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Dear friends –

For some of you it has been a LONG LONG TIME and for other not so long! But speaking of time, we know how precious it is – funny thing is, sometimes we seem to have more of it than at other times – its been a while now I personally have been trying to find an extra day in my weeks but alas God hasn’t granted my prayer to “stop the sun” in the sky for a day! Wouldn’t that be nice.... so I want to be careful with your time and keep this email “manageable”, as really I could “go on and on and on...” – and you know preachers! Yea – most of them, and yours truly is “guilty as charged” do talk just a little too much!!

So, to attempt to avoid this, if this e-news letter is a bit “sound-bitish”, it is only to be respectful “to time” – your time. To our old, new and renewed acquaintances know that in the next hours and days I will spend a lot of down time between travel destinations and I hope to dedicate as much of that time as possible (without ignoring people of course!) to write new and respond to emails that are crying out for responses - the mechanics of sending them off will be another story!! But I will deal with that later…

Lucero Family FIRSTS this summer – (in no way can these be put in any order of priority!):

I) Julia (our 14 year old) is home and safe from her FIRST missions trip to Africa where she worked with orphans in Ethiopia – we have just started to get letters out to the many who helped her do this through support (FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART – THANK YOU!!!) For Julia, not to weary an old cliché, it was “life changing” – truly. Please write her at winnie_the_pooh_54@hotmail.com if this is the first you have heard of it, or to get her side of it, as she will definitely let you know more with pictures!

II) Dad and Melissa (15) are still reeling from their FIRST tour of Israel (at least Dad is!). I believe many who “ran into” Melissa are still reeling from that! (father’s smile!) She really is so striking at times, it can disconcert me (and that ain’t easy) and on this trip she had just added 5 kilos of colored African braids to her hair before traveling – need I say more! The beauty of this is that every day was a “no hair” day! Truly she is the best travel partner I have ever had – patient, interesting, curious, servable – yea she has her down days but it blessed me to be with her on such an important “spiritual trip”. I underestimated how much one can learn and be pushed “spiritually” to continue to pursue the high calling of God in Christ by following in Jesus’ footsteps in “the Holy Land”. Not to mention to go where hundreds of other Biblical heroes walked – Elijah, Gideon, Abraham etc and etc – and throw in the Dead Sea, the Wailing Wall, Masada and the Holocaust museum along with the Golan Heights and Jerusalem…. That this tour was built around a Conference under the leadership of Pastor Jack Hayford sealed the experience and I am still “processing” so much of it…..

III) Our Son Jeremiah is now attending his FIRST week of University in His life – what more need I say. He is now a freshman at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg VA. As an extended Lucero family, part of the beauty of God opening this opportunity for him is that my parents have retired to live in Williamsburg – so though Jeremiah will be living on the University Campus, far from us – by the way with a lot of really bright young people who so impressed us at his orientation sessions - he will have his very special “nanny and grand-dad” close by. Yes PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM – and if you desire to contact him or, hey why not “send a care package”! Ask me and I will give you his address. Our prayer is for his faith and that he will find God’s path in this new adventure – yea, sure, mom and dad won’t refuse your comforting words as from our side, we have now seen our FIRST off to College!

Martine’s Health - Concerning this side of things all is pretty positive. The whole lot of us have come back to the United States to see Jeremiah off to College. We are going to take advantage of this and re-connect in the US for a little while. We have handed the local church for the next months over to our able assistants of 8 years – Pierre Yves and Valerie Abresol. I will still be traveling and actually will going back quite a bit to France (which I am doing today as I await my plane!) in order to still care for our churches on a national level and to keep other commitments. But Martine and the 3 children will particularly be reconnecting for the next few months with the good old US of A. We are presently in a missions retreat center which is in of all places St Petersburg Florida! So yes you friends and brethren in Florida and the South- East we can’t wait to sit down and talk and find a time to visit!!

So though the last three weeks have been a bit busy and hectic bringing this to pass in the packing and preparing, Martine is really doing well. At the end of this email I will give you our phone number and an address where we can be reached in Florida – please say hi! The rest and change we know is a part God’s plan for this moment – kind of a semi-furlough of sorts - and really Martine is doing great – her energy levels are coming back so we thank God for your prayers!

TRAVEL: I will be at the local church in Nancy the week after next, as well as visit three other churches in France. I know my stepping aside locally will push the leaders in Nancy to the next level – a lot to process these last weeks, but after 12 years the church is well positioned and we be in close contact. I will also be more free to focus more nationally and internationally on many of the things I believe God has put in my heart for the larger Francophone world (more next time even as this becomes clearer!). This week though I am off to the heart of Europe for 5 days - as a delegate for the Protestant Federation of France to attend the 3rd Ecumenical gathering of leaders from Europe (and the Middle East) to be held in Romania. For those who have sat where I have sat this is rather significant… 1) to have been asked to do this and 2) to participate and be a part of such an inter-denominational gathering of Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox – remember this is the old world where Paul of Tarsas actually walked! We have and continue to try to truly LOVE His bride, the Body of Christ. Just to finish our September plans, Martine and I and the children will all go the last week-end of September 27 to 30 to be with Jeremiah at our FIRST all Family University week-end! It is exciting God is allowing us as a family to do this while I still will be doing much the same things I have been doing ….

AFRICA: Do pray as the efforts we have put into preparing the ground for starting schools in the “no man” rebel breeding area of the Ivory Coast near Liberia and Sierra Leon are “on hold” awaiting results from elections set for October. WE PRAY THAT FIVE YEARS OF SIMMERING CIVIL STRIFE AND SMOLDERING WAR WILL END! I have walked in and through much of this but we really need this to turn the corner so we can take off on the many projects waiting here…. PRAY FOR THE IVORY COAST – PLEASE! PRAY FOR PEACE.

One thing I hope to have up and going real soon are some web sites to link you all more easily into the multiple projects going on…. While it is day we hope not to slumber! I end here (for now!) please see this address in Florida where we can be contacted at present!

Dr Daniel & Martine Lucero

c/o D & D Missionary Homes Inc

4020 58th Ave N #4120

St Petersburg FL 33714-1100

Home Telephone: 1-727-526-2345

Dan’s cell in States:1-727-366-2966 Internationally: +33 671763693

Martine’s cell: 1-727-421-3829

We love you and thank you for praying and helping us to continue to reach out to others with the Good News! Dan for all of us…..

U.S. Tax-deductible support offerings can be mailed to: Lazarus Ministries International: PO BOX 36, DAYTON, VA. 22821 (USA)-THANKS!