Reach Europe. Change the world. gemission.

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APRIL 2012
Neighborhood Bible study groups

Mark & Marti Mylin

In our last letter I wrote about our goal to equip someone in each group to lead meetings and look out for the welfare of group members. Mark has spoken to two men about taking on this responsibility. One said no, but Mark will try to meet with him to pray for group members anyway, hoping that he will begin to see that God can use him to help others grow in faith and life in Christ. The second man said hed think about it. He has never had a leadership position in the church but already serves many church members in a quiet way, especially the elderly and widows. Please pray that God would put it on the heart of these two men to care for these groups. Pray that Mark would be effective in passing on the skills and attitudes important for this kind of leadership. The new group we launched in January, meeting in our home, is off to a good start. One couple has been inviting a neighbor couple to come. At our most recent meeting, they showed up! They dove right into our discussion of the Gospel of Mark. Pray that God would work faith in the hearts and minds of those who come to read and study the Bible.

March & April Travels

At the beginning of March, Mark attended our churchs national assembly meetings. He is now an official pastor in the denomination and so was able to participate actively. While Mark was in meetings, I visited the ancient city of Nmes, which was an important Roman trade center for two hundred years. The eroding stone columns of the Maison Carre in center city made me think of the eroding foundations of the Church here in France. Without Jesus Christ as its solid foundation, the Church has been slowly eroding over the last couple of centuries. Pray that God would strengthen the foundations of his Church in France, that Christ and the gospel would once again become central. From Nmes, we drove north of Paris where Mark finished the third of five leadership training sessions for GEM France. While Mark studied, I cooked for the group of 11. A week after our return to Montauban, I flew back to Paris for a week-long training for women in Discovery Bible Study. The techniques were not new, having taught them myself many years ago as an Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship staff member. What was new was doing it in French, learning how to communicate and train in a French context. I hope to eventually bring this training to Southwest France, making it accessible to a larger audience. This month, Mark will be away again for a week to attend a Reformed pastors conference near Lyon (6 hours east) and to visit a colleague nearby. Pray that Mark might be an encouragement to the many faithful but isolated pastors he will encounter in the weeks to come.

Thank you for your support and encouragement in Christ, Marti Mylin
Serving with Greater Europe Mission, 18950 Base Camp Road, Monument CO 80132 1800-436-4488