Full time pastor

Our growing family. 

I have now been a full time pastor here in Oklahoma for a little over two years. I say full time pastor,  I do have a few side jobs. I referee basketball games occasionally, and I am a substitute school bus driver. Angie works for a local vocational school, and is herself doing online studies in pursuit of a degree in the computer field.  She will soon be finishing up her second year.  Our family is growing, but in a different way. We now have a second child married, and now only two living at home with us.  The saying is true, "They grow up fast." Ministry is going well.  November 4th an EF4 tornado hit our town and destroyed or damaged over 100 homes and businesses.  I've included some pictures of the damage to our church, even though it was several hundred yards behind us. It has created a lot of opportunities to serve and help out.  Amazing there was only one fatality in the whole county. Other than that, the winter is passing quickly.  We keep busy with band and basketball.  We did manage to get a little deer hunting in as well.  Our plans are to make a trip to France as a family the summer of 2024.  The kids want to take their significant others along. It should be a fun trip.  I look forward to seeing places and people that we loved.  

A 2x4 went straight through the wall.

Long awaited update

Where to start?  Just thought I would take a minute and update this site.  In August 2018, we left France and relocated back to Texas.  As a result of prayer and confirmation, we felt God moving our family to leave the work in Limoux in the hands of the locals and seek what God had next for us.  It was a crazy couple of weeks making arrangements, sifting, sorting, packing, cleaning, saying goodbye, flying, etc... That was now over two years ago. We miss our friends and life in France at times.  When our family is together, conversation always seems to fall back on the great memories we made there and the little ways we say God work.  It has been nice being close to family once again.  

We had decided ahead of time, that I would not rush into another ministry position, but wait while we acclimated back to life in the States.  So for two years we stayed in Hillsboro and served in our church there, while working regular jobs.  I worked in a machine shop as a CNC operator and also was a truck driver.  But 9 months ago, I got a message from a friend sharing about a church in Idabel, Oklahoma, needing a pastor.  Long story short, I am now the pastor of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church.  We are having a great time.  It was hard for the kids to move again, but as one of them said, "That's our life."

As you can see in the picture about.  Our kids are a lot bigger than when we moved to France over 12 years ago.   Our oldest is in her junior year of college, still a swimmer, she received a scholarship for the swim team.  She will soon be married.  Our second son is about to finish up his first year of college.  That leaves the two other boys in high school. Our youngest, who was born while we were in France, is in 5th grade.  She has a few memories of France and is not able to speak the language as all the rest are. She does still understand it some. 

We stay in contact with friends there.  And will one day re-visit the place we called "home" for so many years.  Thanks for taking this journey with us.  And thanks be to God for His faithfulness.  To Him be the glory. 

Almost a year gone by

I have a few minutes here, let me catch you up.  Seems like  I ended the last blog stating that I would not invest much time in blogging.  True to my word, it has been almost a year.  Let me give you a few highlights.  Summer last year flew by.  We moved into a new house end of June ( with a pool) . We had a Basketball Youth Frameworks team that came, followed by an English camp team.  Thankfully, had Eli help out during the whole month of August. At the same time they left, Angie, Arianna, and Lilia returned to the states to get Lilia enrolled in school in North Little Rock.  The trip went well, she got into a good school and good swim club.  I was alone with the boys for the whole month of August, but we had a good time as well. Hosted Daryl, local college kid for a few weeks and had some good fun.  
School started at the first of September.  Lauren left to return to the states after spending two years working with us here.  We have missed her.  Angie returned a few days later, and we all attended the missionary retreat in Athens Greece.  Had a wonderful and refreshing time as usual.  Throughout the school year the Bible study attendance grew.  It has been a busy year, I added being president of the basketball club to already being president of the AVF.  Angie's father was diagnosed with advanced cancer in December, and Angie make a quick trip home to stay by his side for the last three weeks of his life.  She returned with Lilia and we enjoyed spending the holidays all together. 
My parents visited in the later part of January, and we really enjoyed seeing them and showing them around.  Introducing them to everyone.  We even made a music video while they were here...

