The Nagelkirks
Easter over Grenoble
This year as in past years a small group of us assembled together at the fort which stands on the hill over Grenoble and prayed together for our city. About three times out of five the weather is cold, rainy and windy. This year we had perhaps the most glorious morning possible.
We prayed for our metropolitan area which continues to be plagued with a strong network of drug dealers and is led by a number of mayors who lean toward the communist/socialist end of the political sphere. There is little love among them for either the historic Catholic church or for the Evangelical church.
One difficulty which the political reality produces is the trouble Evangelical churches have in finding a suitable building for their needs. Often, Evangelical churches have to be content with being in commercially zoned areas where the buildings are not necessary adapted to the needs of a church. Such has been the case for our church for many years.
Thus we continue to pray, year after year, that God's love will shine more and more on this country, this city and this people. Thank you for your prayers for us, for France and for Grenoble.
Ministry News
What does Ministry look like nowadays?
1. The Pastorale
One change that God has brought to my work is that I am currently the president of the Pastorale, the association of Evangelical churches in the city. This association is made up of churches from various denominations and backgrounds. There are charismatic and non-charismatic, traditional and non-traditional, with theology that is reformed, baptistic and other. It is quite a mix. This is both very encouraging, and difficult. It is very encouraging because I know of few places where this kind of unity in Christ is being attempted, and difficult because such differences are what create division and suspicion. However, this challenge is good for the church because it forces us to look to Jesus Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection, as our core belief and the main thing around which to be united. The pastors and elders meet together six times during the school year. Sometimes we just pray for each other. At other times there is a teaching on a subject that concerns us all, like how to deal with the growth of "woke" ideology.
One of my goals in becoming the president of the association was to have two of these six sessions be on the topic of Islam. One session was on the state of Islam today, and the second on how we can practically reach out to Muslims with the gospel. The feedback was very encouraging as many of these leaders know very little about Islam and what is happening today. If you would like more information, you can go to YouTube and look up David Wood and his videos on the problems with Islamic teaching and on the number of people leaving Islam.
2. Teaching the Christian Community
One of our main goals in coming to France was to help Christians understand Islam and how to share the gospel with the Muslims around them. One aspect of the importance of this is the fact that there are a number of families in the church having a member married to a Muslim. Regrettably, quite a few young people in the church in France have done this. Currently, there is a family in our own church of which one of their sons is wanting to get engaged to a Moroccan, Muslim woman. The other son had been thinking that this was no big deal until I had a chance to talk to him about it after church. Now he is hoping to find a way to encourage his brother to rethink his plans. The parents are not sure how they're going to react when their son brings the young woman home to meet them. Many of the women from North Africa work toward marrying a European just to get Visa papers. Like many others, this young man is convinced that "it's love." This is not an easy situation for the parents. We talked and prayed yesterday, and I trust that God will give them wisdom and guidance for this challenge.
Heading to the U. S.
Well, it's been about 4 years now since we visit family and friends in the U.S. and it's time to take a tour around the country again. We're leaving France on the 15th of June and will start in Ohio, where my, (Roy) mom lives. Then we'll head east and south, passing through South Carolina, to Florida, through Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and on to the Grand Canyon where Katrina and Micah live.
After some time in the Grand Canyon, we'll head north through Denver, CO, to see friends, and on up to Wyoming and then to Montana to see a nephew and family. We head west after that to be with Jennifer's father and, Jan, the woman he married after Jennifer's mother passed away.
This year we get to mark off one thing on my "bucket list," that is, to drive the Al-Can highway up to Anchorage, Alaska. That is where our daughter, Simone, and her husband, Christian, are attending Bible College. Once we've spent some time with them, we will work our way back to the lower 48, then head east all the way to Grand Rapids, MI, where we'll have a week to meet up with churches and friends.
Jennifer has to return to France at the end of August in order to teach. I will stay in Grand Rapids through the month of Sept to continue to meet with friends and family. We ask for your prayers for this time, especially now that the price of gas has increased due to current international events.
Our Iranian friends: We continue to pray for our Iranian friends as they watch events from afar. Some struggle to focus on studies seeing that their family and friends are caught up in something so big and unpredictable.
The "Smith" family: Please pray for this family from our church (not their real names). They are trying their best to know how to encourage their son to re-examine his desire to marry a Moroccan, Muslim woman. May God give them wisdom.
EPEGE: I asked for prayer last time, that God would bless our church in the desire to buy a property that we could move into. At this point, our purchase has been blocked by the local mayor who informs us that the zoning makes it impossible. The problem is, there are very few areas in the city that are zoned such that a church could locate there. We are meeting with a lawyer this afternoon to discuss if a lawsuit against the city would be the wise way to go.
Alpha Course: In a couple of weeks we will be starting up a "mini" Alpha course. This is a great tool to introduce the gospel to people and to give them the opportunity to ask questions, to reflect on, and to even struggle with, the truth of the Gospel. May the Lord bless our time together and may hearts be changed.