14^th May, 2007 Issue No 19

Griffins’ Gazette

Welcome to Griffins’ Gazette #19

Ben’s News

I’m sitting here looking at a list of things to tell you about since last time I wrote, and it looks like the index of an Atlas: Abidjan, Sassandra, Bordeaux, Leicester, Gairlock, Dewsbury. With Sandbach fitted somewhere in between our wanderings.

Why this wander lust? You may well know the story by now. Two young teenage Christians met, fell madly in love, and felt a pull toward serving God everywhere, and Ivory Coast specifically. They then spent the following sixteen years pursuing this course, taking advice from various wise men and women. So, having married and having had enough children, they eventually landed back at Wheelock Heath Baptist Church, South Cheshire, in August 2006, in preparation for leaving these shores for Ivory Coast. Of course there are obstacles, and it is these obstacles that we are trying to deal with now. One is in our own hands (well…you know what I mean), that is, the language study and preparation, and one is not: the stability of Ivory Coast.

Having been in Wheelock Heath Baptist Church for 9 months, we are now 3 months away from taking up residence in Bordeaux where we shall enrol at the language department of the local university and where we will learn to speak French in preparation for teaching in Ivory Coast. This as you may appreciate is a huge step for us as we have three young children who have spent their short lives moving from one place to another. Now yet another move, but this time to a place where the language is wrong, and dad won’t talk to them in the car for fear of driving on the wrong side of the road, grinding the gear box, or knocking moped riders off their bikes as he takes a wide sweeping manoeuvre round a right hand turn.

As my wanderings seem to have brought me to Bordeaux, we might as well stop there for a few sentences.

Bordeaux (pronounced Bur- (as in burrow) doh (as in Homer Simpson)

UFM have three missionaries working amongst the students in the student town of Bordeaux, and so it is here that we plan to learn French. With this in mind we all went out last Monday until Friday to do a recky. We spent a very profitable time looking at the language school, getting the application forms, looking at some of the work that UFM does with the students, meeting some of the local Christians, looking at possible houses, and finding out that the school for Josh and Luke was full. We very much enjoyed the time we spent with UFM workers, the Daveys: Alan, Pat, Gwilym, and Catrin, as they helped us find our way around, and guided us to McDonalds. A McCheval burger, s’il vous plait. I plan to go back out in July to sort out renting a property and enrol the boys in a local school.

Bordeaux is yet another stepping stone across the river to Ivory Coast. We’ll go there now I think.

Building the church in the building I’d built.

I spent two weeks in Ivory Coast in March with William Brown, a UFM missionary into Ivory Coast. This gave me the opportunity of getting some more exposure and a better idea of the work that the Lord may have us to do when we get there. We were able to spend a week teaching pastoral theology for four hours a day. This was an excellent opportunity to meet the lecturers whom I may be working alongside at the Bible College in Sassandra. I also met the students, and had my first experience of lecturing.

One of the high points in this visit was being able to preach on local radio about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This went out to a 60 km circumference of Roman Catholic, and animist homes. What an opportunity to be given! Please pray!

Home is where the office is.

Back in England, we have been trying to be as useful as possible at our home church near Sandbach when we have been here by taking responsibility for some of the preaching in Mark’s gospel; leading some bible studies, helping with the youth work, and visiting and praying. The Lord has blessed the church with an influx of twentysomethings by moving them into the area, and continues to bless us with challenging sermons about the practicalities of being a Christian from the book of Romans.

We have been very kindly released on many occasions by our home church to take part in what is called “deputation” in order that we may visit churches that have shown an interest in our desire to go to Ivory Coast. In doing this we have had the pleasure of renewing links with Dewsbury Evangelical Church, whilst being given the opportunity to speak at the UFM Scottish conference. Indeed, one of the highlights of our year this far has been meeting a couple at the UFM Scottish conference who we found out have been following our progress and been praying for us regularly, so much so that I didn’t need to introduce our daughter as they informed us that they had been praying for her through Liz’s pregnancy and the difficult circumstances surrounding Hannah’s safe delivery!

Where now?

As to the future: We look forward with trusting hesitation. Having had 16 years to prepare I feel distinctly, and somewhat culpably, under-prepared. We seek to leave England mid to end of August 2007, and then to sojourn in Bordeaux for somewhere between 1 to 2 years. Immediately, then, we need to raise enough funds to support a family of five in Bordeaux for two years, and possibly four, if Ivory Coast remains as it is at the moment. UFM calculate that we need 300 people to commit to supporting us to the level of £10 a month, or 150 people at £20.00 per month and so on. I’ll let you do the maths. If you know of any church that may be interested in the work of UFM and the Griffins, then please feel free to contact us by phone or that interweb thing.

Why bother?

Whilst in Ivory Coast, I was reading through the book of 1 Chronicles. Have you done that recently? No, I thought not. I think that most people avoid Chronicles in the same way that you don’t watch Match of the Day if you watched the game live on telly that afternoon. You’ve read Kings, well what’s the point of reading Chronicles? It’s really very good, and approaches things from different angles, and is worth reading, yes even the lists of names [2 Tim 3:16] I can’t wait for Dale Ralph Davies to get this far in his commentaries. I came across 1 Chronicles 29:10-20. Read it. What a description of God who the Christian worships, a brief summary of God is as follows: “from everlasting to everlasting, great, powerful, glorious, majestic (pause for breath) splendid, everything in heaven and earth is his, yours O Lord, is the kingdom, (pause for breath) he is exalted, wealth and honour come from Him, In his hands are strength and power, he is the ruler, His name is glorious.”

As we plod on in our desire to serve God in Ivory Coast, and somewhat frustratingly linger in England and then France, constantly we need to come back to this passage. Everything is God’s, including our time, and our plans. In his hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. And he is indeed splendid and he is majestic in his love and in his judgement, and he is faithful in his honouring those who honour him. How do we go forward? By looking Godward.

We are aware that there are those who pray for us regularly, for that we really are thankful. We appreciate the welcome from various places that we visit and the love and friendship and concern from friends at our home church of Wheelock Heath Baptist Church, and our almost home church of Dewsbury Evangelical Church.

Best go and do some real work now.

Liz’s News

I think this is the first time in the history of the ‘Griffins’ Gazette’ that Ben has done his ‘news’ before the rest of us! He hasn’t left me much to tell you. Josh, Luke and Hannah continue to keep me busy but I have managed to start listening to a French Course on CD from which I thought I understood until last week!

Josh’s News

I am going to be seven in August and I really enjoyed going to France last week. I have been learning some French words with Mum and how to count in French, I liked to try all these words out on everyone we met in Bordeaux. I really enjoyed going in an Aeroplane and I have been telling anyone who is willing to listen all about it.

Luke’s News

I’m five and a quarter now and I enjoyed going to France too although I couldn’t understand what people were saying to me and even the children spoke French. I like to do lots of sticking and gluing and making things at the moment but Hannah keeps on getting in the way.

Hannah’s News

I am twenty months now and I am very happy. I like to sing ‘Wind the Bobbin up’ and do all the actions and I like to play in the garden. I liked the aeroplane too although I wanted to get out of my seat and walk around but I couldn’t, and when we landed it made me fall asleep!

Praise

· That the trip to Boredaux was so helpful

· That Bens trip to the Ivory Coast went well

· That the children seem so enthusiastic about the move to Bordeaux

Prayer

· For Ben as he travels around taking meeting for Deputation

· For us as we plan the move to Bordeaux, house, school etc

· For the finances to come together before August

· For Ben’s niece Melissa who has lukemia

Thank You again for your prayers, letters and support

Ben, Liz, Josh, Luke and Hannah