All things bright and beautiful...

Bonjour à tous, j'espère que vous allez bien et cette semaine a été bonne!

Well, it's Saturday and the men are on the church 'Men's hiking and biking day' so I'm making my way through my joblist. Bathroom=done! Washing up=done! Cup of coffee=done! hehe...as you can guess, the list is almost as long as when I wrote it! So what happened this week? Well, Monday was a bank holiday here in Switzerland; which was very welcome! A group of us decided to visit the longest Glacier in Europe...the Eletsch (SP!?) Glacier...I will let the photos speak for themselves, it was another breathtaking moment!

This time we took the Cable car-much more sensible!

That's me with 3 of the Slack girls, Gustavo and Suleidy came too

Yes, that's me and no, it wasn't a bet to wear that hat, I chose to wear it. Think what you like. But take note of that massive Glacier!!!

It looked a bit like a huge motorway from up here

You can make out the line above the glacier now where it was in the 1800s.

Tom and Karen (an elder and his wife) also came with us

Too beautiful for words (ambiguous I know!)

View of the other side; that point in the middle is the Matterhorn...see last post!!

On Tuesday evening we were joined by our friend from Bradford, Joel and his friend Adam. They set off at 1am Tuesday morning and arrived with us at tea time the same day! Good going! They kindly brought with them some of our less-essential items (another car load-where will we put it?!) and in return are named as our first offical house guests here in Switzerland. We have had a great time, we had the day to show them around on Wednesday and they have been doing some exploring of their own. We're going out for a meal tonight and they'll be returning to GB after church on Sunday afternoon.

A picnic spot in Leysin, we are guaranteed to take you here if you come and visit!

Enchiladas!!!

Our 'Permit Bs' came yesterday which is great because that was one of the final things on our lists! Now we can get swiss mobiles and really feel at home here! We also went to get health insurance yesterday (a legal requirement here), for someone who hasn't gone to the doctors in over 3 years I found it very hard to stomach that we will be paying so much money per month in case we need to see a doctor etc, and then because we requested a high excess we'll have to pay the bills anyway!! It was a bit scary really and made us realise how much we are completely in God's hands in terms of our health! Who knows what is around the corner, but we trust that whatever God's plans are they are the best as He sees the end from the beginning. Reckless abandon at the feet of Yahweh...I can't imagine a better place to throw myself!

I know I promised pics of the appartment, but whilst our guests are here it is not as neat and tidy as usual...so keep checking I will eventually give you the grand tour!!

Keep us posted as I endeavour to keep you updated.

a bientot!

Baptisms and the mighty Matterhorn...~

Well, four weeks have gone by already in Switzerland! Can you believe it?! Here's some great things that happened this week: Six people got baptised in the lake on Sunday. We did our first food shop to fill our empty cupboards. We hiked in Zermatt and stood in the shadows of the Matterhorn. We got internet in the appartment!

They were the headlines! So, as I said, the service on sunday was a little shorter than usual and then we walked down to the lakeside for some baptisms. Three members of the youth, one mum and one Sunday School kid got dunked as a symbol of their dedication to leave behind their old lives and follow Jesus. Thankfully the weather was beautiful. We had a 'bring and share' lunch afterwards which was yummy!

Martin with Jeff and his wife Nathalie

Nathalie and Jeff's son, Joshua

Ashleigh, Jeff's daughter (yes, there were 3 from the same family!)



Elizabeth, the youngest baptee (!?) at 10 yrs old



Jeanne-Catherine, one of our youth

Lydia, Martin's 2nd daughter

Church crowds, just as I imagine it would have been in John-the-Baptist's time!

More spectators

Of course...a quick swim afterwards!

We are so excited that God has brought us to a church which is growing, not only in numbers but in terms of the peoples' faith. We are so privelaged to watch Him at work here.


Wednesday was a treat; the Slack girls had a teacher training day so we thought we'd join the family on an outing to Zermatt and a hike to see the Matterhorn, it was breathtaking (or was that just the hike?!) see for yourself...

That's the Matterhorn, right there!

Time for a picnic

It was a pretty tough walk, Katie did so well and has the blisters as proof of  her bravery 

The Slack girls (from L-R) Hannah, Lydia, Katie, Naomi

Something to make you giggle, pay extra attention to Mark! hehe!

Naomi's fab photography

You can't really tell but I'm having a back massage here; starting to feel the hike a bit! (Must be my age!)

Mountain-top huddle in the wind

Mark's impression of the Matterhorn

cable car down-too tired to walk!

Back through the village of Zermatt

Shattered on the train back to the car!

As you can see we had a beautiful day, I haven't got any pictures of this, but as a treat for our sore muscles we stopped off at a natural thermal baths on the way home exactly what our aching bodies needed!

