Prayer letter January 25, 2016

January 25,2016

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We pray that 2016 has started well with each of you. It is hard to believe that we are finishing up the month of January. Here in France, as you surely know, 2015 ended with that terrible terrorist attack in Paris. We are about 130 miles north of Paris, but that seems close when things like this happen.

We had Joe Logan from a church in Pharr, Texas with us for three months. He was a blessing and we enjoyed having him with us. While he was here, he started learning French. By the time he returned to the US, he was not far from the understanding stage. Please pray for him, as he is praying for what the Lord would have him do in his future. We would like to see him in France.

For our Christmas program, the children did a great job with a play about the birth of Christ and several in the church formed a choir. I also shared a gospel message. Counting everyone, we had about 80 people present with quite a number being visitors. Pray that the contact with them will continue.

On December 21^st, we went down to Toulouse to spend Christmas with Rebecca and her family. We arrived on Monday evening and Rebecca went into labor on Tuesday and gave birth about a month early to a baby girl that they named Constance. They came home on Wednesday. Thursday, Christmas Eve, Lydia, their 8-year-old daughter was holding Constance and saw that she was turning blue. She was not breathing. Lydia called her mom and Rebecca was able to get the little one breathing again. Back to the hospital they went and Constance was there for about 10 days. She came home from the hospital and a few days later came down with bronchiolitis. She has since been in the hospital again. She still has spells of stopping breathing (there is a machine attached that warns when this happens) Please do pray for her and for the whole family.

I went to St Albain for a pastor's meeting for our fellowship of churches from January 11^th to 13th. This was not far from Lyon. Rebecca called and asked if we could keep Celeste (6 years old) and Justin (3 years old) to help them out since Constance is still in the hospital. So I drove to the train station in Lyon and Rebecca brought them there on the train. So we have had two of our grand children with us and if all goes as planned, Judy will take them back to Toulouse this Wednesday.

I saw the surgeon on January 8th about my shoulder. The last time I saw him, he talked about operating to remove the plate that he put in my arm last March and doing it at the end of January, but now, he wants to wait until March 3rd. It seems to me that this plate is preventing me from being able to raise my arm as high as is normal. There will be quite a bit of physical therapy afterwards. Please pray for this.

We had the January session for the Bible Institute. There were only two of the students that were able to attend. Please pray that more of the students will participate next time for the next session. We are praying that churches will use the video classes that we offer to train pastors in their local churches. The students could study in the morning, for example and be involved with the church work in the afternoons and evenings. Pray that churches will get a vision for this and that there will be young men that will be called to serve as pastors. About a third of pastors in our type of churches in France will be at retiring age in the next 10 years, we must train those who will take up the torch.

Another project that we have been working on is writing my story. My mother had at heart to share my experience with dyslexia, which was hardly known in the early 1960s. Then I will be been telling the rest of the story. Pray that we can get this done and that it could be an encouragement to parents who see their children struggling in school and don't know what to do. God can help and give a future! “… His compassions fail not, They are new every morning...” Lam 3:22-23… We will call the book, “From Dyslexia to France by the hand of God”.

May the Lord bless each one of you and thank you for being a part of this ministry.

Yours in Christ,

Greg and Judy Sirmons

44 rue du faubourg de Bethune

59000 Lille, FRANCE

email : sirmons@bible.com.es

Voip phone : 913-871-4427

http://sirmons.info and http://bible.com.es

Prayer letter October 2015

Pray for the Sirmons in France with http://globalfaithmission.org

October 27, 2015

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Since our return to France, we have been busy with church services, Bible studies, contacts, and so forth. We Skype for weekly planning meetings with the others we work with the Bible Institute.

The Braderie (Flea Market) went well in September. We arrived about 7:15 in the morning and found a free spot pretty quickly, We sold 5 Bibles, one of which was to a man who said that he had been looking for a Bible and really wanted to read it. But, there was also an atheist who started yelling at us that God did not exist, with a number of insulting remarks. We understood from his wife that their family had been hurt by a cult. Unfortunately he did not want to talk but to yell at us. Pray that the Lord touch his heart. Pray that those who received one of our tracts may be touched by the gospel message.

