France Update

Bonjour tout le monde! As team France wraps up week one, we are thrilled to recap our adventures. Our plane ride was delightfully uneventful even though we had an interesting bout with sleeping pills. Apparently those make one a little groggy and loopy... who knew? Upon our arrival in Paris we were met by Pastor Caroline Schrumpf and our fifth team member Sarah Hennigan from Wyoming. She's here with Alongside Ministries and will be joining us for the rest of our mission. She is a huge blessing to us as she is quite proficient in French and has a huge heart for God. We are living in Caroline's family's house in a town called Poissy. We're actually living in an abbey which was built in the 11th century!! The history here blows us away on a daily basis. We spent the first few days acclimating to French culture by visiting Paris (including the Eifel Tower and the Louvre) and indulging in the incredible french cuisine. We have truly been spoiled by the wonderful people here in Poissy. We have been reading through both Proverbs and Luke and we're really seeing God at work. As we turn our prayers towards increased wisdom, we have met many people who have truly opened our eyes to the ministry here and the need for missions in France. The past few days we have been working at La Cause, a ministry which focuses on the blind and adoption. Everyone here has been so wonderful to us, we just pray hat we can bless them as much as they have blessed us. Today was incredible: Caroline's church, l'église reformée de Poissy, held a special service in the abbey garden, followed by a Mechui... a sort of potluck complete with lambs roasting on a spit. We already feel like a part of this community and we all L-O-V-E the kids. Despite the language barrier, we have quickly become attatched to the warm and loving people here. Alec is quite the model French student and has a way of breaking the ice with his favorite phrase: (Can I have a fork?) We have had a fulfilling and rejeuvenating week here in Poissy, but we're all looking forward to really digging into ministry. This wednesday, Ali will pick us up and tae us to our new home in Roubaix. Thank you for all your prayers... God truly does work through them and He has blessed us all immensely with this opportunity.Until next week,Au Revoir!Mac, Alec, Riley & Kaitlyn