Foxes – November/December 2009
FIRST the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
(Mark 4:28-29)
Dear friends,
We continue to work and pray in the hopes that God will bring forth the full ear of fruit. However, as the Lord says, the blade must come FIRST. Although we’ve been in Rouen for 15 years now, this past month saw a number of FIRSTS. Please pray with us that these firsts would indeed be the blade that precedes a full and fruitful ear. Here are some of the firsts that we have experienced…
FIRST TIME HOSTING A TRAVELING FRENCH MINISTRY TEAM
In the past we have been blessed to receive a number of ministry teams, but all were from the States. For the past two weeks, we had the priviledge and blessing of hosting a new traveling French ministry team. Five young people (four French and one American) all from different cities around France have committed one year to this ministry called the Apollos program. It is a new outreach ministry organized by a number of French independent Baptist churches associated with the French Baptist Alliance. These godly and dedicated young people receive basic Bible classes several mornings per week, and the rest of the time they travel to various churches and towns to serve in whatever way they are asked. While they were here in Rouen, in addition to their Bible classes, they spent a fair amount of time working on music with our coworker Kristi Colas. Otherwise, they were involved in just about every aspect of the ministry. In fact, it was because of this group and their precious help that we undertook a number of other firsts in the ministry here (see below). This group was really a blessing to our church, and these young people demonstrated an exemplary testimony. Abi Sexton, a student from Northland Baptist Bible College (now Northland International University), is still here and fit right in with this group. Abi has developed a good grasp of the French language, and with her friendly personality and boldness to witness has made a number of good contacts. I’m very excited for the future of this Apollos program. Any young person from the States who might be interested should feel free to contact us about it.
FIRST-TIME DELIVERY OF 25,000 GOSPELS
Thanks to Evangelist Randy Bane and the vision of a church in Paris, a shipment of 300,000 John/Romans booklets was made in the Paris area. We were blessed to receive 25,000 of these free of charge! Brother Bane even organized the delivery for us. With the Apollos group here several thousand of them have already been put into mailboxes. We also received through Brother Bane several boxes of children’s Bible story books, also free! I’m not sure who paid for these books back in the States, but they have ALL been given out already and are greatly appreciated. Thank you to those Christians whose sacrificial giving made this possible!!!
FIRST MEETING OF THE NEW WORK ON THE RIGHT BANK
With the Apollos group and Abi here, and with the delivery of the John/Romans booklets, we decided to organize our first meeting of the new work across town. We did a massive distribution on and near the university campus. The meeting was held in Kristi’s apartment, which is very close to the campus. Along with 14 Christians from our church, there were also three visitors, two college students and an older lady who is one of Kristi’s contacts. The meeting went well. Who knows? Perhaps this will become known someday as the blade that later produced a great work on the other side of the city. Future meetings are not yet scheduled, but we are considering the possibility of holding one meeting per month, starting in 2010.
FIRST THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION
After spending 21 years in France, we have finally held a Thanksgiving meal for the church and for our unsaved acquaintances. It was quite a lot of work (especially for Lori), but the evening was a great “success”. Not only was it a fantastic meal, but the Apollos group, along with Kristi and Abi, served as waiters and waitresses and were even dressed in authentic Pilgrim garb! The original Thanksgiving story was presented as a skit, and I ended the evening with a challenge from the Word of God. We were very excited to have several new visitors with us for the evening. This may well become a new tradition here in Rouen! The only thing lacking for the evening was the full ear of corn, because it is almost impossible to find corn on the cob here in France.
FIRST-TIME VISITORS FOR OUR EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS
Last weekend, which was also the end of the two-week ministry of the Apollos group, we held a series of evangelistic meetings with a French pastor named Olivier Bourrel. He is an outstanding speaker and faithful preacher of the Word. Much effort and prayer went into preparing these meetings. The Gospel was clearly and powerfully proclaimed. In all, there were well over 20 visitors, about a dozen of them coming to a church service for the first time. At each meeting several indicated their desire to receive Christ. As always, it was a very diverse group of visitors — 12 were college students (from at least 6 different countries, including France), four came because of an invitation in their mailbox, one was Kristi’s neighbor, three were from Muslim backgrounds, two were contacts made by Abi, and several were single mothers. These meetings may only be the blade, but they certainly portend a fruitful future for the church. Please pray for the follow-up with each of these individuals and that we would have the joy of seeing God produce a full ear.
Thank you once again for your faithful financial support, for your many words of encouragement, and for your prayers. We are honored to be partners with you in the Gospel ministry.
To the praise of His glory,
Kim & Lori Fox