Mission, Art and Music - Summer 2023

Dear Family and Friends, 

Wherever you are, we are thankful for you and hoping you’ve had a fun and restful summer! Our family is just wrapping up a month of visits and visiting that took us to the UK, Germany, and the Loire valley in France and included hosting some dear friends here in Normandie. All told, we’ve had two days of being home with just our family in the past month – whew! Some of this time was vacation and some was work, but the sweetest part of it all was the encouragement that comes from being with people like you.   

Our Bible verse for this summer as a family was from 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” We had post-its for each of us to note times where God has been with us throughout our busy summer season and we posted them on our “God with Us” wall to remind each of us of His faithfulness.

God is faithful and it is amazing to join in the Kingdom work He is doing here in France. We want to share some specific points of praise/brief stories with you (as a list) in a moment. At the same time to answer the questions: how we are doing? how we are feeling? The next couple of verses in 2 Corinthians are pretty accurate: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” It feels tough on many fronts right now, so we’ll include a list for prayer as well.  

Praises:  

Praise the Lord for new partnership with Grace Church in Dover, DE. This formal mission’s partnership is a huge encouragement and answer to prayer. It means increased prayer and financial support as well as potential for mission’s teams. Personally, for me (Tom), it is humbling to be counted a mission’s partner at a church that so deeply formed me.  

Praise the Lord for opportunities to minister through music both inside and outside church walls. We led worship at Blesstival this year, The Bless Network’s annual gathering and we played a collaborative show for the Fête de la Musique in Caen at Keys Coffee House, with Silas playing for the first time in public. Tom was asked to play guitar in the worship band at GEM’s Annual Conference in Germany and we were invited to lead worship in a French church in Ambroise this August.

This summer we’ve played four shows as a duo, at which we’ve been able to speak and sing about Jesus. There have been good conversations afterwards, opportunities for ongoing relationship and evidence of people moving nearer to Jesus. We tend to close our shows with ‘Amazing Grace’. At our 4th of July show, as soon as we started playing this song a frenchman’s head popped up in the crowd and he started moving towards the front as if drawn by a magnet. Soon he was standing next to Joanna and looking at the words on her music stand as if to verify that he was really hearing ‘Amazing Grace’. It clearly meant a lot to him. Joanna invited him to sing with us and he hopped on a mic for the final refrain. We don’t know exactly how God is moving in moments like these, but it reflects a truth that we’ve seen again and again in France: God seems to work through music and art to change atmospheres and shift conversations from the head to the heart.  

Praise the Lord for opportunities for Joanna to minister through painting. At an art show at the beginning of this summer Joanna displayed several works. One piece of an abandoned church, opened up many conversations about faith in France. We will share more about this painting in our next email. Joanna also showed two paintings at GEM’s Annual conference art exhibit. One of the Parting of the Red Sea and one of Jesus Calming the Storm to speak to the theme of « Together », which was the theme for the conference.

Prayer Requests: 

Family health – Elodie has been struggling with enduring stomach pain for the past 6 months or so. This is becoming worse over the summer. Please pray for her healing and for wisdom in navigating the medical system here.  

School re-entry – Reuben and Eli start at “college” which is what they call middle school here in France. This spring brought some significant difficulties at school, especially for Eli. Please pray for friends for all of the kids, for peace and help as they navigate school in a very different culture, and for wisdom for Joanna and I as we communicate with school leaders and teachers and seek the best educational options for our kids.  

Friends - Please pray for several good friends Tom has made in his badminton club. Tom has had deep gospel centered conversations with four guys this past year. Each friendship feels like it is deepening and we have a strong sense to pray for salvation this year. 

Leading Worship - Joanna and Tom are leading worship at a regional training for “Maisons Locale de Prière” (Local Houses of Prayer). This is on September 23rd.

Ministry Opportunities - We are entering into a new season where we have a lot of opportunities to run after vision that God has given. Please pray for wisdom for us as we choose when to say « yes » and « no ».

We want to hear from you!

Even as I write this, I wonder how you are doing. I’m certain we aren’t alone in facing challenges as we seek to walk in obedience to God’s purposes and plans. Please do feel welcome to write back and let us know how we can be praying with you too!  

We pray God’s peace and blessing on each one of you.

Love,

The Appels

News from Normandie

Dear Friends, 

This week, we celebrated our twin sons’ 11th birthday. It has been so amazing to see how they and all of us have grown over our past six years in France. Here in Normandie, We are finding the spring slow in coming, but the blossoms have pressed through, giving us hope for the fruit to come in the next season. In this newsletter, we would like to share with you some of our process this year, what we have been doing, and what we are dreaming about for the future.

I (Tom) recently traveled to the States and had the privilege of meeting in-person with many of you. I started my trip in Dover, DE. It was a joy to see close friends for the first time in 7 years! Afterwards, I visited Nashville, TN. I attended the Messenger Fellowship annual gathering and had the pleasure of seeing good friends and family in the area. In both places, I was able to share some of how God has been working in France with our prayer and financial partners. I received such a warm welcome at the Gate Church in Nashville, at Grace Church in Dover and at so many homes along the way. One of the greatest privileges of being a cross cultural missionary is that God does not call us to go alone, but to be sent – not just at the beginning of a work, but all along the way. We just put together a video update for the Gate church and it seeks to express the profound gratitude we feel for you. Click here to view the video on our website.

