Hooray! We have spotty internet... :D

Thanks Amy for posting while I had no access to the internet! We will try to post over the next few weeks, but we will have really spotty internet and we don't know when it'll work. Here is the latest link for pictures. Have a great rest of the week!

They're in England!

The Agnews are safely in England, but unfortunately unable to update their blog! And their email isn't working properly……please don't be concerned!

The latest album can be found here.

Link for Paris

Jaclyn's Album Back to Paris for a Few Days

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=306493&id=701095397&l=c5891bb615

Link for the South of France

Here is the link for Jaclyn's album Down South (...Southern France, I mean)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=300874&id=701095397&l=0812141e9a

Why We're Here

I never really posted why we decided to take this trip. I'm going to remedy that!

O.k.... :D

First off, Jaclyn and I had wanted to return after coming here with the Rienows, so we started looking into a missions trip through Bible Church again, but that door closed. After that, we started discussing going as a family (as our mission really truly is to minister as a family), which ended being what happened! We took some time for touring and vacation (normally when we go on vacation, we visit family, so we haven't had a vacation without other people for quite a few years!), and we also were there to encourage the Christians in France. We ended up going to a small church two Sundays, getting together with few different groups of people and also having a big group over to the home we stayed in. It was a good time, but it wasn't a piece of cake...it was really hard to go into another culture!

For the rest of the time we're here, we will be doing education and vacation. I'm very happy to be posting from London! Also, due to the fact that we have limited time at the places we're staying and therefore a limited time that we want to spend on the computer, I will be posting a link of the albums we've been putting up on Facebook. Annnd...we'd love to hear from y'all, we miss you! So e-mail us!

Siv and Vincent

Some wonderful Christians we met while here. They were so fun to meet and talk with, and we were really happy to talk deeply about what life's like in France.

:D

umm...entrance to the...I can't remember the name...

this was the armory!

dragon tongue anyone?

what happens when you start taking pictures

...and you're on a narrow bridge when a car drives by... :D

P.S. please forgive the formatting...it's just not working...!

more on the town...

forever climbing!

The Church

Throughout every town, the church is in the center of town...building wise, but sadly, not people wise. They are consistantly empty...which is so sad to see. These beautiful churches that took years to build...are slowly becoming unused...and unwanted. How can we make sure that this problem does not become America's problem? Let's change our world as we know it!

One way to keep cool...

is to plant a grape arbor over your doorstep! It's also a good way to grow grapes!

on purpose...?!

I know the French are artistic..but really...it doesn't have to be *that* much! :P

walking around...

stopping to look at the map!

we stopped in the Jardin Public to gaze at the beauty around us and (more helpful) to look at the map!

the fountain

we walked around the town we are staying on Monday and found a nice fountain... :D you can guess the rest!

What to do when you can't figure out how to use the washer...

you wash them out in the sink and hang them out to dry!
washing them out...
hanging them to dry...

spotting them...

rinsing...

What to do when the bakery is closed...

In France, you buy your bread every day...otherwise you get a really, really, hard rock that works as a missile...anyway... :D so what do you do when the bakery is closed on Sunday morning? You make "French!" toast! Before we left, we heard that French toast actually orginated from day-old French bread!

Prayers and Praise

Before I head to bed, I wanted to talk about what we've been experiencing in the last few days...(sorry, no pictures!)

We went to a wonderful service at a "good-sized" church on Sunday. Dad writes: We participated in an awesome church service on Sunday. My personal vision for this trip: Thoughtfully, to experience how God is at work in France. The service had 10 young people share articulately of the dependence they had on Christ to live for him, follow his ways, and share his love. This was a 100 person church! Our observation is that God continues to work in the same way as he always has:

"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22

We met with missionaries who continue to work with George Verwer, a Moody Bible Institute graduate (the place where Cherrie and I met), and the founder of Operation Mobilization. There was much commonality with them. We just returned from their home, experiencing fellowship and fun with their grandkids and pool.

We had a hilarious experience at church: a Frenchman was very kindly welcoming us when he found we do not speak French. Through someone who knew English he told us; "I'm a good Frenchman, I don't speak English!"

We are loving the new country, but it's really hard as well. Culture shock is a good way to put it. Everything is different, from dress to language to trying to get your credit card to work so you can get gas or buy train tickets! I think the language is the hardest thing. It's amazing to see how just by speaking English, people are drawn together, from all walks of life. It's hard not to be able to comunicate with someone when you need food fast for health reasons. But in a way, it draws us closer to Him. It makes us depend on Him for our needs, because truly, we don't know what will happen next! And we might not know how to deal with it! It's really humbling. We are so thankful for an awesome leader who is very adventurous!

The food is great, though it's an adventure to shop! We went to the store and bought what we thought was yoghurt, but really looked and tasted like sour cream...so you can buy the "same" products and have things turn out *really* different! :D But, you can't get any better than the bread here! You have to buy it every day or else...but that's another post!

So please pray that through our weaknesses, the Lord will work. Blessings to all of you. We miss you and would love to hear what you're doing!

~Amber

P.S. Dad said to say that comparatively, this makes the Boundary Waters look easy! :D

In the Train

I could NOT get one of both sides...grr!











We LOVE the trains in France, they are SO much more comfortable than a plane!!! And, you can see what's outside a little more too...







We slept...played Presidents...looked at the gorgeous countryside...and arrived safely in Avignon!

P.S. this has been Amber posting...

P.P.S. note to self...do NOT help anyone with ANYTHING while taking out your contacts...you could end up sleeping with one in and putting in another on top...MORAL: it works a lot better to wear ONE contact in one eye rather than two! :D (or not so much!)

Saturday...

We're off to the South of France! Here we're at the train station ready to leave...and yes, we were very tired!

Yay for Nuclear Power!!! This is actually one of the plants Dad works with!