Andrew and Sawsan
Cameos of ministry in France:
Sawsan: Monday morning, after a time with the Lord and 30 minutes daily exercise, spent the rest of the morning answering messages from West African seekers, talking and counselling a believer by phone and preparing the afternoon Bible study. At 2pm five women come to our home for discipleship. They always start by tea, coffee and cakes, catching up with each other. These women are of Muslim North African background who Sawsan has been discipling for a number of years. There are often discouragements and things that stunt their growth in the Lord such as the pressures of a Muslim culture where they live and non-Christian husbands. However, coming together to share and pray is a big boost and maybe the highlight of their week. This time the study was on 1 John. None of them had meditated deeply on this passage before, so it was challenging. By 4h30 each went their own way and Sawsan returned to her ministry of writing messages where she had left off in the morning. Beyond this there would be a lot of follow-up messages and phone calls during the week.
Andrew: Wednesday morning, meets his Christian friend in a densely populated area in the north of Lyon. They have a map of the area which had been divided into areas. They sit in the car and pray that the Lord would open doors in the high-rise apartment blocks because many of them are secured. They pray that the Lord would also open hearts to be receptive to the tracts and gospels. Choosing the area coloured red on their map they hope to complete this mission that morning. The first building was impossible to enter, the entrance door having a secure lock. The next building had three entrance doors. One door was broken allowing Andrew to enter and look for Arabic names on the twenty letter boxes on the lobby wall. He managed to post Arabic and French literature into about half of the boxes. Meanwhile Andrew's friend went to the other door and did the same. So it went on that morning and hundreds of pieces of literature were distributed. Andrew was conscious that, despite significant distribution in other areas of the city and at markets over many years there would be some who have never heard the gospel. They didn't engage in much conversation with people that particular morning but that would be for another day. Perhaps they may never see 'results' for this particular mission but the gospel is spread and God will speak through His Word.
These are glimpses of Andrew & Sawsan's life in France. They are conscious each day and grateful for the prayers of folk at Lansdowne. Every day is different. In everything they do it is to reach those of North African background and disciple them.
