Leigh Family Update – May 2003

“Dieu est fidèle!” God is faithful!

Again He has made our next step clear, and so we continue our journey…

So how did He speak to us this time? Well, as we considered our next move, David was invited to attend a week-long YWAM conference on reconciliation. He decided to go in order to meet the leaders and decide if he would be interested in staffing a
9-month school in the fall on the same topic. It ended up being a very powerful time for him spiritually and he really bonded with everyone there. When he came home, we really didn’t need to wrestle over the decision, because earlier, we had driven through the area where the school would be held, and Angela immediately felt at home there. And there were homes there – apartments are the only options in the cities, and houses are mainly found in neighboring villages. This village is called Montéléger and is just southeast of the city of Valence, which is an hour south of the city of Lyon. The countryside, (where it is easy to drive!), starts to feel more Mediterranean here, and another clincher was the presence of a school of music for the kids close-by!

So you ask, “What the heck is a ‘School of Reconciliation’?” Let’s start by quoting from the website of the International Reconciliation Coalition, (www.reconcile.org) which defines reconciliation better than we can:

“If we have broken our covenants with God and violated our relationships with one another; the path to reconciliation must begin with individual acts of confession. Paradoxically, the greatest wounds in human history, the greatest injustices, have not happened through the acts of some individual perpetrator; rather through the institutions, systems, philosophies, cultures, religions and governments of humankind. Because of this, we, as individuals, are tempted to absolve ourselves of all individual responsibility. However, unless somebody chooses to identify themselves with corporate entities, such as the nation of our citizenship, or the subculture of our ancestors, the act of honest confession will never take place. This leaves us in a world of injury and offense in which no corporate sin is ever acknowledged, reconciliation never begins and old hatreds deepen.”

This school is for practical training in some of the ways we can live out the scripture of II Corinthians 5:18 where Paul says that all Christians have been given the ministry of reconciliation. There is a great need for this in France as there are deep wounds in this culture, and these wounds keep the French from being able to receive the love of Christ and keep the French church from being able to demonstrate the love of Christ. Personally, this school will also help us to understand the issues involved in reaching the French and be foundational for other ministry we do in France.

Unlike most YWAM schools, this school will also be open to non-YWAMers, and will be taught in French and English. So if you know anyone, anywhere, who might have an interest in this school, please let us know. For French speakers, you can directly reference more information about this school at: https://www.jem-france.com/fasr.htm.

So the burden of an unknown future has been replaced by the burden of another international move! The details seem overwhelming at times but God is faithful to us and has shown it many times through all of you. We will fill you all in more in subsequent newsletters. Please continue to pray for us as we move into this next season of transition…by far our biggest yet.

Much Love!
David, Angela, Rachel, Noah, Olivia