October 2021 to January 2022 in pictures

Here are some highlights of the past few months for our family, our ministry with Agapé, and our North Rennes Church.

In October, before the autumn rains, David was delighted to be able to trim all the hedges around our house in one (long) day. This usually takes several Saturdays spread over several months! A great thing to be thankful for!

Also in October, our church was able to meet for the first time in a large newly built hall. This enabled us to welcome the whole community without being too tightly packed. We have gathered several times in this hall during the last months, when our usual rented place was occupied by other associations.

Before Covid's resurgence and reduced travel at the end of the year, David was able to meet in Paris with the Agapé France leadership team. It was good to see each other face-to-face and made a change from the weekly video conference calls.

Team leaders from the various Agapé ministries also met for three days mid-October. It was the opportunity to discover together our new Agapé Hub in Paris.

During the Autumn school holidays, Julie participated in a Music'Art camp. In one week, the group prepared a professional quality show in which she sang. See for yourself with this video. Julie also enjoyed times of spiritual discussions with participants of her age.

End of November, David went to Paris again for the Centre Evangélique. This is the equivalent of a professional fair for the various evangelical missions and church families in France. It was a joy to man the Agapé booth with some colleagues and to meet and discover the diversity of evangelical actors in France.

End of November also, we enjoyed a pancake party to celebrate Carolyn's birthday.

Then we entered the Advent season with our home-made hanging Advent calendar. A month to marvel each day at the coming of Jesus to earth, which we celebrate at Christmas, and to discuss the significance of this event for our lives.

On December 10, the city of Rennes organised the "Day of Secularism". On this occasion, the different spiritual actors in the city were invited to present to the general public who they are and what they believe.

Agapé Rennes opened its doors and we invited people to discover our exhibition "Seeds of Hope". Our photographer friend, Valter, was on hand to explain what inspired his photos.

Our church, through its Protestant Family Association, also offered, as part of the "Day of Secularism", a time to (re)discover traditional Christmas carols. Carolyn was part of the small choir who led the singing.

The next day we also had a special Christmas service for which Julie took over from her mum with the group of musicians and singers. The gift of singing seems to be passed on from mother to daughters.

The Agapé Rennes team also prepared for Christmas by having a creative time together. David crafted a nice decoration for our Christmas table.

This year, we headed to Lyon for a traditional British-type Christmas with Carolyn's parents.

The girls learned to make the traditional specialties: fudge and mince pies.

On the menu for the 25th: capon, roast potatoes, green beans and Brussels sprouts. Not to mention the famous "Christmas cake" (thanks Diana!).  

And the traditional queen's speech 😊.

And of course, we tried the new games just out of the boxes.

We also enjoyed nice walks in the cold to digest the festive meals.

Back home, to end the year happily on the 31st, the 5 of us stayed warm and cosy by the fire, enjoying a delicious cheese fondue and beautiful home-made tarts prepared with love by Carolyn. A great opportunity to think back on all the good moments of 2021 for which we are grateful.

We then started the year 2022 in the fresh air with a nice walk at the Pointe du Groin in Cancale (North Brittany).

Like every year, January was synonymous with birthday parties.

Anna turned 12! 🎉

And Claire turned 8! 🥳

Well, a page has turned. A new year and new adventures await us.

We thank God for all the joyful moments in 2021 and for his presence in the more difficult times.

We know he will still be with us in 2022.

Stay tuned for the next chapter.