Thank you!

Dear Family & Friends,

Praise God for your prayers & donations! Our mission trip to Paris, France on 13-20 June was a huge blessing- God’s spirit was definitely present as He worked in the hearts of believers & unbelievers alike and as spirits and attitudes were refreshed and renewed. Although “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37), “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” James 5:16). And our prayers were indeed both powerful and effective!

Each day the team prayer-walked a different area of the city, mainly areas in which West Africans reside and hang out at. Prayer-walking is unique in that it allows one to use all his senses as a trigger to pray; thus we were able to hear, see and smell who we were praying for and sometimes touch or taste while praying. For example, we visited the same pizzeria we ate at during the Dec 07-Jan 08 trip to find the gentleman we had witnessed to then. In God’s providence, that same gentleman made our pizzas and while we ate, he told us how he remembered our coming and was grateful that we had come again to see him. We are praying for his salvation. Please join us, as he is a Muslim and still living a life of darkness.



We all know that prayer lays the foundation for Truth to infiltrate hearts and change lives, but through your giving we were able to go and strengthen our relationship with the missionary couple there and make and build new relationships. Without your monetary donations, that would not have been possible- thank you! Praise God for your generosity and obedience!

Please continue to pray for the missionary couple there, for the two Soninke followers of Christ, for the unbelievers that have relationships with them (roommates and family- Soninke, unbelieving West Africans- missionaries), for the Muslim who works at the pizzeria and for the other West African believers.

May God richly bless and keep you,

Bonita Brant & Jasmine Bogard

Pray for Greg; Pray with us!

At 4:30pm (around 9:30am your time) Greg will be attending a "village meeting" in a foyer to discuss the prospect of a team doing a service project in that foyer. Thankfully, the 'key' men running that meeting say they are 100% behind him; now, as long as both the men back in Africa and the attendant of the foyer (who is French) are in agreement, the church group coming in September will be able to do the service project in that foyer.

The purpose of today's meeting will be to confirm that the men are still backing Greg and this idea for a service project and to ensure that they will contact the men in the village to get their approval. Pray that both facets will go smoothly.

*Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through Greg
*Pray that everyone will agree to allowing Greg & the other team to host this service project
*Pray that this will open the door for Greg & Angela to other foyers

The Masses and the Mosque

So today, we went to a nearby mosque for an afternoon call to prayer. This particular mosque, within sight of the famous Sacre Coeur church, was packed way beyond capacity for the weekly Friday Islamic teaching. Even in the rain, there were probably 700 or 800 total Arab and west African men crowded around the mosque for about quarter of a block on each side. It was tragic to hear the many men chanting each line of prayer (as they have five times a day for many years), desperately trying to please their god, Allah.

We prayed around this and another mosque, asking that God release the men from the bondage of Islam. On our way back, we also met a young Muslim man from the Ivory Coast. He was there for the call to prayer and is in Paris visiting family for the next couple days. We exchanged contact info with this man, "R," and invited him to meet with us soon. Please pray for God to open his heart to the gospel and for us to have the chance to meet with him.

We also prayer walked around several nearby primary schools. There we asked God to raise up a group of students who will walk in His ways and who will hunger and thirst after righteousness, not the acceptance of their peers.

Lastly, we walked around a crowded west African market. There we prayed for the people to come to Christ without fear of rejection from family and friends, for them to pursue Him rather than the things of this world, and for God to clearly reveal Himself to them. On our way back, we actually passed a west African produce store with an "I Love Jesus" sign in the window. Both the employees there are joyful believing men, which was encouraging to see in the heart of this area heavily influenced by Islam.

Schedule

Friday, 15th (*Mosques*Hotels*)
1100 - Learn about Islam
Worship
Lunch
1245 - PRAYERWALKING (Chateau Rouge area)
Mosques
Schools
Shops, market, neighborhood
1600 - PRAYERWALKING
Hotels of West African Women
1830 - Pray for West African Christians or
do handy work for missionaries, etc.

Saturday, 16th (Foyers)
1000 - Learn about foyers
Worship
Lunch at a foyer
1200 - PRAYERWALKING in Foyers
Marc Sequin, Riquet, and Belot foyers
1400 - PRAYERWALKING in Foyers (Bercy area)
1700 - Pray for African Christians in the city

Sunday, 17th (Church & Planning)
0945 - Pray for church with some members
1000 - Church
1200 - Lunch (in park, if whether permits)
1330 - Discuss future opportunities with High Pointe
Pray for missionaries specifically
Pray for High Pointe
1600 - PRAYERWALKING
For village meeting (Greg attending
this at that time regarding an upcoming
foyer project)
For Hautpoul and Lorraine foyers

Monday, 18th (The City)
1030 - Group Bible meditation & city information
1100 - PRAYERWALKING around city
Notre Dame - Pray about barriers
Hotel de Ville (Pray for city leaders)
1230 - Lunch at Louvre Carrousel
1345 - PRAYERWALKING around city
Louvre - for the people of Paris
St. Germain-L'Auxerrois (old church)
Pray for Parisian Christians
Concorde - Pray for government
Arc de Triumphe - Pray for city
Sacre Coeur - Pray for the city's
international people

Tuesday, 19th (Tourism &/or Work Day)
Tour the city and/or
Help missionaries with their physical needs

Wednesday, 20th (Travel back to the States)

Day 1 - Wednesday

We’ve arrived safely- praise God!

