Urban Idealist

I took a break from packing to rest my back and to put the word out that we finally found a place! After looking at around 20 apartments and calling many more…we finally visited the perfect place…and we were the first to visit it…which is a good thing…and the first to put our application in. We looked at it on Tuesday and were accepted on Wednesday! It’s in the 11th arrondissement near Rue Oberkampf. It has a big kitchen/dining area and a good sized living room. It has two rooms with huge cupboards and it gets lots of light. We’re on the first floor (second American) so there aren’t a ton of steps to climb with the baby…or the move!

So…with three days till we had to be out of here we are getting the keys to our new place and moving into the 11th. Back in July when we put our notice in I was sure that we’d find a place…there were certainly days when I thought we wouldn’t. At a staff meeting we were asked what plan B was…we never had one…and that did freak me out sometimes. My blog is called ‘the Urban Idealist’ and some times I don’t talk like or live like much of an idealist…but this is a case where I’m glad I did…I’ve never had an idea (of faith-like proportions) be left hanging.

We’re looking forward to a new chapter in life. We’re looking forward to the next set of ideas God gives us. Should be fun…

Bonjour Everybody!

We have only been back one week, but it has been week of going nonstop! We got off the metro and almost immediately began our adventure back in Paris!

The first night we got back, we hosted our very first birthing class! There is one other couple that comes, around our age, the husband is French and Portuguese and his wife is Australian and Irish. They are pregnant with their first as well and we have already totally hit it off! We are excited about this new friendship! Our instructor is a very friendly British woman who is extremely helpful in answering all our crazy questions about birth in France.

We had Sanctuary (our monthly worship time) two days after we arrived. Still jet-lagged, Justin and Katherine led worship in French and English, while Frank had a great message about a part of David’s life. It was VERY encouraging to hear how some of the people coming (who are not yet Christians) heard from God on that night. It is so exciting to see people getting involved in what Vintage is doing! We also had two different girls come who had never been to a Vintage get together, one of which was new to the city and the other who had heard about us through one of our good friends, Klaus…who despite living in Germany, still finds ways of connecting people with Vintage!

The following Sunday, we had a prayer walk through a part of the city that is desperately hurting. It is an area known for all sorts of sexual immorality. As the ten of us walked down one of the streets filled with prostitutes, our hearts hurt. We prayed that God would take away their shame, give these women grace and show them their value. Our hearts were very heavy for them. As Justin and I walked these streets, it became clear to us that God was confirming our thinking that this was the part of the city God was calling us to move to.

Every day has been packed with searching for apartments on the internet, looking at apartments with the landlords, and walking around possible future neighborhoods. We are more excited than ever to move to a new part of the city. We really see this as a need for Vintage to expand to different areas of the city and we are excited that He has called us to this new adventure! It will be fun to begin to write a new chapter in the life our church!

We did find what we have been calling “our dream apartment”… This apartment is on the SAME street as all the prostitutes and sex shops that we had our prayer walk. In fact, right in the entry way to where you would enter this “dream apartment,” are a few prostitutes, waiting for business. The apartment overall is amazing! You walk into a HUGE room that is a living room/kitchen combined, with a little mezzanine over the kitchen. The ceilings are really high with windows all the way to the top. It looks like a warehouse that was turned into an apartment. Very artsy! There are two bedrooms off the huge room for us and the baby. We pretty much were in love with the apartment and in love with the neighborhood. The problem? We didn’t realize it when we went to look at it, but it is 172 dollars (135 euros) over our budget. It is still less than what we pay now, but we are really wanting to pay less! Justin and I are going back and forth about whether or not to pursue this apartment and would LOVE your prayers regarding this decision. We are already under what we need to be raising for support and don’t know if this would be the wisest thing. But then I HAVE to think that sometimes we have to sacrifice to really get in the heart of a city, where people desperately need to see God’s love! Justin and I can’t stop talking about how amazing it would be to be able to be in these women’s lives EVERYDAY! They will know us, will know our baby, and hopefully, one day know Jesus and His love for them. It is funny because as soon as I saw the apartment, I thought, “nope, not this neighborhood,” but neither of us can stop thinking about it. Justin called the landlord today to talk with him more about the apartment and, unfortunately, he is meeting with someone tomorrow to possibly sign papers on the apartment. Please pray with us that we would have wisdom if we do get an opportunity to pursue this apartment and that God would place us in the place that He wants us. We are willing to go above our budget if it is a place God has called us to. He is bigger than our budget, right?

