Praise and Thanks: Transformation Through Art

Dear Friends,

We are really excited to share with you about the Transformation Art Expo and all that God did this past week! We’ve dreamed of having a community art space in a city center for a long time; in fact a big part of what we have hoped for and worked towards as missionaries in France is to create spaces where not-yet believers can encounter God’s love and presence through the arts, music and neighboring. This art expo was truly a taste of this vision and God showed up! After a year and a half of planning, painting, and preparing, we got to transform a beautiful art gallery in central Caen into one of these welcoming spaces where people walking in darkness can encounter His great light.

 A Summary

The whole week went so very well! Thank you so much for joining us in prayer for this outreach. First, we had a day of hanging up all the paintings. We were thrilled with how wonderfully all the works of art fit together. The gallery became a beautiful, colorful and inviting space. After a careful day of set-up, we invited about 20 people to come pray and worship with us in the gallery. What a joy to raise our voices in praise in this beautiful space right in the heart of our city. This set the tone for the week, and a remarkable number of visitors commented in our visitor’s book that the gallery felt peaceful, warm, set-apart, like another world.

The next night was our “vernissage” or opening. We had about 70 people turn up, and the night was a success. Joanna and her team made sure everyone felt welcome. We were so happy that many of our believing friends invited not-yet-believing neighbors as their guests and allowed the exposition to spark conversation about God. This was a big part of our vision for this event, and it happened! Tom and I sang a couple of songs and had gospel conversations with guests as a result. Throughout the rest of the week, we had a further 179 people come to visit the expo. We had coffee and conversation with many of the guests. We were able to pray with people who came in hurting. We invited not-yet believing people to come to church. Again and again, we could see God drawing people closer to Himself.

A Story

Tom and I were sitting with Aaron, chatting with a friendly older lady about painting when a young man in his twenties came in and started looking around the gallery. He seemed a little nervous at first but took his time with each of the paintings and to read the words and stories about Transformation hung around the gallery. He seemed about to exit when he stopped, looked at us and said :

“I’ve lived in this neighborhood for three years. I’ve walked by this gallery countless times but today is the first time I’ve come in. I found the paintings and the text about transformation, particularly the “Divine Exchange” deeply moving. I’m in a process of getting to know God and this expo has touched me and stirred up my thoughts about God. Thank you.”

He didn’t want to stay and talk further, but it was such an encouraging reminder that God is at work here in Caen – how amazing that this young man was drawn in at this point in his faith journey during our transformation expo! The work we are privileged to do, like putting on an art expo which proclaims the gospel, is part of His far greater work of transforming hearts and drawing people into relationship with Him.

Our Thanks

It was a very busy week and the lead up to this event has been full as well. We could not do this sort of work alone! We ‘re so thankful for the support of our church community here at Bon Berger and we were particularly grateful for the help of one of our fellow GEM missionaries, Bennett, who traveled up from Lyon for most of the week to serve with us.

This whole event was funded through Greater Europe Mission’s EBI Grant program. The funding took the financial stress off of the artists and us as missionaries to cover the costs associated with running the expo.

I’m grateful for the three other artists, Caroline Le Gal, Tiphaine Anne, and Heather Wright (Bruyère) who participated in working and producing art for the expo, for help with the set up and manning the gallery over the course of the week.

We are also so thankful to our family. Putting on a big outreach with a 6-month-old is daunting, and Aaron did so well. He was in the gallery almost as much as I was! His presence brought a joy and lightness to the feeling of the expo. He became an integral part of the whole thing! Our older kids have been helpful and supportive as we have been very busy this past month preparing. So many logistical things went smoothly along with the overwhelming sense of God’s peace and presence in the space.

Thank YOU so much for your prayers and partnership in the gospel.

Prayers Needed: Upcoming Art Expo!

Dear Friends,

After months of work and preparation we are so excited that the Transformation art exposition begins in 9 days! Joanna has gathered and led a team of three other artists to create works for this week-long show that will take place in the center of Caen at the Galerie des Croisiers.

The week will kick off with a pre-show night of prayer and worship at the gallery after all the paintings have been installed. There will be folks coming from multiple churches to join us as we pray for our city.

The opening or “vernissage” is Friday night, February 6th and we’re praying that many people will come and engage with the artwork which points towards the transformative love of God in Christ. There will be some food and drink and live music from us as Hometown TN and from our friend Heather on her harp. Invites have gone out and there are flyers up for the show around town, there is a bit of a buzz building!