 Returning to Foundations

This year, we’ve been praying and thinking about returning to foundations. It feels like the Lord has established us well in France. In fact, a huge answer to prayer is that we have recently been granted our 10-year residence cards. This came at the end of a 15-month process that involved a mountain of paperwork (‘dossier’ is a French word), French language tests, and even the written approval of our local mayor. The point of that card is that it allows us to live and serve here, to follow the call of God to join in the work He is doing in France. Last autumn, we took a sabbatical and since our return into ministry work in January, we’ve been seeking a new balance but on familiar foundations. Coming back to and seeking to focus in on the heart of what the Lord has given us in France. One important element of this for us is a greater sense of clarity on ‘who’ the Lord has given us to serve. Of course, it is French people and people in our city, but even more specifically we are passionate about coming alongside people on the edge of faith, folks who have some level of spiritual interest or are moving towards Jesus but are perhaps not yet His followers or very new in their faith. We feel alive when we get to speak about Jesus with those who are on the edge or simply show His love to them. Thankfully, it seems like the Lord has given us so much opportunity to be with people like this here in Normandie. We are seeking to be intentional about giving time and energy to these relationships.  

Here's some of what this has looked like this year:  

Joanna has been leading a young women’s Bible study with a group of girls from our church plant. Nearly all of these young women are very new followers of Jesus and Joanna comes back each week overjoyed at the power there is in simply reading the word of God together and seeking to do what it says. 

Through hosting and visiting we’ve been growing deeper in relationship with several families who have interest in faith. It’s been a huge encouragement to hear people express interest in God because they like the faith they see in our kids. We’ve also noticed that music seems to move the conversations we have about God from the head to the heart, so we’ve been sharing songs when our friends come over – it really shifts things.  

Joanna and I are helping to lead the sung worship team – we’re so thankful that God has brought some new musicians to the church. We get to mentor and help raise up and equip these young worship leaders, this is something we have loved doing for a long time and it is a huge blessing to be serving in this way in France.  

Here’s some of what we’re dreaming about: 

 Joanna has an incredible gifting and passion for painting. She’s using this gift to bless neighbors and friends and to create works of art that can serve to spark deeper reflection and conversation about Jesus. She would love to go deeper in this work in the future.  

We would like to give more energy to the opportunities we have to sing songs about God and about His kingdom values in our city. We have some shows developing for this summer but would love to press in more on this creative outlet particularly as a way to connect with people and proclaim the gospel.  

Family Update / For Prayer  

 We’re grateful for your prayers for our family. Each of our children have ups and downs in the French school system, but it’s been especially challenging for Eli this year. We are working to find the help and support the he needs and the we need as a family to need to improve his life experience. Please pray for wisdom for us as we navigate the French system and take the needed steps.

Joanna and I are involved in caring for people who are walking through particularly challenging situations. We value your prayers for our friends in France who are struggling and for wisdom for us as we seek to help.  

Blesstival is coming up again in two weeks! This will be our big Bless Network gathering down at the campsite in Villedômer. We are responsible for leading the worship for the weekend and we will be camping! Please pray for God’s spirit to move, set people free and for us to have endurance for the weekend.

Thank you again so much for your partnership in this work.  

With Love,

The Appels

2022 Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Joyeux Noël! We hope you all are well during this Advent season and looking forward to warm Christmas gatherings with friends and family. We know it has been a while since our last newsletter so we are looking forward to bringing you up-to-date on the happenings with our family here in France.

Travels

2022 (like for many people in this post-pandemic time) has been a year has been full of travel and connection with our friends and family abroad. We were thrilled to get to the UK in the spring after a two year postponement, where we connected with friends, partners and Christ Church Chorleywood, our UK sending church. We then spent two months this summer traveling all over the USA, putting over 3,500 miles on our 2006 Toyota Sienna. We spent time Chicago, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee. We attended two big family reunions, spent a week at GEM headquarters for a time of debriefing in Colorado and we shared at our US sending church, the Gate in Tennessee and Joanna’s parent’s church, Pee Dee Baptist in Arkansas. It was a lot of movement for us a family, but so good to spend time in person with people that we love. It was a privilege to see so many of you face to face and share about what God is doing in France. 

Grateful for You

Our biggest reflection from this past summer is how grateful we are for all of you. The time that we were able to spend with some of you was sweet and far too short, but even so, we felt deeply impacted by the people God has put on our team to support us in prayer, friendship, and partnership. You all are world class and so important to the work God is doing here with our family and in our community. Thank you for being for us, we could not do this without you.

Sabbatical

Another key reflection from this last year has been that we were in desperate need of a rest and that we have been doing too much. As a result of this, and in following the good counsel and encouragement of our GEM leaders, Tom has stepped back from his leadership positions and we have taken a sabbatical this autumn. During this time we have had three goals in mind: heal, rest, and retune.

