"RESISTER"

Bonjour À Tous!

"Resister."

 Today we had the second of a 2 part seminar on the Protestant Reformation in France. It was fascinating to see how the persecution of the church has shaped the agnostic spiritual climate in France today. The present distribution of Protestant churches reflects the relocation of Christian refugees to the outskirts of France under the oppression of King Louis the 14th. 

It's amazing the effect one leader can have on a country.

It's a good reminder to pray for those in authority.

Praise the Lord our God is not bound by leaders! 

"Resister," or "to resist" in English, is what many Christians did during this time of intense persecution. One such woman was Marie Durand. As an alternative to being killed or sentenced to row on a large boat indefinitely, Marie was imprisoned near Montpellier in the South of France (incidentally the town where I will take the Medical course in July).  

She was told she would be freed if only she would renounce her faith. 

Time after time the guards commanded her to surrender, but she never gave in.

38 years later, she was liberated when the time of persecution in France had ceased,

and on the stone wall of her cell, was carved,

"RESISTER."

Her carving can still be viewed to this day. 

Marie Durand's story sticks with me.

The engraving on Marie's cell- old French for "resister"

What is God calling you and I to "RESISTER" today? 

As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; 

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Romans 8: 36-39

More information on the Protestant reformation in France can be found @

http://www.museeprotestant.org/

On Friday, we célibataires (singles) had a cookout and the weather was LOVELY. We hit 82 degrees! It was perfect to introduce our new friends to the joy of S'Mores! 

S'more first timers!

The sticky, gooey, "Yum"... =)

Trip ups of the anglophone tongue...thought you might enjoy some of my errors of the day =) 


- I was trying to tell Renate that I was going to put the sausage in the freezer, but couldn't remember off the top of my head the word for "freezer" in French, so I went for "the very, very cold fridge" instead. She figured it out while laughing...


- A little later the girls were wanting to do laundry and needed to dry their clothes, so I started saying in French, "I'll go take my clothes down off the line," they started laughing and I realized I had just said, "I'll take my clothes off for you." 


Oh boy...many more to come I'm sure.




Thanking God for all of you!


      With Love from France,
                 ~Amanda 


P.S. 38 days left of language school. As Christopher pointed out, that's about the same amount of time it rained while Noah was on the ark. So imagine it raining every day from now until June 22nd. Something to think about....

Day 120

Happy May to All!

"April Showers" has lived up to it's name here, we welcome May with open arms =)
Day 120...that I've been in Albertville, France.

It's hard to believe that there are just 53 days left here in Albertville!
Graduation is June 22nd, coming very soon!

NEWS!! NEWS!! NEWS!!
Lot's of news since I last wrote.
Check out the updated prayer and timeline tabs for a quick glance at what's new.
ALSO- check out the new tab "A Day In The Life" above.
More details below...

1. Exams! Praise the Lord, by God's grace I passed the A2 level French exams! This is the first of 2 major exams in my six months here, this one being especially challenging as I was put in a class in the middle of the curriculum. I am now preparing for the B1 exams which will be held the end of June- keep praying for that mind like a sponge! =)

2. French Medical Vocab Class: there is an opportunity in July, to take a 3 week medical vocab course in the South of France, following my time in Albertville. After talking it over with the team in Gabon, we've decided this would be a good opportunity to get a little more French, especially Medical, before heading on to Gabon since I will only have 6 months of language school instead of a year.

3. New Departure Date: Due to the French Medical Vocab class, I will now be leaving the 21st/22nd of July and Lord willing arrive in Gabon in time for Field Forum, July 23rd-27th. I'm excited to get to Bongolo!

4. Teaching Classes! I found out what I will be teaching! The Nursing school at Bongolo will be begin classes in September for the new school year. It looks as though as of now, I will be teaching the course in Nursing Techniques in the afternoons and will be doing clinicals with the students at the hospital in the mornings.

5. Devotional: This week I gave my first devotional in French, for the entire school. It is an assignment everyone has during their time here, and usually one everyone is glad to see the back of  =) It was a really good exercise, to communicate how God is working and shaping me in a language that is not my own. I praise God for his continued grace and enabling as I strive to make this language my adopted heart language. I am so thankful to God for the opportunity to be here to learn French, and it is a reminder to keep pressing on, to one day be able to share with the Gabonese, whom this God is we serve!

6. Spring Break: Mid April brought a much needed 2 week Spring break. Post exams we were all completely fried, but we still had 3 more weeks of school to push through. So when it came we were all more than ready =) The first week I was able to catch up on administrative details and take a spiritual retreat day which was very refreshing. The second week I had a friend visit me from the States and we were able to travel with a couple of the girls here to a small non-tourist coastal town in Italy for the week. We had a wonderful time there, although our travels there and back were marked by many unexpected challenges and adventures! I hope to post more photos soon...

Thank you to all for your prayers and your continued sacrificial financial support!




With Love from France,
         ~Amanda