So, our weekend away! We couldn’t leave before Friday evening, as Marc was working all afternoon, but in the end we thought that might work out well anyway, as I could feed Simon at 5 and then not again until we reached our hotel. In theory, Simon would have slept most of the journey … but he had other ideas! We even put him into his car-safe Moses basket thinking he’d sleep better if he was lying flat … but after leaving at 6.45pm, he only had little naps until 10pm when he at last fell asleep properly.
He was great though – he ate at midnight when we got to our hotel in Montélimar, slept through the night despite sharing a room with us, and then ate once I’d had my shower in the morning. We had another 45 minutes or so drive to Orange, arriving seconds before most of the other people who all seemed to arrive at once for the SIM (Serving In Mission/Société Internationale Missionnaire) France meeting. There were about 25 or 30 people there for the meeting, including us and two other couples who were also longterm missionary candidates.
I thought Simon might sleep for the morning as he usually does, but no, there was too much going on and too many new faces for him to switch off. He was very good though – during the first part of the meeting we could hear him gurgling away next door, then when we went out while they discussed us and the other candidates, he came with us. I fed him, then put him down again when we had to go before the committee. It was funny, as they asked us exactly the same question as Mike Wall had done at All Nations, which was to explain to them why we feel God is calling us to the overseas mission field. So we did the same thing as we had in England – first I told my story, then Marc took over and told his story and then the continuation of our story. It was as if the All Nations interview had been a dress rehearsal – in English – for this interview! There was a bit of discussion with us afterwards, though they didn’t have many questions for us.
And then we went out again while they deliberated … and then all three couples were called back in to be told that we’d all been accepted as SIM France missionaries! Marc and I won’t officially have the status of longterm missionaries until we go out to Bénin … and that’s assuming the right project is found for us in Bénin … but for next year at ANCC we’ll already be SIM “missionaries-in-training” or something like that, and it’ll save having to go through the application process while we’re studying.
We all had lunch together afterwards, and then Marc stayed for the rest of the meeting, and I came and went, depending on Simon’s needs. What I did hear was very interesting, and I was impressed by the friendly atmosphere – family-like, really! In fact, Marc knew quite a lot of people there from various times of his life, and I saw a missionary couple I’d met out in Bénin, who are now working in France. They had a baby boy two and a half months ago, so I had some baby chats with the mum!
We stayed overnight with the Soudrain family – Directors of SIM France but also very good friends of ours!
He was great though – he ate at midnight when we got to our hotel in Montélimar, slept through the night despite sharing a room with us, and then ate once I’d had my shower in the morning. We had another 45 minutes or so drive to Orange, arriving seconds before most of the other people who all seemed to arrive at once for the SIM (Serving In Mission/Société Internationale Missionnaire) France meeting. There were about 25 or 30 people there for the meeting, including us and two other couples who were also longterm missionary candidates.
I thought Simon might sleep for the morning as he usually does, but no, there was too much going on and too many new faces for him to switch off. He was very good though – during the first part of the meeting we could hear him gurgling away next door, then when we went out while they discussed us and the other candidates, he came with us. I fed him, then put him down again when we had to go before the committee. It was funny, as they asked us exactly the same question as Mike Wall had done at All Nations, which was to explain to them why we feel God is calling us to the overseas mission field. So we did the same thing as we had in England – first I told my story, then Marc took over and told his story and then the continuation of our story. It was as if the All Nations interview had been a dress rehearsal – in English – for this interview! There was a bit of discussion with us afterwards, though they didn’t have many questions for us.
And then we went out again while they deliberated … and then all three couples were called back in to be told that we’d all been accepted as SIM France missionaries! Marc and I won’t officially have the status of longterm missionaries until we go out to Bénin … and that’s assuming the right project is found for us in Bénin … but for next year at ANCC we’ll already be SIM “missionaries-in-training” or something like that, and it’ll save having to go through the application process while we’re studying.
We all had lunch together afterwards, and then Marc stayed for the rest of the meeting, and I came and went, depending on Simon’s needs. What I did hear was very interesting, and I was impressed by the friendly atmosphere – family-like, really! In fact, Marc knew quite a lot of people there from various times of his life, and I saw a missionary couple I’d met out in Bénin, who are now working in France. They had a baby boy two and a half months ago, so I had some baby chats with the mum!
We stayed overnight with the Soudrain family – Directors of SIM France but also very good friends of ours!
Saturday lunch with the SIM France committee and various guests
1 comment:
coooool:)
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