Heal

We have had lots of help from GEM’s member care department and others to lead us through a process of recovery from the past five years of chaos, health issues and trauma. We also have been reading through a book that our dear friends, Jenny and Evan Owens, wrote called “Healing What’s Hidden”, that helps you process with the Lord the impact of past trauma. We have done a great deal of inward work on our hearts and in our family. 

Rest

In the name of rest, we have taken a break from our regular involvement in ministry, hosting and communication. We also took a family vacation in October to Italy. We realized that most of our family vacations were usually centered around a ministry event and we felt that taking a true break for us as a family would provide some needed rest and recovery. Plus, it was Eli’s long time dream to go to Italy and we were able to make that a reality! We ate lots of pizza, pasta and gelato and walked through vineyards and old villages. We brought our sketchbooks everywhere and saw some amazing art and architecture. It was a sweet time.

Retune

Also during this sabbatical we have been seeking realignment with what God has called us to do in France. As we’ve looked back with gratitude on all God has worked in and around us these past 5+ years, we’ve felt a strong confirmation of our call to continue joining in His work here in France. There is such opportunity for us here and as we come out of our sabbatical in January we’ll be seeking to focus in on the particular work that God has prepared for us. We have our ten year visa approved but we are still waiting to get it in hand - please pray! 

Advent

So that brings us up to date! We are still in the process of discerning exactly what January will look like once we have completed our sabbatical. We are not traveling for Christmas and are looking forward to spending time with our family and friends here. We have been going through the She Reads Truth advent study as a family this year and we are getting to explore deeper themes in the Christmas story with the kids as they get older. Plus we are rewatching the Chosen, which is a series that brings life to the journey the disciples went on with Jesus. It is a joy to see the gospel coming alive to our kids in a new way.

In taking the time to look back and give glory to God for His work in and around us, and His presence with us, even in the toughest times, we’ve been struck by His care for us through you. You have been comfort to us and provision for us to take the time and seek the care we need. You’ve held us up in your prayers when we would not have been able to stand on our own. We are so grateful for you, and we pray that you would know the peace, joy and love of Jesus Christ incarnate this season. 

Gros Bisous,

The Appels

PS - We will be sending our Christmas cards virtually this year so watch your inboxes for a fun family-focused Christmas letter next week.😊

Bells, Baptisms and the Blessing of Rest

Dear Friends and Family,

From our home in Benouville, we have a view of the beautiful village church, whose doors are always closed and locked except for once every six weeks when the travelling mass comes to visit, and this church’s bells have been silent. Broken since before we moved here four years ago. Each day, I look out the window and see this forgotten building that represents the gathering place for the faithful who have come before and I pray for France, for the Church to be revitalized, for God to break into the darkness and shine His light, for His voice to be heard and His joy to fill each heart.

A few weeks ago, an amazing thing happened. The bells started to ring! To many, this is a small thing, maybe even a nuisance, but now each time I hear them ring the hour, my heart is filled with hope. Hope that our prayers for France do reach God’s ears and match God’s heart. Hope that change will happen if we remain faithful to what he has called us to. And Hope in the life and light of Christ reaching the many people around us living in darkness. Every village in France has a church like this one. Every village is full of people who don’t yet know God’s deep and abiding love for them. Please continue to pray for France and for us as we choose to remain faithful to His calling for us in this country.

Blesstival and Baptisms

At the end of May, we went down to the campsite at L’Orangerie de Beauregard and held our annual gathering of the Bless Network, lovingly named Blesstival. It was a lovely time to see friends from France, England and the Netherlands and to be together for Worship, teaching, prayer and fun! We helped plan and lead the weekend, and led the worship in all the sessions. Plus, Tom led a worship music seminar which was tremendous fun and we played (and won) the annual boules tournament!

The highlight of the weekend for us as a family was the baptism of our three sons! Reuben, Eli and Silas, on a chilly but sunny Sunday morning, were baptized by Tom and I in the pool in front of friends and family (Tom’s mom was there!). Elodie wanted to participate, so she found some sticks in the woods and fashioned them into a cross and led our family in a procession, holding the cross above us all! It was a special and significant moment for our family.

10:2 GEM Interns

Over the past few years, GEM has developed a summer short-term missions program for university students to come to Europe and serve in different ministry locations for two months over the summer. We had planned to have a group come to be with us in the summer of 2020, but, you guessed it, COVID prevented this from happening. But not this year! We are very blessed to have five amazing young women here with us in Caen, working alongside Bless with SOS Chai and church this summer. They are living at Bethanie right now, and will move into our house and use our car when we are away this summer. Please pray for Abby, Kensie, Eliza, Juliette, and Made, as they serve, learn and grow in the Lord.

Trip to USA and Sabbatical

Our kids (led by Eli) have started a “countdown to the US” on our whiteboard in the kitchen which serves as a constant reminder to Joanna and I about how much we have to do in the next 7 days to get ready to jump on a plane. That’s right, after more than five years in France we are heading to the States for the whole French summer, July and August. We are thrilled to be preparing to see many of you and intrigued to see what reverse culture shock feels like. Will we be awed by the size of a “small” coffee? Will we be overwhelmed at the friendly welcome from servers and retail staff? The kids are excited about everything and planning to use French to communicate clandestinely. Please pray for us as we prepare and travel.

