The Bridge Turns Two

Celebrating Two Years

Back in 2007 when the vision of The Bridge was first birthed, we could not imagine the plans God had in mind for Paris.  The Bridge celebrated its two year anniversary in March, and on Easter welcomed the largest crowd yet of 172 people!

We are preparing next Sunday to launch our 7th round of small groups, and each week on Sunday mornings there are around 120 people from 40 different nations.

Decision Sunday for France

This Sunday is the final vote in the French presidential election.  Please pray for the French people as they wrestle with the common issues of taxation, immigration, education, but also with the vital approach to how God is seen the country and what place is allowed for the church.

For instance, recently France passed a law preventing prayer in public places.  We know that God works in people’s lives regardless of government “permission,” but we pray that God’s name will be proclaimed in France in every way.

The Vision of Growth

As you know the vision of The Bridge has always been much more than a single church plant.  We want to reach every language and culture group in the Paris region, representing the entire world.

After two years of preparation, our first new expression launched last month.  A French speaking service representing many African nations and islands around the world has begun.  It is a passionate and vibrant meeting. We know that this is just the beginning!

Returning to Tell the Story

This July we will return to the U.S. for a year to reconnect with many of you.  We have so many stories to share when we return.  Please let us know if you would like us to share at your church.  We will also be sharing more stories through this newsletter and our website!

We are thankful for the wonderful team God has built here in Paris that allows us to be gone, and for the ministry to still continue to grow!  As our two-year Missionary Associates began leaving, God has been faithful to replace them with wonderful people leading ministries here in Paris.

« What’s new in the New Year?

What’s new in the New Year?

We love what God is doing here in Paris.  The Bridge continues to grow & lives continue to be changed.  We say goodbye to people often due to the nature of people’s work that brings them here for a few years at a time; however, somehow God continues to add to our number!  We just finished a prayer, devotions & fasting emphasis early in the year.  It was the first time many people had fasted or had a Bible reading plan.  It’s wonderful to see new spiritual experiences blossom in people’s hearts.  We are preaching a series now on Sundays called “Jesus the Healer.”  Go on over to www.thebridgeparis.com/messages and catch our podcast!  Pray that God opens people’s heart to the miracles He wants to do in their lives.

We have begun a fresh building search; after hitting another dead-end late in the year.  We’ve visited four buildings, and one is a possibility for negotiations.   Pray with us that we find a permanent home before my family comes home this summer for our year of itineration.  Our team here is strong though & will be able to continue to do “portable church” one way or the other.  Our small groups throughout the community have been the true harvest of spiritual growth– we love how relational The Bridge is.  We are starting plans to launch our first additional service in French– it will be an expression of a French/African group that has been meeting in an apartment for the last few years.  Very exciting as we see the vision of The Bridge continue to unfold.  Thanks for your prayers and support!

PS– We are about 50 days from Easter and we are praying at The Bridge for those closest to us in the community to come to know Jesus.  Would you pray with us?  Last Easter someone said to me on their first Sunday morning visit, “I have never understood what the Easter story really meant until today.”  We are praying for so many more people to “hear & see” the message!

The Bridge Turns Two »« Merry Christmas from The Tysons

Merry Christmas from The Tysons

A Wonderful season of Rememberance
We are so thankful as we celebrate Christmas this year! The gift that God sent to earth two thousand years ago has brought life to the city of Paris where we have been ministering. Thank you for all your prayers and support this last year.

Recent Newsletter
Our November newsletter is now available online. Download the PDF here. A wonderful look at what God has been doing at The Bridge International Church, and the wonderful ministry teams who have visited this year.

Still Time of 2011 Contributions
For those of you wishing to make year-end contributions, there is still time. Online gifts can be made securely with debit/credit cards by clicking here. All checks should be marked with “Tyson– AGWM #257333″ in the note portion, postmarked before December 31, 2011 and mailed to:

Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 N. Boonville Ave.
Springfield, MO 65802

A Family Note
We have made an unexpected trip to the U.S. to be with Amanda’s family for the funeral of her Grandfather, Rev. Edward Grant. He has always been at the center of Amanda’s world, and we are thankful for your thoughts and prayers. He is just one of the many family and friends that have enabled us to move forward in God’s work because of their encouragement and love. We are celebrating his life and the way God used him in decades of pastoral ministry in West Florida.

