WorkmanRumpus WorkmanRumpus WorkmanRumpus
  • About
  • Ministry
  • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Dan's Blog
    • Quote Board
  • Contact

La Lumière: January 2022

Newsletters
15 January 2022
La Lumiere
January, 2022
click for printable pdf
Photo shoot on the Champs Élysées.
UN
BUILDING

May and I were recently asked how we see God working, which is a great question! I love to share testimonies from the conversations I have online because God's fingerprints are so clear. Much of what we do, however, is building with our eyes on the long term. May shoulders a lot of responsibility for the "Make Giving Easy" project, a platform of donation websites to help Cru ministries all over the world. The vision is for anyone to be able to make a local donation quickly and easily, before their coffee gets cold. Feel free to insert another hot drink of your choice into that illustration. This is a vitally important goal for the gospel work of Cru to continue! May's team has grown from four people to nine and is culturally diverse, from Eastern and Western Europe, North America, and Central Asia. She coaches those working with new countries as they customize the local site to fit their needs. She guides their primary developer in making improvements and eliminating bugs. May researches payment gateways and is connecting the platform to the global financial system. How do we see God working? Progress, one step after another, cutting a bit-sized piece off of the elephant at a time. One specific example is accommodating for unusual giving methods, like providing staff a way to transfer cash they receive directly from donors to the central office along with the donor's information. More complex than it might sound, this information must be accurate, convenient enough for the staff to use and detailed enough for finances. This was initially done for India, and they're finding that a lot of other countries need this functionality. Progress! This may not be as flashy as a direct testimony, but the impact for God's kingdom is still significant.

Friends from summer project.

Efrem with friends from the summer project in Orlando.

Sharing the Eiffel Tour with new friends.

Dan and May with their parents and new friends.

Christmas Lights on the Champs Élysées.

A picture from the late night photography shoot.

 

Praise

  • that some great opportunities are opening up for Efrem's choices.

Please pray

  • for continued progress for the global Make Giving Easy team.
  • that God gives the doctors insight into Dan's wrist pain, and for quick healing.
  • for wisdom and guidance for Efrem and Silas for their future studies.
DEUX
HEADLINE

For a few months now I, Dan, have been dealing with pain in my left wrist getting progressively worse. It might be an echo of a fall on my bike a few years back. Bad enough to get me to the doctor, there have been x-rays and an ultrasound done. Treatments have covered both extremes of the pendulum swing, from wearing a brace to immobilize it to having physical therapy to aggressively bend and stretch where it hurts! Next week I will have an MRI done and am praying it will shed some light on the source of the pain and give the doctors a clear path forward. Would you please pray with me? I recognize that in the big scheme of things it's not a big deal. But it would be nice to work out again, do dishes without wincing, and play the bass guitar at the national staff conference next month, which always feeds my soul. Please let us know how we can pray for you as well! Thanks.

Our Signatures

La Lumière: November 2021

Newsletters
15 November 2021
La Lumiere
November, 2021
click for printable pdf
Sunflowers in October.
UN
A DELICATE CONVERSATION

The email came as a response to our series on the gospel of John. "Jesus is the Son of God... Jesus isn't God." An exchange of at least 20 emails followed. I found out this older gentleman from Lyon was also in communication with two of my colleagues from there about the same subject. I often wonder what motivates the people who initiate a conversation with me, but the most important question I ask is - how can I encourage this person towards Jesus? In order to better understand his thoughts I referred him to our article on the Trinity, to which he responded with anger and threatened to unsubscribe from the email series. That was the crucial point where responding to hostility with love would keep the conversation open and allow the Holy Spirit to work. I sought out common ground where I could affirm his faith and assured him it's not my place to judge him. I then fast forwarded to the end of John when Thomas declares to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!" and asked why Jesus didn't correct him? His tone completely changed, asking forgiveness and sharing more about his personal life. The conversation continued back and forth, and each time I felt wholly incapable of explaining the inexplicable depths of the triune nature of God which, simply surpass our finite human minds. Suddenly he responded with, "I just now understood!! Of course, that's it!! God, all three at the same time, I just needed to think of it that way!!" I was so surprised I feared he was being sarcastic. But further emails seem to confirm, "you opened my mind to this truth that my hardened conviction persisted in preventing me from understanding. I see life with God from a new angle, I'm already changed…" Praise God!

Quiberon

Seeing the Arc de Triomphe wrapped.

 

Praise

  • that Efrem's audition recordings went well.

Please pray

  • for good time management and priorities with all we have to juggle.
  • for the Holy Spirit's wisdom and guidance in our conversations, online and face to face.
  • for Efrem to continue to produce quality audition recordings.
Recording at the CRR

Efrem's audition recording at the conservatory.

Near Carnac

Dan, May and Bea exploring the south of Brittany.

DEUX
A PEEK INTO OUR LIVES

Efrem worked quickly to move the orchestra's chairs off the stage. The conservatory's technician set up microphones, and then she tuned the sound board to his flute and the accompanying piano. He had at least two pieces he wanted to record, the first by C.P.E. Bach and another by Gabriel Fauré. Looking confident in his black suit, the auditorium resonated beautifully and the recording was spotless. These are initial audition videos to be sent to different music schools in England. He is now preparing new pieces to record for French schools that are due after Christmas break. We're not sure if he'll try additional ones. Meanwhile, we're currently enjoying the company of May's mom who is visiting us! Bea is enjoying seeing her grandchildren and tasting the many pastries at the bread store right on our corner. In addition to exploring Paris we also have spent time in Rennes and saw the pre-historic stone alignments in southern Brittany.

Our Signatures
Page 7 of 112
  • Start
  • Newer
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • Older
  • End

 

Subscribe to our mailing list

 

Newsletters by year