We just released a new version of our website - workmanrumpus.com! This comes after nearly a decade of being stuck in the previous one, like the cobbler who never takes the time for his own shoes. The blogs, quotes, and newsletters are there, all the way back to 2001. I went back to read some of our first newsletters where we introduced our first ministry team, and we shared our reactions to being in Toulouse, France during the September 11 attacks, then experiencing the catastrophic fertilizer plant explosion in Toulouse just 10 days later. So much has happened in our fifteen years on staff, and it's all journaled there! May and I enjoyed working on the website together. Our talents compliment each other well. Another recent accomplishment is a short video which tells the story of our call to France. It is at the top of our ministry page workmanrumpus.com/ministry, if you'd like to see. We hope this video can be a vehicle to meet new people who might be open to joining our team. I really enjoyed the process of filming and editing the video. I could have continued improving and polishing it for months, but at some point you have to be done. Those are skills I would like to develop, potentially. But we'll wait and see where the Lord leads.!
Since 2007 I have spent the first weeks of September scurrying to kick start a new school year, covering campuses in Rennes with posters, handing out flyers and meeting new students. This year I am on the bench. Because of losses in our monthly support, I have been pulled aside to work on finding new partners for our ministry. It tears at me to see the campus team carry on with fewer laborers. Halle, who co-led the team with me for the past two years, has taken that full role. In addition to my absence, Melissa and Christian are working in new locations, leaving a team of 3 in Rennes. Student ministry is dynamic! There are very few constants: the great need for the gospel here in France, and that things are always changing. Although I truly enjoy being in touch with you - and it is an essential and fulfilling part of this ministry - I am anxious to have a full tank again and enter into ministry undistracted by financial needs. I'm praying that this phase be completed quickly so I can be back on the field again! As a baseball coach I dread putting players on the bench. But there is a time for everything, resting a pitcher's arm or being in better touch with your team. We are so thankful that you are faithfully by our side!
