Link for those who would like to donate to our ministry

Our mission, Global Faith Mission Agency, has added a link on their web site, so that people can donate to our ministry on-line:

http://globalfaithmission.org/?page_id=886

Prayer request October 2013

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greeting from north France.  We praise the Lord for His goodness and His grace. We hope each of you are doing well.

The highlights of our summer, started in June with the distance learning students for the Bible Institute who were here for some classes and exams. Then in July we began planning for our church’s 20th birthday and for 10 years in our present building.  

Please pray for this birthday celebration on October 27th.  We will be having David Sauvage here as our special speaker.  He was saved in this church in the 90‘s and is now the pastor of the church in Perpignan. We are inviting people that have been part of the work here in Lille to come and celebrate with us and we are inviting our friends and contacts also.  We pray that many of our unsaved friends will come and hear the gospel preached.  May the Lord touch hearts and some come to Jesus Christ as their personnel Savior.

In August, we went down to the south-west of France for some friends son’s wedding.  We picked up Nathanael in Paris on our way down and then spent a week with Rebecca and her family.  While we were there, I preached in Montauban on the Sunday.  The church there honored us for the 20 years that we had served there.  Then on the Monday, we pulled off a surprise birthday party for Judy’s 60th with friends in Montauban. 

After a week in the South-west, we went to family camp for a week.  Judy taught the children and I preached for 2 of the meetings. It was good to have a short vacation time.  We returned to Lille for the Sunday service and then Judy left for a week of a seminar on church music.  

In September, we had the distance learning students here once again.  Though they can’t all come each time, we had 5 of the about 20 students enrolled come, Some are making real progress.  Do pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers.

We are now in the process of getting everything ready for October 27th and the church’s birthday. Judy is working with the choir and others are working on various projects then there are the fliers that will need to be put in mail boxes and given to all that we can invite.  Pray that we will see fruit from this special effort.

Another special prayer request, is that some good friends of ours, who have worked closely with the Bible Institute, are going through martial problems. They have had an active ministry that the Lord has blessed, but please keep them in your prayers as this is a difficult situation. 

Pray for Hanifa, who has physical problems and it has become hard for her to come to church; for Mrs Piers, who has become a shut-in after her stroke last year, pray for her salvation, pray for some of our neighbors with whom we have had a very good contact, that they may come to Christ. 

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

Yours in Christ,

Greg and Judy Sirmons

44 rue du fbg de Bethune

59000 Lille

France

With Global Faith Mission Agency

P.O. Box 3326
Chattanooga, TN 37404

August 2013

Our plans for the month of August, we will go down to Toulouse on the 9th for a wedding, then on the following Sunday, I will preach in the church in Montauban and there will be a buisness meeting in the afternoon for the radio station. We will spend the week with Rebecca and her family in Toulouse then go to family camp in Larodde and return to Lille on the 24th. Mark Gostlin will be filling in for us while we are gone. Then Judy will attend a seminar on church musique. By then August will be over and we'll be off to the activities of September... time does fly!

Prayer request May 2013

Greg and Judy Sirmons

44 rue du faubourg de Bethune

59000 Lille, France

sirmons@bible.com.es

May 2013

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We pray that the Lord is blessing each of you.  May His name be glorified in all we do.

Here in Lille, France, we would like to share some of what has been happening.

About a month ago, Mrs Dumetz when home to be with the Lord.  Her health had been declining since just before Christmas.  She, and her husband who was promoted to glory about a year ago, had been very much a part of this church since it’s beginning.  They were always a blessing.  There were about 100 people present for Mrs Dumetz’s funeral and I was able to share the certainty of eternal life.  Please pray that the seeds of the gospel that were planted, will bring forth fruit.

We had a very bad April fools’ happening that was not a joke.  About 1:30 am, we were in bed and heard a loud boom. When I looked out the window, I could see a car upside down in front of our place.  I called the equivalent of 911, there were 2 guys getting the lady out of her car, and gas was pouring out of her car (that was upside down) and flowing under our car.  When I got outside, I saw that she had run into our car that we had bought about 2 months earlier, and had damaged our rear left wheel.  By the way, we found out later that she was drunk.  Her insurance should give us what they have evaluated our car as worth. But, ... our church people here decided to buy a used car for the church and let us use it.  We will donate whatever the insurance pays for our car to participate in this purchase.  So, we now have a better car to use.   The Lord changed this problem into a blessing.

We have a couple from Madagascar that are active members of our church here.  Jenny’s brother came here to study in the fall.  He came to church with Nilsen and Jenny and we had many opportunities to share the gospel with Rhav.  A few months ago, in a conversation with him, it became clear that he has accepted the Lord as his Savior.  Praise the Lord. The joy that now shines on his face is such a blessing.

Two different ladies that have been attending our church have asked for baptism.  Judy has been doing a series of Bible studies that we like to do for preparation for baptism.  Lord willing, they will soon be baptized.

Judy does a monthly ladies’ Bible Study.  There have been several new ladies join the group.  Please pray for Sandrine, the cleaning lady of one of our church ladies, that has been coming.  She has brought her daughter and now she has also invited her younger sister.  Judy has about 15 ladies that take part in this study. What a joy to see hearts being touched.