My grandmother, Juanita Clark, passed away as my parents were leaving. We are currently preparing for a longer furlough this year.  We really need to spend more time with our family, with churches, with friends, with Lilia... and need to get our kids english level back up.  We still have a lot to do to get ready.  Hopefully  I will be better at keeping you up to date.  Blessings, JASON

Spring in the Air

For the winter break, we took a trip up into the mountains to sled with the kids.

This is just a random picture the camera took by accident.

Wow, what to say since my last post in mi-Febuary.  Our Bible studies are doing well.  French Sunday morning service has continued growing.  We have more than doubled in the amount of visitors attending.  The kids Bible study hit a high of 10, and has had nine several times since. I have been having come good conversations with atheists, catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, and others.  We have found a new house and will most likely be moving into it in the middle of June.  It is a little bigger, has two bathrooms, and is better laid out for having guests.  The kids are excited about it having a pool, I am more excited that it comes with a built in chicken coup.  Last year I did a wedding at a caste a couple of hours away, I left my name with the owner/operator as a reference for other people wanted to get married there.  This year I have been contacted by three couples who are interested in having me do their ceremony.  How cool is that? The kids are on vacation again, and we have been enjoying some beautiful weather.  On top of the usual responsibilities we are getting ready for a basketball team and an English teaching team to come in June.  We are trying to start packing and cleaning out, while also trying to keep the house clean for people who want to come look at it.  It's a juggling act.  Also we are getting ready for Lilia to start school in the States in August. Having said all that, I would like to insert here that I will be more faithful about keeping the blog updated, but to be honest, that is probably not going to happen until the month of August.  Angie, Lilia, and Arianna will be flying to the states to get Lilia settled in and I will be staying here with the boys.  Let me throw you a few random pictures. God bless, JASON

Angie has done some good work in her scrapbooking class that she gives.

We had an NBA evening for some boys from Caleb's basketball team.

Micah had a b-ball game near the meditteranean, Angie took some pics.

We had the Morales family, pastor in Barcelona come visit for a week, had a great time with them.

A New Year 2015

Our year got started off real well.  We had an Australian family arrive the first of the month.  I met them at the airport to help them get their luggage back to their rental house.  They plan on staying at least a year in France, and we are excited to have other believers attending our English Bible study.  We also enjoyed visiting with Ashley, who is a missionary in Kenya, and Holly, in Russia.  They were coming to visit Lauren, and we enjoyed getting to know them and spend a little time with them as well.  While they were here, Angie took Lauren's English class and I taught the kids Bible study to give Lauren more time with here friends.  The 6th, we enjoyed an event called the Gallettes des Rois. I have explained this event before, which celebrates the Wise Men arriving to see Jesus. It was a good time to reconnect with all the AVF people after the Christmas break.

New Year's Day we always measure everyone to see how much
we have grown, or not grown.

We had several people over to the house at the start of January as well.  We have a couple over on Thursday night, and had a really good visit with them.  On everyone's mind was the recent terrorist attacks that had taken place in Paris.  Saturday afternoon we had the Australian family over.  Sunday afternoon, Angie and I were invited by some friends for some homemade donuts.  We enjoyed the visiting, and the donuts of course.  Thanks to Lilia for babysitting.  Saturdays in January were taken up with Basketball.  Micah joined the club in Villemoustaussou. They had games almost every Saturday.  I was refereeing as well.  The 21st, Lauren's parents arrived, and it is always a pleasure to see them again.  We have known them even before we came to France through their Church in North Little Rock that has been very active in our ministry and training missionaries.  I took Lauren's kids class while she went and picked them up from the airport.  We had a good chance to discuss with Lauren's parents the possibility of Lilia staying with them and attending High school.  I'll share more about that in next months update. Thursday, the 22nd, the AVF had a trip to Toulouse together, and I enjoyed visit the beautiful downtown area.  

