couple of girls that I met from going to Happy People. It's been an incredible help for learning the language and an answer to prayer for meeting new people. Two fo the people we have been hanging out with the most, Aleksi and Jakob, are freinds that live with us at the residence. Aleksi is always great with encouraging us to practice our French and also correcting us whenever we say things wrong (which is every other sentence). Aleksi and Jakob are also my friends I've been playing soccer with so that makes that much cooler. It's pretty cool to see how far our French has come in the last month. I remember my first couple days here I could barely introduce myself and coud never understand what anyone was saying and now I can hold a bunch of conversations and can understand most of what people say (of they don't talk too fast). My French is coming along, guys, slowly but surely.
     Although pretty lengthy, this is just a brief overview of what's been happening this last month. I will do my best to write smaller posts more frequently to keep you guys better updated!




My prayer requests for now would be:

• For my French to keep improving
• For my relationships/contracts that I've started and will keep making- that they may be blessed and fruitful
• For our team-- that we can all be a blessing and encouragement to one another and work well together
• For me to continue to grow and learn everything God has for me to learn here
• That I may be a blessing to others

Thank you guys so much for your prayers!


     Let me know if you have questions about something in particular or about anything I didn't answer! Just shoot me and email or Facebook me and I'll be happy to answer you or reply with a post!


God Bless! :)

View from my kitchen







Ah, The Trio -- Becky, Will, and I.







The Team! -Team outing to the Pyrenees mountains in Andorra










Danielle and I in some hot springs in the Pyrenees mountains!
















Our first English Live of the season!

                                          ^ a few of the precious children I get to take care of!









Lovin' gorgeous Toulouse :)










Funny Story: That giant bruise on my leg was from a biking incident I had. Late as usual, I was rushing to class this morning and I managed to run into a tree with my bike. It left me a colourful reminder to wake up on time from now on. And, yes, I had an audience of about 10 people see this happen. I manage to embarrass myself on the daily.

Week One

Hey guys!

I thought I'd start a blog to keep you posted on my next three months here in Toulouse. This way you can stay updated and get some insight on what's going on with me here! I'll try not to bore you or confuse you with my scattered thoughts. :)

I can't believe it's already been a full week since I've arrived; it seems like time flies by here! This past week has mostly just been about getting settled in and getting to know the city and meeting some of the people I'll be working with here. Michael and Emilie Gibbons are the team leaders- I've only spent a small amount of time with them so far but I'm excited to get to know them better and learn much about loving and serving the Lord from them. I've spent most of my time with Becky, a German intern, and Will, an American intern. Will has been awesome showing Becky and I, the newbies, the ropes on how to get around and survive here. And it's been great having Becky to explore and get lost in the city with as we try and get acquainted with everything here. Just in the first week I feel like we've all gotten to come to know quite a bit of each others personalities, similarities, and differences. There have been lots of funny experiences already cause we're all very different! But I'm looking forward to getting to know them a lot more these next 3 months. I've definitely been blessed to meet them.
I've started to get acquainted with the bus, metro, and bike system they have here so I can get around. I love how I can go everywhere via public transportation and walking instead of having to drive myself around everywhere. I've also gotten to explore a lot this last week and have found Toulouse to be a beautiful place!
Aside from the exploring, I've also signed up for my french courses, moved into my dorm at the YMCA residence, and begun learning how to live on my own. My french courses start on the 30th of September- definitely excited about them, but also something y'all can pray about! It's hard to try and speak French all the time and not speak English with the other interns, but it's something we try to do so we can practice our French. I'm looking forward to all the French I'll be learning from the courses, but I'm also hoping and praying that it will be an opportunity to make friends and start building relationships with people I meet through my classes. It's a bit difficult to meet people at the San Francisco (the YMCA) because most of the people staying there are men, but there are a few other girls/women that I'm hoping I can maybe get to meet and hopefully make friends with. I was actually introduced to an Albanian guy who stays there, and I met the cook who is Spanish-- this means that this past week I've been speaking English, French, Spanish, and Albanian so my brain is basically on language-overload and is in total chaos. I love it. My room at our residence is quite small, but it seems to be just the right size and I have a big window that makes it feel a little more spacious which I'm very grateful for. I'm all the way up on the 5th floor, (or the 4th floor- because they have an odd system here in France where they think the 1st floor is actually the 0 floor. PSH.) so I get my exercise going up and down the stairs all day. I've also managed to go grocery shopping a couple times and have made myself sandwiches for lunch almost every day this week. I'm already missing my mom's home-cooked meals! Hopefully I'll get better at cooking within the next 3 months.

There's about a million other things I could write about, but I'll leave it at this for now.
I'll just finish off with some prayer requests I have and a few pictures. :)

Pray Requests would be:

-For determination to speak French and to try and avoid speaking English.
-That I can get to know my way around.
-For my classes that start on the 30th. That I can learn a lot, make friends, and be a light.
-The processes of getting to know all the other team members- that I can be a blessing and be blessed!
-To have the courage to be bold for the Lord.

My first coffee in France :)

The view from my room in the afternoon and at sunrise

My room :)

Thanks for all your support and your prayers. They're such a blessing and a huge encouragement.
Love y'all!

-Mary Andrea