Plane Tickets Purchased!

Today is a very exciting day: I have purchased my plane tickets for France!  Lord willing, I will fly out in the early afternoon on Thursday, January 12, and will arrive in Bordeaux, France, in the late afternoon on the 13th.  It's hard to believe that less than two months from today, I will be landing on European soil!  On January 16, I will take a placement test to determine my level of French and place me in the correct classes.  Classes will start on the 23rd. 

Please keep praying for the rest of the details that need to fall into place before I leave.  Praise the Lord for the many things that have already been worked out.  I have temporary lodgings arranged in France; and a car-savvy pastor friend has agreed to sell my car for me after I leave.  And a new church voted to take me on for support after the first of the year, bringing my support level up to 98%!  Pray for the rest of my paperwork to come through so I can apply for my student visa, and pray for the remaining support to come in.

On another note, praise the Lord that I've been able to get a new laptop computer.  While my old one still functions, it is aging and likely will need to be replaced before my first term on the field is over.  It would be extremely difficult or impossible to do that from Chad, so it is better to leave for the field with a newer one that will hopefully survive several years of intense usage in a harsh African climate.  I am already enjoying the benefits of the new computer's improved features, and I look forward to using its technology in the future to help Africans to have the Bible in their own languages!