Here's a prayer update;

Please pray for the upcoming youth retreat in November
Please pray for health as I'm feeling a bit under the weather today-I think 4 crazy weeks are taking their toll on my body now as I begin to relax.
Please pray for Refuel tonight-youth meeting
Please pray for Mark as he teaches tonight and on Sunday morning with the youth

Praying people, please be encouraged by this psalm:


Psalm 65
 What mighty praise, O God,
belongs to you in Zion.

We will fulfill our vows to you,
 for you answer our prayers.
All of us must come to you.
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,
you forgive them all.
What joy for those you choose to bring near,
those who live in your holy courts.
What festivities await us
inside your holy Temple.

 You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds,
O God our savior.
You are the hope of everyone on earth,
even those who sail on distant seas.
You formed the mountains by your power
and armed yourself with mighty strength.
You quieted the raging oceans
with their pounding waves
and silenced the shouting of the nations.
 Those who live at the ends of the earth
stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets,
you inspire shouts of joy.

 You take care of the earth and water it,
making it rich and fertile.
The river of God has plenty of water;
it provides a bountiful harvest of grain,
for you have ordered it so.
You drench the plowed ground with rain,
melting the clods and leveling the ridges.
You soften the earth with showers
and bless its abundant crops.
 You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;
even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
 The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture,
and the hillsides blossom with joy.
The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep,
and the valleys are carpeted with grain,
They all shout and sing for joy!

 Coming up next...appartment photos!

IKEA…We love and hate you at the same time!!

This week was moving week, also known as ‘manic week!’ We got the keys to our appartment on the 2nd of Spetember but had a completely empty appartment so it took us a while to actually sleep in it. We packed up our stuff from the Bottimore’s (yet another move!) and hauled it over to our appartment. We have been so well looked after and fed at the Bottimore’s that part of me was reluctant to leave!

For the first few nights we camped out on an airbed and what with me at Edukids and Mark working in the offices it has been a slow progressive move-in. We took our day off this week to go to IKEA, after spending about 3 hours in the morning looking around we then went around some second-hand shops (Where, by the way for those who know how much I love the one I left behind, I found a smaller but similar pine dresser! Yes!) only to go back to IKEA that evening and buy everything…bed, mattress, sofa bed, dining chairs, small table, lights, etc etc! A family here very generously gave us some money for a bed; God cannot stop providing-He is amazing! And this was the predicament at the end of that trip…

Praise God for the big car (yet again!)!



So that evening (Wednesday) we built up our bed and collapsed into it at about 10:30!

Friday was my day off and I spent the whole day blitzing-my hands are calloused from allen keys and screwdrivers! The appartment is beginning to take shape now, and I’ll spend the rest of this morning making it ‘pretty’ (girls, you know what I mean!)


Also this Friday was the second of the ‘Youth Discipleships’; here’s a photo of a game we played afterwards; (apes, cowboys and ninjas-a spruced up version of rock, paper, scissors!)

Here’s Mark doing some work in our appartment (sneak preview…watch this space for photos of the completed appartment!)

Prayers



Thank you to those who are praying for us, we have absolutely no doubt that you are; we are reaping the answers. I would just ask that you also pray for Jeff and Naomi and the family especially at this time. Most of you will know that it was the Cuozzo family we helped out in the Lake District in 2007-2008. They have since moved back to America and Naomi fell pregnant. However, at 18 weeks she discovered the baby had no heartbeat and had been taken to be with Jesus. As you can imagine they are devastated. Please pray for this precious family, they mean a lot to us.


Thank you, we love you!

xxx

Special Occasions

This week has been one of some celebration, special occasions are one of the things that makes living away from home the hardest. The people you love the most pass significant milestones and something I love about life is joining them in their rejoicing.




At the end of August we remember a very special union, 30th August 2008 was the marriage of Simon and Jasmine and now two years later they are happier and more excited about life than ever. They are a beautiful couple (not just in looks!) they have a generous united heart and love to help and serve anyone they see in need. Jaz is the kind of person you want around in a ‘situation’, she has such a practical mind and knows exactly what to do to make things work! She is very compassionate and she has a special ability to buy good gifts too!! Simon, my brother, is very hard working. He wont let you down if he says he’s going to do something; I remember when we moved back to Bradford in summer 2008, he didn’t hesitate to help us in our sofa dilemma! (I think this definitely deserves a photo!)…

I have always looked up to him as my big brother and I am so pleased he found himself a good wife (Proverbs 18 v 22 The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favour from the LORD.) , so guys…although it’s a bit late (c’mon we dont have internet connection yet!) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

On the 8th of September we celebrate Phil’s (dad’s) birthday too, and what a dad we are celebrating! I’m sure Mark would do a better job about boasting about his dad but he’s out on his Saturday morning bike ride at the moment (a tradition started by the two of them) so I will have to do. Phil has been the kind of father to Mark that demonstrates God’s grace and love. Mark has watched selflessness, forgiveness and patience in abundance and the way that Mark talks about his dad just shows the impact he has had on Mark’s life. Phil, you are his hero. Happy birthday! (sorry about the picture…well, I’m not sorry! This was also when we moved into Welwyn Avenue and you stayed with us until 4am decorating before making a trip to Kendal to bring a van load of stuff back!) see what I mean bout selflessness!!??

hehehehe!