All our love and warm Christmas greetings are yours,
Todd & Amanda Tyson
Tessa (10), Sophia (9) and Luke (3)

What’s new in the New Year? »« Seasons of growth

Seasons of growth

Have you ever gone through a season where everything was changing? We’ve been through that the last 6 months. We’ve had 4 of our team members moving away from France, in bittersweet transitions to their next phases in life (with several more departures on the horizon… be praying for those who are coming to join us in the next year!). At the same time The Bridge has surged forward into fresh, dynamic community life.

The Bridge is an International English speaking church.  But it’s also the vision of a great ministry center raised up in Paris.  There are many goals (building, new church plants, partners for multi-ethnic ministry, etc.) that are still in progress, but so much has already come to fulfillment.  We have over 15 nations represented on any given Sunday.  We commemorated the 1 year anniversary of the church and an incredible Easter celebration back in the Spring, along with our first baptism.  We’ve seen over 100 people at The Bridge almost every week this fall (with 125 on two occasions).  Teams have continued to join our ministry for short trips– enabling us to spread our impact to the community around us.  We just celebrated the opening of a new building of our sister church in Les Mureaux at which so many teams have done renovation work.

Even through the transition of team members leaving, several have joined us– divine appointments with people who had come to France for other purposes, but whose callings brought them to join us working at The Bridge.  God is truly an amazing God & he shows me every day in some way that His plans are bigger than mine.  Feel free to browse The Bridge’s newly redesigned website– www.thebridgeparis.com.  Our “Team” page is not complete with new members yet, but will be soon. We will also have fresh newsletter material this month, so look for that.  Click here if you are not on our email list.

Now we wait to see what the next season brings!  Our prayer requests are for a building for the church, new team members preparing to come, finances to stay strong for the remainder of our first term here in Paris, and for strong lay leaders to continue to rise up here at The Bridge.  Thanks for taking this journey with us.

Merry Christmas from The Tysons »« Growing & Changing at The Bridge

Growing & Changing at The Bridge

We have wonderful news to share with you! The Bridge International Church is celebrating its one year anniversary this Sunday. You began this journey with us back in 2007 when the vision of The Bridge was first birthed.

(There is special newsletter from The Bridge that we are sharing only by email. Let me know if you didn’t receive it.)

We had the privilege of working with Robby & Tracy Bradford since 2005 in planting our first international church in Holland. Our founding partners here at The Bridge, they needed to return to the US in October, so since then departure we have served as Lead Pastors at The Bridge. Since then The Bridge team of 20 adults (seen here) has continued to move forward with the vision of The Bridge as a dynamic International Church and key ministry center in the Paris region.

The church has steadily grown each month to the point where almost 100 people have been in our services several times recently.

We would ask you to continue your faithful prayers for The Bridge as we move forward to reach greater Paris for Jesus Christ. Much of the financial support for preparing a building for The Bridge was coming through Robby’s account, so we have asked for those supporters to continue to support The Bridge directly through a special account–we know God will provide every resource our team needs.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about The Bridge or would like to arrange for a personal update for your church!

Sincerely thankful for your years of prayer and partnership,
Todd & Amanda Tyson

Address Change: Some of you so kindly send our family mail.  Please note our new address after having finished language school:

90 Allee Maurice Berteaux
78670 Villennes sur Seine
France

Seasons of growth »« Tyson Tidings Newsletter 6.2– A new Season for The Bridge

Tyson Tidings Newsletter 6.2– A new Season for The Bridge

It has been just over 7 months since The Bridge International Church launched.  The church is growing & small groups are meeting.  This September started a great new season of growth and building relationships.  Here is a link with our current newsletter.  It’s a downloadable PDF file.

Click here to download the newsletter (PDF)

Please join with us in prayer over two issues:

1) Building possibilities– We have agreed for the purchase of a building for The Bridge, but there remain some hurdles with zoning and occupancy requirements that need to be satisfied before the owner will proceed with the sale.  Please pray for God’s favor as we navigate this process.

2) Leadership Development– As we have passed the 6 month mark in the church, we are praying for insight as we ask people to join in leadership, and wisdom in the training and organization of the church.

Special note: We are constantly scheduling short-term teams to minister here.  We welcome teams of all kinds, and will have an urgent need for building renovation soon!  Please contact us anytime about bringing a team from your church, university, etc…

Growing & Changing at The Bridge »« “Rentrée” & Building update

“Rentrée” & Building update

Well September is the “Re-entry” in French culture. People have spent the last 6 weeks completely checked out of normal life… many on vacation for a month at a time, but now… everyone’s back. School’s started, businesses re-opened, and people look to fill their social calendar. The Bridge is engaging people at different community events, as well as hosting an open house day on Sunday morning, Sept. 19.