This trip to the states marks the beginning of a sabbatical time for us. With the help of GEM counselors and conversations with trusted advisors, we feel called into a season of rest and healing. A sabbatical is standard practice for people reaching the five-year mark in serving in missions abroad. In our particular situation, with all that has happened in the past five years with illness and injury, we feel it is significant for us to take the time to properly heal and move back towards life and ministry on the mission field from a place of wholeness.

To make the time to take the space we need, we’ve made a couple of big changes. Firstly, I (Tom) have decided to step down from my leadership role with the GEM France team. This is a significant change as I have been frequently giving 20 hours a week or more of time towards this work. It has been a privilege to serve the GEM France team in this role for a year and a half and I’m grateful for the understanding and care I’ve received from my teammates. We are continuing as missionaries with Greater Europe Mission and grateful to be on the team.

Secondly, on the advice of our wonderful GEM member care team (counselors who work with missionaries), we are taking a longer time away from active ministry this autumn. This time will be like a sabbatical, in that we are focused on healing, processing all that the Lord has worked in our first five years and seeking His wisdom about our next steps in France. We are so thankful for the support we are receiving from GEM counselors and leaders. We also appreciate the understanding of our local partners with the Bless network about our need for a time away.

This time away from active ministry for us will still be life in France. We will return to our home in Benouville from the USA at the end of August. Our kids will continue at school here, and we will continue in relationships with French friends. We’re thankful that both Joanna and I feel a continued sense of call to France and love for French people. We’re excited about the opportunities we can see in our city and with our neighbors. Please pray with us for emotional healing and for wisdom as we make decisions about what care we need (retreats, counseling, prayer ministry, etc.) Please pray for clear discernment of God’s voice.

Please do be in touch if you would like to connect with us to pray or if you have any questions or want to know more about what’s going on with us.

We are so thankful to have such a supportive and caring community of partners.

Every Blessing,

The Appels

Trains, Planes, Boats and Automobiles - Appels are on the move again!

Our Dear Friends,

We sincerely hope that wherever you are, you are well and feel the love and light of the presence of Jesus. Here the sun has been shining, flowers blooming, and there is a whisper of hope in the air that spring is upon us. We have been moving about quite a bit since you last heard from us and that will continue as we head into the summer and our big trip to the USA. In this newsletter, we would like to share a recap of what has been going on but also look ahead to where God is moving us in the next season, and ask humbly for your prayers.

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RECAP

Ministry in Caen

We are feeling a lot of excitement about what God is doing here in Caen! In February, we launched a Sunday morning family service for Bless Church that runs once a month. Each gathering we have had a great turn out and have had a lot of fun worshipping the Lord together. We always start with something tasty and do something silly, and then we have a short time of bilingual worship and teaching. It is a joy to be in the church service together with the children participating.

Joanna is continuing to lead the young women’s bible study every other week, going through a She Reads Truth overview of the New Testament. Our times together are always fruitful and a refreshment for the women who come.

Tom continues to help with the refugee language learning courses with SOS Chai and really enjoys his connection with the lads. We had a visitor from Greater Europe Mission’s storytelling team to do a profile on SOS Chai and the work that Bless does with the refugee population here in Caen. Click here to read the story.

French Language and Visa

We have studied for, taken and passed, (with flying colors, I might add) a government required French Language test called the TCF in order to apply for a TEN year residency card so that we can stay, work and live in France. Our current visa needs to be renewed every year. This ten year card would be a blessing in many ways for us as we look to our future here in France. We are currently in the process of waiting for our application to go through and be approved. Please pray that this can happen soon before we begin our summer travels.

From Barcelona to London to Athens…

April was a month of travel, especially for Tom. At the beginning of the month, Tom took planes and trains to get to Genova in the pyrenees in Spain. There, he attended a week long leadership training with a cohort of other GEM-ers. He was really encouraged by this time.

As many of you know, we were in our old home town of Chorleywood in the UK for Holy Week. We had an absolute blast being with old friends at Christ Church in Chorleywood. We were able to participate in all the services on Palm Sunday and in several events throughout the week. One of which was the “Walk of Witness” where all the churches in the village walk from their church building to the crossroads in town and celebrate a Good Friday service together and afterwards, share fellowship with a hot cross bun and a cuppa. Elodie managed to get a ride across the common carried by some enthusiastic youth workers.

This trip was originally scheduled for April 2020 but unfortunately was derailed by the pandemic. After being away for four years, we were very happy to hop on the ferry, cross the channel and reintroduce our children to our special community in Chorleywood and to spend time with treasured friends. We also made it into London to visit some fellow GEM missionaries, see some museums and experience the musical ‘Hamilton’ on the stage! For Easter, we traveled to Canterbury and stayed with some friends and spent time as a family. Thank you to all who met with us, hosted us and lavished your generosity on us. We are so grateful for you!

After we returned from the UK, we had three days at home before Tom took off for Athens for GEM Leadership Meetings as part of his role as Frace Field Leader. It was the first time an in-person gathering like this has been able to happen since Covid hit. It was refreshing to be in the room face-to-face with other missionary leaders for connection and establishing vision together. Plus, Tom got to take a run around the Acropolis and stand in the place that Paul preached his sermon about the unknown God. Amazing!