We had a couple of the Institute's students here for the session in September. We were in Paris this last week for the annual meetings of the French Baptist Alliance (ABF) and the annual business meetings for the Bible Institute. We are now starting to prepare for the Christmas program.

At the end of September, Joe Logan arrived from Pharr, Texas. He will be with us for 3 months. He is praying about the possibility of serving the Lord in France. We have been teaching him some French and he is progressing very well.

One very good piece of news, is about Sandrine, the grand-daughter of Mrs Peirs, that many of you have been praying for. Well, Sandrine lives next door and we have had an ongoing contact with her. When we first met her, she was a militant communist and atheist. Well, since we have been back from the States, she has totally changed, she has professed to trust the Lord and is open to spiritual things. (John 3:8 is real) Please do pray for her,, because the spiritual battle is real, too.

Judy has restarted the monthly Ladies' Bible study. There was a very good group for the first one, a few weeks ago. Our bakery lady, Nicole, did come; please pray for her salvation. Her mother passed away and we attended the funeral. This has given Judy several opportunities to share with her and answer some questions about eternity.

I saw the surgeon that operated on my shoulder last March. I will see him again January 8th and he will schedule to operate in order to remove the plate that he put in my upper arm sometime at the end of January. And when I will be unconscious during the operation, he will also stretch the muscles that are not elastic enough for me to have full motion of my arm. Please keep this in your prayers.

Praise the Lord, we were able to buy a 2004 Renault Laguna, with an automatic transmission. This has allowed me to be able to drive. Otherwise, most cars in France are standard shift, which is hard to drive with the left arm and at the same time be able to shift the gears with the right hand.

Thank you for your prayers and support. May the Lord bless each of you for it.

Yours in Christ,

Greg and Judy Sirmons

44 rue du faubourg de Bethune

59000 Lille, FRANCE

email : sirmons@bible.com.es

Voip phone : 913-871-4427

Prayer letter august 2015

Greg and Judy Sirmons

44 rue du Faubourg de Bethune

59000 Lille, France

email: sirmons@bible.com.es

VOIP: (913) 871-4427

August 2015

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We praise the Lord for our safe return to our home in Lille. We want to thank each one of you that we were able to share with during our stay in the States. We drove over 7000 miles, visited 6 states, we slept in 19 different places and shared our ministry with about 19 church groups. We especially thank God for His protection on the roads, for the car a doctor loaned us for our furlough, and that we were able to return to him in one piece.

Since our return, we praise the Lord for definite spiritual progress with Sandrine, Mrs Peirs' grand- daughter. Please continue to pray for her that she will grasp the simple gospel message. She was a fervent atheist when we first met her, but she is changing and she is much more open than ever. Praise God! and do pray: “Now is the day of salvation...”

We haven't yet seen Vanessa and Jonathan, the couple who got married married May 9^th, since our return. Pray for follow-up with them, for wisdom and God's guidance (Prov. 3:5,6).

I saw the surgeon the other day. He wants me to continue physical therapy and see how things evolve. I feel like the metal plate in my arm is catching on my shoulder bone. He says that this is normal, but leaves the door open to eventually operating again to remove it, or even if needed to do a shoulder replacement. Please pray that in time I recover the range of motion in my left arm.

With my arm a bit handicapped, I have been looking for a used car, with an automatic transmission. Most cars in France, have a standard manual stick shift. But, it is a bit difficult to control the steering wheel and shift gears at the same time. Pray that I can find the right car, if it is the Lord's will.

Over the last week, three people that we know lost their mothers. Hanifa, a sister in our church lost hers. Then our bakery lady, Nicole, of whom we spoke, lost her mother. We went to the funeral and renewed a good contact with her. Please continue to pray for her salvation. Then a few days later, another sister in our church, Jacqueline, who is from Cameroon, lost her mother.

We are getting ready for the Bible Institute students to come Sept 21 to 23, also for the “Braderie” (flea market) the first week end in Sept. Pray that we can find a good place to set up our Bible stand.