Below are some photos of the gallery and a few samples of the artwork that will be on display. It is going to be full of color! Joanna also built a webpage for the expo with information about each of the artists which you can visit here: Transformation Art Expo (it is in French, so have your translate settings on!) Also you can follow along on Instagram during the expo, Joanna will be posting to her art profile: @joannaappelart

Putting on an art expo with live music and a worship night in the middle of city is something we’re thrilled to be doing. We love art and music and gathering people together, but it’s more than that. We’ll be gathering as a united group of believers to pray and worship right in the heart of Caen. The whole show, from start to finish is designed to bear witness to God’s love for us. For a while now, we’ve been envisioning a space in the city where we can proclaim the gospel in art and music and where it is easy for Jesus-followers and not-yet believers to gather and speak about life and faith. This exposition is a big step towards that dream.

So, we need your prayers! Please join us in praying for this exciting event:

  • For unity and breakthrough in the sung worship and prayer night.

  • For neighbors and friends to respond to our invites and to the invites extended by other believing friends and come to the exposition.

  • That there would be transformation. That God would change hearts and draw people closer to Him as they engage with the artwork.

  • For health and covering prayer for our family and the others involved in helping us put on this event.

  • For all the logistics and set up involved.

  • For the relationships with other artists in our city.

Thank you so much for praying with us!

Every Blessing,

The Appels

A Thanksgiving Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Thanksgiving week! Each year since arriving in France in 2017, we have loved sharing this holiday with our French neighbors. We extend our invitations prayerfully receiving a mix of Christian and not-yet believing friends and have several first-timers each year. All told we’ve welcomed at least 275 people to our Thanksgiving table in these 8 years! Everyone who comes seems to enjoy the chance to slow down, share good food and company, and be grateful. We share our gratitude for the welcome we’ve received here in France and our belief that every good and perfect gift comes from above. In story and song, we share the love we have received from God and the living relationship we have with Him through Jesus.

This week we will welcome about 30 friends for a Thanksgiving celebration, and we are excited about how God is already working in each of these relationships. Please pray with us as this tends to be a moment of significance in friendship and in people’s journey towards God. We also tend to experience spiritual attack. Several times, we’ve had serious injuries in the week before Thanksgiving and would greatly value your prayers!

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, we find ourselves thinking about you, our friends and family across the world. Not only in this moment, but in all the work we are privileged to do here in Normandie, we are so thankful to feel united with you. Thank you for caring for us and staying connected with us despite the distance. Thank you for praying with us in the ups and downs of cross-cultural ministry. Thank you for supporting us and this ministry generously and for your partnership in the gospel here in France. We are so very grateful for you.

Love,

The Appels

PS - Read on for Prayer Points and Updates from the last month!

Updates and Other Prayer Points:

 

UK Trip

We had an amazing time in the UK both at Christ Church in Chorleywood and at St. Paul’s Hammersmith in London for the Onelife young leader’s conference. The team at Christ Church welcomed us so well and it was a particular joy for Tom to preach at the 6pm service, something he did regularly as the youth minister at Christ Church 15-20 years ago! Despite some battles with health, we all enjoyed the Onelife conference. There is an amazing culture of prayer, faith and deep times of sung worship in this group and we love joining in. Each of the boys met with the Lord in meaningful ways and were encouraged in their faith and leadership. At Onelife, I get a wonderful sense of the way God works over time. Joanna and I had the privilege of leading worship and being part of the first couple of young leader’s conferences. Now our teenage children are blessed by the fruit of what God began those many years ago. It would almost make a person feel old, but thankfully there is an adorable little fella here to help keep us young!  

 

A Celebration of Life

Last week, we had the honor of playing music for the funeral of the mom of one of Joanna’s close friends. Joanna played an important pastoral role for her friend in this difficult time of grief. It hammered home for us how deeply the Lord has knit us into the fabric of our community here. After the service, we were overwhelmed by the response of the family and other mourners. Our style of music is very different from the traditional music for a catholic funeral, and they all deeply appreciated it. One lady told us that it was exactly as the deceased would have wanted, full of joy and hope.