Of course we have our regular meetings each week: for our Sunday worship service, we are between 30 to 40 in attendance;  we do a Sunday afternoon Bible study twice a month, an English afternoon church service once a month, Tuesday evenings prayer meeting, in homes of our church people, a Wednesday afternoon Bible study and a Thursday evening Bible study. Once a month, I do a Friday evening meal and study with some men of the church.

As for the Bible Institute this year, we have had the help of Mrs. Dominique Michaud with the secretarial work.  The number of students following our online program has grown to around 20.  We have new requests for information about every week.  We work with Olivier Bourrel and we get together almost every Tuesday afternoon for this.  I have been using our Wednesday afternoon Bible class at the church, to record the classes of Hermeneutics that had not already been recorded.  Also, we have the students come here for some classes and exams in September, January and June.  Please do pray that there will be many to train to serve the Lord in France.

I don’t know if you are aware, but the French government is in the process of legalizing homosexual marriage and this includes the possibility of adopting children by these couples.  There have been massive manifestations against this, but the government has turned a deft ear and is proceeding with this change in the French law.  Please do pray for France as this is another evidence of the moral decline of the country.

The ministry here in Lille was started by Olivier Bourrel in 1993 and our church moved to it’s present location in 2003.  We are planning on a 20 and 10-year celebration in September.  We plan on using this event to invite as many people as possible and to preach the gospel.  Please pray for this special opportunity to invite many of our friends and contacts.  Sometimes, special events are the only time some people will come.

Please pray for several other contacts with which we share the gospel message: Corintin, a guy in the neighborhood with his mother and sisters; Sandrine, another neighbor; Berezoug and his wife Souela, some muslim neighbors; Dominique, a man that comes and see me often to talk about the Lord; Isabel, a lady with some mental challenges that has been coming to our church; Jean-Luc, Lucette and Michel, the Dumetz’s children (they are our ages), that we will not loose contact with them now that their mother is gone; and the list could be much longer.

Thank you for your prayers and support. May the Lord bless,

Greg and Judy Sirmons

PS : You can get other updates of our ministry on our blog (http://sirmons.info) or with our Facebook page (find us with our email address, sirmons@bible.com.es)

March 2013 prayer request

Some news from our ministry here in Lille, France. For our Sunday worship service, we have started a series of messages in the parables of Jesus, for our Sunday afternoon Bible study, we are going through the Pentateuch, in our Wednesday afternoon Bible Sunday, we are studying the principals of Bible interpretation (Hermeneutics), we have a Thursday evening Bible study where we are studying personal evangelism. This keeps us busy, please pray that the Lord will use these studies so that believers will grow in the Lord.

prayer request for Febuary

Prayer requests : pray for the salvation of so many lost people here,
            but in particular, those that the Lord has brought on our path.
            We see God at work in their lives, but it doesn't seem automatic
            that they grasp their need for salvation and trust Christ as               Savior! I think the power of prayer must be needed, and you can help there!

     Just to mention a few : our dentist. We've had an ongoing contact with him for several years. I could almost write a book about the times we've seen God at work, seeking him. But just to bring you up to date : I had an appointment with him this past Mon. and for the 2nd time, he didn't make me pay. The last time when I thanked him, he said : "I'm the one thanking you. You know I'm seeking."  This time, he said, "... maybe it will help 'save my soul.'"  What an opportunity to share the gospel ! I answered, "No, it won't help..." and was able to quote Eph.2/8,9 and give an illustration. (I added, "maybe I should pay you after all !") It was a good conversation, but it seems clear he's been taught good works for salvation,etc. We've given him a New Testament, a gospel calendar and lately, Josh and Sean McDowell's book, "More than a Carpenter." Pray that God open his eyes!

I've already written a book, so I'd better wind down !

2 other contacts : a family of 5 young-adult kids we met in June at a neighborhood picnic. The mother asked if they could come by our church some Sun. (!!). They're from a Catholic background, but she wanted to expose her kids to something else. Well, they never came, but in Dec. the 17 yr. old boy, Corentin. came by and started talking with Greg. He came back 2 or 3 times after that and early Jan. came back and was devastated by a decision one of his sisters had just made. He came to church the next Sun. and brought 2 other sisters and his mother for desert that afternoon at our New Year's meal. It was a balm for their hurting hearts, and they seemed sincerely appreciative,but we hadn't seen them again until day before yesterday when I ran into them at a bus-stop just after having prayed for them, hoping that the contact with them wouldn't be lost - praise the Lord !!  Pray they can catch the salvation message.

Last contact : Our Muslim neighbors down the street whose teenage son is reportedly seeking truth. Last week, I was finally able to give him a short Bible study lesson when we just "happened" to meet on the sidewalk. Do pray for him. Thanks!

Otherwise, do pray for a young family in our church whose 3 sons have health problems. Especially for the oldest, Jeremie, 12 yrs. old who's been diagnosed with a very serious and rare disease called Besets. We're very concerned for him as the disease keeps flaring up. Pray for strength and grace for the parents, and I'd like to pray for healing for Jeremie.

Sorry this is so long ! but thanks for praying :) !

Love in Christ, Greg and Judy Sirmons

January 2013

We have had a busy month of January, We brought our two grand daughters back from Toulouse with us after Christmas, Judy took them back south on the 15th. They we a lot of fun. Then we had 5 of our correspondence students here for some classes and exams, then we just returned from a pastors conference near Chalon. Of course, we have had all our regular activities. Praise the Lord for all He does in and through our lives.