With the new school year, we are going to try to have a fourth Sunday School class. Pray that we can find the right ones to teach the class. We have been working on getting another room ready for the classroom.

As for our kids, Nathanael has a temporary job that may become a long term job, doing programming. We praise God for a job that seems to be just what he needs. Rebecca and her family are doing well. As a matter of fact, they are now expecting another little one in December. Please pray that all goes well.

Again we thank you for your prayers and support.

Yours in Christ,

Greg and Judy

http://globalfaithmission.org

Prayer letter April 2015

April 2, 2015

Dear Friends and Supporters,

On Saturday, Feb 21st, we received a phone call from our daughter Rebecca. She had some very sad news: their 2 month old baby boy, Lucien, had just died of SIDS (Sudden infant death syndrome).  She had put him down for a nap, he seemed to be sleeping longer than usual, so she went to get him and found that he had passed away in his sleep.  What a shock!  So, on Monday, Judy, Nathanael and I drove the 600 miles down to Toulouse to be with them.

On Tuesday, Rebecca asked me look at an electric role-down shutter on their sliding door going out the back of their house.  So, I got the ladder. It is a 3-part extending ladder, so I took part of it and placed it on one end of the sliding window and another part on the other end.  I climbed up and took the screws out to remove the cover, then went back up to look and try to understand the mechanics and see if I could find how to fix the motor.  Just as soon as I went up 2 steps of the ladder, and reached up with my hands to try to better see the shutter, the wall in front of me quickly began going up as I was going down.  In less than a second, the ladder had slipped out from under me and I had hit the concrete. I knew immediately that something was not right with my left arm.

We drove to a nearby doctor that Rebecca knew. He took me down to another office where they did an x-ray of my shoulder.  It was a complex fracture. The doctor arranged for me to have a scanner done the next day and an appointment with a surgeon at a clinic.  The next morning the scanner was something. It created a 3d picture of the bone. We then saw the surgeon, expecting that he would operate right away.  But he said that we had 2 weeks to do the surgery so it would be better that we do it in Lille, because the surgeon could do the follow up visits.  So I would have to wait a week before surgery.

Because Lucien had died at home, the French authorities wanted an autopsy to be sure that the death was not due to child abuse. Of course we knew that was not the case, but there was no choice. Wednesday, the authorities had the results, not finding the cause of death as is the case in the vast majority of SIDS cases. Finally Rebecca and Samuel could plan the funeral for Lucien, which was decided for Saturday morning. There were over 300 people present, including some from Montauban, who had known Rebecca since she was a child. Samuel’s parents and one of his sisters were able to come from the States, and several French Christians from other cities came too. Plus the Toulouse church mobilized to do everything they could.  Samuel and Rebecca were overwhelmed, and deeply appreciated all the comfort extended to them by so many, including messages sent to them and to us.  Thank-you!

What was shared at the funeral was both touching and a tremendous testimony of God’s grace in such a trial.  It was shared that of all their children, Lucien was the one who smiled the most at that age. Though visibly in grief at such a loss, Samuel and Rebecca were thankful for the 2 months God gave them with this precious one and they savored all those wonderful times they and the 5 other children had had with Lucien.  James 1:17 was evoked and a great peace reigned in spite of the deep pain.

One of those present was the unsaved mid-wife who delivered Lucien.  She well remembered his birth as they almost lost him then.  She was extremely touched at the funeral and stated that she admired our faith, “of all of you!”  She recognized that she needed to find faith again.  Pray for her to find Jesus as her all-sufficient Savior.  We were able to give her a gospel of John.

With my arm broken (actually, it is the head of the humorous that was broken into 4 pieces), it would be very difficult to make the 10 hour drive back to Lille in the car.  So Sunday evening Judy and Nathanael left in the car and I flew up on Monday morning.  Judy and Nathanael met me at the airport in Lille. 

I saw the surgeon on Tuesday morning (a week after the fall) and he scheduled the surgery for Thursday. So on Thursday morning we went to the clinic and I got checked in. In the evening they rolled me in for the surgery. The anesthesiologist told me she was giving me something to relax me. I then heard her say "now I am going to block the pain in your shoulder”. The next thing I knew, they were rolling me back to my room. They placed a plate in my arm to hold the pieces together with 7 screws. All this would be very interesting if it were not in my arm...

