Everswick Photos

Doug and Nancy Everswick and Rachelle (TEAM missionaries to Zimbabwe)

Dear friends,

Happy Easter!

Thank you for your prayers for the Reformed Church of Quebec (ERQ) synod meeting on March 16 and 17.  The meeting went very well and now Satoshi’s preaching ministry at the South Shore Reformed Church (ERRS) is officially recognized and approved by this evangelical Reformed French-speaking denomination in Quebec.  On top of this amazing blessing, we are so happy to report that our church accepted two families as transferred members from other Reformed churches on February 26.  In addition, on March 4, Satoshi had the privilege of baptizing Zara and Manalina’s 3rd child, Hezekia, who was just born on February 23.  It was also very special for Satoshi, because it was the first baptism that he administered since his ordination in the PCA.   Furthermore, on March 11, we welcomed a denominational youth retreat–the church building was filled with so many people and we actually ran out of chairs that morning.  The Lord has so blessed His church and His ministry on the south shore of Quebec City that we have been enormously encouraged by His faithfulness and goodness.

Below, please find our praise and prayer request for the month of April 2012.  We can never thank you enough for your prayers and very generous financial provisions.

Awed by His sovereign grace,

Satoshi, Cally, Suzi and Sophi

Praise

1.    For the synod meeting, which officially recognized and approved Satoshi’s preaching and pastoral ministry at the South Shore Reformed Church (ERRS).  We appreciate the leaders and co-workers of the Reformed Church of Quebec (ERQ) for allowing an MTW missionary to serve at one of their churches.

2.    For the two families who recently transferred membership to our church after moving to this area.

3.    For the baptism of Hezekia, Zara and Manalina’s newly born son.

4.    For the preaching ministry of Zara’s father from France, Rev. Daniel Rajakoba on March 4 and 18.

5.    For Suzi and Sophi’s Spring break, when Cally and the girls spent a week in Virginia helping Cally’s aging mother and encouraging their friends.  Also, praise for Cally’s mother’s new aide, who is very helpful and is replacing the last aide on medical leave.

6.    For Keith and Debbie, our co-workers, who are arriving in Montreal on/around April 1!!

7.    For our Quebecois friends and coworkers at ERRS, as well as, for the leadership team of St-Jean Reformed Church (ERSJ) in Montreal–thanks to partnering with them, we are able to serve here in Quebec.

8.    For the many gifted musicians who help lead the praise time during the worship service at ERRS.

Prayer Request

1. For Satoshi’s weekly sermon preparation in French.  That Christ will be glorified and our lives will be transformed by the Gospel through his preaching ministry at ERRS.

2. For Keith and Debbie, our co-workers.  Please pray for their move to Montreal.

3. For the surviving family of our good friend, Steven Joung, age 52, in West Michigan, who went to be with the Lord on February 28.  Please pray for his wife and 4 children–3 still at home, her parents, Jack and Carolyn, and his parents and siblings back in Taiwan.  This will be a painful transition for all, but we are so thankful to them for their mentoring, prayers, and friendship the past 14 years—especially for encouraging us to go into missions.  Also, Becky and Steven’s faith has been an incredible testimony for so many to witness around the world and we know that the Lord will use it in a mighty way.

4. For a vision team visit to our church in Quebec from April 1 through 3.  We’re very excited about having a team from one of our long-term supporting churches in Maryland visit.  Although our ministry here is still at an embryonic stage, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to spend a couple days with the team for encouragement and prayer support.  Please pray for the logistics, plus, a safe and fruitful visit.

5. For healing for Cally’s 2nd cousin, Ian, in Ottawa, who is recovering from surgery and a long hospitalization.  Also, for Cally’s Aunt Audrey, who is on the mend after a stroke. She and her daughter will spend 2 weeks in the Philippines to visit family.

6. For close friends for Suzi and Sophi; also, pray as we continue to look into high school education options and make a decision soon regarding 9^th Grade.

7. For Cally’s mother Delpha: thankfully, she no longer appears to have a MRSA staph sinus infection.  But she is fighting Parotitis (a salivary gland infection), which began during the girls’ visit to Va. It causes a lot of pain and swelling, and is quite common in Sjogren’s patients.  She also needs to schedule hernia surgery but is “chicken”…

8. For Cally and twins’ health and fitness—they are trying to avoid empty carb snacking and reduce sweets to improve cholesterol.  Also, please pray for no injuries and perseverance, as they all increase their level of activity.  Cally’s latest blood work showed that she was 1/10 of a point from being in the “pre-Diabetic” range—hence losing weight and exercise are vitally important.

3.  Many thanks for your prayers for the college decision of our son, Owen, who has decided to go to Covenant College in August.

