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Phillips in France 

April 2016
Family Conference and Mega Trip Plans

Dear friends!
Hosanna in the Highest! We hope you had a beautiful celebration of Easter. April has sprung with blooming flowers and fast-growing grass (and weeds).

 

D6 Conference
We mentioned in our last prayer requests about a family conference BLF was invited to. Well, thank you for your prayers! We had a fantastic time. The conference was themed from Deuteronomy 6 and challenged families to bring the worship of God and studying His Word into day-to-
day life in their homes. The keynote speaker used an example: We don’t want our children to come back from a mission trip to say, “I grew up in a Christian family, but it wasn’t until this trip that God became real in my life.” We want our children to come back and say, “I grew up in a Christian family, and during this trip
I lived all that my parents have been teaching me my whole life about God’s love and grace!” 
We were there to run the bookstand, but we were able to sit in on a few seminars, too. When you run a book stand there are always moments when the line is long and the credit card machine won’t work! It might have been a lot of work, but we had a great team. Fortunately, the customers were just as happy to be there as we were! 

BLF Books
Now that BLF released the April books, it’s time to get them out to the people and bookstores! Annie’s part-time hours aren’t enough to keep up with all the orders. Praise God for our volunteers Joël and Leny who come in each week to continue the work! But, please be in prayer as we search for someone to replace us during our Mega Trip next year.
We offered a promotional price for the release of Embracing Obscurity, which of course spurred dozens of orders. Praise God that this book has been translated and will go out to touch the hearts of its French-speaking readers. Annie is more than happy to send them out! But, the small orders are the ones that take the longest, and it took all month and all of our volunteers to catch up on the normal orders, the leftovers from the D6 conference, and the promotional orders of Embracing Obscurity. We did catch up, though.
 
Ben’s Arm
Ben is now 9 months and still growing – of course. He rolls himself around and gets stuck in corners, but he has not started to crawl. In this time of moving and shaking, we can see that his right arm isn’t functioning correctly. It’s always been his non-dominant side, but we just thought he was left-handed. The right hand would come along later. Now however, it is hindering him from moving as much as he wants. We went to see the doctor about it, and the theory is that a nerve was pinched when he was born. That is
what slowed the communication between Ben’s brain and his right arm and hand. The doctor gave us a referral for physical therapy. Hopefully, the new exercises will whip his right arm into shape quickly so we can start chasing him around the house.

Update May 8: The doctor we saw in April sent us to a pediatric neurologist. She closely observed Ben’s legs and noticed that he does favor his left leg and foot. This means that his weakness extends down his entire right side. Therefore, the cause is not a pinched nerve in his arm but probably starts in his brain. The neurologist suggested specialized physical therapy at the center where she works and an MRI. Both should be scheduled in June.
 
Calling all prayer partners and friends from everywhere.
Though we have very few actual dates and locations decided on for our nine month Mega Trip, we are planning a cross-country road trip. On the map, you’ll find key points representing supporting churches and BLF USA locations. At some point between July 2018 and April 2019, we will be at these places and between these places – and at several other places! 

Are you at these places or any other place? We are looking for friends, groups, churches, Bible studies, etc. to visit while we are at and between these locations. If YOU are interested in having us visit you or visit your church, please let us know. We have an information packet available for churches or groups to explain who we are.
 

Prayers 
- Praise God for our friends Peter, Wesley, and William who took time out of their days off to come help us with some yard work! Peter is training to be a landscaper, so he helped identify and clear a few trees, bushes, and other unneeded plants in our back yard. Wesley helped Annie weed a good portion of the garden to get it ready for planting. And, they created a large pile of mulch chips from all our stray tree branches.

- Please continue to pray for a good babysitter for Ben. We’ve had three wonderful ladies volunteer to watch him, and all three would have continued if God hadn’t provided each of them with wonderful opportunities in their lives. Annie has stopped working until we can find a way to keep Ben safe and happy for the hours she goes to BLF.

- Please pray for Ben as he starts his physical therapy to train his right arm and hand. May God give him security and confidence as he learns new movements and coordination. Please pray for Nathan and Annie as we prepare for a possible MRI, which includes general anesthesia. Praise Him for leading us through the French medical system to doctors and therapists who are knowledgeable and take the time to explain each step we are taking. Praise Him for His peace beyond understanding.

- Please be in prayer for the opportunities we will have to share our ministry with BLF during our Mega Trip. Specifically, please pray that dates would fall into place as we plan our travels across the country.

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Please be in prayer for the new partners we need due to our updated budget. We are currently at 87% of our needed monthly funding. (That's up from 84% last month!) God has always proven Himself faithful in meeting our needs. We will remain faithful in the ministry He has called us to in France. 

If you would like to contribute towards our ministry expenses, you can:
  1. Mail a check to BLF USA, PO Box 629, Wheaton, IL 60187 with a note specifying it is for the Phillips.
  2. Contact the BLF USA office at 630-221-1980 or email receipts@blfusa.org to set up a donation via an electronic funds transfer (EFT) from your checking account.
  3. Donate via PayPal using the link below.
We are forever grateful for your prayers, thoughts, and encouragements.
Thank you!

Live today for eternity,
The Phillips
Donate to Nathan & Annie
Copyright © 2017 Nathan Annie Phillips - Synergie Francophone (Formerly BLF USA), All rights reserved.


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