AGWM Personnel in France, Mark and Dalene Good tell of what is happening in their new church plant. “We’re experiencing some interesting ‘firsts’ in our non-traditional church plant, the Refuge. In mid-January, we challenged everyone in the church who would join us for the first time in starting the year in prayer and reflection with a 3 day corporate fast. Many were stretched in their faith and found a new dependence on God. Our leadership team also enjoyed personal ‘solo’ retreats during the corporate fast – traveling in two shifts to a nearby retreat center to spend 24 hours unplugged, alone and focused on soaking in His Presence. It’s amazing what just one day dedicated solely to Gad can benefit in realigning our hearts and gaining direction! This month, someone wrote and shared an original song, in their first time of partnering with the Holy Spirit. Our teaching focus in January was on allowing the Holy Spirit to operate in our lives through the gifts of the Spirit. We are also discipling a French secularist new believer who will be the first person in our new church to take the step of water baptism this spring. In reaching such people, patience is needed to establish trust and develop close relationships so that distortions of what they think we believe are removed and authentic Truth demonstrated. We are asking God for anointing to reach both unreached people groups, who are estranged from each other here in France, and to see miraculous reconciliations as a result.
We also launched our first ministry teams, encouraging everyone in the church to serve and use their giftings on the prayer, hospitality, worship, communication and logistics teams. During worship last week, a high-pitched bark startled us all. Having someone bring their puppy into the service was a surprising ‘first’, but probably a natural result of reaching out to the unchurched French, who are unfamiliar with church ‘etiquette’ and who also bring dogs into most public spaces. We may have to deal with new challenges, but we are so happy for these new adventures of welcoming those who wouldn’t go to a ‘normal’ church.
AGWM Personnel in France, Mark and Dalene Good tell of what is happening in their new church plant. “We’re experiencing some interesting ‘firsts’ in our non-traditional church plant, the Refuge. In mid-January, we challenged everyone in the church who would join us for the first time in starting the year in prayer and reflection with a 3 day corporate fast. Many were stretched in their faith and found a new dependence on God. Our leadership team also enjoyed personal ‘solo’ retreats during the corporate fast – traveling in two shifts to a nearby retreat center to spend 24 hours unplugged, alone and focused on soaking in His Presence. It’s amazing what just one day dedicated solely to Gad can benefit in realigning our hearts and gaining direction!
This month, someone wrote and shared an original song, in their first time of partnering with the Holy Spirit. Our teaching focus in January was on allowing the Holy Spirit to operate in our lives through the gifts of the Spirit. We are also discipling a French secularist new believer who will be the first person in our new church to take the step of water baptism this spring. In reaching such people, patience is needed to establish trust and develop close relationships so that distortions of what they think we believe are removed and authentic Truth demonstrated. We are asking God for anointing to reach both unreached people groups, who are estranged from each other here in France, and to see miraculous reconciliations as a result.
We also launched our first ministry teams, encouraging everyone in the church to serve and use their giftings on the prayer, hospitality, worship, communication and logistics teams. During worship last week, a high-pitched bark startled us all. Having someone bring their puppy into the service was a surprising ‘first’, but probably a natural result of reaching out to the unchurched French, who are unfamiliar with church ‘etiquette’ and who also bring dogs into most public spaces. We may have to deal with new challenges, but we are so happy for these new adventures of welcoming those who wouldn’t go to a ‘normal’ church.