No joy rides on the schedule

How much does it cost in US dollars to fill up this
Fiat Punto with unleaded fuel?








$92.45

That's what I paid, at today's exchange rate, to fill up my
parents' car at the cheapest station I could find.

A Day Spent in Bordeaux Centre

July 14 is France's national holiday. To celebrate (and to get reaquainted with the city) we went into downtown Bordeaux for part of the day. There is a very convenient Tramway (we can hear it passing by multiple times an hour from our house windows) that connects all the main arteries of the city. It is relatively cheap and removes all the hassles of parking, traffic, etc. Since this was the children's first time on the tram, it was quite an adventure. The middle picture in the collage below is not one we took, but I am including it because it shows the tram passing over the Pont de Pierre.

Once we arrived downtown we visited Place de la Bourse. This area has changed a lot (and a lot for the better) since I lived here as a teen. They have put in a reflective pool that Micaiah and Miriam found irresistible!


Below is a picture of the Place de la Bourse (again, not my own) at night. It, along with the rest of the historic part of the city, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble" of the 18th century.

We then made our way to the Place des Quinconces, reported to be the second largest city square in the European Union, to watch a military parade that included all the branches of the military, the national police, the firefighters, etc. It was preceded by a flyover of four jets, who returned for a second flyover later on. The parade was supposed to have ended with the descent of parachuters into the square, but due to inclement weather, they were unable to take off from their base.


Our day spent in downtown Bordeaux was both enjoyable and profitable for us to get a better knowledge of the people and the city in which we live. Please pray that God will provide an inroad for the Gospel in this area.

Bob & Bonnie Bixby leave for the States

This picture was taken this morning at 4:30am, just before I left with my parents to take them to the airport. They are flying to the States for a 6-month furlough. It is the first time they have taken this long of a furlough since 1987. We have enjoyed the last two weeks spent with them here in Bordeaux and will miss them while they are gone.

Book Review: The Tartan Pimpernell

Title: The Tartan Pimpernel
Author: Donald Caskie
Publisher: Birlinn
Number of pages: 271
Begun: 6-10-09
Finished: 7-8-09

Review: Donald Caskie was the minister of the Scots Kirk (Scottish Presbyterian) in Paris at the time of the German invasion of France in 1940. This autobiography recounts his war-time experiences in the country of France. He walked from Paris to Tours with thousands of other refugees, diving into ditches whenever the German and Italian aircraft roared overhead spitting indiscriminate death all around him. In Tours he purchased a bike and rode to Bordeaux. From Bordeaux he was given a ride to Bayonne where the British offered him a ride on the last ship out of France. He refused, giving his place to a wounded soldier.

Caskie made his way to Marseilles where he took over the abandoned “British and American Seamen’s Mission.” From that base he helped 2,000 British soldiers escape from occupied France (2/3 of the total number that escaped).

The story is fascinating and sheds a lot of light on the human ingenuity that can be exercised in times of crisis. As Caskie observes, war brings out the best and worst in man, and both are seen in this book.

There are several remarkable stories of Providential control. In one prison (in Nice, France) Caskie engraved a portion of Scripture into the plaster wall. Later in another prison (in Italy) after being kept in isolation for about a month, another prisoner was thrown into his cell. This new comrade shared with Caskie that while imprisoned in Nice, he was about to commit suicide when reading a portion of Scripture engraved on the wall changed his mind.

Another remarkable intervention of Providence is seen in the way Caskie’s life was spared. He was condemned to death by a Nazi court in Paris and was awaiting execution when a German Lutheran pastor serving as chaplain to the Nazi troops, visited him in his cell. They shared communion together in the cell, and the German pastor told him: “There are opposing camps and God has placed us, one in each, but the link that binds us, my dear friend, is closer than the tie my nation has on me or yours on you. The cross indeed is the symbol of our common faith.” Some time following this meeting, that same pastor put a plea into Berlin that resulted in Caskie’s death penalty being removed.

