Wedding Bells Ringing For Many

Dear praying Friends,

Once again, thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support over the last few weeks. I am now 10 weeks into my commando mission of living in France without Sonya. Two more weeks to go! On June 28, I will fly to Boston and join up with Sonya where we will once again combine our strengths to pursue God’s will together!

God has blessed us immensely these past few weeks. Sonya has been encouraged by meeting many of you, our supporters, along the way. It is a blessing to hear how God is working in your lives. Sonya shares with me your testimonies of God’s faithfulness.

I had a surprise phone call Friday morning. A representative from the Baptist Association in France called to ask if he could come by for a visit on Sunday. It was very unplanned but incredibly well timed!  It was good for our church to see a real person from this group of churches and helps everyone feel more at ease about what is ahead for us. Thank you so much for praying with us on this.

Another administrative burden is looming for the association that takes care of our administrative procedures as missionaries. When the association was started in 1996, we were 12 missionaries, so numbers were not the problem. Now we are just two, and the law says we will need to have 7. We are not the only missionaries in France facing this problem. In talking with other missionaries, the solutions range from quick fixes to best case scenarios. Please pray that the Lord provides the best situation for us.

The wedding at the end of May went very well. There were about 90 people present, and I was able to share about the sacrificial love of God that drove Him to send His son Jesus who took our sins upon Him, and then how this love is expressed between husband and wife. Everyone was kind; however, most people did not know what to say to me. But that is OK, because, as our former mission president observed, “it seems like much of what you do is to tear down people’s false ideas of who God is, and what the church is about.” This too is an important part of sharing the gospel, 2 Corinthians 10.5. I thank the Lord for the testimony that I could have, and we commit everyone to the Lord. We look forward to following up with the couple after summer vacation.  

I have another wedding to officiate at the end of June, and this is a very similar situation. The couple just has no background in any kind concerning religion. They seem to have an overview of some religions and they are intrigued by what I share. I have met with them a couple of times. At one point, the lady asked me, “You seem to talk a lot about Jesus but nothing about Mary. Why is that?” Thank you for praying for this ceremony at the end of the month.

And then in July, we have another wedding! Our daughter Hannah Renee will be wed to Daniel Barbre on July 10. We are very thankful for Daniel and we praise the Lord for His provision of such a wonderful man to complement Hannah. It will be a fun time to be together with our children. Please pray with us as we commit Hannah Renee and Daniel to the Lord, asking Him to bless them.

As soon as we come back on July 16, Sonya will be involved with the music festival the following day! Lydia will be with us as we all serve our friends to make for a successful festival. It is a time to live out the life of Christ before our unsaved friends and be involved in the community around us. This group helped our daughters to pursue their music careers, so it is an opportunity for us to serve and give back to them. We pray for those with whom we work every day and look forward to continuing the witness we have started with them in the past.

Thank you for standing with us in this ministry. Thank you for your sacrificial giving. We are aware of the economic situation in America and we do not take lightly your involvement with this ministry. Many people here in France are in very tight financial circumstances as well. You are an encouragement to us. May God bless you.

May the Lord richly bless you,
Kent, for Sonya too