Download FAMILY VISIT TO NORMANDY: During the The Ounate

The Ounate-Lare’s
May 2015 Prayer Letter
www.crosslinks.org
Dear Friends
Greetings from Oxford. We hope you are all well. We have plenty of news to update you on since our
last prayer letter. We are all fine and preparing for our move to France in August. The Internationals
ministry at St Aldates is going well and Sena is preparing to hand over in July. He is also persevering to
finish his dissertation.
VISIT TO TOGO: We thank God that in December last year
we were able to return to Togo for a few weeks. It was a
precious time of visiting and encouraging the churches in
Dapaong, catching up with friends and seeing Sena’s family
again. The churches in Dapaong joined together for worship on
the Sunday and it was a wonderful time of celebration and
fellowship.
Overall the Churches are flourishing. We praise God for the
church in Tantoatre which is experiencing exciting growth and
we pray for the church in Tantigou which is struggling at the moment. This Easter the churches had a
joined Baptism where 30 people were baptised. We thank God for what he continues to do through the
Churches in Dapaong. Please pray for Aimé from a muslim background who came to Christ at the
beginning of our ministry in Dapaong and is now training to become a pastor.
FAMILY VISIT TO NORMANDY: During the
Easter holidays we spent 10 days in Normandy meeting
with the church “La Source” in Lisieux as well as visiting
schools and looking at houses. It was great to involve the
children in this process as much as possible and was a
very positive time and a step forward for each of them in
their emotional journeys of uprooting and starting
somewhere new. Please pray for them as they face the
changes ahead trusting in God’s care and provision.
By God’s grace we found places for the children in the
schools we preferred and a house which is within walking
distance from the schools and from the church.
We joined the children’s programme on Wednesday afternoon at “Café connect”, a community café
where Jane will be helping in the future. Sena, Joshua & Johan enjoyed a football match with the
children from the estate. This gave a flavour of some of the things we will be involved in.
We connected well with the leadership of “La Source” and we are looking forward to working together.
Please pray for the nation of France and that people would respond to God’s love and turn their
heart towards him. Pray also for the leadership of “La Source” especially for Francis and Diane
Dognon the main leaders.
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VISION FOR NORMANDY
Our vision is to see God’s kingdom advance powerfully in Normandy and many lives
transformed as people come to know or grow in their knowledge of Jesus. Like much of the
rest of France the spiritual needs of Normandy are many and profound. There are few
Christians and churches and most pastors are discouraged.
We are planning to be in Lisieux for a couple of years to help to lead and support the local
Church there “La Source” which has 30-40 members. We would like to see the church grow
and impact the community around it. It will be an opportunity for us to settle again into French
culture and to gradually prepare and discern God’s way forward for a Church plant in Caen.
Our long term vision is to plant a church in the city centre of Caen and have an opportunity to
reach out to the thousands of people studying there. Caen is a University City at 23 miles east
of Lisieux, 20 minutes by train. It is a vibrant city of 200 000 people (including suburbs) with
about 25 000 students. There are less than 10 evangelical churches and in April the Christian
Student Union (GBU) was composed of only 11 people. We are encouraged that the GBU
students are keen for us to come and support them.
We are looking forward to moving to Normandy and are excited in anticipation of what God is
going to do there.
St Aldates will be praying for us and commissioning us on Sunday 5th July at the 10.30am
service. Please let us know if you will be able to come.
SPIRITUAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT
 We do need your prayers as we embark on this mission and as we step into the things
God is calling us to in Normandy. Please pray for us as family as we prepare to go.
 We also need financial support to be able to go in August. We are extremely grateful to
those churches and individuals who have already decided to partner with us for this
ministry and have pledged to support us financially through Crosslinks. We have
reached over 65% of our three year budget. Together with Crosslinks we think that it will
be necessary to raise the remaining amount by 5th June in order to be ready to go this
summer. It is a challenge but God is able. Please pray for God’s provision in the
coming weeks.

If you have any questions or would like to support us financially for this mission in
Normandy please get in touch with us directly or our sending mission CROSSLINKS.
Sena and Jane: [email protected] / 01865 201041
CROSSLINKS: [email protected] / 020 8691 6111
May the Lord bless you and keep you in his Grace
Love from Sena, Jane, Joshua, Eloïse & Johan
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