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IT’S PARTY TIME!
30 years ago this week, a very young Hawkins family arrived in France for the first time to begin French language studies in Albertvillle. This seems like a good reason to have a praise party! The road has often been winding, and the journey not without its potholes and other surprises, but we can only rejoice at God’s faithfulness to our family throughout the past three decades.
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THEN — August 2024: (L) at JFK airport ready to depart and (R) arrived in Albertville
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About 15 years ago, at a time when we were facing significant changes in our life and ministry, Bev had an impactful dream. It was about a ruined performance, one of those situations where nothing goes according to plan. She woke up feeling distressed, but with a phrase resounding in her heart, “Your act will be nothing like what you thought it would be.” She recorded this dream in her journal; on the cusp of big changes it seemed to hold a special kind of significance and encouraged us to believe that even though we couldn’t see the road ahead, God was in complete control of the path He had traced out for us.
As we reflect on thirty years of ministry, this phrase continues to be significant – our “act,” our work, our journey is full of things that we never could have predicted. We have been and are now in places of ministry that we could never have imagined as that young family arriving for language study! How thankful we are that through the ups, the downs, the plot twists, the hairpin turns, the unexpected surprises and all the rest – never once did we ever walk alone. We invite you to listen to the Matt Redman song, “Never Once,” which expresses much of what we are feeling at this significant milestone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CpU39tM0c
And we invite you to celebrate with us in whatever way seems appropriate to you: a song of praise, a happy dance, cake and ice cream, shouting from the rooftops, or a simple prayer of thanks. Our God is good and faithful!
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NOW — July 2024: All together (except Tom) in Lexington, KY;
we’ve added three in-law kids and six grandkids!
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NEWSBRIEFS
Our next regular newsletter will hit the presses in October, but while waiting, here are some “newsbriefs”:
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“Grand Camp” and our family week in Lexington, KY, was AMAZING! Hot weather, but amazing to spend time together. The only downside was that Tom was missing!
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The rest of Bev’s travels and visits in the US were great as well.
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Tom kept very busy during the Olympics, is taking a “rest” week this week (translate: “working from home”) and will be gearing up for two more weeks of Paralympics starting next week (translate: “commuting every day to Paris”). To read more about what happened during the games, visit the Ensemble 2024 blog site: https://www.ensemble2024.com/en/blog/ (August 12 articles focus on Tom’s ministry site and a general overview of what happened during the games; August 10 articles highlight a young man who ran 14 marathons in 14 days—we were privileged to host his team of 8 at our home for two nights.)
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Bev enjoyed her time at the art gallery in Paris. Visitors were few and far between (we were not in an area where Olympic events were happening), but there were some key encounters (which we will tell you about in our next letter).
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Bev has also just returned from an intense week-long choir directing workshop, which will hopefully provide some good tools to keep on working with the outreach choir this coming year.
PRAYER REQUESTS
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Stamina for Tom and the Ensemble 2024 team as they finish out this rather “dense” ministry time. The Paralympics start in 6 days; pray for ministry opportunities for short-term teams that will be coming.
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Pray for follow-up for those who received information and/or made a commitment to follow Christ. Some early reports estimate as many as 1000 people coming to Christ. Pray for the French church to intentionally disciple these new believers. Pray for international athletes and visitors who may have heard about God for the first time to be able to connect with Christians in their home country.
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Good couple downtime as we get away for a few days in September.
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Good preparation for the “rentrée” (back to school)—the start of all activities and ministries, including the outreach choir.
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Faithfulness and energy for however many more years (decades?) the Lord gives us!
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Greater Europe Mission is a non-denominational evangelical ministry whose mission is to reach Europe by multiplying disciples and growing Christ's Church www.gemission.org
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