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July 2002 NewsLetter Huémoz, Dear Friends of Swiss L'Abri, "Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,' even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you." Psalm 139: 7-12. We are sorry for such a long silence. This letter was written back in June, ready to go out, when the computer crashed and Jim could not keep it up and running for a good two weeks. Now it is the end of July and we have just begun our break as the families with school-aged children have left, or will be leaving shortly to take some vacation time as families. But to give you the news of the past few weeks: Shortly after Easter we had an amazing two weeks as a group of 20 from a church in Canada came to do repairs, paint, and various other maintenance jobs in Swiss L'Abri. It was incredible to see, only one day after they arrived, new gutters up, the path in the Memorial Garden taken apart and new gravel laid, primer on hallway walls, curtains being cut and sown. The group carried out these tasks not only with great diligence and efficiency but with a wonderful cheerfulness that encouraged us enormously. It was delightful getting to know them while taking a day off together in Montreux and over a raclette dinner in the various chalets. Their cheerful giving of their time, energy and resources was very much a living demonstration of God's grace and provision for this work. Give thanks with us for this wonderful gift. And give thanks that Ken and Sally, a couple who helps each year with the Yearly Meeting, were able to work with this group, with especially Ken offering his knowledge of French and the hardware stores in the area. We had a busy and challenging winter with the students the Lord brought to us, and again this spring we are full to overflowing, asking helpers if they wouldnšt mind eating on their own as the tables are too full. While normally we have about 28 students, we were finding space for up to 38 people the last few weeks. We are thankful the Lord has continued to use this place in the lives of the students and would ask you to pray for them as they question, discuss, and examine the claims of Christianity. Some were not Christians but came to see what Christianity has to say, some were doubting and questioning, others were examining their lives and where they should go on from here. It is always a real mix of needs, personalities, and types of students, and even though they are no longer with us, we would be glad for your prayer that the Lord would continue to work with them as they reflect on their studies or short visits with us, and that His Spirit would move in their hearts and minds to draw them to truly seek and find Him. We are thankful for the good helpers we again have this term. Pray for them as all but Karryn from Australia have left to return to their homes and jobs or school. We have made a few changes in the way we are doing things. Rather than a couple of lectures each week we have been having a couple formal discussions of some basic topics each week and these have gone very well, both for the workers, who are all attending, and for the students. The various workers have also been taking turns leading the chapel service and we have found this to be quite good. And we have bought a new volleyball net and during the tea breaks, we are all playing volleyball together or having tea in Bellevue rather than in the individual chalets. In June we had a community hike from Huemoz up to the Roc d'Orsay and Bretaye. This was very pleasant and gave us an opportunity for chatting with the students and getting to know them in a different way. Give thanks that these structural changes have brought refreshment to our lives as well as a greater sense of community. Pray for the children in their various ages and stages of life. We had a scare in April when little Max, Matt and Sally's son of just 4 months then, came down with bronchial pneumonia. He was very sick and spent several days in hospital, but happily they caught it early enough so that he has recovered well. Pray for the children as they are on summer break, that they will be kept safe and be refreshed to pick up with school again at the end of August. Continue to pray for little Alexis in kindergarten as she learns French. Give thanks that the Lord has provided for our financial needs and the needs of the other branches as the situation looked quite dire in June. It was an encouragement to the students to see the Lord's provision as we took a Day of Prayer and Fasting together on July 1st to pray for the finances before the books were balanced on the 4th. Pray that we may be able to replace the boiler in the chapel by the deadline in the fall. Pray that the Lord would care for us financially so that we in turn may be able to care for the many students He has brought to us at this time. As I said earlier, we have been overflowing with students and tucking them into every available spot and when we open again in August John tells us that once again we have every bed already booked with more expecting to come besides. We are very concerned that we do not have a worker yet to replace Josh in Bellevue as he will be leaving in July. Pray for him as he prepares to go to Regent College in Vancouver in January. Give thanks for him and for all his many contributions to Bellevue and the life of this community. Pray with us that the Lord would even now be preparing someone to come and help Claudia to run Bellevue, as it is a massive task and too much for one person. Pray that the Lord might call Europeans into this work as we dearly want to reach more Europeans. Pray that we will have wisdom as we make plans for August when we reopen. Pray for the upcoming L'Abri Conference in Toronto in August 8-11. Pray for the organizing committee as they put everything in place, and for the various workers in the different branches who will be speaking there. Pray for them as they prepare their lectures and workshops. Jim and Richard will be going from here and would be glad for your prayer, and especially Richard as this will be his first L'Abri Conference and it will be held in his old school and he will know many of the people coming. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His mercy endures forever. We can indeed give thanks to the Lord our God for His many kindnesses to us and for His continuing to use this work. Pray that His Spirit may indeed be at work among us and with the people He chooses to bring, to reveal Himself and draw us closer to Him that we may enjoy being His people and live more fully unto Him. Gail Ingram PS! From time to time we send out a more frequent prayer letter by e-mail only to those who commit themselves to pray with us on a monthly basis. If you are interested please send an e-mail to swissmailings@labri.org. PS!!
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