Month: June 2010

Keeping fit

I have never been a fitness addict. In school, I didn’t like sport. I played Basket ball for a while, but was never good at it. I really don’t like running. I have never really been fit, but neither have I been unfit. nevertheless, in the last few weeks, I have come to realise I need to get back into shape a bit, so I have decided to go running regularly. I’ve bought some shoes, shorts and t-shirt and am looking forward to my first run. Although I know I’ll be out of breath after a few hundred yards, and will probably start regretting my decision. But I’ll try. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Baby sitting

Today I am looking after Maxime. Esther has gone to Bristol zoo with Jean-Baptiste and the school. The weather is gorgeous.
Maxime and I have had a great time this morning. We went to Cathays on the train to make some photocopies, even with the cost of the train it is cheaper than using my inkjet printer. Then we went to the Bank and the post office in Whitchurch.
Maxime is now sleeping so I am making the most of it, reading and blogging along. The others will be back around 4pm and I’ll be going to Swansea later, speaking in Libanus.

Working as an in-store demonstrator

Over the last two years, I have been working for a company called Warehouse Demo Services, doing in-store product demonstrations in our local Costco. It has been good and has given me a lot of flexibility. WDS is an agency, so I was giving them my availability, and if there was work, I could have some, if I couldn’t work for any reason, I didn’t have to work. But the drawback was that there was no holidays, and that our income could vary quite a lot. But also the first three month of the year were very quiet with very few shifts.

It has been an interesting experience, and I have met all sorts of people I would never have met otherwise. I have demonstrated all sorts of products as well, from French cheeses to washing powder, from Coffee to “healthy” Fryer. For example, last week I demonstrated Avocados one day, today Mozzarella Cheese and semi-dried tomatoes.

I’ll certainly miss the people I worked with as well as the Costco members (Costco does not have customers, but members). One thing I won’t miss is the uniform I had to wear, the gloves and hairnet. I’ve also been handling food, and so had to shave for that. I’ll be able to grow my beard again, which is great as I can’t stand having to shave every day.

The picture left is quite old, since then, I had to shave my face completely. On that day I was cooking Tuna steaks with Soya sauce if my memory is correct.

Praying for preachers

This morning’s sermon was most helpful. Gwynn Williams, minister of the Welsh Evangelical Church in Cardiff encouraged us to pray for preachers, taking as his text Romans 15:29: And I am sure that when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ (AV). What shall we pray for when we pray for our ministers and preachers throughout the land? Taking Paul’s own words, Gwynn Williams suggested that:

  1. We should pray that they would preach the gospel of Christ. This should not be taken for granted as many good men have been known to slip.
  2. We should pray that they should know the blessing of the gospel of Christ. It is one thing to preach faithfully, but we should expect conversions.
  3. Finally, we should pray that they should come with the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Again, we can be faithful and know a measure of the blessing of the gospel of Christ, but do we come with the fulness of the blessing? Very few preachers do know that fulness in Wales today (and in Western Europe). We should pray for that special unction of the Spirit upon the preaching which will make it more powerful and change many more lives. Those who have experienced that fulness have been forever changed.

What’s striking in those words of Paul is also his assurance: I am sure, I am certain. Do we pray that preachers will know the same assurance?

How do we pray for our ministers and missionaries?

House hunting (6)

This is the end of the chapter, we have found a house. It is the one in Pabu I posted about. The landlord has seen the recommendation letter from the mission and is happy to rent it to us. I am going to sign the rental agreement on 29th June, and we hope to move during the first week of August. We praise God for giving us this opportunity. The house is smaller than what we had been looking for initialy, but it will be easier to look for something bigger later, once we are settled in Guingamp.

Next stage is to find a school for Jean-Baptiste. There are two not to far. The first one in Guingamp, about 700m away, the other in Pabu, about 1km away. I’ll phone the Mairie on Monday to see what we’ve got to do.