The Whitemans in France

Totally Immersed

Its been a while since we wrote, so I will try to summarize the last few weeks the best I can. The trip across the Atlantic was pretty uneventful, and we were glad for that! Maddie did exceptionally well despite the constant turbulence that kept her from sleeping. After a short layover in Munich, we rendezvoused in Lyon with another family headed to our language school in Albertville. Ironically, their names were Josh and Jenny. :) The ride from the airport was less than two hours, but as we were in and out of sleep it could have been six, and we wouldn’t have known the difference!

Each time I awoke, the scenery had transformed. Farms and vineyards were replaced by rolling hills, which in turn were replaced by glacial rivers and the towering Alps. Savoie is a beautiful corner of France, pressed up against Italy and Switzerland. Although it hosted the winter Olympics in 1992, Albertville is a small mono-cultural town. And that culture, of course, is French. So what better place to learn the language and culture?

When we pulled up to the school, several families came out to greet us and help us get settled in our apartment. They even had our first few meals ready for us, and offered to take us to the supermarché when needed. We really appreciated the warm welcome!

Jetlag made sleep a challenge, which meant Madeline got to celebrate New Year’s Eve with us…probably the last time that will happen for quite a while! A group of families got together at the school and had a party with games and food. There are several families that really enjoy games, so we are glad that we brought so many with us. This is an answer to prayer!

Five days after arriving, we had our language placement test. As Jenn has no background in French, she was placed in the debutant class. Josh tested into an intermediate French course, having some background but little regular use for 10 years. Classes here are total immersion, which means we are drinking from the fire hose. If you don’t understand something in class, you have to ask in French, and the answer will be given only in French. We love our teachers, but every day is completely exhausting and overwhelming. People say that it gets easier, but at first it feels like you are drowning. So we press on. In the mean time, we feel like two-year-olds, struggling to communicate.

Madeline has done well in the garderie and already seems to have some French comprehension. We are blessed to have a French woman named Corine running the nursery program. You can sense that this is a calling for her, and it shows in how happy all the kids are—Madeline included. Another answer to prayer!

Two students in Albertville are fellow Alliance workers…both headed to Africa. We’re glad that Carrie and Amanda are here with us! Tim and Brett, future teammates already living in Paris, made the six-hour drive to welcome us and do some orientation to life in France. Last weekend, Josh took the train to Paris to pick up a car and replace the iMac that we sold back in the States. He was also able to spend time with Al and Carol, the Alliance field directors for France. We’re looking forward to being part of both our teams — back in Colorado and the new team in France.

Please pray for our family, as we have been hit hard with sickness the past two weeks. We’ve all missed some school, which is hard when classes ramp up so quickly. It seems like we are finally getting back on our feet. Also, pray for encouragement, as it is easy to get discouraged in immersive language learning.

It means so much knowing that you pray on our behalf!

Much love,

JJ&m

Au Revoir

It is just past midnight, and packing is nearly finished. That means that, at last, TODAY is the day that we leave the States. We are so grateful that we got to spend our final hours here with both sides of the family. We genuinely enjoy being together and hope we have more opportunities than expected to see family in France!

Maddie has always been a good traveler—both flying and driving. But she has never been seat bound for a 9hr flight. She recently started to embrace her “two-ness” (a bit early), but I figure that if we can think of 36 15-minute activities, we should be alright. Wow, that’s a lot of activities. Pray that she sleeps some, too.

So this is it—our next update will be from France! Thanks for sending us with your prayers.

JJ&m

My Old Kentucky Home

Hello from the rolling hills of Kentucky! We spent the last week hanging out with family, running countless errands, and catching up on the sleep we haven’t had since November.

My last project in Colorado Springs was to edit a healing testimony from Alliance pastor John Stumbo. His story is powerful—I couldn’t have asked to finish with a better project. At the end of his story, he is perplexed and saddened when others don’t recognize that it was God’s hand that reached down and brought him healing. His heart aches—“God needs to get some praise out of this!” he says.

Although our circumstances are completely different, my heart aches to see God praised for how we have seen His hand in our own lives. We have been so blessed by many caring friends that watched Maddie and helped us pack. We were blessed by our friends and family that came around us with prayer and encouraging words. Stepping out like this, one could feel very alone—and we have felt anything but alone. So while I genuinely thank each of you, I recognize that this is God’s hand, His plan and provision for us. We are so thankful to God and thankful to him for each one of you. God needs to get some praise out of this!

As of today, we are at almost 50 percent of what we hope to raise before we finish language school and launch into full-time ministry next summer. That means that in a little over two months, we received $10,000 to our launch fund. We are in awe, and we praise God for this!

Yesterday we were able to visit First Alliance Church in Lexington, Kentucky. This is where Jenn and I attended for most of our years in college and were first introduced to the C&MA. After the service, Pastor Steve Elliot introduced us to a French woman who attends the church while staying with a friend in Lexington. Not only does she live in the western suburbs of Paris (where we will live and work), she is a retired professor of film at the Sorbonne University. As she said, “You aren’t here today for just no reason.” What an amazing connection to make. Some might see this as coincidence, but we see this as God’s hand yet again, and we give Him praise!

This is going to be a very special Christmas for us not so much because it is our last Christmas in the United States for a while, but because of the unique perspective we have this year. Since we can take so little, we won’t be focused much on presents. Our focus will be on spending time with family—and being thankful for the gift of Jesus. We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas. And we want to give God praise!

JJ&m