 

Music in December

We have several opportunities for outreach through music this coming month. There will be an Advent worship and prayer evening and a Christmas service at Bon Berger at which we hope to welcome visitors. We have also been invited to play music for the Christmas market at Elodie’s school. This will be our third year of playing this “Marche de Noël” and it tends to open doors for conversation and friendship with other parents at the school. Please pray for good connections as we go out and play music and that people who listen would be drawn closer to God.

Transformation Art Expo in February

Joanna continues her work creating and collaborating with three other artists in Caen as they prepare for the exposition she is leading in February.  This will take place at a gallery in central Caen and will be designed as an outreach around the theme of transformation.  Please continue to pray for Joanna as both the organization and creative process take time, a resource which is slightly more scarce these days! 

Prayer for Passports

Two weeks ago, we travelled into the American Embassy in Paris early to get renewed passports for the big kids and a brand new passport and birth certificate for Aaron (see attempted passport photo above). Thankfully everything went smoothly at our appointments, but now we are in a waiting period. The twins have a school trip at the beginning of January and we are running into some paperwork issues due to not having their new passport! Please pray for the speedy delivery of their passports and no snags or hold-ups with the post.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Appel Autumn Update 2025

Hello Friends,

September is a month of new beginnings in France. It’s the rentrée de l’école and everyone get’s back to work and la vie associative after having changer l’aire for a couple of weeks or so in August. It is, practically speaking, the “new year” of our ministry and family life. Because of this, September is one of our busiest months. With our recent new beginning only a month old we were feeling a little daunted about the big restart. Augmenting that feeling of trepidation were our memories of last September in which Silas broke his arm just before starting at a new school and Reuben began his long and difficult experience of migraines.

Much to our joy, this year’s rentrée has gone so much better! Life has been full, and not without challenges, but we are so grateful for good health at the beginning of this school year and for strong starts for each of our kids. It has also been a month in which I (Tom) have been able to share the gospel in conversation with neighbors and friends more than usual. One reason for this is our wonderful blessing, Aaron. In the many re-connecting moments of September/October, I’ve been asked over and again about how I’m doing having a baby in my 40s. I can’t help but respond that my heart is so full of love for this little guy, even though he hasn’t done anything yet but arrive. I’ve felt a strong nudge from the Holy Spirit in nearly all of these moments to go on and speak about how being a new Dad again is reminding me of my Heavenly Father’s impossibly big love for me. God is working in these conversations and I’m so grateful to be part of it. Thank you so very much for praying with us and for your partnership with our family as we seek to love our French neighbors with a fraction of the love God has for us.

Not only has Aaron been a catalyst for evangelism, he’s also a fun baby and we are enjoying watching him grow. Joanna and Aaron are both doing well, though still not getting very long stretches of sleep. Here are a few pictures:

Along with baby pictures, in this newsletter we want to share with you several elements of our ministry work here in Caen which we are excited about for this coming “new year”. Thank you for praying with us about these dreams and opportunities.

Art Expo in Caen

Joanna won a grant last year from the GEM’s EBI fund to put on an art exposition in Caen. Her vision for this project is to provide an interactive art space as an outreach for not-yet believers in our city. She has invited three local artist friends to collaborate with her on this expo and the painting work has begun! The theme for the expo is ‘transformation’ and they will be creating works of art which evoke and proclaim the sort of transformations or divine exchanges the Bible speaks about as the work of God in our lives (beauty for ashes, heart of flesh for a heart of stone). Please hold this exciting outreach in prayer as the artists work together and on their preparations. This exposition will take place in February 2026 .

Hosting + Community

Last year, our health challenges and the arrival of our 5th child limited our ability to host larger events in our home as has been our custom. Instead, we’ve been having smaller gatherings or simply hosting one person or family at a time and it has been great! We are beginning to sense a pull to host some sort of Bible study group in our home this year. Please pray with us about what this might look like, who we might invite, and about timing. We have lots of ideas, but want to move a good pace and hear the Lord with this. Also, we are looking ahead to thanksgiving next month and are hoping to host a reasonable size gathering in our home as is our custom. Please pray as we prepare for this event.

Sports Outreach

Friendship in France grows slowly. This is a cross-cultural reality that we found frustrating in our early years here. However, friendship in France also grows deep; and this cultural value is now bearing fruit, especailly for Tom, in his relationships with other men through sport. Over the past year, Tom’s role in his badminton club has become something like a chaplaincy. He is invited to mediate conflict, has been asked to participate in baptisms and weddings, friends confide in him and he offers prayer, and he is able to proclaim the gospel regularly. This year there are new opportunities opening up for Tom to play sports with groups of not-yet-believing men. Please pray for wisdom in what to pick up and what to lay down, and for how and when to proclaim the gospel with these friends.  