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LOOKING AHEAD

Blesstival 2022

We are so excited to be helping to lead another Blesstival this year at the end of May down at the campsite, L’Orangerie de Beauregard near Tours in the Loire Valley. Blesstival is a multilingual gathering of people associated with the Bless Network from the UK, the Netherlands and France where we worship, receive teaching and prayer, and fellowship together in one. beautiful. spot. Tom and I will help to run the event, lead the worship times and participate in prayer and ministry throughout the 5 day weekend. Please pray for God to move powerfully in the lives of all who attend!

Trip To USA

It’s coming! July 2, we fly to the USA to visit for almost two months! This will be our longest visit since we left for France in 2017. We are so looking forward to seeing family and friends all over the USA! We will be spending significant time in the Denver area in Colorado and the Nashville area in Tennessee.

We have been making strides to plan our trip and we have ascertained that purchasing a vehicle is less expensive than the cost of airfare and renting a car for our sized family in the different cities we will be visiting. So we have enlisted the help of our talented nephew to find and fix up a van for us that can drive across the USA, and he has done it!(see the pretty photo of the van below) We hope to sell this van at the end of August when we return to France.

TEN2

This summer, even in our absence, there is a special group of 5 students from the USA coming to live and work in Caen with the Bless Network from Greater Europe Mission’s TEN2 program that sends university students from the US on summer-long missions assignments in Europe. They will arrive in early June and stay until the end of July to help with our ongoing ministries like SOS Chai, church planting and bible studies. They will be living out at Bethanie for one month and at our house for one month while we are away. They will be well looked after by members of our church but especially one young woman who will be house sitting for us all summer. Please pray for them and us as they prepare to come and that God would do a great work in their hearts during their time here.

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A Time of Debrief

It is standard that after about 5 years living on the field as a modern missionary for one to go through a time of reflection, realignment, and repose. We are in the process of planning several ways in which we will do this over the coming months. We confess to you that we are tired. Ministry life for us these past five years has been amazing, fruitful and exciting, as well as rigorous, exhausting and, at times, traumatic. We are eager for a rest and for space to hear the Lord speak. We sense that God is bringing us back to formative and foundational places from our past to establish our path for the future. Would you pray for us and with us in this important time.

We thank you, our partners, for being on our team these last five years and we praise God for his goodness and faithfulness to us while we have served here in France. We look forward to all that God will do in this next season. Please continue to join with us in praying for France, that God’s Kingdom would come and people would know his love, peace and healing.

We send each of you our love,

The Appels

Prayer, Pandemic, and Hopeful Plans

Hello Friends and Family,

We are thinking of you and praying for you as we write this. The progressing war in the Ukraine has cast a shadow over Europe. Memories of the second world war returning fresh to hearts and minds. Especially here in Normandy, a region that has lived under enemy occupation and whose landscape was decimated by the war. Many are shocked that the peace in Europe has been disturbed after almost 80 years when so many measures have been taken to maintain it. Our hearts are heavy as we watch the events unfolding. We gathered as a church this past Sunday and stretched out our hands towards the Ukraine and prayed for peace, for God to do miracles and for His name to be glorified in the midst of such chaos and crisis. Please continue to pray and intercede for Ukraine, for Russia and for Europe.

Appel Update

We had a nice Christmas at home, baking and staying in our pyjamas all day. We had two Americans over for our Christmas dinner and spent time the week following with various friends and neighbors. After school began, we all became quite ill with a bad case of the flu. The kids had a rigorous covid testing procedure to maintain school attendance so we were testing at home regularly, and each time we were negative. It took us all a few weeks to recover fully from that sickness. At the end of January, we were able to engage the Seven Stories School with the Bless Network, Tom led worship and did some teaching for a group of about 15 staying out at Bethanie for a week.

We also managed to go on a family vacation for a week at the beginning of February. We went to a Center Parcs Resort in the Loire Valley. It is a residential forest where there are some restaurants, activities for kids and families and a ginormous indoor water park. We really enjoyed the time away. One highlight for us was that we were just a half an hour away from the 1000 year old church Tom and I visited 15 years ago, the church that we point to in our story that was the beginning of our call to France. It was so powerful to be back there, 15 years later with our four children and worship together as a family. It is confirmation again that God is good, faithful and has plans for each of us.

The last day of our vacation was a bit different as I (Joanna) took a home test for Covid and it was positive! I had felt cold-y, but realized I was unable to smell things for a few days so I thought I would test. We left our vacation and all took PCR tests to figure out how we were supposed to manage the next week of work and having the kids home from school in the house with us. Everyone but me had negative results, but Tom tested positive two days later. We tried to isolate at home, wore masks, and didn’t touch or eat with the kids for a few days. It was bizarre, but none of them caught it! Thankfully, it was fairly mild for both Tom and me.

We have returned to school, to work, and to life again after this strange period of sickness and the pandemic. Things are starting to open up again as the covid numbers are falling and restrictions are being lifted. This past Sunday, we had a family service at our building in Caen for the first time in two years! We had american pancakes and bacon, Eli and Tom created and led a quiz, Reuben and Silas were in the worship band and I gave a talk about Genesis 14, when God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh taking them through the sea. It was a really nice time to be together across the generations and have fellowship. We had around 35 people there and it was quite tight! We are still praying and searching for a location to rent so that we can continue to have family gatherings like this one.

