Brothers and Sisters,
We’ve
lived in France four months already! It’s amazing that a third of our time here
has already come and gone. Rebecca and I completed our first French trimester
with week-long exams in March. We both passed and are now moving on to the
second level in our language studies. Learning this language has been a
predictable struggle for me, but I put in many hours of study and have seen
progress. Rebecca excels in the area of language, but her heart is in mothering
and teaching our children and so she also looks forward to putting language
class behind us (someday…). We have been blessed, however, with a wonderful
teacher. It is amazing to see the way our God orchestrates things in our lives.
Those who work in this school view their work as their ministry to prepare us
for our own mission work. It is evident to us that our teacher takes this work
very seriously and she expects the same from us. Every assignment and every
correction (which are frequent) are given in resolute love and with a desire to
see us grow. Our classes were given partially in English for a few weeks, but
we are no longer allowed to speak English in the school and all lectures are
fully in French. In a few weeks, I will be giving the morning devotions to my
class in French with Rebecca giving them the following week.
If
you follow us on facebook, you’ve probably seen some of the pictures that we’ve
posted of our surroundings. We live in a smallish town completely surrounded by
green slopes and climbing mountain peaks, many of which are still snow-capped
despite the onset of a vibrant spring. There is some rain, but most days are fair
and many flowers are in full bloom right now. There seem to be bakeries on
every other corner which give off the scent of fresh-baked bread. Each weekday,
the children attend an old school downtown after an invigorating fifteen-minute
walk. They have made friends and are picking up some of the language. Our days
here are very full, but we continue to make time for one another despite all
the studying and daily requirements of life. We have met with more illness here
than expected as our bodies try to adjust to germs from a different region. We seem
to be past the worst of that, yet would appreciate your prayers for our health
and strength.
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| Photo of Albertville taken in January |
We
see things here that remind of home sometimes, but where is our home? Our house
in Michigan sold a few weeks ago (praise God with us!), but Michigan, although
a supremely awesome state, is no more our home than France. Our French brothers
and sisters will sometimes refer to God in prayer as “l’Eternel” meaning The
Eternal or The Eternal One. Sometimes we have a deep sense of longing for home
or for times gone by, yet those times and places would not satisfy if we had
them again, because our true longing is for our true home, which is wherever
The Eternal One resides. To dwell with Him is to obey Him and live in His will,
and that is why we are excited to toil here now and why we look forward to our labor
in Togo.
Please
remember us in your prayers and feel free to contact us to let us know what you
are praying about or if there is something we can lay before the Lord on your
behalf. We have been teaching our children to pray, and it is such a joy to see
them grow. You can pray for our health, for strength to persevere in our
studies, and for diligence in our daily walk with the Lord. Pray that we would
be an encouragement to the other missionaries here and that we would know how
to be a blessing to the French people that we are coming to know. Pray also for
Togo and the ministry that has long been underway there.
Don’t
forget that, for more frequent updates, you can follow us at facebook.com/mallays
or at mallaysonamission.blogspot.com (email: mallaysonamission@gmail.com)
Love from France: Seth, Becca, Arwen, Caspian, Elora, and
Gwynevere
