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
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