We are now going to begin our 4th set of negotiations for a permanent home for The Bridge. This property is affordable, in a great location and has enough space to fulfill our long-term vision of The Bridge as a ministry center. It needs LOTS of renovation though, so when it is finalized start booking your trip to come help!

Tyson Tidings Newsletter 6.2– A new Season for The Bridge »« A summer of change

A summer of change

We appreciate your prayers over the last month. We are very close to finalizing negotiations on space for the church in an office building in Le Pecq– which is in the heart of our target area in Paris’ western suburbs. Please continue to pray about this, as there are still a few logistical hurdles to be worked out.

On the family side, we are finishing language school on Friday, June 25. Hard to believe this year of language study is almost behind us, but we are very thankful for it. We can communicate adequately now in French (still lots of improvement ahead) and understand almost everything we come into contact with. It opens up many new doors for relationships as well as simply navigating life & business here in France!

The children will be finishing their school year (completely French environment) on Friday, July 2. We are so proud of them. We will be moving at the end of July to live among the international community concentrated on the west side of Paris (our school has been 20 minutes south of Paris). We appreciate your continued prayers for this transition as the right location, price and space are a hard combination to find!

“Rentrée” & Building update »« Tyson Tidings Prayer Requests– Building Search & Team Members

Tyson Tidings Prayer Requests– Building Search & Team Members

(click here to see the email version– sign-up for emails in right box)

It has been just over 2 months since The Bridge International Church launched.  In those two months the church has continued to grow, small groups have successfully started, and new people are coming every week!  Pictured is a scene from the first Bridge picnic May 9, with about 50 people in attendance.  Thank you for your continued prayers and faithful support.  Rather than give a full update today though, I have two quick prayer requests.

Please join with us in prayer over two issues:

1) Building possibilities– Tomorrow (May 25) I will be making a follow-up inspection of a building that we are considering for the church (we currently meet in a conference center each Sunday).  We are praying for God’s direction as our most promising building option fell through two weeks ago unexpectedly after several months of waiting.

2) Team members– We have 10 family units as part of our team now (pictured are the “Bridge Team Kids” at Easter).  We have already had our first “Bridge baby”– congratulations to the Kempermans, our Dutch team members and dear friends.  The 2nd baby is expected within the next week– prayers with The Browns– fellow American missionaries working with The Bridge.  Besides these issues each family needs your prayers.  All face the normal day-to-day challenges of life in a foreign country, but some are facing huge challenges and need God’s blessing right now!

Thank you for reading this, and remembering us in prayer.  Please pray for our family also, as our leadership role among the team will be developing more fully as we finish language school in June.

Your notes and prayers are precious to us each day!  God is moving mountains here in Paris– touching the world through this incredible, international city.

Todd & Amanda Tyson and family

todd@tysontidings.com

P.S.  We are constantly scheduling short-term teams to minister here.  We welcome teams of all kinds, and will have an urgent need for building renovation soon!  Please contact us anytime about bringing a team from your church,  university, etc…

A summer of change »« The Bridge has Launched!

The Bridge has Launched!

The Bridge had it’s first public service this last Sunday, March 14, 2010.  It was great day.  “Renew” is the theme for this month… focusing on how God makes all things new.  There were about 75 people there and everything went so smoothly.  We had guests representing at least 6 different countries besides France.   One family said their kids had a great time, and that they would be back!  Pray with us for many, many more like that!  We are waiting to hear on a permanent building for The Bridge, so we’re currently meeting at a hotel just off the main northwestern train line out of Paris (see www.thebridgeparis.com).

You’ll see here some pictures (click on pic to view a little bigger).  A team from Evangel University (Springfield, MO) had been with us all week, helping with promotion, University ministry, and conference for expats, and preparations for the service.  See pictures of their fearless leaders in action on Sunday morning–  Dr. Robert Turnbull (French) along with Professor Brandon Schmidly (Philosophy) and his wife (Todd’s cousin) Leanne.  It was a treat to have them here.  The entire team was incredible with big servants’ hearts!

Tyson Tidings Prayer Requests– Building Search & Team Members »« Tyson Tidings 6.1– Momentous Occasions