Ashley' quote of the month: "Yo' flava is HOT." - Honey
At the beginning of the month, we had the opportunity to go on a retreat with Richard's church St Michael's. It was at a lovely place on the Normandy coast just by the sea. It was so refreshing to get away from the mayhem and rioting in Paris. It was a three-day retreat where we were encouraged by the worship and teaching and had a great time meeting new people. The weekend ended with a murder mystery game "Clue"-style. (or "Cluedo" if you speak English).
For those of you who have been concerned about the heated situation in Paris with the strikiing and protesting, it has quieted down, even though the universities are still barricaded and students haven't been to classes fot the past six weeks. This is still a concern as exams will be coming up and students are afraid of losing a whole semester.
Recently, Agape and Global Hope jointly organized a "Soiree Humanitaire" in order to raise money for an upcoming trip to Turkey. The money raised will be used to buy school supplies for impoverished schools. It was great to see so many French students concerned about the welfare of these children. Some are even interested in participating in future humanitarian trips with Global Hope. Our friend Bill Morin presided the evening and encouraged everyone to "embraser les orphelinats", oh wait, I mean "embrasser les orphelins".
Ashley: Despite the confusion, I don't work in a pub. My work with Agape keeps me busy enough! This month I have enjoyed the time spent with students and friends through our new women's Bible study, monthly worship night, and English clubs. As the weather gets nicer, we are hoping to spend more time outdoors with soccer games and picnics. We had our first picnic last weekend and, though it rained, we had a great time playing cards in a nearby cafe. Wow, the French need to be taught Spoons more often! Good times... I appreciate all of your continued prayers for our work and the relationships I have with my friends here. Also, please pray about my upcoming trip to North Africa with some of my teammates and the work we will be doing there!
Richard: I do work in a pub, but things are drawing to a close. March was a crazy month especially with the Rugby (Allez les bleus!) and of course the barman's nightmare: St. Patrick's! I've decided to call it a day and will be leaving the job on the 13th April. Then for the next few months I will be support-raising full-time. At the moment I have the cat in my 10 square metres. I don't know which one of us will go mad first!
Thanks for all your prayers, support and the encouragement that you all are to us. Check out the new photos and we look froward to hearing from you soon!