Church Planting

It’s been encouraging to see our three oldest sons helping lead worship on consistent basis with me at our church plant, Bon Berger. I’m excited about a weekly outreach that has begun out of Bon Berger: prayer walking with a view to speak with people we meet about Jesus in a neighborhood in Caen called Grâce de Dieu. Hoping to help boost this effort, we’re thrilled to have a missions team from Fairview Church in Lebanon, TN coming to join us for an outreach event in this neighborhood in March 2026. Please pray that we would keep in step with how God is leading, for growth in church, and for our community outreaches.

Catholic Connections

Perhaps the ministry work that I’ve been most encouraged by in the past couple of years has been my involvement with the Alpha course run by our local Catholic church. I’ve gotten to know the team that leads Alpha regionally and it’s been a joy to work together with them and see several people come to faith. There is more to write about this than will fit in this short update, but I love the way God seems to be building unity in this and the moments of healing that have come for many of my french Catholic friends who have been hurt by the evangelical church in the past. We are praying now about whether we might be able to run a combined catholic and evangelical Alpha course! Please cover these relationships in prayer, particularly my friendships with the Alpha leadership and with the parish priests.

Onelife Conference and Travel

Tom will be traveling with his three oldest sons to the UK later this month for the Onelife conference. Reuben and Eli had their first experience at Onelife about 18 months ago and it was a huge encouragement in their faith. This year Silas will be joining us.

  • Please pray for encouragement and growth as the boys get to gather with around 100 other young leaders (11-18) from across the UK who are full of faith and passionate about seeing God’s kingdom come in their lives.

  • Please pray for a good Sunday of connection at Christ Church on October 26.

  • Please pray for a smooth ferry crossing as Tom had a tough time with seasickness on his last crossing.

Thank you as always for your partnership in gospel, for you care and support of our family, and for your prayers with us. May you know deeply the peace of Jesus and His sustaining presence as you walk with Him.

Every Blessing,

The Appels

 

It’s official! Family of 7!

He’s here!!

Aaron Thomas Appel, our fifth child, made an earlier than expected appearance on August 2.  Joanna’s water broke early in the morning and we woke the kids up to tell them we were going to the hospital. Joanna was amazing in delivery, and she and Aaron are doing well, though rather tired.  Thank you all for praying with us, we’re so excited to be a family of seven!

We’re thankful that Tom’s Mom has been able to adjust her flights and will be coming to help us out from this week.

Now for the really great part of this sort of email – the pictures!

The Family Update Email You May have Missed!

We also sent out a family update last week that ended up with a glitch and did not make it to most of your inboxes. If you are interested in our family update which includes a health update on Reuben, please click here!

Thanks for being with us as we grow and seek God’s kingdom here in France.

Every Blessing,

The Appels

Appel Family Update

Hello!

We are bringing you mid-summer greetings once again from Normandy. We sent out a ministry newsletter last week (if you missed it and would like to catch up you can click here). This edition is to give you a family update, prayer points and sign off before we take some time off to welcome our baby boy!

Baby Watch

Our whole family is eagerly anticipating the arrival of our fifth child! Joanna is 38 weeks along so the birth could be any day now or still a few weeks away. We are really happy to say that our baby boy is doing well and both he and Joanna are healthy. We have been pleased with the medical care we’ve received here(!) and now we are simply waiting for the appointed time for his arrival. 

Please pray for continued good health and we appreciate lots of covering prayers for a safe birth and recovery. Please pray as well for our kids and our family dynamic as we’ve been a tight group of six for nearly 9 years and a new baby will be a big change for us.

 


Reuben’s Health

We’re thrilled to report that Reuben’s health has continued to improve, and he is doing rather well! The final few months of the school year were much better for Reuben, and he has been approved to advance to his next year at school despite missing more than half of the year. Having Reuben feeling more able to be his usual bright and sunny self is a huge blessing to all of our family and now that this run of good health has lasted a couple of months, we are feeling such relief and joy. It’s been an incredibly hard 18 months for Reuben and our whole family. Thank you all so very much for your prayers and your care for us as we’ve walked through this challenge. 