As the anesthesia wore off, the pain in my shoulder woke up. They gave me  some morphine a couple of times, as well as other pain medication.  They released me on Sunday.  Happily, 2 other men were able to fill the pulpit for me in the church in Lille for the 2 Sundays I missed. The hardest part of the recovery is sleeping at night. I take some Advil type pill and then go to bed. When the effect of the pill wears off, the pain wakes me up, so I take another pill, it takes a while to take effect, go back to sleep (most of the time it takes at least an hour) and wake up when it wears off, and so on.

We saw a used recliner in the want ads for a reasonable price, so I have been sleeping in it. I have been teaching the Bible studies and am back to preaching, but with my arm this way, I cannot drive, so Judy or Nathanael have to take me places. (Incidentally, Nathanael just moved back home the week before Lucien’s death).  Several times a week, I see a physical therapist. She is doing the light stuff for the moment.  This week, I had another x-ray and will see the surgeon on Friday. If he thinks that the bone and muscles have healed enough, the therapist will begin the “torture" with exercises that will re-establish the movements, then on to rebuilding the muscles.

All this has taught me a few lessons, for example what takes only a second to break, may take much pain and time to repair. I know that all things work together for good for us (Rom. 8:28), and I am sure that the Lord is in control.  Even though I do not know what He will do with this trial, I am confident that He does. I am thankful that I live in a time and place where they can operate on a situation like mine and restore at least most of the movement in my arm. 

Please do continue to pray for the healing of my upper arm. We still plan on coming to the States this summer, even though I have been waiting to be sure that I will be able to travel. Please pray for this too. Also continue to pray for Rebecca and her family, as the loss of this little one is painful.  Especially pray for the grandkids, as the loss of their baby brother is always difficult to understand.

May the Lord bless and we thank you for being behind the Lord’s work here in north France.

Yours in Christ,

Greg and Judy Sirmons

44 rue du faubourg de Bethune

59000 Lille

France

VOIP phone 913-871-4427 (Kansas number that will ring here in France)

For donations: https://www.denarionline.com/DONORSERVICES/TEMPLATEPAGE.ASPX?COMP_REF=_GFM&SID=aehumb45dsbv0355cisopdel&CONTENT=MISSIONARY&MISSION_REF=7D8A2574AD

http://globalfaithmission.org

News March 2015

I just got out of the hospital, we went down to Toulouse to spend time with our daughter and her family after they just lost their 2 month old baby.  While we were there, I was on a latter that slipped out from under me and I broke my arm at the shoulder.  They have place a plate with 7 screws to hold everything in place.

In January, we have had 2 baptisms.  Praise the Lord for these two young people who gave witness of their faith in Jesus Christ.  Corentin is a young man who lives near us.  We met him at a neighborhood picnic about 3 years ago and he trusted Christ in January 2014. Pray for the rest of his family. Then Adelaide is a young lady who spent a summer in the States, and the Christian family with which she stayed were such a witness that she came to Christ.  Upon returning to France, she continued her studies in Lille and has become part of our church family.

Then their is a young couple that lives across the street from us, who are searching for truth.  They are full of questions and eager to hear more.  They’ve come to church for several Sundays and to our home twice. We have shared with them that Jesus Christ is the truth and that by simple faith in Him, they can receive eternal life and know God. Pray that they take the step of faith and accept the Lord as their Savior. 

We had several of the Bible Institute’s students here in January for some classes.  Pray that those who follow our classes by Internet, will be able to progress.   We have a total of about 20 students enrolled, but only about half are advancing.

Our New Year's Eve get-together went well as so did the Christmas program.  We had a few unsaved visitors who heard the gospel.  Pray for Frank, the husband of one of the ladies that comes to our church. He is a Catholic, but is open to the things of the Lord.  Pray that he will see clearly the message of faith alone.