Dear Friends, Family & Prayer/Support Team:

Travel. Since we last wrote in early February we have been on the road almost every weekend & during several of those weeks. THANK YOU to everyone who blessed us in our travels to Birmingham Alabama & Dallas Texas! We are now in catch up mode …
As a side note: Abby (to the left) is doing fabulously after her cardiac cath ablation procedure in early February. She just had her follow-up appointment & her cardiologist is very pleased. Thank you again for your prayers & notes for her.
You will receive another update real soon with additional info as to our schedule, our support status & current plans.
See several photos from our travels after Jamie’s update …

Good Reading … from Jamie: 
The BLUR Begins:  ”It is the end of March and 3 months before we head back to France.”

So, where are we now, 3 months away from departure? Personally, I am already preping myself to not “be as comfortable” as I am here, and each little foray into the world of comfortable, commercial America is savored until the very… last… drop… As a family, we are feeling the pull, the blurring, the impending change that comes with leaving your “life” behind to embrace your other life. We are also sensing the pressure as there is much to finish before July 9th.

Since January, we have seen many of you face to face and have been encouraged by your love, prayers and support.  As we have shared the vision of what God may be doing with us in Greece, our faith and excitement has grown, and the reality of the challenges ahead has grown as well.  ”What are we thinking?” and ” What are you doing Lord?” have escaped our lips more than once, to be sure.  But i am more and more convinced that if He is in this, the doors will open, just as they have in the past.

Jamie sharing “use what is in your hand” to make disciples at Cottonwood Creek Baptist in Texas…

she’s the best at capturing God’s heart & adding color to my drab presentation

We are so grateful for this time in the USA, the chance  to reconnect with family and friends, to see you face to face and hear the encouraging news of what God is laying on each of your hearts.   We often say it is much harder to stay here and choose to live an intentional life “outside the box”, choosing to be uncomfortable and relevant to a world that needs to see real love expressed in real deeds, than to hop on a plane and set out to love people in the name of Jesus who aren’t like you. So, you being here in your own culture, is hard, way too comfortable, lulling us to trust in our own strengths and abilities to make life work and keep it all together. So, take courage!

7. That the kids could finish all their French school studies here by the end of May.
8. That we can see 800+ in monthly support raised by May 15th.
9. That we can see an additional 30,000 in one time funds raised for our Greece fund ($10,000 already given)

“Do not neglect the gift that is in you …” 1 Tim. 4:14

February 25, 2012

Dear Friends,

I’m writing this on the flight back from Port-au-Prince where I’ve spent the past couple of days doing five consecutive hours of teaching (hermeneutics) at the “Faculte de Theologie de l’Universite Lumiere” for 45 eager Haitian students,
including some professional folk as well as some ministry candidates. The mental fatigue following five straight hours of lecturing surpasses the physical weariness incurred from even a 30-mile ride on my bicycle. Even the pesky Haitian mosquitos couldn’t keep me from sleeping the last two nights, though I did wake up with some itchy bites on my hands and feet… I’m afraid I am returning home this time with some unwanted germs which have made for a couple of intestinally difficult days. Occupational hazards…

Overall, the teaching experience has been generally positive for me, unlike that of a somewhat jaded teacher-friend who once quipped that there were three good things about his job: June, July, and August. Neither have I have I gotten bored like an old seminary buddy in France who quit after seven years as a philosophy professor, lamenting that itwas “toujours la morne chose” (always the same thing). That may be true of the writings of Kant and Hegel, but not of the Word of God with new discoveries to be found on every page. Notwithstanding the occasional tedium of grading papers (I had 43 dissertations—all in French of course—to read and correct from October to December. Whew!), I’m finding the work rewarding, both because of the subject matter, and also because of the eager and receptive Haitian students who seem genuinely appreciative of my humble efforts. In fact, they don’t have a lot of options for being instructed in the Word.

In any case, I’ve come to a new appreciation for this vocation which has been foisted upon me relatively late in life. Indeed, I’m still learning the ropes and cherish your prayers for these efforts. I’ve no delusions about my teaching skills… Let’s just say that I manage to keep the students’ attention, which is half the battle. The horrendous needs of the Haitian church are a considerably motivating factor. Neither does one need to re-invent the wheel. It’s a matter of delivering some basic instruction readily available in the U.S., which needs only to be translated and adopted for their culture. The fact that they keep asking me to return is a good sign, I suppose, and revealing of their level of spiritual hunger.