Praise God for His care and healing. Please pray for Reuben’s continued health journey as it is likely that Reuben will continue to have difficulties with migraines, but it seems that the medicine he is taking is working and Reuben is doing so much better!

 

Teenagers and GEM K

At the end of May, we traveled to Amsterdam to participate in the Renew Gathering with Greater Europe Mission. Above are some pictures of our visit to the street art museum in Amsterdam. During our time in the Netherlands, Reuben and Eli were at a youth gathering at a hostel near our conference hotel. This is the first year that they have been old enough to participate in GEM’s youth group program called “GEM K”. They spent a couple days and nights away with other missionary kids from around Europe. It was a special time for them to grow in their relationship with the Lord, to be in community with other young people who can relate to their situation and to have input from youth leaders. We were so grateful, that despite Reuben’s health challenges, they both had a great time and have started to make some friends in the group.

Having been youth leaders ourselves for a long time, we know and appreciate the value of having others sow into the lives and faith journeys of our teenagers. This is something that we have to be intentional about on the mission field as there are not youth pastors or many resources for them here. We plan on taking them to the Onelife Young Leaders Conference in London this fall and hopefully sending them to another GEM K event after Christmas in order to give them more valuable opportunities like this.

Please pray for Reuben, Eli and Silas, as they enter into their teen years, that the Lord would provide opportunities for them to grow in relationship with him and other believers who are peers. Pray for protection over their hearts as they enter this crucial time of making their faith their own.

Sortie and Summer at Home

The month of June is always heaving with end of school events, concerts, and trips for the kids. We are pleased to have successfully completed this school year with all the kids moving up in school, in relatively good health, and growing positive friendships. Praise God!

We decided to take a week's vacation right after school finished to a campsite in Brittany, only 2 hours away near St. Malo on the northern coast of France. We went to a campsite that we visited 8 years ago when we were living in Paris and where we celebrated Elodie’s 1st birthday! The great thing about many French campsites is that it is more like glamping than roughing it in the woods. We stayed in a mobile home with plumbing, electricity, and beds we didn’t have to inflate. Plus, the campsite had pools, waterslides and a small indoor water park. Our time was spent playing, reading, swimming, and napping (for Joanna). 

The rest of the summer we are hunkered down here in our home, waiting and preparing for the baby to arrive. This will be our first full summer here in France without major travel, lots of visitors and big ministry events. We are so grateful for home and the place of peace it is for us and our kids as we look ahead to make this big transition to a family of 7. 

Please pray that this summer will continue to be restful for our family as the months of August and September will be major months of transition. Please pray for wisdom and for those who are filling in for us as we take some time away from ministry responsibilities for parental leave. The kids start school on the first of September with Reuben and Eli in 8th grade, Silas in 7th, and Elodie in 4th. Pray for safe and smooth travels for Tom’s mom, Alicia, who is coming at the end of august to help after baby boy arrives.

Gratitude 

As always, we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Your prayers are sustaining to us, and every word of encouragement is like a drink of cool water in the desert. Thank you for walking with us, for your support and care for our family. Our communication might be a little less frequent in the coming season, but we will send out a quick email to share the news of our sons arrival!

Sending you love and blessings,

The Appels

Summer of Art and Music

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s hard to believe we are already in mid-July! The first half of this year has been full and fruitful and seems to have flown by. Since our last update we have been to Amsterdam for a gathering of GEM missionaries and their families, and we’re recently returned from a week “camping” (more glamping) in Brittany - our last trip as a family of 6! We hope you are well and enjoying the summertime. We have much to update you on before we take some time out to have our baby! This update we will focus on what God has been doing through different aspects of our arts and music ministry here in Europe.

Music

We’ve had the opportunity to play music at four very different venues: An old catholic church mostly filled with unchurched people, the middle of the city during a heatwave, the back yard of our church by a jacuzzi, and a tobacco themed bar near Amsterdam full of missionaries.

Old Catholic Church – Wedding Service

We were invited to sing some songs at a wedding service for a couple connected with our church. Though the service was held in a traditional catholic church, the wedding guests were surprised and delighted by a different sort of ceremony. Singing the blessing over the newly married couple was poignant and the service itself was a gospel declaration.

