Bay City Baptist Church, Green Bay, WI - France 2001 Friday and Saturday

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Friday and Saturday, July 6- 7 Summary
Posted Saturday at 9:00 p.m. France time (2:00 p.m. central time)

Yes, we are in France! Thank you so much for your prayers for our safety.

Our 2001 mission trip began officially at 10 a.m. Friday. We met at church and spent an hour studying Romans 2, praying and getting some final information and then we hit the road. We had to turn back (back up, actually) before we even left the church driveway because we forgot the three boxes of John/Romans (in French) that we brought for Mr. Dodeler. Thankfully we remembered before it was too late to go back.

The Lord brought all 14 of us (and the three boxes!) safely to France. Our bus trip down to Chicago was uneventful. And, believe it or not, in that huge airport, we ran into Jim Hoffman and a group coming back from Mexico. What a great surprise! We had a quick prayer time together before he and his group headed home and we headed for our plane, a 767, which took off at 5 p.m. While the flight was only about 8 hours, it was 8 Saturday morning when we arrived in France. We had no trouble with luggage or customs and Mr. Dodeler and his son, Jeremie, were waiting for us when we stepped through the door leading from the international terminal.

Pastor Dave and Steve got a quick induction into driving on French roads as we zipped from Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris to Limay, the city about an hour and 15 minutes northwest of the heart of Paris, where the Dodelers live. Mr. Dodeler and his son drove two minivans and Pastor Dave and Steve drove two cars to get us all to Limay.

Saturday afternoon we had a great time renewing old or making new friendships with the Dodelers. Some of us took a walk around Limay and the neighboring town. We also spent time preparing for Sunday, including practicing our special music. We’ll be part of the church service (Pastor's preaching) and then spend the afternoon distributing tracts.

We wrapped up the night by hearing Mr. Dodeler's testimony and talking about the needs of the French people. Please continue to pray for us. We need strength and we need the Lord to work in us to make this a successful trip where we can be of great assistance to the Dodelers. (Written by Kelley Bruss, 7/7/01)