Friday, July 27, 2012

On the Agenda:

Last Sunday night, we had the opportunity to share our call to France with Fayette Baptist Church.  They are already praying for us and for France as well as how they can best partner with us.  We appreciate them and their heart for missions. 

This sweet couple is hosting a "cottage meeting" tomorrow night at their house.  Basically, this is an opportunity for us to share with some of their friends who we may not know.  We are praying that God will move some of these friends to partner with us.  If you are interested in hosting a cottage meeting sometime, please feel free to let us know.

Finally, on August 18th, we are having a dinner at Bartlett Hills Baptist Church.  The meal is FREE and anyone who is interested in learning more about how you can partner with us is welcome to come.  If you are interested, please contact one of us for an invite.

Don't miss out on what God is doing in our family as well as in France already.  Find out how you can be a part of it!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Let the Forty Days Begin!

We sent out our July newsletter tonight via email in the form of a video where Brandon shared our heart.  There is also a version in print if you would rather read the highlights.  In case you are not on our mailing list, HERE is the link to the video.  You can also find the printed version HERE.  We are kicking off the Forty Days tomorrow, so get ready to hear from us often as we strive to reach our goal of at least 50% by the end of the Forty Days.  We will be updating you with prayer requests as well as letting you know how our percentages are growing.  We are so excited to see how God is going to work throughout this time.  Check out our prayer calendar to find out more about what's going on and how you can specifically pray for us and for France.



Sunday, July 15, 2012

"Plan the Work...Work the Plan"

We met with our accountability team on Saturday night to do some planning for our "Forty Days For France" which should start this week.  BIG things are coming so stay tuned.  We will be updating often!

Friday, July 13, 2012

France Friday- From 25 to 100 in 6

First let me say that I am really excited to be announce that we have in fact reached our 25% monthly support goal, several weeks later than we had hoped, but still it's a milestone for us and quite encouraging. Let me also warn you that you will be hearing a lot more from us over the next few months. We are working on what I like to call "The Plan". Maybe that's because I am, by nature, a "type A" planner. Brandon is officially calling it "Forty Days For France". We are going to spend forty days doing everything we can and getting as many people as we can to join us in reaching AT LEAST 50% by the end of the forty days and ultimately 100% by January.  We found out that our pre-field training will start in the middle of January and we are believing that we can get there.  Brandon will soon be sending out more details via video message, but let me just remind you what these percentages represent.  Our monthly financial needs (which include living expenses, ministry funds, etc.) are $8,431/month.  This also accounts for the dollar/euro ratio.  That means that we need to have $4, 215.50 by the end of the 40 days in order to be at 50%.  That is approximately $2,100 that we need to raise in pledged monthly support.  If you are thinking, "maybe they don't need me..." THINK AGAIN!  We are asking all who can and feel called to give.  Maybe that means $10/month.  We have several people giving that amount.  Maybe that means more.  Maybe you can't give, but you know someone who can.  We are meeting with churches, individuals and groups.  Anyone who is interested in learning more about how you can partner with us, whether that be financially, prayerfully or other ways.  Get ready for forty days of hearing from us more than you might like. ;)  We are going from 25 to 100 in six months.  Find out more about how you can be a part of that!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Family Fest

We missed our France Friday post last week and I am sure you were sitting on the edge of your seat just wondering what was going on.  Yesterday, we had the opportunity to be a part of Family Fest, a camp for families sponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Convention, the Mid South Association and the WMU.  Brandon sang a few worship songs and shared a short devotional before they headed out for their first day of service.  We will be attending their Celebration Night on Thursday and will have a table set up so that we can share more about our call to France and how they can partner with us.  We are so grateful for this opportunity and have enjoyed meeting these mission-minded families.






Tuesday, July 3, 2012

A Word About Support...

Before we began the process of raising our funds to get to France, I must admit that I was pretty unfamiliar with how support-raising is done.  I definitely did not realize how much work it would take.  It sometimes feels like a job in itself.  It has, however, been an amazing adventure.  I know, now I am starting to sound a little VBS-ish, but seriously, there have been so many exciting moments.  Last night was one of those for me.  We had our first "Chick-Fil-A Night".  I know when we talk about raising support, we generally mean money, but last night I felt so supported beyond the financial side.  We felt the love and prayers and encouragement of friends and family and even people we didn't know standing with us through this process.  We brought in $645 total to Chirck-Fil-A and we got 10% of that.  We also sold several t-shirts and got a couple of donations.  So, at the end of the night, we ended up with about $200.  Since I got to spend the evening visiting with friends, that seems pretty good to me!  Thanks to all of you who continue to support us in so many different ways!  We can't wait for every one of you to visit us in France and see what God is doing there first hand!!! ;)