Happy Christmastime!

Christmas Show:

We've been working harder than ever to get everything done that needs doing before Christmas. December is always a busy time in ministry and this December is particularly busy because we are working on the Christmas show with the youth club. The show is going to be Sunday, the 22nd, so we want to get them as ready as possible before we leave for the US. Thankfully Ben and Sandrine will be present on the day of the show to direct and keep things rolling. Honestly, we couldn't do any of this without them.

Club Tournesol:

Our Club theme this time was colors - here the kids play Twister.

Club Tournesol went pretty well last month, but we weren't expecting to have 25 children (regular attendance recently has been between ten and fifteen kids). At least ten of those twenty-five were from unchurched families, which is encouraging since Club Tournesol is primarily intended to be a ministry of evangelization.   

Maryline made a huge gameboard that was a little like chutes and ladders for the color day.

Prayer Request: Please be praying for Club Tournesol this month (the 15th) because we've invited a special group of professionals to do the program, and their ministry is a clown ministry with a whole afternoon centered around evangelization. Please pray that God touches hearts and that our invitations reach many children.

Back in the Saddle Again

These past few months with a new baby have just flown by. We feel so blessed to share our lives with this amazing little person, and the blessing of Havalyn being a missionary is twofold: Havalyn can take Zacharie along wherever she needs to be to work and she can slowly work her way back to her ministry responsibilities.

Our little buddy is getting so expressive!

This past week we had Youth Group on Friday night as usual and we started practicing and planning for the Christmas pageant. The script that we will be using was originally in English, so Havalyn and our church worship leader Sandrine (who is also quite proficient in English) worked for many hours translating everything, from stage directions to the jokes, into French. Both of us agree that we won't be translating any books any time soon - translating is hard work! But it was fun to work together and the script appears to be a winner with the youth (At the read-through they couldn't stop laughing at the jokes.)

Another big responsibility that we are keeping up with is the monthly women's Bible study and prayer meeting.  Havalyn often spends the whole month envisioning and planning her message for the women. The meeting is always the last Thursday of the month and the topic this year is "Living a faith that is fresh." This topic was born from the first message that Havalyn presented in September, where she spoke about how we would never serve leftovers to our friends or our boss, so why would we offer the King of Kings our leftover faith? She shared about the life of Lot, who was a man who didn't walk with God himself, but who walked with a man who walked with God (Abraham). Reheated or secondhand faith didn't work for Lot, and it won't work for us too if our desire is to walk with God.

Our youth like to have our prayer time on the stage.

Please be praying specifically for the youth group, which was reorganized this year to incorporate youth from 13 to 25 (So quite the mix!) So far things are going well - the youth have a lot of good questions and seem motivated to follow God. Please pray that their hearts would be able to receive and practice the Biblical truths that we are teaching them, and please pray for our youth leaders that we would be communicating what God's wants them to hear.

God remembers

Welcome Zacharie Duchenne!

 

 We've been quite busy lately with a different kind of mission than usual! We're very happy to welcome to the world and to our mission family our sweet little son, Zacharie Thomas Paul Duchenne. Zach (as we like to call him) was named after both a prophet and a priest (the father of John the Baptist) and we spelled it like it's spelled in the French version of the Bible. We wanted him to have a name that means something, and in the Bible Zacharie (or Zachariah in English) means "The Lord remembers." We are certain that the Lord remembers - He has certainly not forgotten us in this process of pregnancy and then the very successful delivery. The Lord has also not forgotten us because He has given us a healthy, sweet little baby boy. We are so grateful for him and so joyful to be his parents.

We haven't forgotten about you, our churches, friends and family who support and pray for us and our new family. We will be sending out a newsletter as soon as possible - please be patient with us as all of us adjust to these new changes and this new life that God has given us.

Havalyn looks forward to returning to full-time mission work this month, though it will have to be a gradual transition, everything considered. Jean-Louis has already taken in hand his responsibilities with the youth in the church.

Growing in Grace

We apologize for skipping a week last week. Havalyn was especially tired last week. Normally during the school year we will make every effort to post weekly. 

In Belgium, Father's Day (Or "Fete de Peres" as we call it in French) is always the second Sunday of the month of June, so we celebrated on the ninth, with the whole Sunday school singing to us the song "Notre Pere" (Our Father). Here's a pic of our little ones. They sing so well :-)

This past weekend we had Youth Club as usual on Friday night, where Jean-Louis shared again about integrity, but this time with the young adults rather than the teenagers. On Sunday we had Club Tournesol ("Sunflower Club") which is our monthly children's club. Havalyn shared the message through a puppet sketch where Giraffe (see right) decided that he didn't want to grow anymore because growing is uncomfortable and requires change. But his friend Puppy showed him through a few antics and then a Bible verse that Jesus was once a boy, and He grew in "Grace and stature" and that we as Christians are called to imitate Jesus in all that we say and do. The children love the puppets and Havalyn will surely continue this aspect of ministry when we pick up with Club Tournesol again in the fall.