Appels on the Move

So it seems that with the pandemic winding down, travel is opening up for us over the next 6 months. We are planning two big trips to our former home cities and we would love to connect with as many of you lovely people as possible!

England, April 9-16:

After two years of waiting, we will be visiting Chorleywood from April 9-16! We will be at Christ Church Chorleywood at each service on Palm Sunday, and we are available for the rest of Holy Week to connect with you if you are in the area. We would love to see you and we are so excited to return to a place that means so much to us. Please email me to let us know if you would like to get together!

USA, July 6-August 26

We will be doing a grand tour of the US this coming summer! We will be seeing family and friends in Denver and Nashville and we would love to see you!

We will be in the Denver area from July 9-16

We will be in the Nashville area from August 6-20

Again, email me if you would like to get together in the USA!

Thanks and a Video

We hold these plans lightly, and up to the Lord in hopes that they can happen after the delays of a few years. We thank you for your continued support of us in our ministry here in France. We feel privileged to be a part of what God is doing in our community. We made a five minute video that gives a summary of what we do and where we see God moving at the moment: https://youtu.be/qC_bWxkVB6Q

Thank you for your prayers and support. Sending our love,

The Appels

Light in the Darkness

Dear Friends and Family,

In this Advent season, we’ve had a practice of lighting candles at the breakfast table. It’s a great reminder of light shining in darkness – and the kids love blowing out the candles! We’ve also been doing Advent readings from the Bible out loud each day. Something about speaking out words of hope and truth feels like an antidote to the uncertain and disappointing news of our world.

We have had several Christmas celebrations with our Bless Church community this year, including a Carol service, a Christingle and a Nativity re-enactment. We led worship at these services and loved singing this version “Noël” in French by History Makers Music: Noël

Thanksgiving

Thank you so much for praying with us for our Thanksgiving celebrations. We had an amazing time. We hosted about 70 people over two days with three turkeys and lots of delicious food. For many of our guests, this was their first American Thanksgiving dinner, and it was wonderful to share our traditions around the table and giving thanks to God. Hosting a couple of big dinners is a lot of work – especially for Joanna! Yet after all the dishes are washed and put away, we are sure that this is worth the effort.

There is a sweet spot for us in this sort of event in which we are creating intentionally welcoming spaces for not-yet believers and Jesus followers to be in community and where we have the opportunity to speak about Jesus. We sang “The Blessing” over our guests in French and English before the meal and we really felt the Lord’s presence in our home and His blessing on our guests. Thank you for your prayers and support for this important event in our community.

Year End Giving

We want to say thank you so much for your prayer support, your care for us and express how grateful we are to the Lord for the financial provision that allows us to join in this work. One-time financial gifts help us to make up the slight shortfall we have in our monthly support and help us with larger expenses that come up from time to time. Would you please prayerfully consider partnering with us in this way at the end of 2021? Click here to visit our partnership page.

Prayer Points:

• Our family, as we are in France on our own for Christmas. Pray for much needed rest and restoration.

• The homeless refugees that we work with in SOS Chai. Pray for food to be provided and places of warmth and shelter as the weather is cold and spirits are low.

• Pray for our church community in Caen. We are at a point of growth(!) and we feel the need to find a location to rent and meet on Sunday mornings. Please pray for us as we follow the Lord’s leading in timing and location.

• The Chosen, a crowd-funded Netflix style series on the disciples and the life of Jesus is going to be on prime time television this week in France! This is an amazing opportunity for the real reason for Christmas to be made known in France. Please pray that people watch and their hearts are opened to the Gospel. We have told our friends and hope to speak with them about the series!

We are thankful for your love and support to us this year and always. May you know deep and abiding hope as we celebrate Emmanuel, God with us this Christmas.

Love,

The Appels

The Power of Gratitude and Connection

Dear Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving week! Yes, for us Thanksgiving is such a big deal that we tend to make a whole week out of it! Preparations began some time ago for Joanna as she hunted down difficult-to-find cranberries for chutney and special ordered four turkeys from one of the few butchers willing to source whole birds. This week we’ll move some of our furniture to the basement and set up long banquet style tables in our living room as we prepare to welcome 60+ guests over two Thanksgiving meals (one Thursday night and one on Sunday). Why such a big deal?

Thanksgiving 2019

We loved Thanksgiving in the States. It’s always so great to be with extended family and close friends – and we miss you! Yet, here in France we find this holiday to be even more meaningful. We are so grateful for the welcome and care we have received living as strangers in a foreign land. Moreover, Thanksgiving is an event for us that exemplifies an important part of our reason for being here: to create welcoming spaces in which believers and not-yet believers can connect. We’ve seen God at work in these sorts of events both as we intentionally speak about Gratitude to Jesus with the whole group, and even more in the conversations around the tables. This year, as in past years, we have about an even mix of our church friends and our not-yet believing friends. Will you pray with us for God to move in the conversations and relationships that begin or build in our home this week? We’ll be inviting those who come to further church services over the Christmas season, please pray for some to find community with us. Even more, please pray that those who do not walk with God would take this opportunity to respond in some way to His invitation into perfect love.