This morning, Troy F. drove the team to the airport-almost. The vehicle was over-heating badly this morning and a guaranteed arrival to the airport became not-so-guaranteed…we ate lunch at Austin Bergstrom, left at 3:40pm, then took off for Atlanta, GA. There, the team stretched out, walked to our gate then headed for Paris at 8:40 (est). Greg and Angela met us at Charles De-Gaulle airport; Angela & the girls weaved in & out of metro stations while Greg & Robert took the luggage to the hotel (via car) and checked us in.

**Pray**
Greg quickly briefed us on the current situation at their local church. Its members and leaders are having some difficult issues-please pray! We are leaving now to pray for the church, its leaders, its members and its witness.

**Thoughts From Bonita**

***Write on any aspect of the Spaghetti Luncheon
I was especially blessed to see all the help we had (so many were so willing to help out!) and how God opened the hearts of those who gave so willingly. But most of all I was blown away by the amount that was given. Praise God!


***A specific prayer you have- about how God can (will) personally use you
in Paris
That God would keep me focused on the task at hand and that I would be willing to put others before myself.

***The greatest concern/worry you have
My only concern is that there would be no hindrances in our (the team’s) arriving and fully participating in our mission.


***What aspect has proven to test your faith the most in
this time of preparation?
Funds to be raised and trusting that the Lord will provide the means and that I need not be concerned about it.

***What are you *most* excited about?
Going back and working alongside our host missionaries and God allowing me to be a part of what He is doing amongst the Soninke people.

***Who/what will you miss the most back home?
Husband and kids.

***How can Christians specifically pray for you?
That I would be a blessing to our host missionaries and the team and that the Lord would use me in whatever way He desires.

***Write on any aspect of the garage sale
I was a bit flustered w/City of Austin taking our signs but blessed that in spite of the continual rain we still did pretty good.

***Write on any aspect of the training thus far
I like the awareness training of our role with children while on the mission field and just being together and discussing and planning and putting together strategies to raise monies.

*Thoughts* From Julia

***Write on any aspect of the Spaghetti Luncheon
What a blessing High Pointe is! It was a joy to serve them at our Spaghetti Luncheon. I want to give my sincerest and most heartfelt thanks for their support. I am also so humbled and honored to be part of such an amazing team. From the moment we began preparing for this trip, this team has really come together. We have one very strong thread that weaves us together and that is our Lord and Savior who is at the very head of this team. May His will be done, not ours. Praise Be To God!


***A specific prayer you have- about how God can (will) personally use you in Paris
My prayer is that as I walk the streets praying for the lost that my own sins will be purged from my being so that no prayer will be hindered. I pray that Jesus will intercede for me when my words fall short. I pray that all I do be God honoring. I pray that I will see every open door that God provides and walk boldly thru them. I pray that I can be a resource for the team in whatever might come up. However God chooses to use me I pray that I be humble and obedient without delay.


***The greatest concern/worry you have
At first I was concerned as to whether or not I should go. Last year my knee went out on me and toward the end it was quite painful to get around. Before I even committed to going this year I shared my concern with the team; obviously, their vote was that I go. However, I must say I did tell myself that if a 5th person signed up to go I would stay. Also, it is very hard to go when you have children at home who depend on you.

BUT, it always came back to the Lord- whatever His will is that's what I will
do. He has made it abundantly clear that I am to go. It's easy to go on one hand, but on the flesh side it is hard. On the flesh side of course I have a concern for my kiddos, but with that being said I can also think of nothing better than to be obedient to God's call. So no worries - It is all in God's hands.


***Something you really hope you don't forget to pack!
Well my passport would be a biggy, my "dirt" and Silver for sure (if you don’t get this, just ask! :} ), and then a close tie would be my chap stick.

***What aspect has proven to test your faith the most in this time of preparation?
Trusting that God is calling me to go.

***What are you *most* excited about?
There is so much I'm excited about. I am excited about the Prayer Walking, it was exhilarating but sad and heavy at times and sometimes all at the same time (hard to put into words).

I hope we get to see some folks from the foyers we went to last year.

It will be great to see Greg & Angela again!

I actually love all the walking.

Let's not forget the food - yogurt & chocolate chip bread for breakfast –yum!

***Who/what will you miss the most back home?
At the top of the list- without a doubt my kiddos!

***How can Christians specifically pray for you?
Christians can specifically pray for me by asking God to purge any sin from
my life so that I may be an empty vessel that He can use to bring Him honor
and glory.

Secondly, if they can lift up my knee. (Funny thing is, I don't have knee problems but I sure was under attack in this area last year.)

***Write on any aspect of the garage sale
It was a great garage sale and I say that not because of the money we made,
but because it was a great exercise for us to work together as a team.

***Write on any aspect of the training thus far
I wish we had more time to prepare. My prayer is that we are all prepared spiritually, physically and mentally for whatever God has in store.

Pray for the Paris Team!!!

We know that prayer is extremely powerful in reaching the lost. Therefore, the Paris mission trip team requests that you individually pray for us 24-hours-a-day during our trip dates of May 13-20.

We have set up a spreadsheet using Google Docs where you can sign up to pray for the trip. Just click on the link below, and the spreadsheet will appear.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pir2d6IgJr8ZHEHUNM0VMew

Signing up to pray is simple. You do not need to create a username or password. Just type your full name in any one hour slot(s) on the spreadsheet to sign up. Prayer times are shown in one hour blocks, but feel free to sign up for as many as you like. Once you've finished, just close the document, and your changes will be saved.

We truly appreciate your prayers thus far. We also hope you will continue to pray for us both as we prepare to leave and during our time in France. We are excited to join as a church in God's redemptive work among the Soninke people of Paris!

Much love in Christ,
The Paris Trip Team '09