Greetings to you from the east coast!! Not of France, but of New England! We have been in Massachusetts since May 5th, and we are ecstatic to be with much-missed family and friends. We plan to be in the states, spending time with churches, family, and friends until mid-September. We are splitting this time between the two coasts. We will be in the Seattle area in July.

We emptied our apartment in St Paul 3 Chateaux, putting all of our belongings into storage. When we return to France in the fall, we will move directly to a studio apartment an hour outside of Nice where we can stay until we have found a place of our own closer to the city.

For many months we have been praying and waiting for the opportunity to move to our long-term destination in the south where we can begin something new with YWAM: a center focused on urban outreach, ministry to French-speaking countries, and mercy ministries. Although there are still many obstacles ahead, we are very excited that we have been released by the Lord and by our leaders to move on from St Paul 3 Chateaux. Sadly Mattias is missing France quite a lot already!

What awaits us in Nice you may ask? Well, in the past few months Mike has been able to take frequent trips to Nice for various reasons. He has made solid contact with several churches and individuals in the area, several of whom are excited to work with us in the future.

In January, Mike took a team of young adults from YWAM's university campus in Kona to Nice for a week. While there, they did questionnaires on college campuses, sang worship music in the streets, prayed for the city, and helped with a couple different church events. It was a privilege for Mike to have time with this team, and the team was quite a blessing and encouragement to him!

In Mike's questionnaire, which he wrote, it asked very generic spiritual questions and ended with this: "If I told you that Jesus said, 'I have come that they might have life, a life filled to overflowing, what does that mean to you?'" This simple question led to days worth of discussions with university students, most of whom were very open and curious, with little to no knowledge of the gospel. In the end, one woman even gave her life to Christ! It was very eye opening to see the thirst and openness to the gospel. Needless to say, the city is full of opportunities for discussion and building of friendships, all of which will become much easier once we can live there!

Before we left France, we became aware of several different opportunities awaiting us when we return, many of which we are still praying over but two we are certain about! In February, I (Tara) will have the opportunity to go to Switzerland again and attend a seminar further covering children at risk and more specifically human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Gary Haugen, who started the much-renowned International Justice Mission, will be speaking there!! I am beyond thrilled at this opportunity to hear him speak and to meet with others who are interested in this pertinent global tragedy.

In May, Mike and I have both been asked to teach in a Discipleship Training School for a week on missions. Although this is quite an honor, it is also quite a responsibility, as we will be teaching for more than 16 hours in a bilingual setting.

So, that is what awaits us upon our return! We also have a few individuals praying about joining our team soon after we arrive. We would love to work with each one of them.

Please pray:

For France and the French-speaking world at large

For those considering joining us, that they would have wisdom and direction

For our time at home that it would be restful and fruitful

For an apartment in or near Nice and further contact with those in the city

For our finances, which continue to be a struggle with the falling dollar

May the Lord bless you and keep you and cause His face to shine upon you. See you soon!

Mike, Tara, and Mattias

* We have included a special one-time report on our financial situation in an additional page; please do not feel pressured to read this if it is of no interest to you! Thank you.

As delicate a matter as this can be, it seems this is a better time than any to be forthright about where we are financially.

We do have faith and confidence that God will provide our needs as He has already, through the generous gifts from you, our friends and family. For this we are eternally grateful to Him and to you for your sacrifice.

Due to several factors our level of support has shot down this year, leaving us at 62% of where we should be at in order to live in France. One of the most disconcerting factors in this drop is what has happened in the dollar/euro ratio. When we arrived in France two-and-a-half years ago, a euro cost us $1.21. Now, a euro costs us $1.58. This is a huge change in a short amount of time. Our rent went up several hundred dollars over just a few months! 

We have been spending hours in prayer over this issue and continue to try and put our hope in God and trust that if His will is for us to go on living in France, we will be provided for. We want to find that balance between faith in God and responsibility for our family. So we are writing to include you and ask for your prayers and for wisdom.

We plan to return to France mid-September. Financially we can afford to return to France because we will be staying in an inexpensive temporary situation. However, we cannot afford to move out of that place and to Nice without a miracle or increased finances. We would definitely risk accruing debt. An increase in our support level will enable us to move forward to Nice and accomplish the ministry we feel that God has called us to in France.

Please join with us in prayer. It is our heart's desire to return to France; it is also our heart's desire to return to France with enough funds for our family to live without accruing debt. Because of this we feel it would be better not return to France until our support level has gone up, at least to 80% of our need. This means we need to raise our support level by just under $1000/month.

Finances are such a heavy and sensitive issue. I thank you for reading this and for your prayers.