 

Middle of the City Heatwave - Fête de la Musique

For the second year in a row, we played a show for the Fête de la Musique in Caen supported by our church plant, Bon Berger. It was hot! It was great to have folks from Bon Berger running activities for kids, sharing the gospel and offering prayer for people who came to listen. The Fête de la Musique is a nation-wide event which simply celebrates live music. It has been growing in popularity in the past 5 years and there are now huge crowds that fill up city centers; it feels like a musical festival. Sadly, there have also been increasing instances of assault during the Fête and there is a dark element that seems to be taking hold. This year felt more like a spiritual battle for us. We loved singing songs that speak about freedom and songs that proclaim the gospel of Jesus – His light shines in the darkness. As seems to be the case every time we play a show, there were many people who came to listen but there were several with whom we felt a deeper connection. People who settled in and wanted to talk with us, people who danced and caught the joy of the moment. We’re thankful to be able to proclaim the gospel and connect with not-yet believing neighbors. Doing this through music is culturally relevant during the fête de la musique but also stands against what we see as strongholds of the enemy in France.  

Backyard of Our Church by a Jacuzzi - Baptism Service

What a joy to witness two people from our church plant proclaim their faith in Jesus and give testimony to His work in their lives. We love baptisms and enjoyed playing and singing songs of praise as our friends came out of the water.

Tobacco Themed Bar - Renew Conference

Our mission’s agency gathering was at a hotel near Amsterdam. We were invited as Hometwon Tennessee to play a show at the hotel bar to share our way of proclaiming the gospel in story and song with fellow missionaries and to have some fun together. I went in early to set up our sound gear and noticed a couple who had already claimed a table up front facing the stage. In talking with them I learned that they were Johnny Cash fans, motorcyclists and planning to go to Las Vegas this year to get married! I’ve learned that something about a live music event opens up easy conversation. I was able to speak about Jesus with these folks, and we dedicate a Johnny Cash cover to them during the show.  They later connected with a German speaking missionary friend who could go deeper with them. What a bar to wander into! The whole night was great fun and we took the opportunity to celebrate and honor our friends the Irwin’s who have moved back the US and with whom we’ve run on rather parallel tracks (We met at a GEM interview weekend ten years ago, arrived in France about a week apart, lived a block from each other during our language school year). 

 

Art Encounters

When we arrived in the Netherlands, we were welcomed by some old friends for dinner after a 10 hour road trip. We walked into their home and we were able to see two of Joanna’s paintings from last year, framed and hung as the main feature in their living room. It was overwhelming to see the impact that Jo’s art work is having through this family who hosts often in their home and has made these paintings a central focus to inspire spiritual conversations with their friends and neighbors.

Visio Divina

During the summer, GEM runs a summer long ministry opportunity for university students to do ministry in Europe in a program that is called Ten2, from Luke 10:2 where there is a calling for more workers for the harvest. (We housed a group of five young women from Ten2 three years ago!) At the beginning of this time, the team holds a gathering with all the students before they spread out to various ministry locations in Europe with GEM missionaries. The team reached out to Joanna and asked to use a couple of paintings for a Visio Divina for the students at this gathering. They used “the Incarnation” and “the Bride” (shown below) and reported back that the students were impacted by what God was speaking through the artwork.

Local Art Expo

At the end of June, Joanna had the opportunity to participate in her local artist groups’ expo in Bénouville. It was as always a great opportunity for Joanna to speak with people in the community about the artwork, but also deepen relationships with the artists she works with all year. Joanna had a good conversation with one woman about faith and God’s love and acceptance verses her experience of rejection by her local Catholic Church. God is moving in these encounters! 

Upcoming Expo in February

Joanna received a grant from GEM to lead an outreach art exposition in Caen. The theme of the exposition is “transformation” and she has invited three local artists to participate in this event which will take place at a beautiful gallery space in central Caen at the beginning of February. We are still in the early planning and creation stages and would love your prayers as this comes together. 

Hosting

We love to host in our home, but with Joanna being quite far along in her pregnancy we have focused on smaller gatherings, usually one family at a time instead of our MO of 20+ folks. We have small gatherings peppered in our schedule throughout the summer which are enabling us to go deeper in relationship with our friends and neighbors. Please pray for these times.

 As you can see, we’ve had a few things going on! We’re so grateful for the opportunities God gives us and for your prayer and partnership in this work.  We’ll be sending out another email update soon with more about how we are doing in our family life (it was too much for one email).  Thank you for reading and for praying with us.

