Home from France

Now, we are home safe and excited about what God is doing in France. The team there was great, and we are amazed at what they have accomplished. The two main events, the first church service and Bar-B-Q, were successful and will continue to enhance the relationships that the team has started. Kevin and I are thankful for the team that went with us as we were each able to contribute in unique ways.

I was unprepared for the lack of known believers in that area. One French gentleman said, “It is easier to find a Christian in Iraq than in France.” While I was there, I read a book called The Celtic Way of Evangelism, and it occurred to me that the Crossroads team is doing just that. Inviting unbelievers to share fellowship with them and see Christianity lived in relationships, service, and worship without compromising or withholding the Word of God. The seekers hear and see the Gospel and are invited to respond and join them in ministry. I was told that the French have a high outer wall and a low inner wall, meaning that it is hard to break the ice with them, but once you become their friend, you are a friend for life. What better friendship than to introduce them to the Gospel.

I appreciate all of your prayers and your continued prayers for Crossroads International Christian Church. They will continue to meet weekly in various forms and have a traditional worship service monthly. I say traditional meaning music and message, but they are doing this in unique and engaging ways. I will give you some basic information so you can continue to pray for the team in France. This is only a little bit of what they do. They are all extremely busy, diligent, hardworking, and God-exalting.

Patrick & Mary DeMuth (Sophie, Aidan, Julia)
Team Leaders
Hold Weekly Home Bible Study
Hold Weekly Writer’s Club

Todd & Kari Ubanowicz (Josh, Mack, Ransom, Landry, Oliver)
Connectors and Hospitality
Hold Weekly Home Bible Study
Entertain lots of guests

Justus & Samantha Heyman ( Isaiah, Thea, one on the way)
Youth/Children’s Ministry
Hold Weekly Youth Meeting

Also please pray for Alexandra, one of the girls in Sophie’s youth group who is being severely attacked by the enemy.

You can see a few pictures from the week on Mary DeMuth’s blog (just scroll down to April 9), and I will try to put some more up soon.

Awesome First Service and Barbecue

Everything here is going great. The service yesterday went well with almost 40 people in attendance. Some were not expected, so that was a huge blessing. You can read more and see pictures at Mary Demuth's blog (click on "April 2006" under "Archives" and scroll down to April 9). We are thankful for a successful first service. Thanks for praying.

Today's Texas Barbecue is going extremely well. There are about 90 people here! The barbecue was scheduled for 12 to 3, but it may go on until midnight. Meals and fellowship here go at a much slower pace. The focus is on enjoying the conversation and the company. No one is in a hurry.

I ask that you pray today for the barbecue to continue to go well. Many who attended the first church service yesterday came because of the relationships they had developed with the missionaries living here. This barbecue could be a great opportunity to form relationships with others.

Press On,
Darren

Church Today

It is 11:30 AM and we are about to leave for the church site and prepare for the service at 3:30. Please pray that the Lord would speak through the worship leaders and through Patrick and Justus who will be speaking. Pray that the children will have fun and hear the lesson. Pray that today will be a huge encouragement to the team living here.

Yesterday we prayer walked in the target area of their church. It is the "Silicon Valley" of Southern France with thousands of people from all over Europe. The majority here have English as a common language so it will be used in the church. Thank you so much for praying with us.

Kevin got to spend the night with Aidan DeMuth last night, so he was very excited and is doing well.

Press On,

Darren

Kevin helping get ready for the barbecue

Preparing for the Big Event

Dear Friends and Family,

My internet access is limited and a lot of the screen commands are in French so this will be short. The travel was great and we had a great night's rest. No jet lag problems for anyone on the team. Today we are helping with some outside projects for the event on Sunday. It is a Texas Bar-B-Que and they are praying for about 100 people. Please pray that this will be a fruitful event. I will try to post a picture of Kevin working in the yard. He is doing great and got to spend the evening with two other boys his age, so they had a blast. Tomorrow is the first church service so please pray that the Lord would speak through Patrick when he delivers the message and that everyone's first impression of this new church would be positive.

Press On,

Darren

P.S. Thanks to all of you who are watching over my family.
P.S.S. Thanks to those that provided financially for the hospitality money. I cannot express how much that encouraged them.

Pray for Revival in France

Please pray for a great God glorifying movement in France. God is there and waiting for people to respond.

What event led to prayer in other towns, millions of converts, and a catalyst for evangelistic activity in the late nineteenth century? Following is a cut and paste from: http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2002/09/daily-09-23-2002.shtml

September 23, 1857 • Jeremy Lanphier Led Prayer Revival

by the Staff or associates of Christian History Institute.
© Copyright 1999-2005. All rights reserved.

Jeremy Lanphier had hoped for more. But six people were six people. And did not scripture say, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of you"? So on this day, September 23, 1857, at lunchtime, he did not moan about the small number who turned out in response to his advertisement. Instead, he knelt with the others in the rented hall in Fulton Street, New York.


America sure needed prayer. The United States was in spiritual, political, and economic decline. Many people were disillusioned with spiritual things because of preachers who had repeatedly predicted the end of the world in the 1840's. Agitation over slavery was breeding political unrest, and civil war seemed near. Just this year, financial panic had hit. Banks failed, railroads went bankrupt, factories closed, unemployment increased.

In lower Manhattan, a Dutch Reformed church had been steadily losing members, largely because of population changes owing to immigration; they hired the layman Jeremy to reverse the trend with an active visitation program. Despite his visits, church members were listless. So he rented the hall on Fulton street and advertised prayer meetings. He himself enjoyed close fellowship with the Lord and thought others might, too. Conditions in the United States got worse; maybe that was a good thing. Sometimes trouble makes people turn to God. The Bank of Philadelphia failed. The third week of Jeremy's program, forty participated and they asked for daily meetings.

On October 10, the stock market crashed. Suddenly people were flocking to the prayer meetings. Within six months 10,000 people were gathering daily for prayer in New York City alone.

Other cities experienced a renewed interest in prayer, too. In Chicago, the Metropolitan Theater was filled every day with 2000 praying people. In Louisville, several thousand came to the Masonic Temple for prayer each morning. Two thousand assembled for daily prayer in Cleveland, and St. Louis churches were filled for months at a time. In many places tents were set up for prayer. The newly formed YMCA also played an important role in holding prayer meetings and spreading the revival throughout the country.

In February, 1858, Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald gave extensive coverage to the prayer revival. Not to be outdone, the New York Tribune devoted an entire issue in April, 1858 to news of the revival. News of the revival traveled west by telegraph. This was the first revival which the media played an important role in spreading.

Lay people, not church leaders led. Prayer, rather than preaching, was the main focus. The meetings themselves were informal -- any person might pray, speak, lead in a song, or give a word of testimony, with a five minute limit placed on each speaker. In spite of loose organization, the prayer meetings avoided the emotionalism displayed in earlier revivals.

Thus the small prayer meeting of Jeremy Lanphier on this day led to the Third Great Awakening. This was the first revival beginning in America with a worldwide impact. The revival spread to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Europe, South Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific islands.

All classes became interested in salvation, backsliders returned, conversions increased, and Christians desired a deeper instruction in spiritual truths. Families established daily devotions, and entire communities underwent a noticeable change in morals. Preaching, which in many places had become intellectual and lifeless, now concentrated on the truths of the gospel of Christ and His cross. As James Buchanan of Scotland summarized, it was a time when "new spiritual life was imparted to the dead, and new spiritual health imparted to the living."