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Speiser Newsletter April 2008 |
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Greetings from France where we seem to be living with a perpetual rain. But spring is just around the corner. We hope.
Tomorrow we start a week of television production for CNA, for which I'd like to ask your prayers. This will be a joint production between CNA and another Christian production group in the Paris area, and represents a test to see how we can work together. Depending on the outcome of this we may be working more closely together.
The goal is to produce most of the material needed for 20-30 episodes of a Bible teaching program in Arabic. Marj and I will be directing, and Ali Arhab, the CNA director, will be the main host. Unfortunately, we've already been hit with a number of setbacks (or attacks, depending on your point of view); there have been problems getting the staging and decor ready which has caused a fair amount of stress, and then just yesterday, the person who was supposed to be co-hosting the show with Ali told us he wouldn't be able to make it. It's too late to find a replacement, and everything has been reserved and prepared, so we will have to go ahead anyway, but this will greatly add to Ali's load on the show.
There continue to be very big decisions coming up for CNA, and we would appreciate your prayers as we work towards Vision24, a major initiative with global implications. (If you are registered user, you can get more information about this on our web-site .)
Next month is quite a busy one with some recording coming up to produce music to be used for evangelistic concerts later in the year, and a visit by Philip Serez from MBMSI, to help clarify possibilities for a longterm MBMSI team working in France to resource North African discipling and outreach efforts. There are already several couples interested in being a part of this team which could be in place in as little as two years.
We continue to receive disturbing reports about church closures, arrests, intimidation and restrictions on Christians in North Africa, especially Algeria. One of the largest evangelical churches in the country, in the city of Tizi Ouzou, was closed down recently because the government claimed it was "not in conformity". Unfortunately, they have not specified any details and the church remains unusable for meetings. At the same time, Christian meetings in private residences have been declared illegal. We know the pastor of this church, and have visited the church, and CNA was planning some joint production with them, so this hits close to home. Please pray for our brothers and sisters there.
With Philip, we will also be visiting Stéphanne, a believer of North African descent who is organizing a special camp this summer that will bring several dozen Algerian children who have been affected by terrorism to a camp in France which will be organized by Christian workers. MBMSI has a SOAR team of 5 young people from Quebec who will be coming over to help with running the camp. Most of the children and their accompanying guardians are Muslim, and this represents a really unique opportunity to share what Jesus means with people that would otherwise be very difficult to reach. Marjorie and I will be at the camp with a production team and are hoping to make a documentary about the camp which will be broadcast later in the year on CNA. The children come from disadvantaged homes so all the funds for the camp will need to be raised. When I last talked to Stéphanne he said they still were short about $8000; let us know if you are interested in contributing to this project.
Thanks for your prayers and support that make this work possible.
Russ
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