Farewell party

Tonight there was a farewell party at church for Clive & Liz Sampson and Francis, Diane, Joel, Luc, Benjamin, and Kyria Dognon. The Sampsons return to England next week after a number of years in Paris. The Dognons are moving to Lisieux later this month. It will be sad to see them go, as I have worked with all of them, especially the Dognons. But they seem to be going to the right situation.

I first met Francis in spring 1998, when I was working at St. Michael's Anglican Church of Paris. We collaborated together on some outreach events related to the 1998 Men's World Cup Soccer Tournement in France.

When we returned to Paris in 2000, we visited the Belleville Church that August. We recognized each other and ended up scheduling a meeting. Through Francis, my wife and I started helping with the Alpha Course. I also began helping for Mission Radicale around that time. We've worked very closely on Mission Radicale for a good portion of the last 5 years. I've also shared his office with him for 1-2 days a week.

I first met Clive somewhere 1995-97 when he first came to Paris. We met up with him and Liz in 2000 when we were still apartment hunting. We attended a series of 2 seminars on stress management that he led, including the last one just before our son was born. He and Alain also prayed for me last summer before our Home Ministry Assignment trip. He has been a steady influence around us for the last few years.