Category Archives: Places

Christmas in France

December 24, 2014 By in Places Tags: , Leave a comment

Have you ever found yourself wondering what Christmas is like in France ?
Today I’m going to give you a little taste!

Paris

Christmas in Paris, 2015, Instagram @andosyion, Eiffel Tower

2004 was the last time I was in Paris around Christmas and there were some incredible sites to be seen.

  • A 50-foot tree outside of Notre Dame Cathedral, decorated with red & silver ornaments.
  • A positively HUGE tree inside the Galleries Lafayette that spanned the 6-7 stories of open atrium inside the store.
  • A dazzling display of lights outside of the Galleries Lafayette store….

But today I want to show you something of what Paris looks like this year. There is a gigantic snow-globe under the Eiffel Tower: which you can see to the right.

Of course I’m not there yet, so it’s not my picture. It was one taken by andosyion, someone I follow on Instagram. Check out his gallery and you will be mesmerized by his collection of great shots!  (You won’t be the only one, he has some 2.3K followers).

Châtellerault

 In North America we may have our Christmas parades, but that’s not typically as common in Europe… I’ve never seen one. In fact Santa Claus as we know him takes a back seat to St. Nicholas in many European homes and he comes on December 6th rather than the 25th. No Santa doesn’t, however, mean that nothing special happens…

This past Sunday some 8,000 people came out to see le Spectacle Rêve (The Spectacle of Dreams), put on by the local circus arts school on a 300-square meter stage in downtown Châtellerault. Here’s a 3.5-min video that will show you some of the highlights:

http://vimeo.com/115246745

What do you think…..  Santa Claus Parade or Spectacle of Dreams?

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Preparations

Early this morning we took delivery of a 10′ x 16′ shed that will be stored on a friend’s property. Once we get through Christmas, we’ll begin in earnest the process of moving some furniture into this storage unit. It’s non-heated storage, but most of what will go in there should be fine.  The few things that need heated storage will be elsewhere.

We had a very positive showing on the house last weekend… pray that things advance nicely and smoothly on that front.

Four weeks from yesterday we will have left Saint John Lord-willing… (now THAT’s quite a thought!) Thank you for your prayer & financial support.
You are part of #Revival_inFrance!

…and in closing for today… a very Merry Christmas to you!

I’m Nostalgic

December 13, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , Leave a comment

I’ve been working on project for the past week or so and it has gotten me looking back through old photo albums on my laptop… yes. photo albums…. on my laptop.

(Note: I am the guy who originally resisted digital photography, scoffing at those who stored all photos on their computer, rather than in a handy-dandy “hard copy” photo album… Now, I have joined your ranks… with nearly 20K pics on my hard drive… end of admission)

First Family-Visit

ChateauMotte06The first time that we visited Châtellerault as a family was in 2006. I had been there previously by myself and then with a friend, but in 2006… we went together.

Timo was not quite a year old and still had be propped up with pillows or be sandwiched between his siblings in order to ensure a steady pose for the camera.  We stayed in the 15th Century Château de la Motte Usseau for a couple of nights and enjoyed the comfort of the Ysabeau de Poitiers Suite… where   we could have our own lovely room and the kids had their own spot right through the large arched doorway.

If you’ve never done a chateau-stay before, you need to give it a go!  Seriously… you’ll pay 130 euros/night in the equivalent of a “shoe-box” in Paris… or, for less than that, you get a 15th century castle in the country with incredible hosts and a breakfast fit for a king (or at least a count)!

ChateauChenonceau06

During that trip, Bro. & Sis. Brochu also took us to visit the Château de Chenonceau which is reputed to have the 2nd or 3rd highest number of visitors of any monument in France, only behind the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame cathedral… both in Paris. This Castle, one-time home to Catherine de Medicis and her rival Diane de Poitiers, gracefully spans the Cher river.

 

Church

We visited church the Sunday morning of our visit and at that point it was still meeting in the home of Sis. Cécile Leday on ave. Aristide Briand, right downtown and not far from the monument to the French Revolution. Twenty or so very basic chairs were set up in the Living Room and a simple wooden cross adorned the wall above the unused fireplace. A music stand served as the pulpit and the only instrument was a keyboard in the corner. There was nothing all that fancy about it, but we felt the presence of the Lord… we were worshiping God, in French, in the heart of western France.