In addition to course preparation (including the Haitian Bible school classes in Ft. Lauderdale), there is time spent preparing daily Christian meditations which air every morning here, Monday through Friday on the “Radio Floride” program—must listening for the Quebecois snowbirds (over a million in S. Florida at this time of year). This year I’m doing a mixture of evangelistic messages for the mostly skeptical Quebecois, mixed with exhortations for the many Haitians believers who tune in. “Radio Floride” is aired via a Haitian-owned station (WHSR 980AM) whose well-known manager happens to be one of our Bible school students. Lesly Jacques also gives me some air time on his three-hour news program on Sundays which covers Haitian and international news. On Sunday, Jan. 29, with the Florida Republican primary election in full-swing, “L.J.” interviewed me about faith and politics. I explained why, notwithstanding economic concerns, it should be hard for a Christian to vote for any candidate who favors abortion and h-sexual marriage—deal-breakers for anyone who takes the Bible seriously. I’m afraid my comments dismayed many of the Haitian listeners who, though professing believers, seem oblivious to the policies of the current administration.

Feb.7-10 I was privileged to attend the seventh annual “Truth Xchange” conference in Escondito, Ca., organized by our old seminary professor Dr. Peter Jones who’s become something of a specialist in discerning and decrying the dominant non-biblical trends in contemporary culture. The speakers were solidly biblical, the teaching correspondingly edifying, and the fellowship warm and encouraging. The theme of the conference centered on the communication of the gospel in an increasingly pagan world: The intellectual paradigms of the past seem outdated. How do we reach a generation that “thinks with its eyes and reasons with its imagination?” asked one delegate. The short answer is that we need to become like men of Issachar who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (I Chronicles 12:32), especially with regards to prevailing modern monist tendencies hell-bent on eradicating the clear distinctions (Creator vs. created, good vs. evil, truth vs. falsehood, male vs. female etc.) woven into the Lord’s creation.

Beyond the conference seminars, some moments of minor transcendence—for me at least—were approached at mealtime when we feasted on succulent gastronomical creations of a North Carolina couple (Anne + Joe Foreman) who flew in from the Tar Heel State for the occasion. Anne, like Aline’s late grandmother, is a veritable culinary artist, a discreet cordon bleu adept, with a frugal budget, of the gastronomical magic one learns to appreciate living in France. Her opening-night offering, a savory tomato bisque, was ambrosia. It was followed by chocolate-coconut tart for desert—both delightful and auspicious omens of things to come. Thanks to Ann, we were making good use of the taste buds the Lord has so graciously incorporated in our palates. Indeed, her efforts reminded me of an article of some 30 years ago in the ever-so-serious left-wing French weekly “le Nouvel Observateur” with its semi-facetious, albeit self-explanatory title: “L’influence de /a gastronomie sur l’ame” (the influence of gastronomy on the soul)!

Lest any of you be overly concerned by my epicurean proclivities, remember that some 65% of the Lord’s words as recorded in the gospels were spoken in the context of a meal. What’s more, He promises His elect a banquet in heaven (Rev. 20), while the Word says nothing of any post-Apocalyptic theological discourses. In summary, many of the conference delegates may have come for the spiritual-intellectual musings, but I’ll wager even money that at least as many were ministered to and will return for Anne Foreman’s cooking.

Blessings,

Email: MMailloux50comcast.net  Blog: www.marcmailloux.wordpress.com

A couple of announcements: Another reminder about “Huguenot Legacy tour” scheduled for Sept.28-Oct.7 which will visit Paris, Geneva, and some particularly interesting sites including the “Musee du Desert” in the “Camisard” bastion of
my wife’s Cevennes mountains in the South of France. If you don’t know who the “Camisards” were, that’s all the more reason for you to come on the trip! It will edify you to see how much the Lord’s and 18th century French saints
suffered for the cause of the gospel. So come if you can. Space is limited. For details contact

Speaking of France: We’d like to encourage our friends in the Carolinas and Georgia to prayerfully consider hosting a French teenager for part of the summer on a cultural exchange program. We’re convinced that the best way to evangelize
the French is to remove them (at least temporarily) from France. Many of the French believers we’ve come to know were opened to the faith while visiting abroad, especially the U.S., where they’ve seen first-hand the residual grace bequeathed
on our blessed country by our more godly ancestors. Think of Alexis De Tocqueville. These impressionable French adolescents (14-18) usually come from well-bred, albeit non-Christian families. A gesture of simple hospitality can do much to overcome the French intelligentsia’s media-infused prejudice against American Christendom and expand the Lord’s kingdom in France, while simultaneously enriching the American hosts. You’ll learn some French to boot! So it’s a win-win situation. For details, for those of you in the Carolinas and Georgia, contact Richard Wagner in Greenville, S.C. at 864-607-5339.

Praise:

1-For continued health and traveling mercies.
2-For renewed teaching invitations.
3-For positive feedback from our efforts.

Prayer:

1-For our teaching efforts and evangelistic radio broadcasts and discernment to know when and to whom to give/sell the French study Bibles our Haitian students desperately need.
2-For the spiritual welfare of our children.
3-For forthcoming trips to visit supporting churches in Savannah and South Carolina (March); and teaching trips to Haiti and Togo, French West Africa (April).