(July 25, 2004) In the last two weeks we have had a few appointments to look at different locations for church premises. The first one was a good size and a good price and just around the corner of our present location. As we waited on the doorstep, nobody showed up. So we called. The real-estate agent told us that he just left a message on the answering machine saying that it got rented the night before! That appointment became a disappointment.

But we had another option, a smaller place, but bigger than what we have now, and a bit cheaper as well. If we were interested in buying it, we could pay it in one shot in cash! So we showed up on time. We hung around for 25 minutes. We did not see the man. So we called later on to ask what happened. He said he was there, a few minutes late perhaps, but he did not see us. So we made a new appointment, Monday morning at 12, we would meet. We were there 10 minutes before and left 15 minutes after 12. We did not see the person we are suppose to have met. Is he invisible? Are we blind? So we went to his new office and left a note. But no response so far! So that is disappointing too! This week I hope to meet the man at his office to see if we can go to it after all.

Before September, we really need a new place with at least two rooms so that we can have a Sunday school for the kids. So please pray that God will guide us to the right place at the right time. Pray that we will overcome any spiritual opposition and that we will be victorious in our building search. Pray that I will not give up.

Thank you for your prayers. We thank God for the encouraging talks we have had with different people in our church. Pray for Claire that she will invite Christ into her life. There has been spiritual opposition.

Sebastien gave a testimony about a visiting friend who gave his life to Christ last week after a non-Christian concert. One of his colleagues prayed to receive Christ. She does live in Tours. So we pray that we can get in contact with her to encourage her in her faith. Pray for Sebastien that he will know what to do. Thank you for your prayers.

(Dec 7, 2003) Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Marc and I hope that you will have a wonderful day spent thinking about how blessed you are by God. Thanksgiving Day goes by unnoticed here in France, of course, but we had our annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner. One of the organizers got his business to rent us their recreation hall that is a renovated barn out in the countryside about a ½ hour north of Tours. Most of the people who come are French and not believers, so this is a fun opportunity to share with them about our faith in a loving God who has given us the blessings we enjoy each day.

This will be Jan-Willem's first Thanksgiving, but his great-grandpa's 103rd! Grandpa Linscheid celebrates the holiday and his birthday on the same day this year and will be with several of his children for the big events. In a few weeks, we hope to have the two of them meet the 103-year-old and the 5-month-old. We will be heading December 10 to Iowa. We are planning to go to Minnesota the following weekend to see a niece's Christmas play and to see Great Grandpa. We will be in Cedar Rapids for Christmas. Marc will represent European Christian Mission International at the Urbana missions conference between Christmas and New Year's, while mommy and baby stay in Cedar Rapids. Then, the three of us fly to DC to stay with my sister for a few days before returning to France January 8.

We are in the process of buying a house! We should be moving no later than January 24. It will be so nice to say bye-bye to these 5 flights of stairs to our apartment! Well, we hope you are all well and contented, too. Thank you so much for praying for us over here.

The French love Gospel music and "Oh Happy Day" is an absolute hit. But because the French do not understand the words, we translated the songs for them. One lady told Marc afterwards that they go all the time to Gospel concerts but have difficulty understanding the songs in English. She was thankful for the translations being available. Most of the people were touched by the joy and the enthusiasm of the Good News expressed by the singers and actors. It was estimated that around 900 people visited the six shows.

The various contacts in the street went very well. One team tried to contact Muslims and talked to about 100 people and gave away 40 French/Arabic New Testaments. The others interviewed over 200 people and gave away lots of Gospels, New Testaments, and special CD's. The sketch board team gave the carton version of the Gospel to the kids. Now that our campaign is over, the real work starts of following up on people and offering special Bible study groups. Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for us, we need it!