New Website!!

Hey everyone,

You notice that this blog is called "Toward Togo"; well, we arrive in Togo April 25th, so we will no longer be headed toward Togo! In order to keep you informed, we have created a new website which also has a blog. Check it out www.gerhart.abwe.org as a result of this, we will no longer be updating this blog, but again, you can follow us at the new website! May God bless you, and thank you for praying for us!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful occasion to stop and consider the glory of the Gospel!! Our Savior left the glories of heaven to become a baby born in a stable-- what a demonstration of love and grace...but not only that, He came with the purpose to die in our place! I never cease to be amazed by this and He gives the gift of salvation to all who believe!

Celebrating Christmas this year will of course be a bit different for us. (Dec. 27th makes one year for us being in France). Christmas Eve we will be having dinner with some French friends and we will bring some American Christmas dishes and our friends will be bringing some French dishes. We're looking forward to celebrating this way! We will spend Christmas day at home mainly.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior! And may God bless your new year as well!!

Boaz et le Papou

This week we were surprised to learn that Boaz would like to be a Papou. Perhaps you can see the resemblance between the two pictures. One never knows what will next capture the imagination of a little person. A man from PNG came to visit Albertville and Boaz's class went to see him and from that time, he has declared that he's a papou too. It has been interesting to observe his imagination at work. At bedtime, he wanted to sleep on the floor because that's what a papou would do. We did eventually convince him it was OK to sleep in bed. The next day, he wanted to run to school rather than ride his bike because the Papou run everywhere. To really take the cake, when he got up this morning, he created an entire Papou outfit (including loin cloth). Only time will tell how long he will continue to be a papou. For us, we were happy to see he enjoyed his time with somebody so different because he is going to be meeting lots of interesting people in his near future. Thanks again for everyone of you that prays for us, we appreciate it!

Back to School!!

It is hard to believe school has once again started for all of us, but we're off!! James was the first to start on Wednesday. It was a big day for him as he began middle school. The school he is attending is named Jean Moulin and both the middle school and high school are in the same building. James is the only English speaker in his class, and he is doing great! We look forward to seeing his French jump in the next weeks as he is immersed and learning history, french, science, math, and english-- all in French! Cassie went back to same school she went to last year and jumped right in. Boaz also is back at his same school, except this year he is in the grande section which means no nap!! This makes life much easier for him. Also, he really likes his teacher.

It is exciting to see each of the kids enjoying their school experience and actually thriving in it. We are so thankful for everyone praying for us, we can see God at work in our family and are grateful for all He is doing. Please keep praying for our continual growth in our ability to communicate in French!

Time to regroup!

Well, since I last blogged much has changed around here. Many of the people that had been here left, including a lot of the kids--thus, it has been very quiet around the school. Christal and I both took a class in July and right now have been enjoying a few weeks of "regrouping" before school starts the first week of September. It's nice to have some time to think through the multitudes of things we were taught since we got here. Also, we have been able to get out a little more thanks to the van that was given to us by a family that left last month. One of the excursions we went on was into Italy with a family of our French friends. We were able to take in some interesting sites as well as enjoy a day speaking French with this dear family--a day which also included stopping by to see part of their family that lived in a beautiful little village in the mountains of Italy. If you look at the pictures I posted you will see a lot of the mountain shots and ruins are from this trip. We have also been able to spend some time getting to know our French neighbors. Cassie goes to school with the little girl, and her parents have a vegetable stand at the weekly marché. The grandmother loves to talk and enjoys hearing us talk. It has been fun to get to know them and be able to have someone to regularly converse with in French. Please pray that we are able to share the love of Christ with them as we build this relationship. Thanks for praying for us!!

A time for good-byes

Well, we just finished another trimester of school and are definitely seeing progress-- thanks so much for praying for us, there is still much to learn so please keep praying. The kids also have finished school for the year and they all did really well in spite of the great challenges they faced-- with God's help they overcame and excelled-- once again thank you for praying. This was the year James finished elementary school-- next year he moves to a different school a couple of blocks away for collège (really middle school). It's hard to believe; he's growing up so fast.

Along with finishing this past trimester, two classes also graduated from the school. So of course, the last weeks have been filled with good-byes to some great people going out of here to fulfill their callings to five different countries. It is exciting to see them move on to what they have been working so hard to prepare for, but also a sad time as we have built friendships as well. Especially for the kids, who have seen their really good friends head out-- so please pray for them as well as they face another transition.

As a wonderful blessing to our family, one of the family's that was leaving left us their van. This will give a great opportunity to get more involved in French things off campus as well as make grocery shopping much easier. We do have a couple small repairs to make in order for it to pass inspection, but we should be in good order in a couple of weeks. Praise God for His continual blessings!

Birthday Party

This past weekend was the celebration of the grand event of Boaz turning 5!! He got to be the first one to get a party in France, and it was a great time as all the kids were pirates. They followed a map to a treasure and had a blast.

As far as the rest of us, we are pressing on in our language ability. Some days we are greatly encouraged by our progress and some days not so much but such is the process. It was nice to have Jim's parents visit for a week. You can see by the pictures we visited a couple of new places.

Thank you for your prayers!! Please continue to pray for us-- the time is flying by and the language learning doesn't always go as fast as we would like, but the Lord is teaching us many things as we experience the struggles and realize in so many ways our total dependency on Him!