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Hey Everybody!
We hope you're enjoying some beautiful fall weather and preparing for a joyful holiday season with friends and family.
It's been a while since we've issued an E-Communique so we have a lot to share. And because this medium is electronic (rather than paper) we'll be posting videos and internet links to share with you. That makes this kind of newsletter unique and interactive.
Also in this issue: information on how you can participate in our 2010 Christmas Fundraising project by ordering a one-pound boxes of Belgian chocolate, mailed to your door before Christmas.
And be sure to read to the end and find out how you can enter our ChezSlaughter 2010 Chistmas Stocking Stuffer Giveaway!
We hope you enjoy catching up with us below. You can let us know how you are by writing to: Jeff@thebridgeparis.com or Kathy@thebridgeparis.com.
Building A Bridge in Paris,
Jeff & Kathy
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Each weekend, we make the three-hour drive to Paris to work with The Bridge team.
In Case You Haven't Heard...
For those of you who don't receive our paper newsletters, it might be news to you that we are currently living in Brussels and commuting to Paris on the weekends.
We just received our five-year identity cards and are now beginning the process of applying for EU citizenship, which will then allow us to live anywhere in the EU without having to have a visa. Since we were so near this process, we decided to forgo the lengthy and renew-every-year French visa process and work to get EU citizenship. Then we'll have dual USA & EU citizenship and be freer to live and minister without the confines of visas.
So, we rented a house in Belgium and make the three-hour commute each Saturday so we can be there for Sunday services, our life groups, and staff meeting on Mondays. We really pack a lot in when we're there so it feels like a full week over three days!
When we're back in Brussels, we do organizational and developmental work for the European Worship Institute (see below), as well as 'Artrageous', a new arts initiative we're working on with Jim & Anne Mills of Creative Arts Europe, Bridge office tasks, and participate in a homeschool coop with Nick.
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 Building The Bridge in Paris
Week by week, The Bridge continues to take shape and grow.
New People. Since summer vacation ended, we've had a steady stream of new visitors  each Sunday. Some just 'shop' but others have made The Bridge their new church home. We've added regulars from New Zealand, France, Indonesia, the USA, India, Cameroon, Brazil and other countries. And Bridge visitors don't leave empty-handed. All receive a nice gift from The Bridge: a Bridge mug, pens, a pack of peanut M&M's and a trolley cart keychain/token (see photo at right).
New Promo Video. Many of our newcomers find us on the internet. So we're working to keep our site fresh and updated. On the site, we feature directions including a pictorial directory of how to get from the train station to our meeting place. We also feature Bridge sermon downloads (see below.) Some of our team members just finished a new Bridge promotional video (see photo at left). Take a look by clicking: here.
Life Groups. The small group expression of The Bridge, 'Life Groups', started in late September. The groups are divided into 'Grow', 'Relate' and 'Serve' catego ries with 20 such groups meeting throughout the Paris region in homes, cafés, and other locations.
We're currently leading two groups: the Worship team as a 'serve' group, and 'Art, God & Coffee' as a 'relate' group.
We recently welcomed Rachel, from San Francisco onto the team as an acoustic guitarist; and Raphael and Giselle from Brazil and drummer and vocalist, respectively. And our 'Art, God & Coffee' Life Group has had one outing to the Louvre to view and discuss some of the work of Rembrandt, an artist influenced by spiritual themes.
Two more outings are scheduled: a trip to the Rodin Museum to view and discuss some sculptures; and then a trip to the Musee d'Orsay to view and discuss paintings by Van Gogh.
 Our Building. Well, we don't have 'our' building yet, but it's constantly on the front burner. We are actually trying to buy a building in one of the communes just outside of Paris. This is our third attempt at purchasing a building and there are many hoops one has to jump through in order to complete the arduous process. We really need your prayers for this one...but once The Bridge has a permanent home, we're confident our growth and ministry effectiveness will be even greater.
 Bridge Life in Photos...Just because we don't have a building doesn't mean there isn't a vibrant Bridge life happening! To see snapshots of some Bridge life, view our recent Bridge Facebook photo album: here.
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Click below to check out the Bridge sermon downloads!
Bridge Sermon Downloads
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We've recently changed the name of the Brussels European Worship Institute to the 'European Worship Institute' to reflect a broader geographic scope that now includes regular events in Belgium, The Netherlands and soon, France.
- 'Focus' is our retreat for local church worship teams.
- 'Converge' is our seminar for multiple churches within a region.