Every Blessing,

The Appels

In Full Bloom: Appel Family adventures

Dear Family and Friends, 

Spring is in full bloom with summer peeking around the corner and we have been busy as bees traveling and getting life in order before our little one arrives in August. In this newsletter you will find an update on baby and how you can participate in blessing him (and us!), update on Tom and Eli’s trip to the USA, upcoming events and topics for prayer plus two ways you can interact with our story and what God has been up to in France and in our family.


Baby Update

All is going well with about 3 months until baby boy’s due date (ahhh!). Thank you for continuing to pray with us for health and for energy to prepare well for this big change. Joanna is feeling good but tired and this growing baby likes to move! We celebrated Reuben and Eli’s 13th birthday on May 1st so this year we are looking forward to welcoming our new son and we’ve become a home with teenagers (pictured below with their books which they got as birthday presents)!  

Opportunities to Bless BABY:

Since we are so far from many of our dear friends and our families, we wanted to give an opportunity for you to bless us and baby boy. Some of Joanna’s friends in France are throwing her a baby shower (as we don’t have much baby stuff in storage from 9 years ago!) If you’d like to help out with money for baby gifts or if you’d like to buy us something, first of all – thank you! Secondly, here are the best ways to do that: 

  • Zelle : we can’t receive money for personal gifts into our missionary account with GEM so if you’d like to send any funds towards baby help, please send to tomappel@gmail.com via Zelle. 

  • Over the years we’ve had some significant difficulty receiving packages which are often delayed and now have an extra tax that we must pay the postman to receive them (sometimes up to 50+ euros). So, please use Amazon.fr or a France based company if you’d like to order a specific gift and you can send it to us at:

    • 7ter rue du bac du port, 14970 Bénouville FRANCE

    • Here is a link to a small registry on Amazon.fr: APPEL BABY REGISTRY  

  • Also, if you have any prayers, blessings or scriptures that come to mind for the baby or for us at this time, please send them our way! It is always an enormous encouragement to us to hear from you.

Thank you for your kind support as we get ready to welcome another Appel baby into the world! 

USA Trip

It was great to see many of you last month as Tom and Eli enjoyed their visit in Dover and the Nashville area! It was wonderful to be physically with people who we know are with us at a distance each day in prayer. As usual, I (Tom) found the practice of sharing how God is at work in our lives and ministry a huge encouragement. It was also such a boost to pray together and be reinvigorated by people like you. Below you’ll find some pictures from our trip.

Video Update and ‘Why Europe’ GEM Podcast

It has been mission’s month at our sending church, the Gate Community Church this past month and we got to send over a video update. Although we made it specifically for the Gate, we thought you might enjoy watching it too.  (FOR EMAIL VIEWING: Click here to view video on our website and finish the newsletter…)

Also, Tom was interviewed recently for GEM’s ‘Why Europe’ podcast. It’s a fun remembering of the ways that God has guided us as a family – here’s a link if you’d like to listen. Podcasts: Apple or Spotify

Upcoming in June

Renew

Next week we head to Amsterdam for ‘Renew’, a gathering of GEM missionaries from across Europe. We also get to visit friends who live in the Netherlands for the first time! Reuben and Eli will be participating in their first ‘GEM K’ event – a weekend for 13-18 year olds led by GEM staff and volunteers at a different hotel from the one where we will be staying. Silas and Elodie will be participating in a children’s program run alongside the conference. Please pray for them to enjoy this experience and for all of our family to be refreshed by this time with GEM colleagues and friends. 

Music

We have several opportunities in June to play music, either as Hometown Tennessee or for our church family. Please pray for us as we proclaim the gospel in song and story at Renew next week in Amsterdam and at the Fête de la Musique on June 21. We’re also continuing to serve at Bon Berger with leading worship, playing at a wedding and for a baptism service coming up this month!

School Year Ending, D-Day Celebrations, and Art Expo

This has been a long and tumultuous school year for us, particularly in regards to Reuben’s health. He is doing better and has had less migraines lately Praise JESUS!! We are encouraged that he is improving and has had more success going to school. It is still an ongoing struggle. Please continue to pray for complete healing for Reuben.

School gets out at the beginning of July so June is quite a full time of end of the year gatherings and celebrations in our community. We are hosting some friends and neighbors in our home this month especially around the anniversary of D-Day. Please pray for these gatherings.

