Merry Christmas from the Whitleys!!

We spent the last month preparing for the children’s Christmas program at Trinity International Church.  All of the children did a great job in English and in French!

We have also been looking for blankets to take to Paris to help our co- workers donate over 250 blankets to be distributed through Doctors of the World.

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your prayers and support of our ministry through the CBF Offering for Global Missions.  We really appreciate you – your support makes all the difference.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,

Joel, Tiffne, Megan, Cade, and Dylan Whitley

Whitley, Banana Boat Blog Newsletter:          November 2015

Pray for Paris and for France

I had started an update for our Banana Boat Update and was about to send it out to all of you when the attack in Paris took place, so we would like to begin this update a different way by asking you to continue praying for France.  Please pray that God’s light will continue to shine through the darkness.  We really appreciate your prayers and concern for our family.  We are all safe living a few hours from Paris and our coworkers in Paris are also safe.  Please continue to pray for us.  We are being cautious and pressing on to do the work that God has called us here to accomplish.  Also, we ask that you pray for our family as we seek to continue following the Lord’s leadership for our future during these changing times.

Trip to Belgium:

Recently we made a 5 hour road trip to visit some friends/coworkers (Janée & Hary) in Belgium.  Hary is from Syria and they are working with Syrian refugees.  So we took our car with the “Cruz-Box” full of clothes and toys for the refugees.  We were able to help them purchase supplies and pack 100 backpacks for the refugees.  We were also able to help them organize their “library” of Christian Arabic materials for distribution.  Finally, we were able to go with Janee to an Arabic grocery store to purchase food for the Saturday lunches that they have for the refugees. 

We have also started a class for immigrants.  Please pray for our teachers; Anne and Janet.  Please pray for our Susu immigrant friends.

Ladies retreat:

The “Difference” ladies retreat was held last weekend.  We had a great time fellowshipping with 38 ladies from 16 different countries.  We learned about how the Lord can make a difference in our lives and through our lives for others.  The ladies were from France, Spain, America, England, South America, China, Japan, Russia, Korea, Egypt, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Benin, Bulgaria, Albania, and Madagascar.  It was fun greeting ladies in English, French, Spanish, Wolof, Sereer, and even the one word of Japanese that I remembered from our mission’s orientation from 13 years ago. J     It is amazing to watch God work!

Please pray for Edwige and her family; her father passed away during the retreat.

Please pray for Elodie; that God will continue to help her understand more about Jesus’ sacrifice.

Please pray for Violetta; she is a lawyer from Bulgaria and has a second interview for a position that would greatly help in supporting her family.

Please pray for Evodia as her knee heals.

Please pray for Marion; that God will strengthen her faith and relationship with Him.

Please pray for our friends from Albania.  The father is recovering from cancer.  Please pray that the grandmother would understand about a personal relationship with the Lord. 

Amidst all of the ministry and daily routines, our family is doing well.  We had a great start back to school on our bikes. Megan is enjoying her dancing part in the play, “Beauty and the Beast!”  Cade and Dylan celebrated their birthday playing American football with friends from France, Spain, Albania, Italy, England and Lithuania.

 

Thank you so much for supporting us through your prayers and gifts.  We believe in the power of prayer!

Love,

Joel, Tiffne, Megan, Cade and Dylan Whitley

1 September 2015           

The Harvest Continues…

As this year passes, we are at that time of year when kids start back to school, the weather is starting to turn cool, and the sun seems to be setting earlier every day.  I would say it is time for a slow down after all the summer activities, but it seems like things are just getting wound up.  Baseball and dance begin for Cade, Dylan and Megan, while language classes are kicking off in a few short weeks for us. 

However…the past few months have been good.  We recently made a quick trip back to Spain to visit with many of our immigrant families.  We cannot even begin to express the blessings we received from our African friends as we shared meals and gave a few gifts of clothes, food, and toys. Even the “ladies in waiting” were still there and happy to see and talk with Tiffne again.

During this trip we were able to connect

with a new missionary family that has moved to Roquetas and lives in “mi casa es tu casa.”  They have been there for about six months and are continuing the immigrant outreach with the local Baptist church.  Many of the ladies classes and kids activities have continued in the past two years since we turned it over to the church and moved to Strasbourg.  After meeting and talking with the new missionary family, we had a time of prayer together and as we were leaving we were very encouraged to hear them say, 

“We are continuing the harvest of the seeds you planted.” 

        Also over the summer months here in Strasbourg, Trinity International Church has been holding their monthly fellowship potluck at the park as a picnic.  This has been a great time of fellowship and fun.  Megan has taken it upon herself to be the child care worker during these times so that the parents can visit and has even set up a “play blanket” with books, toys, and coloring activities.  She loves taking care of the little ones on Sunday mornings and leading the children’s Bible lesson. 

              

Cade and Dylan have helped as well.  During the picnic in July we brought an American Football and some flags to play flag-football.  The first time was a learning experience, but one of the French men of the church loved the game so much, he talked to just about everyone and convinced them to all play during the August picnic.  So, the day at the church picnic some eighteen plus folks joined the game.  We had so much interest and fun we had to expand the field twice! 

               

Thank you for continuing to pray for the harvest here in Strasbourg and Spain.  Please pray for Mihaela, Norma, Betty, Ruben, Miriam, Isabel Maria, Jesus, and Lilly as they continue to minister to immigrants in Spain.  Please pray for Tiffne and Maria, Janet, and Anne as we begin an English class to meet the expressed needs of our immigrant friends here in Strasbourg.  Please pray for our immigrant friends from the Susu, Sereer, Jahanka, and Wolof people groups.

With love,

Joel, Tiffne, Megan, Cade, and Dylan Whitley