Life in Caen

It is an exciting time here in Caen. It feels like since the summer we’ve seen an increase in our ministry opportunities and an acceleration in the work here. This has looked like having more people in our home, more and deeper conversations with refugees about Jesus, growing enthusiasm and sense of direction in our church planting work, and new opportunities to lead and serve. Joanna has been elected to be on the leadership group for the parent teacher association at the kid’s school. Tom has been elected to serve as the Vice President of the Nashville Caen twinning association. Joanna has responded to a need for deeper discipleship in our church by starting a small group Bible study for young women. Joanna also finally is able to access our local church which is a block away (pictured above). A process that began with the local “résponsable d’église” just before Covid hit and has finally come to pass! We prayed in our local church together as a family for the first time last week. We are thankful for new relationships and chances to serve our community.

Gratitude

In all of this, we are so grateful for you. It is not an exaggeration to say that we could not be doing what we are doing, seeking to join in God’s work here in France, without you.

We’ve been here in Caen for more than 3 years now, and we’ll have been in France for 5 years this coming April. We’re more convinced now than ever of the incredible opportunity and need among these wonderful people. God continues to grow our love for French people and our heart to see them walking in relationship with Him. Thank you so much for your support for us. We need your prayer, and we appreciate it so much! We are also so very grateful those of you who are able to support us in financial giving, which is essential to sustaining our work here.

It's amazing the way the Lord has been providing so well for us through your giving these several years. Right now, we do have a financial need. Our monthly support is currently about 5% below our monthly needs. We are praying for an increase in monthly partnership and for some one time gifts to help make up this difference. Would you join us in praying for the Lord’s continued provision? If you have any questions about financial partnership, please connect with us by responding to this email. If you do feel lead to give – thank you! – here’s a place to do so:

GEM France Field Retreat

Speaking of being thankful, we asked you about a month ago to pray for our GEM France retreat. Thank you! We had a very good time gathering as a team who works across a large area in diverse ministries. We had two main goals for the retreat: 1. To rest and receive from the Lord together. 2. To establish a new framework for connecting in small “peer-groups” on a monthly basis for encouragement, support and sharpening in our work. Both of these goals were met and the feedback after the event was overwhelming encouraging. For Tom, the experience of planning and leading this event with two other field leaders was rewarding and exhausting!

Prayer Points

Here are few other points for prayer if you’ve made it this far (you can probably tell that this is one of those newsletters Tom is writing as it is not marked by brevity).

• Our kids are doing well in their new school. Please pray for friendships for them and for French language for Elodie in particular.

• In all this opportunity and with Tom’s still fairly new leadership role with GEM, we are tired and feeling stretched thin. Please pray for wisdom in our pace and rhythms.

• Please pray for our refugee friends as the weather turns much colder and many of them are camping.

• Please pray for our church plant as we are beginning to search for a place to rent on Sundays that will better accommodate families and enable us to grow.

So very thankful for each of you,

Love,

The Appels

Christmas Cards

PS - We are preparing the elves to send out christmas cards, if you have moved or have not received a card from us in the past and would like to, please send us your mailing address!

Real Prayer Requests, Not a 'real' Update

Dear Friends,

This isn’t a real Appel’s update. Joanna will send something with her wonderful photos hopefully next month. For now, here’s a quick shooting from the hip update and request for prayer.

GEM France Retreat

We are about to head down to Camp des Cimes, an amazing camp/retreat center run by GEM in the Alps. This is first time our GEM France team has been able to gather in person since the pandemic and it is also the first time while Tom has served as part of the leadership team. We would highly value your prayers for us and for the GEM France team as we spend time together, pray for one another, and seek to sharpen each other in our mission here in France.

Hosting, New School, New Opportunities

These past few months for us have been different than we expected. At the start of 2021 we were planning to be in the US for the summer. Instead, we decided to stay put and the Lord has opened up such opportunity for connection and growth in relationships with our neighbors and friends here in France. I (Tom), have had more conversations about Jesus, and more opportunity to clearly proclaim the Good News in the past few months than I’ve had since arriving in France. Just this last week I began reading the Bible with one of our refugee friends!

We’ve hosted several church BBQs over the summer where our not yet believing friends outnumbered our church friends. We’ve had friends come over for dinner and express desire to connect with our church community. I’ve also been asked to serve as the Vice President of the Nashville Caen Twinning Association with a focus on music. This meant that last week was invited to participate in a meeting with the vice mayor of Caen and a few others who are focused on international relations for the region.

Joanna, in the meantime, has not only led our four kids into a good start at a new school, but she is also serving on the French equivalent of PTA leadership. She is started leading a small group of young women at our church in a Bible study. At the beginning of October, she flew to America with Elodie to attend her Nephew’s wedding and spend some time with her family. She’s also just had two paintings featured in a local art gallery for the first time where she sold an amazing painting called “Lion of Judah”. I love that some Joanna’s paintings (both the one she sold and several gifts she has given) are hanging in houses in our area constantly proclaiming God’s love. She is started leading a small group of young women at our church in a Bible study.

