La Lumière: February 2021
Paris has a dense population, stacking millions of people like sardines. It's perfect for spreading Covid, which finally caught up with our family last month. Dan felt symptoms first, then Silas, then May. We all tested positive, but Efrem remained asymptomatic. Thankfully it went relatively easy on us, and both Dan and Silas are back to normal. We are relieved that no one suffered any respiratory consequences. But at the time I'm writing this May is still suffering from pain in her knees and legs. It's strange how the virus affects people so differently. We're thankful her fever is gone, but continue to pray for complete healing. God has graciously watched over us. Now these antibodies need to last long enough for us to receive vaccination shots, maybe this summer?
Snow in Paris, which is rare!
Please Pray
- for continued progress with the everystudent.com structure so we can better serve our visitors, specifically making the email series more local.
- that May will be free of pain in her legs and get her energy back.
- for Silas and Efrem to persevere in their studies, their music pursuits, and their relationship with the Lord.
Agapé Arts current exposition entitled Resilience.
Silas practicing in his music school's concert hall, salle Cortot.
A while back I received an email from someone on the subject of suffering, specifically suffering related to growing up in a polygamous family with five wives and 25 children. While I did my best to respond to his question, it would be better for an African colleague who has more cultural understanding to respond. Much of Africa is French speaking and a large percentage of the visitors to our site are from there. So we are working on solutions to automatically route these visitors to the local email team. The first step was to place geo-localization code behind the "ask a question" button, and it is working wonderfully. It effectively sends people to a page where they can receive responses from within their culture. The next step is to have an African colleague send the email series to Africans. In January 663 people signed up to receive one of the four email series I offer. These emails are generated automatically and sent from me to all French speakers around the world. Emailing me is as easy as hitting - Reply and leads to a lot of emails. Imagine that many people reaching out for encouragement on their journey with Christ! Our hope is to serve our visitors better by responding to them more locally.
Every two years our car needs to pass a 133 point test in order to stay on the road. Sadly, our 2001 Ford focus didn't make the grade this time around. Due to corrosion on its frame we're going to have to say goodbye. It has served us well and is tied to a lot of memories. We're left with the quandary of what to do. In Paris a car is certainly unnecessary, but it is useful when we spend time in Rennes, especially since Efrem is a student driver. Right now life has been throwing us a few too many curveballs.
