Prayer Letter

A New Chapter in Massy

We said last time that September would surely go off with a bang, and indeed it did!

The first two months have been spent trying to meet as many people and groups as possible, both inside and outside of Massy Baptist Church.

It began with the twenty Sunday School teachers, the different house groups, and also the ladies' group. We have two youth groups and a young adults' group. There is a worship department, with those who lead the Sunday services, the sound and vision team, those who lead the different worship teams, and the various musicians and singers. There is a separate legal entity (as is required by French law) for the church's social action activities. And so the list goes on…

Philip has also been meeting with the local Reformed and Lutheran ministers, with the Catholic priests and deacons, and with a group of other evangelical leaders. There has been dialogue too with the local council.

It has been quite a programme, and pretty intense, but also a very positive time.

“Every nation, tribe, people and language”

With the closure of the Les Cèdres French language school in June (after 53 years), we have been asking the Lord to show us who else could share the renovated buildings, which are too big for our church alone.

We began by moving the offices of the French Baptist Federation to Massy. Our two administrative assistants now work here for part of the week.

Then, two churches approached us together to ask if they could share our buildings: a Romanian congregation as big as our own and a smaller Portuguese fellowship. The premises they had been using were closed down (on safety grounds), with immediate effect, and they were reduced to meeting outdoors in a park!

Using both Saturdays and Sundays, we also have a Ukrainian congregation and a Cameroonian fellowship meeting in Massy.

What a blessing to see our buildings used in this way!

Prayer and Fasting

You may remember that our return to Massy is because of the financial crisis created by the closure of the language school. We are here to be with the congregation until the future of the Les Cèdres site is settled and the financial crisis behind us.

The church spent a week in prayer and fasting last month, thanking God and asking him to intervene. Then, all the Baptist churches across France united in a similar time of prayer and fasting.

We would ask you to pray with us too for the sale of the accommodation in Massy that has yet to be completed.

Family News

At the end of last month, we were able to take a week's annual leave to visit our parents in Scotland (Philip's dad and Rosemary's mum). Also, our youngest with her family moved to Edinburgh in the summer, so we were glad to catch up with them too in their new setting.

This geographical rapprochement will certainly make things easier for us, going forward, given that our siblings all live in Scotland too.

Prayer Points

- Give thanks for the positive start made in Massy Baptist Church and pray for us in this new and demanding role.

- Ask for God's blessing on the four other congregations now sharing the Massy buildings.

- Join us in praying for the sale of the accommodation on the Les Cèdres site.

With our warm good wishes and our thanks for your ongoing support,

Philip & Rosemary.