Each week goes by so fast, we have our regular actives (Bible studies, church service, prayer meeting, the planning meeting for the Bible Institute, as well as monthly activities such as the ladies meeting and a men’s supper and Bible study.  We don’t know where time goes, but the Lord opens doors to share the gospel.  Judy has had a contact with Cecile, a lady who is also searching. Also, pray for Jean-Guy, a neighbor, who is seeking a life with God, he has recently been diagnosed with cancer.  Pray that the work of the Lord will bring forth much fruit.

You can call us on our Magic Jack phone (913-871-4427, this is a Kansas number

Prayer letter November 2014

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Wow, Christmas is almost here : the kids in our church as well as the choir are working on the program for December 21st. Let us start off by wishing you a very Merry Christmas. May our hearts be filled with gratitude as we thank God for His “unspeakable gift”, for unto us “is born… a Savior”! (II Cor. 9:15; Luke 2:11)

We want to catch you up on what has been going on here. The highlight of our year occurred In late June, just after having some Bible Institute students here for a couple of days. A young couple in our church, Nilsen and Jenny, had very much at heart to organize a short mission’s trip to their beloved country of Madagascar. As it turns out, Judy and I plus another missionary, Mark Gostlin, accompanied Nilsen and Jenny and their 2 young children for 2 1/2 wonderful weeks in  Madagascar!  We saw a beautiful country, much poorer than ours materially speaking, but where the people (generally) were not less happy than us who are used to much more comfort. It was refreshing to see in real life the truth that it is not money that makes one happy! And it was especially precious to feel that real love bond in Christ with several of the Christians there for whom it was obvious, in spite of the language barrier, that they had a deep walk with the Lord.  Nilsen did a wonderful job of arranging opportunities for us to share with the brethren there and even participate in an open-air effort of evangelization. In all, Mark and I were able to preach and teach 5 or 6 times each, and Judy shared with a kid’s Bible class as well as with a ladies’ group. But the most wonderful thing, the frosting on the cake, was seeing Jenny’s youngest brother trust Christ as Savior while we were there!! It’s a whole story we’d love to share, but it was just wonderful. He was just a ripe fruit. Jenny and her other brother, Rhave, who lives in France and has also gotten wonderfully saved in the last 2 yrs, were just overjoyed!    Now they’re all three praying for the salvation of their parents and two other brothers.

Getting back to France mid July, we were able to participate in a Pastor’s retreat and in August , we were at a family camp. Again Judy helped teach the kids and I was able to preach a time or two. Then in September, again we had a session with the Bible Institute students. In October, we were in Paris for the business meetings for the Baptist alliance and the Bible Institute. 

Of course, we have our regular activities. This last year, I have been preaching through the gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings.  We have Bible studies on Wednesdays and Thursdays, where I have been teaching on Bible prophecy.  Two Sunday afternoons a month, we have another Bible study. There, I have been teaching through the Pentateuch.  On Tuesday evenings we have our weekly prayer meeting in homes of some of our church people. 

Judy has her monthly ladies’ Bible study. This last Saturday, there were 20 ladies, which is the most there has ever been. I also do a monthly men’s supper and Bible study. This last one seemed to particularly be a blessing to all.  

For the Bible Institute, once a week we have our planning meeting using Skype. Tim Knickerbocker, Dominique Michaud and Judy and I meet to take care of what needs to be done.

We praise the Lord that our church has been growing. In spite of 2 solid Christian women and one family moving away in the past few months (sigh!),  the Lord has brought some new people into our fellowship.  One of them is Jean (John) and his wife, Michelle. Jean and I have been distributing tracts in town on Saturday mornings. Pray that hearts will be touched. The other addition has been a young couple with 2 children and a 3rd on the way.  

FAMILY : Our daughter, Rebecca, and her husband are expecting our 6th grand baby around Christmas time. They are serving the Lord still in Toulouse where Samuel is the assistant pastor of a church there.

Our son, Nathanael (still single) is still in Paris. But maybe not for much longer. Please pray the Lord guide his steps. Thank-you.