- 'Camp Worship 2012' is our three-day intensive training camp for any worship team or individual in Europe.
Please pray with us as we launch this new era of worship training. We have retreat material developed, training teams ready to come, and lots of dreams for the Worship Camp 2012. We just need divine connections and more churches to catch the vision and partner with us.
See our new programs logos below as well as program descriptions.
Coming soon: a brand new website!
 For more information about the European Worship Institute,
see our photo album on Facebook click: here.
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 FEIC 2010 Annual Summit Held
The annual Fellowship of European International Churches (FEIC) conference was held October 18-21 just outside Vienna, Austria. As always, Jeff attended to help network leader Terry Hoggard with communications during the conference attended by some 60 pastors and leaders from throughout Europe.
Highlights included sessions with Chuck Stecker of www.achosengeneration.org ministries, Pastor David Wigingdon, and Pastor Keith Conley who shared about a church development program called, 'Church Life'.
Below, see a video created by Jeff of photographic highlights of the conference.
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Short Stories...
 Christmas At Bethlehem Published Online
'Christmas At Bethlehem Inn' is a play Jeff wrote several years ago and is making available free of charge to churches and organization. So far, we've had about 10 scripts requested from Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee and the United Kingdom. Check out the site (Christmas-At-Bethlehem-Inn.com) and let us know if you'd like a script.
Ooh La, La! The French really did strike! We saw it first hand in the gas lines just outside of Paris recently. We were limited to purchasing 30 euros worth of diesel at a time. Glad we filled up in Brussels!
Jeff Joins Band for National Belgian Conference
Jeff was invited to play piano for a band leading worship for the annual VPP convention, an alliance of Flemish-speaking Belgian churches. The one-day event is held each year on November 11, a national holiday in Belgium. This year, the event will be held in Liege, Belgium. It's great to be able to serve fellow believers in Belgium on this important day.
Chez Slaughter Christmas Stocking Stuffer Giveaway 2010 Starts Soon We're holding our second annual 'Christmas Stocking Stuffer Giveaway' again this year! We'll draw six names outside the USA and six names inside the USA...winners will receive small, 'mailable' stocking stuffer gifts from us in time for the Christmas holidays.
It's a fun way to involve our supporters, contributors, friends and family across the world in our Christmas season celebrations. To enter your name into the giveaway, e-mail us at:
Jeff@thebridgeparis.com.
Winners will be announced daily beginning December 1 via a Facebook group e-mail. Follow the giveaway by joining the group: 'ChezSlaughter 2010 Christmas Stocking Stuffer Giveaway' |
Our Current Prayer Requests
1. Please pray for The Bridge and our team members. There are often unseen struggles - both tangible and spiritual - with new works like this and prayer is key to overcoming.
2. Please pray that internationals in Paris would hear about The Bridge, find The Bridge and be open to the church and the gospel. There are 500,000 English-speaking internationals in Paris, with the majority unsaved and unchurched. Pray that God would give them a spiritual hunger to seek Him.
3. Please pray for our legal status in Europe.
4. Please pray for our family members by name.
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Belgian Chocolate for Sale!We're offering Belgian chocolates for sale this December as our holiday fundraiser. These rich candies are made by Neuhaus, one of the leading chocolatiers of Belgium.
Each one-pound box of chocolates contains a mixture of dark, milk and white filled pralines (the Belgian word for 'filled chocolates'). All quite delectable we promise!
Each one-pound unit sells for $24.00 plus shipping (we estimate USA domestic shipping at $5.00 per Priority Mail® Small Flat Rate Box. (International orders would be priced accordingly.) We will ship your order by Priority Mail from Shreveport as soon as we arrive in mid-December.
To order: please e-mail: Jeff@thebridgeparis.com
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Campaign Starts December 1, 2010
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 Well, thanks for taking a few minutes to catch up with us. We hope you enjoyed our E-Com. We'll post a link to it on our website (www.chezslaughter.com) in case you lose it and like to see it again!
Please e-mail us at Jeff@thebridgeparis.com or Kathy@thebridgeparis.com and let us know how you are!
Until next time...Jeff & Kathy Slaughter
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Skype:
JeffSlaughter
E-Mail:
Jeff@thebridgeparis.com
Kathy@thebridgeparis.com
Stateside Contributions:
Cornerstone International
PO Box 5896
Jackson, MS 39288, USA
European Contributions:
ING Bank Account #310-1611458-83
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