It was so great to see a lot of you while we were in the states! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement while we were there! Thank you too for the baby gifts! Our French friends have been SHOCKED at the amount of clothes we have for the baby (as are we)! We are thankful to have so many on this adventure with us! Keep praying because God is doing great things here!!!

As the fall kicks off specifically pray for a couple of things:

1. The discussion groups that are being started up again. Jeff is kicking off his French group through the Gospel of John and Frank is starting another leadership development group with some more of our leaders. I’ll (Justin) be starting a group after we get into our new place in October.

2. Our ‘Rentrée Soiree’. We have a big party at the beginning of the fall to get all of our church together and welcome new people into our community. Pray that we make significant connections with people and that people are drawn to being a part of Vintage.

Thanks again for being a part of our lives…we are so grateful for all the time you spend with God talking with Him on our behalf. Continue to check out our blogs for stories, updates, and pictures! Talk to you later!

Grace and Peace,
Justin and Jen Powell
Paris, France

Our goal is to have our account balanced by the end of the year!!! If you are a monthly supporter or would like to give to our ministry in Paris please send your gift to:

Christian Associates International
%VisionQuest
18950 Base Camp Road
Monument, CO 80132

Put on the memo line: Justin and Jen Powell - 41695

We’ve made it back safe in Paris…to land in a whirlwind of life. We hit the ground running. We landed on Wednesday morning and got home around noon. Slept a short bit and had our first birthing class that night. Had a staff meeting Thursday. Sanctuary Friday. Apartment hunted on Saturday. Prayer walk and movie night today…and the hits keep on rolling next week with more apartment searching.

Despite this…it’s really good to be back. Tonight we had over some friends to watch a movie and it was so good to be back together. It’s back to life as usual and the fall is already starting.

I want to quickly sum up our trip to the States in this post and also talk about the next month of our lives. Most people who would be reading this would know that we went back because Jen is pregnant and we wanted to create some ‘pregnancy experiences’ with our friends and family in the States. That was really fun…and it was really fun to see how much she had grown over just a month. We also went back because we needed to do some fundraising. This was the hard part that kept us really busy. If you are praying for this please keep it up…The place where our strategies end and where we need to be is a place only God can bridge…But we did have a many miracles and clear signs that God is taking care of us. All is all it was a good trip and there isn’t much we’d do differently…we only wish that we had the ability to expand time…let me know if you figure that one out.

Our apartment saga has taken a new twist. Our landlord, Denis, was giving a tour of our place on Thursday and he asked us, ‘What do I need to do to keep you here?’ I told him that our rent would need to be substantially less than it was…and he said that he would ask the owner if she would consider lowering our rent 250€! This makes things more tricky…and gives two options with very different results. The option to stay would save us money immediately and in the long run, but it would keep us in a place that we don’t really feel is ‘us’. The option to move would cost us money (which we don’t have much of a supply of at the moment), but would most likely put us in a neighborhood that is more us, and would put us closer to a few friends from Vintage. On top of that it would be an opportunity for Vintage to expand our staff presence into the north of the city…which I would like to do. The choice between good and best is the hardest to make and I wish that God would make the ‘right’ things to do more clear sometimes. I am glad that either way He’s glad we’re seeking….

We’re looking forward to being back in the rhythm of life…our community, discussion groups, parties, prayer walks, meeting homeless people…I am so thankful for what we are doing…it often ends up being as great a blessing for us as we hope to be for others…I’m tired and going to bed now…still fighting jet-lag…later