Another cause for celebration is that two years of dedication have been completed by Joe, (Joe forgive me for boasting). Joe has written, compiled, played, edited and produced a CD. God gave him the inspiration to write some songs two years ago and since then it has been his goal to produce a CD of worship to God and also a call to those who do not yet know God. He wants all the glory to go to God and so has made it available to download for free on his website. I recommend that you do, it has ministered to me so much these last few days, he is an extremely gifted musician with diverse ranges from ballad-type songs to some pretty heavy rock-type stuff. His prayer is that these God-given gifts are used for God’s fame. Well done good and faithful servant!

http://www.josephbateman.com/wehavefoundhim

Permits, cars and appartments....

Well, we've had another busy week in Switzerland! I can see that my blog posts are always going to be epic because I don't get chance during the week to do short posts as and when things happen! So make sure you have plenty of time and a nice hot cup of tea because you're going to be sat here for a while!!!

So last Saturday we eagerly awaited the arrival of mum and dad Bateman (that's Phil and Caroline to you!) and Isaac, they booked cheap flights at the beginning of summer so that they could fly out and drive the car back to sunny UK. It was so great to be able to see them briefly, our host family were kind enough to make room for them in their house too which was a real blessing. They arrived Saturday evening and were able to visit the church on Sunday morning which they really enjoyed. The weather was beautiful so of course we spent the afternoon by the lake...

Isaac: "come on in dad, the water's lovely!"

Mark and Phil take a rather anxious looking Isaac out onto the lake

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<>couldn't work out how to delete these extra pics---computer duffer!

Isaac enjoying splashing around with his big brother.

Mark and his mummy sailing and chatting

A cute picture!

So, with Caroline and Phil coming to take their car we were quite pushed to find one ourselves. We know you have been praying because we have quite a story to tell... Mark has been getting frustrated about finding a car, he spent many an hour looking around used car garages only to be met by people who don't speak any English and some quite expensive cars! We were looking for something a little bit more practical than our beloved Micra. (Something that skis, bikes, luggage and young people can get comfortably into!) and Mark has always fancied an estate car, so we were looking out for them and the cheapest we could come across were 8,500 CHF which is about £5k. Now, we don't have anything like that amount of money so we were thinking about getting a loan etc etc. Mark asked a guy from church called Jeff (originally from the US but lived in Switzerland a long time and speaks fluent French) to come long and help us chat with the salesmen. We took one for a test drive, it was ok. We left without it and felt a little more at a loss as to what to do. We had prayed, and we know you had been praying and it was like God was saying 'not this one'. But as impatient children we were starting to get panicky!

 Chapter 2...(!?) So, we carried on with normal life knowing that the Batemans were going to come and with the very real possibility that we could be left without a car. That was Friday night and we had our first 'Youth Discipleship', towards the end of the night we got a text to say that somebody wanted to give us £2,000 towards a new car. This was a great surprise and blessing and our brains started to work out how we could gather the money to maybe buy a car and avoid a loan. About ten minutes later Jeff came to pick his kids up at the end of the study and said that he had spoken to a friend who was moving back to America and needed to sell their car quickly. Guess what amount he was asking for... 3,000 CHF = £1,900 or there abouts! (that sounded like confirmation to me!). There's a little more to the story...practical and boring information so I'll just show you the pics!! And please join us in praising God for his provision once again!...

Of course, it had to be big enough to fit bikes in...standing up!

You could potentially drive the yellow Micra up inside this car like a ferry! ha!

(for the blokes; it's a Chrysler Voyager minivan)

So, this week was full of practicalities. Getting bank accounts, getting to send off for our 'Permit Bs' (so that we can live and work here), getting cars (!?)...and...getting the keys to our appartment!!! Yes-we are officially residents here in Switzerland and are moving in as we speak so I'm going to have to keep this final bit brief!

For those praying for me at work this week, I am definately gaining confidence and although it was a challenge to 'lead' I really felt equipped to work with the children. I would ask you to pray that I learn French very speedily, something I am keen to do and it will definately help a lot with the younger children who hardly have any English.

Well, it wasn't all solid work this week; we did manage to scrape some time on Wednesday afternoon to get out into the hills...wow, still can't believe we live in this place!...

I had a bit of a 'Sound of Music moment', I'm sure there'll be plenty more of those!

A beautiful little man, oh how we miss him!

Mark in his element

Reflecting on God's goodness to us!

Please keep praying, we are blown away by how God has provided every need, truly we can testify that "The Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want" and he is leading us beside still waters and green pastures and our souls are being restored! Thank you Father for your love and grace!

Please keep in touch, we'd love to hear how you are doing.

~~~~~~   Ephesians 3 v 16-21   ~~~~~~