French Provincial Countryside

ChateauMotte_landscape06

For those of you who are wondering what the area will be like… take a look at the picture to the right. This photo is taken from atop the Château de la Motte, looking out over the rich agricultural land that surrounds Châtellerault.

You can barely make it out, but behind what looks to be a hedgerow in the middle of the picture, is the A10 highway that leads from the North down to the South-west of France… present, but barely visible.

This is the area that will be home for us beginning in the new year… and we can’t wait!

Although it looks pretty deserted in this picture, remember that the city of Châtellerault itself is a city of roughly 27,000 people and that, within a 25km radius there are some 94 villages… all of which house souls, some of which are hungry and/or hurting… not completely satisfied with where they are spiritually.

It is for them that we are leaving home & homeland.
Please pray for us… for them.
Pray for #Revival_inFrance.

Thanks for stopping by today… I appreciate your visit!

 

The End of Deputation

December 3, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , , 2 Comments

Well… at the risk of sounding grandiose, we have come to the end of an era! Sort of.

We are through running the roads of the Atlantic District for the purpose of raising awareness of, and support for, our AIM term in France.  This doesn’t mean that we’re at 100% of our budget yet, we are still accepting both one-time support as well as monthly Partner in Missions commitments, but it does mean that we will be home on weekends and better able to focus on the practical preparations involved in getting ready for departure.

Last Service – Temperance Vale, NB

Rev. & Mrs Terry Brewer, Atlantic District SuperintendentPerhaps it’s only fitting that our final service be in Temperance Vale, NB with our Atlantic District Superintendent and his wife. We drove up on Sunday afternoon, after having attended morning service at Mission Point and had no trouble finding the church, although we’d never been there before.

Besides being with the Brewers, I was also looking forward to being in Temperance Vale for another reason as well. Early on in my experience of Pentecost, Sis. Laura Priest would visit the church in Saint John periodically and Bro. Goddard would always have her sing.

What a lady!

There was something very appealing about her – without question the hand of God on her life after a lifetime in faithful service to God. United Pentecostal Church, Temperance Vale, New BrunswickI was a bit disappointed when I learned that she wouldn’t likely be there that night due to fragility and advancing age, but my spirits soon lifted again when her daughter Ann (also mother of our District Youth President, Bro. Paul Thornton) got up to lead worship. She looks so much like Sis. Priest and sang with just as much gusto!

Afterwards, we headed back to the Brewer’s home in Nackawic for a short bite to eat and a bit of fellowship before hitting the road home. The kids, too, enjoyed sweet moments of fellowship…. playing “Crossy Road” an iPad / iPod app by Hipster Whale (a.k.a modern youth fellowship). 🙂

Glad to be done

Although we’ll miss the opportunity to spend time visiting & fellowshipping with other pastors in the region, we are glad to now begin focusing a little bit more fully on preparations for our departure (storing some items, shipping others and preparing the house).  It has been tiring to travel and be away from the house pretty much every weekend (although full-time missionaries must do much more than we did and are to be commended).

Training Program @ Church

One of the other things that will be a focus of my attention this month is handing off responsibilities to various people who will be taking my place. Bro. & Sis. Mark Robertson (formerly of Miramichi, NB – although Mark is originally from Hatfield Point, NB) moved to the Port City on Sunday and have been spending their days unpacking and preparing. As the dust settles for them, I’ll begin attempting to get a lot of what I know out of my head and into Bro. Robertsons.

Pray for he and his wife as they makes the transition.

There will also be a couple of other individuals relieving me of some responsibility regarding the Pentecostal Messenger – the official publication of the Atlantic District, of which I’m the editor.  I will continue to do layout and editing of this 12-page paper, but will need others here on site in Saint John to handle the logistical details (picking up the finished papers, preparing the mailing and handling finances and subscriptions).