Visiting churches in Toulouse.  

The 25th, we were invited to celebrate Australia Day with our new friends.  We had a great time and got to meet a lot of people.  In other news, we are busy planning for teams that are coming this summer.  We are having a basketball camp, and an English camp.  There are a lot of things to do to get ready for this teams, but they are always worth it, as we get to present our field to other people and at the same time reach out to people here.  To get a little ahead.  Lilia had a swimming competition the first of February.  You'll have to guess where she is in the picture below, cause I have no idea.  God bless, JASON

December 2014

Well December has come and almost gone.  November ended well. Lauren had us over to her house on Thanksgiving day.  The following day, we enjoyed the event for recognizing all the sports accomplishments in the city.  (pictured right) Lilia's school swim team got recognition for placing in the regional meets.  The last weekend of November the boys had basketball games on Saturday and Sunday.  But, everything was canceled dur to heavy rain.

The second and third, I had meetings with the AVF.  And the 5th we had another training and meal with all the ones who teach a workshop.  I enjoyed the meal, getting to know several members who I knew little about before, even though I was on crutches...   The fourth, I sprained my ankle at practice.  It was a more serious one, Angie has not allowed me to post the pictures.  Even now, almost four weeks laters their is still blueness and swelling in places.  The evening of the 5th, Lilia and Angie left for the regional swimming competition that lasted all weekend.  Lilia was not very pleased with her results, but they had a good time and enjoyed staying with the other swimmers and parents in this huge house.  That next week Lilia had a required apprenticeship.  All those in her grade are required to find a "job" for one week to discover new things.  Lilia found one for our real estate agency.  She had a good time and learned about filing, making copies, even showing houses...  We had a couple of meetings, AVF, Micah's parent/teacher,  youth meeting, friends birthday parties.  Lauren is preparing a christmas skit with the kids that everyone is excited about.  Saturday the 13th, we had the Christmas meal with the AVF.  There were about 60 present.  I sat next to a man who used to be protestant but was now an atheist.  We had a good conversation, pray for him.  Sunday afternoon between services, we managed to squeeze in a basketball tournament.  Andrew is the only one that plays in our age group now.  I invited all the new players and surprisingly we still won all the games!   Monday, the 15th, Angie, Lauren, and I had a evaluation meeting just to see what has been happening, what is going on, and what we need to be focusing on in the future.  The 16th, I woke up and remembered that someone was borrowing our van that afternoon, I spent all morning cleaning both the cars inside and out.  They needed it.  I'm sure the weight on trash and dirt that has been removed will result in a lot better gas mileage.  The 17th, was Caleb's birthday.  He is now 12 years old and received a tablet as a gift.  He opted for a "bouche de Noel", Christmas log, instead of a typical birthday cake.  Having a birthday near Christmas does have its advantages.  The 20th, I had a game to referee.  It was probably the worst I had done.  I was the only referee for the game, I had forgot my pants and had to wear my jeans instead, and I had a cold, and was still limping.  I made it through without getting attacked by angry parents.   The kids did a great job on their skit Sunday morning.  There were four visitors who came.  Right after services we left to head to Strasbourg for a few days of vacation.  We dropped off Dominique on the way, and the 9 hour drive went well.  The weather was good while we were there.  No snow, and the temperatures stayed a little above zero the whole time.  I will refer you to Facebook to see the photos. We stayed at a bed and breakfast just across the border in Germany.  Monday we toured the market at Strasbourg, and enjoyed the food, the ice skating, the shopping, and the general christmas atmosphere.  Tuesday we went to Colmar and did the same thing.  Their market we enjoyed more, because it was not so much commercial and touristy as the previous days.  Their ice skating was cheaper and larger.  That evening Lauren watched the kids for us and Angie and I visiting the market in Frieburg, Germany.  They were closing but we had a great time, and even had someone we met on the elevator who spoke french, give us a tour for a couple of hours.  The market was closing, but we were still able to pick up a few souvenirs and enjoy the sites.  We drove back on Christmas eve, stopping to get some groceries for Christmas day.  We have a tradition of eating a huge brunch.. pancakes, biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes.  Good stuff.  Once again the kids got spoiled (and so did Angie and I).