Joanna will be preparing for and participating in a small art exhibit with her art club at the end of the month in Benouville. It is always a great time to have conversations about faith. Please pray for her as she gets the art prepared for exposition.

Thanks as ever for your prayer and care for our family. We are grateful for you!

Every Blessing,

The Appels






BIG News!

Dear Friends and Family,

Spring is in the air – blossoming trees, and the promise of new life. In our case, this looks like a rather wonderful surprise…

We’re expecting our fifth child this August!

We will have five little Appels now! Joanna is doing well as is the baby, who we got to see moving around on an ultrasound this week. He will be our fourth boy!!! An unexpected blessing scheduled to arrive nearly on Silas’ 12th birthday and just before Elodie turns 9. People may make plans in their minds, but the Lord decides what they will do. (Prov 16:9)

God has filled our life with so many good gifts of which our children are by far the best and most beloved. Our overwhelming emotions as we look forward to meeting this little guy are joy and gratitude. Thank you for praying with us for continued good health for Joanna and the baby. In other news…

Tom’s Upcoming Visit to the States (DE and TN)

I (Tom) will be in Dover, DE on Sunday April 6th. I’d love to see you if you are in the area. I’ll be sharing briefly at Grace church for both morning services, then Luke and Shannon Siler are kindly hosting a small gathering at their home at 2pm. At this gathering I’ll be able to share in more detail about our lives and ministry here in France.  

After the weekend in Dover, I’ll be traveling to the Nashville area for the Messenger Leadership Summit at the Gate Church. On Sunday April 13th I’ll be sharing at Fairview Church in Lebanon, TN.

I’ll have some space on April 8 and 9 down near Franklin, TN to connect over a meal or coffee, so please respond to this email and let me know if you’d like to get together!

Eli will be traveling with me on this trip to spend some quality time with family. Please pray for safe and smooth travel and encouraging connections with family and friends.

Alpha Weekend Away

I had an amazing time early in March participating in my second Alpha Weekend Away led by our local Catholic parish. One of my greatest joys in ministry is getting to witness and participate in the process of God transforming people. This was happening in big ways on this weekend away. I had the privilege of walking with people as they turned to Jesus for the first time and as others took significant steps towards God. One especially poignant moment was when I got to pray with a new believer for his not-yet believing wife and children. Having experienced the grace and love of God, he is desperate for his loved ones to know it too.

It was also a lot of fun. The organizers asked me to bring my guitar again this time and then announced at dinner, to my amusement and surprise, that I would be playing a concert directly following our meal (they had even provided a sound system for the occasion!). As I’m growing to expect, music served as a wonderful icebreaker and more significantly as a shift towards deeper things and connection in the group. I’m also thankful that I was able to get to know some leaders from the regional Alpha team and our new parish priest. He and I got along well, and we have hopes of building deeper relationship and partnership in the future. I’ve even been invited to preach during a Mass at a church nearby.

Releasing Worship Leaders

I’m so enjoying my new role being responsible for the sung worship at Bon Berger. There are 7 musicians/potential worship leaders who have joined the team and I love getting to coach them and encourage them as they step out in this new way. Right now, I’m having new musicians or leaders shadow me each week with a view to building a sustainable team of worship leaders as the church grows. One lady helped me lead a few weeks ago and it was great to see some of her friends and family come along to the service to encourage her. Last Sunday I was impressed with a 13-year-old pianist who played with me. It was his first time playing in public and he had prepared very well. Silas and Reuben continue to help me in this ministry by playing drums and singing.

Reuben’s Health Update

Things continue about the same for Reuben. He is experiencing severe migraines consistently, but is having a few days between episodes where he is quite himself and able to be a normal 12-year-old boy, running around and playing with his brothers. We’re proud of the way he is motivated to get to school on his good days and this has been a blessing for his brothers who miss having him there as well. Thank you for continuing to pray with us for Reuben’s healing and that God would sustain us in the struggles.

In February, we were able to get away to Brittany for a week and enjoy some time as a family. We climbed on other-worldly rock formations and walked along the beaches, rain or shine. Reuben had a relatively good week and we were grateful to have time together where everyone was able to be up and about!

Thank You

Being a family on mission has given us the great privilege of having people like you around us, supporting us, and praying with us, in all the ups and downs of life. Thank you for your care and partnership with us as we head into this next adventure!

Every Blessing,

The Appel Family