#3GoodThings – #55

(Written Thursday, March 14, 2019)

Today we got to share lunch with a bit of Châtellerault history.

Let me tell you about..

Today’s #3GoodThings

We initially came to France to replace Pastor Paul Brochu while he and his wife deputized in the USA (They founded the church here in 2000). Upon their return, however, they were reassigned to the Paris region and rarely get back to Châtellerault (partially explaining our continued stay here). So it was a bit of a treat to have him here today. Liz & I enjoyed lunch together with him.
The reason for his visit was to make some plans for this summer’s AYC trip to France, which will come through Châtellerault. If you recall, Liz, the kids & I accompanied the AYC France trip in 2015. We won’t accompany the entire trip this year, but will be with them during their four-day stint through western France. This will be an incredibly exciting time for our kids (us too). Not only do they have great memories of that first AYC trip, but they have maintained some friendships made then as well. We can’t wait to host these 40-some young people!
When AYC comes, there was talk of holding a service with them, not in our local church building, but in a rented municipal hall. While this may have made sense from a number of perspectives (size of building, proximity to hotel, etc.) my preference would’ve been to host them at church, mainly for the following reason: Sometimes, one of the things that hinders a new person from coming to church is fear of going into a new place for the first time. Hosting the group at our church would mean that anyone coming for this large event, would then be familiar with our location… the proverbial ice would be broken. Unfortunately (or fortunately) all of the municipal halls were booked for that day… so the question became a non-issue. We’ll host the special service right in our local church building. Yay!