 We are receiving some friends currently.  Ashley arrived and is staying with Lauren.  Ashley is serving in Kenya with the Taylors.  Soon Holly will join them, she is serving in St. Petersburg.  Tomorrow, I am going to the airport to meet a family moving here from Australia that we met at church back in May.  We are excited and we might be busting at the seams for Sunday services !  We are invited to a New Years Eve party this evening, and I need to go make a cake.  Happy New Year and God Bless, JASON

Halloween to Thanksgiving

Let me catch you up on the highlights of this past month.  We had a halloween party with the kids, Lauren and Angie did a great job planning everything out.  We had a great time with games and activities and even a trick-or-treat in our hallway.   The kids really enjoyed the evening, complete with scary stories, snacks, and a movie. November 3rd, Lilia celebrated her 15th birthday.  We have started researching options for high school.   She has really been enjoying her swimming and she performed very well in the competition that she did on the 15th.  She qualified for region tryouts which will take place in December.
This has been a busy month with the AVF.  This is officially the month dedicated to the new arrivals to Limoux.  The 4th we had a committee meeting.  The 5th, I had an all day training in Toulouse for dealing with the media; newspapers, radio, TV,  which was very interesting.  The 6th, we took all the new arrivals out for a stroll in Limoux, showing them the sites and useful places, followed by lunch.  The 11th, had another meeting to prepare the newsletter.  The 13, we took the new arrivals for a bus tour of Limoux, and a guided tour of the mayors office, followed by a meal open to all the members of the AVF, we had around 60 present.  The 18th, I had a regional commission meeting with the AVF that lasted all day as well.  All these activities take up a lot of time, but I enjoy the chance to get to know people, especially all the new arrivals.  And as president of the association it is good to make an appearance.
The kids have had a good month at school.  I had parent/teacher meetings with Lilia and Caleb.  This includes a lot of waiting in line, but they both had really good comments from their teachers.  Caleb will have a field trip to Toulouse tomorrow to tour the Space museum.  Micah is going out tomorrow as well to visit a local art museum.  Andrew and Micah had the benefit of being chosen for a computer class at school that had limited places.
Basketball has been full of a little drama.  I have continued the referring which I enjoy and have been able to get to know more players and coaches as a result. The team I play on has been shaking up recently by our coach saying he was not happy with the results of the games that we had played and is withdrawing us from the championship, and that he will only be attending one practice during the week instead of two.  Mix of feelings from my teammates.
Other one time things that have occupied our month...I helped a handicapped lady move her son's things to Toulouse.  I have had to do several things on our vehicles since we have gotten back.  I replaced the tires on the Dacia.  I changed the front brake pads and the oil.  I noticed a shake and misalignment in our van.  I took it to get it looked at and it ended up being the rods that needed replacing.  I decided for the sake of time, not to do that one myself.  It also needed to be aligned and have the two front tires replaced.  Another time consuming activity was applying for our visa.  We have had a one year visitor visa, but this year we were able to apply for a ten year residents visa.  It took quite a bit of paperwork and we each had to be interviewed.  Now we must just wait to see if we are approved, which could take a couple of months.  Also this month, we found a kitten and adopted it for a week until the owners were found.  We found out that they are a handful and appreciate our cat, Flurry, that much more.  The owner was really happy to have the kitten back.
The Bible studies have continued thought attendance has been limited to just us at times because of people traveling or sicknesses. The grand event of this month was Thanksgiving, which we celebrated this past Saturday.  We invited 54 this year, and about 45 were present.  We had a great time.  We started cooking well in advance and things went smoother than last year.  Had great comments on the food and the event in general.  I was also able to have some good spiritual conversations.  We pray that God will continue to grow and bless this opportunities.  God bless, JASON