A French Christmas and Birthday Party!

It is 9:15 at night here in France and we've just finished a French Christmas dinner, a birthday party and gift exchange along with a carol sing. I knew we were hanging out with Grace Brethren missionaries when a rule of our gift exchange was changed. Instead of being able to steal gifts two times per round we bumped it up to three because of the importance of "trine" everything within our tradition. It was a fun night as I somehow ended up with a tin of Tim Hortons! God does indeed provide manna in the wilderness...

The Christmas dinner was great as we individually melted all sorts of french cheeses in our own little pans (bigger version of fondue) and then placed it over ham and other vegetables. The fresh french bread and other pasteries are hard to beat as well!!!

The highlight of the dinner though was the birthday celebration to wrap it up. One of our team members (Maggie Lutz) turned 7 today and we enjoyed a very beautiful and tasty french cake that had been freshly made and picked up earlier today. She was sung to in both English and French and it was just lots of fun to see her huge smile. Happy Birthday Maggie as I'm sure it is one you will remember for a lifetime.

As the night moves on, we will pack up our things and prepare for our trip to Spain tomorrow at 8:00 AM when the bus pulls out. It will be another long travel day (10 hour bus trip) but well worth it as we are getting anxious to meet the kids we will be ministering to.

Here are a few things you can continue praying for:

• Pray that God would give us safety in our travel tomorrow.
• Pray that God would refresh the many European missionaries through this conference.
• Pray that God would use the Grace team to give the kids a fun and fruitful few days.
• Pray for the health of the team. (There are a few of us not feeling great - I have no voice as of tonight)

Hope to post more from Spain if I can get an internet connection!