After singing and the message, the children went to the local park and played life-sized stratego and had a lovely time.

Capture the Flag, kids!

Prayer Requests:
Please be praying for our council of elders (Salvatore, Fisse and Pastor David) as we near the end of the school year and they make decisions about the fall. Please pray that God would give them wisdom and discernment and encourage them, especially when they sometimes have to deal with some difficult situations within the church. We are very thankful for them and all that they do to serve the Lord.

Beautifully and Wonderfully Made

Weekly Update:

This past week was spent preparing messages and activities for the youth club and the teenagers club. On Friday night we had our Youth Club (ages 15-24ish) and Havalyn shared a meditation on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The youth found it funny that we are compared to sheep, who are in all honesty pretty stupid creatures. "We're a little more intelligent then sheep for God, aren't we?" One of the youth asked. Jean-Louis answered the question well by using the example of smoking, "A sheep needs to be led to the water to drink, otherwise he dies of thirst next to a river. We're pretty dumb too - how many people die every year of smoking-related causes, and yet we continue to suck poison into our bodies. That's pretty dumb." It was a good opportunity to evangelize, by encouraging the youth to put their faith in a good shepherd who calls them by name to enter into the love and protection of the fold of God.

After the message, we were able to talk and socialize while playing pool, kicker and other games at the church.

My Rice Crispy Treats

For Youth Club I also made Rice Crispy Treats and one of our youth, Rachel, brought a Tiramisu that her mom had made for us. Everyone really enjoyed the deserts, and they were all surprised by how delicious Rice Crispy Treats were - what a novel idea!

On Saturday evening Jean-Louis shared a message with the teenagers club (ages 12-18) about the importance of integrity. Though normally this club is in majority Christian teens who come from church-going homes, this particular club was attended by a majority of non-Christians or unchurched teens, so Jean-Louis had to tailor his message more to evangelization, but thanks to the help of the Holy Spirit, it went very well. After the message, we all went to a park and played baseball, and everyone had a lot of fun. We try to do this with every club, have a good time together, but always with a moment of sharing the gospel and spiritual food through the message.

This wasn't from this week's Teen Club, but this is what a typical Teen Club looks like, nonetheless.

My 29 week baby bump!

Personal Update:

A little hand waves "hello!"

We went to the doctor a week ago Friday and she confirmed that everything is going well with the baby. He is already 40 centimeters long, and 1.6 kilos! He's moving a lot, and sometimes keeps me awake, but I'm trying to stay positive with the fact that as long as he's healthy and growing inside me, I don't have to worry about night feedings, crying, or changing diapers. I know that those moments will be here soon enough.

I never cease to be amazed as I look at the pictures of our little one and realize that even though he's hidden from my eyes, he's never hidden from the eyes of God. Even as God is forming and growing him, He already knows who this person will be, all that he will do and the joy that he will bring into the world. Thank God that we are "Beautifully and wonderfully made." Yes, His works are good, I know that full well.

Good Shepherd

This Week's Update: 
Had fun and told kids about Jesus at Club Tournesol on Sunday. Tuesday played piano for the funeral of a faithful member of our church, though it wasn't too sad since she was a Christian who left behind a heritage of faith and she had been ready to go home for a while. Also, the baby has been very active and feeling particulary heavy, which I think is normal for 29 weeks.

 Week's Reflections:
This week my reflections are on the illustration of the Good Shepherd in John 10. Hundreds of years before Jesus walked the Earth as God incarnate, His human ancestor David, who had started out a shepherd, wrote about how God is a shepherd for his people in Psalm 23. Jesus takes this illustration again and relates it to Himself, showing once again that He is not only the predicted Messiah but that He is in fact God, and also the only way to God ("I am the gate." John 10:9) 

Although the message I am preparing for the Youth Club will focus on John 11, I can't help keeping in the back of my mind Psalm 23 (In fact, I keep wanting to sing it, in french! "Le Seigneur est mon berger, rejouis-toi mon ame!") The King David, in his life and actions, was a "type" of messiah, an imperfect, human preview if you will, of what was to come. David was a shepherd, which prepared him to be a warrior, which prepared him to be King. He had nothing in particular to recommend him as King, he wasn't the firstborn or the strongest or the greatest. In fact, he had the heart of a musician and poet, and yet because of his faith he knocked down a giant and became a victorious leader in the army of Israel. It was God's good pleasure to go against human logic, to remove His Spirit from the rebellious King Saul, and place His anointing on this boy-shepherd.

Jesus came as a shepherd, perhaps not professionally speaking, but according to His calling and actions. Remember what He says to Peter at the end of the gospel of John: "Feed my sheep." (John 21:17) Like King David, He came first humbly and without glory or anything to recommend Him. He came to lead His flock, and then to die for them, so that they might "Have life and have it to the full." Many of the Jews did not accept Him because they were expecting a warrior, and He was a warrior, but not in human terms. He fought and vanquished the powers of sin and death. Now He is prepared, when the time is right and this period of grace has ended, to return as reigning King. 
He is a Shepherd - a Warrior - a King.