I found this account of sacrificial risk more thrilling than any adventure story.

Pastors' Meeting

On Wednesday morning, Tim enjoyed attending a pastors' meeting (with breakfast!) with his father and three other pastors in the area. Two of them are French. These men represent the three small sister churches in the Bordeaux region.

Commissioning Poem

Michael and Liz Cole are our dear friends and coworkers. We are both expecting a family addition within five days of each other in December! Being on this side of the ocean without them makes us miss them and pray for their soon arrival. Please pray with us that God will bring in their support quickly so that they can join us here. Our whole approach to ministry has been team oriented. We'll continue to feel a bit one-legged and one-armed until they are here.

At the meal following our commissioning service in Spartanburg (the Sunday before we left for France), Michael came up to us and handed us a small gift. It looked like a CD, and indeed it was a CD case. But inside there was a hand-bound booklet containing a poem Michael had written just for the occasion. We were very moved by the labor that was put into the poem and by the skill with which the Gospel parallels were made. In Micheal's words, it is an attempt to communicate "biblical truths about love for coworkers and love for the gospel."

The service sneaked up on me

like a long-assigned project's due date

startles a procrastinating student: Already!

So soon! Its coming and won't wait!

For months and years we've prayed, planned,

prepared-for a mission in the distant future

that now extends its grasping hand

to claim you for its treasure.

Upon bowed shoulders elder hands descend,

deigning to set apart and send away

brother, sister, cherished friends

for sake of a coming glorious day.

Can we rejoice concerning this commission?

How can we feel happiness and joy

at this severing, this removal, this amputation

of those whose vital gifts we enjoy?

Delightful songs about sending out our own

clash dissonantly with the silent, constricting

dirges that grip the throat, turning to stone

joyful thoughts once upward spiraling.

Can it really be that we, the body, are gathering

to celebrate such a separation, the undoing of a union,

which is no less traumatic or agonizing

than the loss of arm or leg by amputation?

A sudden thought impedes dark despair's progress:

"Are you the first to suffer thus?"

The pain remains, but we can't claim this duress

is unique to us.

Long ago a greater severance took place-

when the God man walked this world.

The Father and the Son, eternally face to face,

fellowship cruelly crushed, salvation unfurled.

Far from glory this cherished Son righteously

lived doing good and preaching

good news to crowds persistently

refusing to see in him the Father abiding.

Until one morning the Son was dragged

up a hill to bear full force the anger

of his own dear Father, all communication gagged,

eternal fellowship could not endure.

Why must grief sprout from separation

for both deity and humanity?

This suffering is the price of reconciliation;

temporary sundering brings union for eternity.

Again, can this commissioning lead to joy?

Yes, if despite heartache and sorrow

the body rends itself to send a gospel envoy,

dividing itself so others can know.

And so within the assembly smile and frown mingle

as tears of sorrow and joy freely blend.

Mourning and grief are embraced in full.

Sweet proximity temporarily relinquished.

Go with the blessing of the church,

over every obstacle and resistance advance

until you return triumphantly from the search

for souls to swell Christ's inheritance.

Vacation in the Dordogne

My parents will be in France until July 14th. To celebrate our brief time together, they arranged for us to spend three days together in the beautiful region of Dordogne in the vacation home of a Christian family from Paris.

On our way, we stopped for a brief visit with Matthieu & Jeanine Desilles in their home in Brive. Matthieu pastors a small church in that city.

Below are pictures taken at the house where we stayed. It was a beautiful and peaceful place to be! While we were there, we celebrated my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. I am so grateful for the parents that God has given me and for their faithfulness and love for each other.

We went out one morning and strolled through an open air market in one of the villages nearby. From fresh goat cheese to jewelry, they had it all.

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Dordogne (called the land of 1,001 chateaus). We toured one (dating from the 13th century on) which contained a slew of original medieval instruments of war. It was a very peaceful and enjoyable way to recuperate from the packing and traveling.