Frances Update!

I am doing well! I moved into a new house at the beginning of April, but am now feeling fairly well settled and am really enjoying living with these friends, now that my previous housemates have left. I'm keeping pretty busy between working at Starbucks and getting more involved with the "Boiler Room" community. We just recently finished our "Ready4Action" weekend which entailed 300 volunteers from local churches spending the weekend working through approximately 60-odd jobs of gardening, yard clearing, house decorating, junk removal....for various families who were struggling in some of our neighborhoods here. It's always a really great weekend & the impact it makes is surprisingly big!

The community here has also just 'finished' releasing and sending a few people to different mission fields! Phil & Anna Evans, with Scot & Misty Bower(& their 2 children) left last week to join and help support a Macedonian community called 'Glasnost' (http://www.24-7prayer.com/content/861), who are living and working within the capital city of Skopje. They have a vision for the Balkan area and to become a community able to resource 'sending' others into the Balkan & Slavic nations! Adri Roos is a South African, and a good friend who helped lead Transit last year. She left at the beginning of April for Reynosa, Mexico to join a community of 4(?) people living at working with an area of legalized prostitution called Boystown. (http://www.24-7shorts.com/prayer-as-justice). Overall, a fairly exciting time, although it's always hard to see friends leave!

This Sunday we begin our next 'set' of prayer rooms for the year, having taken a 'Sabbath' during April. We plan to have a 24-7 prayer week each month for the next three months, then have August as a 'Sabbath' and then a further three throughout the Fall. I really love these times as its a wonderful opportunity to 'just' intentionally take some time & pursue God in prayer and intercession! It's also really amazing how so many different denominational churches have become involved through 'hosting' in their venues and also encouraging their own congregations to use these times to really pray for the town! And I love the way it's opened up communication and relationship between the churches as people meet & pray together through the prayer rooms! How awesome is that!

The summer months look to be fairly quiet for me here, mostly working & trying to save for a flight home in September.....for CORALEE'S WEDDING!!!!! As well as a weeks break in Italy, staying with friends(you HAVE to love have Italy available as a BUDGET destination!!!!!)

Thank you all for your continued prayers, and please pray for Europe as a whole, as well. There is such a wealth of history, culture and FAITH within this continent, and yet an increasing number of people feel that they have moved 'beyond' the Christian faith and see it as irrelevant, unnecessary and void. You then also have the hurt and distrust left from, not only, misrepresented faith, but also the various different cultural, historic and national conflicts. Europe is a desperately bewildered place in the area of spirituality. People are hungry for some kind of faith, but no longer know who or what is true. There are tremendous opportunities within a myriad of cultures & national(more, near-Tribal) identities but the 'workers', while faithful, seem pretty few.

Anyways! I hope that people are all well and that the summer sunshine is approaching with faith, hope & love!