Once again, we want to thank you for your prayers and support for this work in North France.  Because of you, this ministry is possible. In 2015 we plan on coming to the States and hope to be able to visit with many of you. We will be organizing this in the near future. Please keep us in mind in your agendas and thank-you for keeping us in your prayers. 

Yours in Christ,

Greg and Judy Sirmons

email and Skype: sirmons@bible.com.es

44 rue du faubourg de Bethune

59000 Lille

France

With :

Global Faith Mission Agency

P.O. Box 3326

Chattanooga, TN 37404

http://globalfaithmission.org

Prayer request - Feb 2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

Here are some of our prayer requests,

 

We have asked in the past for the salvation of Mrs Piers.  Since she had her stroke in 2012, she has not been able to attend church, but Judy has kept contact with her.  She still is in need of salvation as she believes that even if she is a sinner, she is not bad enough for the need of salvation.  For quite some time, her granddaughter, Sandrine, has rented an apartment next door to us.  Sandrine is a militant communist and atheist.  But we have had a good contact with her.  We pray that she may come to know that God does exist and that she needs the Lord Jesus as Saviour.  We believe something is going on in her heart even though she may not yet be willing to admit it.  She often eats with us at our fellowship meals and lately she’s expressed the desire to attend the young adults meeting and also the ladies’ Bible study!

 

There is another Sandrine who is the cleaning lady for Madeleine, one of the members of our church here in Lille.  She has been coming to Judy’s monthly ladies Bible studies.  She is so excited about what she is learning.  Pray for her salvation also.

 

Then there is a college-age guy that lives in the neighbourhood.  He has professed to accepting Jesus as Saviour, but has his ups and downs.  Pray that he will grow in the knowledge of our Lord and be founded in Him. 

 

There are a number of our neighbours, that we have shared the gospel with, but have not yet come to Christ.  Pray for Jean-Guy and Laurence, Berezug and Souéla, the baker lady, a couple that were friends of the Dumetz, and several others.

 

Rhave is the brother of one of the members of our church, who are from Madagascar. He came to France for his studies. He started coming to church, and he has trusted Christ and will be baptized soon.  It was a real joy to see him come to the Lord and now to grow in Him!

 

We praise the Lord for Jacqueline, whom I was able to baptize a few months ago. She sought the Lord and over a period of time, He found her.  When she found our church, she was ripe and hungry for the Word.  She has been a real blessing!

 

Amanda, a neighbour of another member of our church, has been coming to church with her for over a year now.  I started a personal Bible study with her.  She has had no background of any belief in God.  She seems to be beginning to understand what I have been teaching her.  She had no concept of sin, or of eternity.  Please pray that the Lord will open her intelligence and for her salvation.

 

For the Bible Institute, we have over 20 men enrolled in our classes by video over the internet. We have them come to Lille 3 times a year for classes and exams. In January, we had 7 of them here.  For the Greek class, we are now using Skype and this is allowing for more follow-up.  

 

Please pray for the Weber family, 2 of their 4 kids have serious health problems as well as the mother having a fragile health.  Pray also for their couple as there has been a bit of stress there.  Pray that the Lord will guide us to be able to help them.

 

Pray for a fellow pastor and his family as they are having serious problems in their couple.  I may soon be needing to take a role in the church where he has been pastor as the situation is going to bring him to leave the ministry.  This is very hard on everyone connected to this situation.   

 

Pray for the health of Hanifa, she had a stroke several years ago. She is a sister in Christ that is going through a discouraging series of setbacks with her health.

 

The family from Madagascar in our church has a real burden for their country.  Judy and I as well as a 1 or 2 others will be travelling to Madagascar with them from June 28^th to July 16^th.  We will be visiting 7 or 8 churches with the goal of sharing the Word, encouraging the brethren and sharing the gospel.  Please pray that the Lord will provide in every way for this short mission trip and protect us as we go.

 

Of course, please continue to pray for our regular activities, Sunday morning services and the weekly Bible studies as well as prayer meeting.  The church here is growing in number, please pray that the brethren will grow spiritually also.

 

Thank you once again for your prayers and support.

 

Yours in Christ,

Greg and Judy Sirmons