Andy and Uta Buckler
14 rue de la Forme
78420 CARRIÈRES SUR SEINE
09 63 66 14 42
[email protected]
[email protected]
Blog: http://andybuckler.blogspace.fr
August 2016
Dear Friends,
A lot has happened since our last prayer letter, so please bear with us as we help you catch up with
ministry and family news… Hopefully once again this will give you fuel for prayer for the weeks and
months to come.
We have been amazed over the last two years to see how God has opened up opportunities through
Andy’s national ministry in the United Protestant Church of France, for developing vision for mission
throughout the church. Since the Lutheran and Reformed churches merged in 2013, this new missional
dynamic has been explicitly placed at the heart of the church’s identity, and it has been inspiring to see
how local churches throughout France are beginning to see their role in this new light. Andy travels a lot,
speaking at regional training days, visiting local churches… At times, it feels like his role is simply to remind
people of what they already know: that the gospel really is God’s power to save, that God really is there,
that he really wants to do fresh things, that he never abandons his people… Praise God for this
wonderful privilege of seeing faith grow, as people explore how they might be more active witnesses in
their contexts. For more info: www.eglisedetemoins.fr
Equipping local churches
Particularly encouraging has been the development of a training course for local
churches on being a witnessing church. The test run in four local churches in the
Paris area between January and July was really positive in sharing vision and
laying the foundations for new initiatives in mission and evangelism. We are now
preparing to launch the course more widely in September. Andy’s team works
with regional structures to discern and train new people to lead the course in 10 different local contexts.
Please pray that God would use it to breathe fresh life and evangelistic vision into often small and fragile
local churches.
More widely, there are encouraging new initiatives in local churches in France. We seek to inspire by
sharing these as widely as possible, through a national blog that we launched this year. In particular, 10
videos have already been produced, and others are being planned. Praise God for these initiatives and
do pray that churches will develop the reflex of sharing their testimonies and that this will produce a real
dynamic in other local contexts. Do visit www.cest-ca-leglise.fr for an idea of what is happening!
Pioneer projects
It is also particularly encouraging to be involved in the
development of a number of new church planting projects. The
project in Créteil (south of Paris) in particular has grown over the
last 18 months to over 50 regular attenders! Pray for wisdom for
Rafi and Mary who head up this project with a small team, as
they disciple members and develop local ministries. Two other
Worship on the streets in Créteil
projects have just been launched – at the Grande Motte (south coast) and in Brittany. Both are actively
supported by existing local churches. Pray especially for Matt and Katie who have just arrived from the
east of France to spearhead the Brittany project, and for Corinne, a local pastor with whom they will be
partnering. Another project is also being launched this autumn in a Lutheran church in the centre of Paris
(aptly named the church of the Resurrection!). Pray for the 15 people who took part in the recent
training course (mentioned above) who will hopefully form the core team for this, and for François and
Gosia, who are leading this project.
Leadership development
In June, Andy accompanied 25 French pastors as they
spent a week visiting Fresh Expressions in Leicester. It
was particularly moving for Andy to collaborate
actively with the diocesan missions team and see
once again the UK and French contexts linking up in
fresh ways. The week was a real source of inspiration not only giving practical new ideas, but more
significantly for the way it opened up a fresh
understanding of mission as a response to God’s
French pastors discovering Fresh Expressions in Leicester initiative in each context. It was particularly good to
see the pastors returning to their parishes with a new
desire to pray and discern God’s opportunities in their local contexts. Do pray for them as they share this
vision around them and seek to step forward in faith. For more info: http://unpetitpeudairfrais.blogspot.fr
In July, over 1,000 young people gathered from all of France for a major
event (“Le Grand Kiff”) whose theme was inspired by Jesus’s question
“Who do you say I am?” The camp was a key moment in the
development of youth ministry in our church, and it was great to see over
60 young people themselves involved in the practical and spiritual
organisation. The time was especially marked by the news of the
assassination of the Catholic priest Jacques Hamel, which added to the
spiritual force of the different testimonies and the different times of prayer. Andy was particularly
involved in leading a teaching stream for present and potential leaders on visionary leadership and it
was encouraging to see over 100 participants each day for these seminars. For more info:
www.legrandkiff.org
Future plans…
On a different note, here’s the big news: after 16 years in France, our time here will finally be coming to
an end in a year’s time. In July 2017, we will head for “re-entry” as Andy has been invited to take up a
post as vicar of St Barnabas, Kensington. We are daunted by the prospect of changing countries and
cultures, but we also see continuity as London has a population of over 300 000 French citizens, many of
whom live around… Kensington! We have clearly seen God’s hand in bringing different elements
together to guide us forward, and are convinced that God has got good things in store for us – we just
have to go and discover them! This perspective will
obviously directly affect our priorities for this
coming year, both for our family and for Andy’s
ministry. And so we will particularly appreciate your
prayers over the coming months as we navigate
change. More about this in our next prayer letter…
Thank you once again for your prayers for us, and
for France.
With love in Christ
Andy and Uta
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