Prayer

Praise the Lord that we find ourselves in a time of real opportunity! Please do pray with us for:

• Wisdom to discern what is ours to do and for keeping healthy pace.

• Reuben, Eli, Silas and Elodie, as they continue to connect with new people and adjust to their new school.

• Tom in the various leadership roles he has right now, with GEM, with Bless, and with Caen/Nashville.

• Joanna as she juggles family, ministry, and community involvement.

• GEM France Retreat, travel to and from the camp and for the week to be a blessing to our team and family.

• Please pray that our neighbors and our refugee friends will experience God’s love in Christ Jesus and turn to Him.

We are so thankful that at all times, whether we see lots of opportunity and fruit or not, God is at work here in France. It is a gift to join in this work and we are grateful to be in it with you. Thank you for your prayers and all the ways you encourage and support us as we seek to follow Jesus.

Every Blessing,

Tom

Summertime with the Appels

Hello Friends,

We’re writing this email from a table next to our tents. For three of the past four weeks we’ve been living outside - two weeks of camping for our family holiday and now we are serving as camp pastors on a site, l’Orangerie de Beauregard, run by friends who are part of the Bless Network. Please pray for us as we pray for and encourage the staff team and seek to be a peaceful and hopeful presence among the 100s of Europeans camping all around us. It is a great reminder of the opportunity here in France - so many amazing people who do not yet know the transforming love of God in Christ Jesus.

4th of July Concert

As part of the Nashville-Caen Twinning association, we had the privilege of playing a concert at a Fourth of July event on the Lawn of City Hall, Abbaye aux Hommes, in the center of Caen this year. It was our biggest show yet! We were played to a crowd of about 150-200 in the open air, we played a little country and jazz, plus Amazing Grace and the Goodness of God. It was a privilege to play out over the city in such a significant place. God continues to give us new connections with people in the city through this partnership.

Summer BBQ Series

Summertime in France is a difficult time to gather as church as many people go on holiday or visit family. So for Caen church, we are getting together at different houses for a BBQ, games and fellowship. We hosted one night in June and had a great time this last Sunday hosting around 20 people for BBQ chicken and a corn hole tournament. We plan on having another gathering at our house in August.

Not Finished Yet, a Podcast series!

During the pandemic, Tom worked on a podcast about identity with his friend Josh Summers. Josh and Tom were roommates in college and since then they’ve each lived mostly outside of the US (Josh in Asia). This podcast, called Not Finished Yet, is a series of conversations about who we are and what is shaping us, from a Christian perspective. It’s been a lot of fun to record and along the way we’ve realized just how much we’ve learned about ourselves by living in foreign cultures. I hope you’ll give it a listen. Click here to listen…

Camping and GEM AC

This week we are serving as camp pastors for the l’Orangerie de Beauregard in Villedômer and attending Greater Europe Mission’s Annual Conference online. We are excited to have a week being Family on Mission, where we will lead prayers every morning, lead worship and preach at the church plant on Sunday. We are also playing a concert for the campers during the week and looking for opportunities to speak about the hope we have in Jesus. There are also online sessions during the week we will be participating in with our missions agency. Tom will be leading one of the meetings in his role on the France Field council.

Answered Prayers & Family News

Health

Elodie had her tonsillectomy at the end of June and she did brilliantly. She was so brave, the doctor was so impressed that she didn’t cry and was very cooperative before the operation. She has been sleeping quietly through the night and she is hitting a growth spurt! We are so grateful. Tom’s dental situation was resolved after several visits to the new dentist. We had “corona monday” this week where he received his second vaccination and he got his permanent crown on his tooth. Everyone else seems to be in relatively good health and as of this week, both of us are fully vaccinated which is coming just at the right time when, as of August 1, France is requiring people to have a health pass (meaning fully vaccinated or a negative PCR test within the last two days) to go shopping and to restaurants, museums etc. As we all know, the situation is evolving daily!

Family Vacation

We had a good wind down to school for the kids at the beginning of July. There were some tears on the last day from some of their friends knowing that they were transfering to a new school but we are hoping to remain connected with them since we are staying in the same village. We had a nice camping holiday in Brittany and at the L’Orangerie. Brittany was cold and rainy, we had car trouble but God blessed us with some amazing coastal walks and we brought a space heater so it was a cozy camping time. The second week at l’Orangerie was very hot and we spent most days in the pool and exploring the area. We also took a long awaited trip to the Zoo, Parc de Beauval, which was the twins’ birthday present from May when we were still in lockdown.

Preparing for the Rentrée

The kids start their new school, Cours Notre Dame, on September 2nd (Elodie’s 5th birthday). This school is a 15 minute drive from our village and all of the kids will be making the change. We are hoping that they will find more academic engagement and support at this school, as well as more freedom to speak about their faith, as it is a catholic school. Here is a little video that introduces the school, it gives a good feel for those of you who are interested!

Thanks

We are grateful for you, our partners in friendship, prayer and in financial support. We are privileged to be partnered in the Gospel with you and we hope and pray that you feel the blessing of the Lord on you today.

With love,

The Appels