bless.

In September 1991 Chrissie and I were on a Brittany Ferries boat sailing into Ouistreham for a visit to Caen. At 6am, after a sleepless night, I opened my daily Bible reading and found some words that had already for several years been significant for us: “He lead them by a straight way to a city where they could settle” (Psalm 107:7). We knew then that God was calling us to Normandy, and specifically to the Caen region. Over 19 years and 9 house-moves we have kept that dream alive, even though our path has taken us to many other places. “Not all who wander are lost” Tolkien wrote, and we have sensed in the wanderings of many years a meaningful pattern, moving towards a point of resolution. That resolution has come in the form of a return to Normandie, and we stand at last on the threshold of fulfilling God’s call to us.

We are now within weeks of the deadline for the contact to purchase Bethanie, the former cider farm where God has called us to establish a base for prayer, training and missional formation. We have raised €117,000 towards a total target of €476,000. We have seen gifts come in from a wide range of people and are thrilled to see so many backing this vision: but we haven’t yet seen the significant funding we need to complete the purchase.

We are due, by the end of June, to raise a further €359,000 to complete the purchase or a minimum of €200,000 to move to the next stage of the process. This might seem a good time to panic or to shift emphasis; even to own up that ‘we couldn’t raise the funds’ and turn aside from the project.

And yet we sense that God is telling us to do none of these things. We have talked and prayed with Bill and Jan Gordon, our vendors, and all four of us believe that God is saying to us:  “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today… The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” (Exodus 14:13) So we are asking all those who pray for us to stand with us in these vital last two weeks. Please pray with us:

a) For the RELEASE of the funds needed for this purchase – to enable bless to move on with the vision for Bethanie and Bill and Jan to move on to the next stage of their lives and ministry.

b) For God’s JUSTICE to be established. We sensed when praying that there may be a blockage of injustice holding back these funds. We don’t know the details of this, but believe it is right to pray for God’s justice to be done.

Please continue to pray with us and for us, that God’s purposes for our lives – and for this remarkable place – will be fulfilled. We will be standing and watching daily through the coming weeks to see what God does. Will you stand with us?