News from “our Missionaries”

I encourage you to come back on Saturday morning to read some good news of what God is currently doing in France through the hands & lives of “our missionaries”.

Thank you for your support on every level.
God bless & strengthen you today!

A little crown

October 11, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , , 2 Comments

Villages_ChatEnvirons_sq_sm

Take a look at the image to the right… What do you see?

Most people would see or notice 3 things:

  • A bunch of words… and with the exception of “La” and “Le”, most of them are illegible.
  • The dominant colours are three shades of blue and green.
  • The font resembles a casual handwritten script.

If you said any or all of these, you’d be entirely correct. That’s really about all that one could say with any degree of certainty for the text size is too small to derive any meaning from what’s written.

From a Distance

In fact, what you are looking at is a word cloud which shows the names of 94 towns and villages that lie within a short drive of the city of Châtellerault. La is associated with La Roche-Posay and Le is part of the name Le Rigny. These will be place names that we will be seeing on a regular basis… on road signs, maps, etc.

I realize that it is small and difficult to read, so as you get to the bottom of this post, you will see a larger version of the same image, and will perhaps be able to pick out the names of places that you might be familiar with.

Why do I place emphasis on what could appear to be a random collection of place names? …Simple, it’s a question of…

The Crown

If you recall, on Wednesday I referred you back to a post that I wrote last year about a vision the Lord had given me concerning Châtellerault: there would be a crown around the city and that crown would actually be a number of Home Bible Studies, Preaching Points and one day Daughter Works that would surround the city.  Well dear reader, it’s entirely possible, indeed probable, that some of the places named in this photo could be ripe for revival. Certainly every one of these towns and villages house individuals and families that are looking for something to fill a void in their life. They just don’t realize that only Jesus can fill the deepest void.

Today, would you pray over these 94 towns and villages. You may not be able to read each place name, but the LORD knows them intimately. Would you pray a circle around the city of Châtellerault… that God would pour out the light of Jesus, preparing people now for the revival that is already on its way.

In Jesus’ name!

Thank you readers, for partnering with us in prayer!
By doing so, you are part of #Revival_inFrance !

Villages-Chat-Environs-sq

 

 

From St. Louis – #UPCIGC14

October 1, 2014 By in Events, Places 3 Comments

Today represents a couple of “firsts”… First time attending the United Pentecostal Church’s Annual General Conference, and first time composing a blog post on an iPad! Let’s see how this goes!

Along the Miramichi

Before we get to St. Louis, let me tell you briefly about last weekend. We got to spend some time, for the second time, along the Miramichi River Valley. The first time we were in Gray Rapids with Bro. Graham Russell, and the Pentecostals of Miramichi, in Miramichi City with Bro. Peter Long. This time though, we were with Bro. & Sis Carroll in Doaktown for their morning service followed by evening service in McNamee, NB, just a bit down the road, with Bro. & Sis Cromwell.

photo
photo

Pictured above are; (a) from McNamee, Pastor & Mrs Allison Cromwell along with Liz & I and (b) a look at the missions wall at the church in Doaktown, already proudly displaying some 37 UPCI missionary families (silly us, we were enjoying our time & conversation so much that we neglected to get a photo together with the Carrolls). We are so thankful to both of these churches for partnering with us for the duration of our time in France. They are part of the revival that God will bring to France.

UPCI General Conference

First of all, I want to express how grateful I am to our pastor for bringing us with he and Sis. Carter. As I mentioned, this is our first time at General Conference and we are so glad for the chance to be here before heading away in January.

We are looking forward to hearing some great preaching, powerfully feeling the moving of God’s Spirit, attending a number of informative workshops and connecting with some great people!! In fact, it has already happened…. We stopped by the AIM booth and found fellow New Brunswickers Jayne Taylor, Danielle Martin and James Poitras. In addition to them we also ran into Abigail Thompson (another AIMer to France who we met this summer while in Bordeaux).

IMG_0098-0.JPG

Global Missions Service

Tonight, we are especially looking forward to the Global Missions service. Not only will we get to hear Bro. Anthony Mangun (I just love Bro. Mangun), but we will also have the distinct pleasure of walking in with all our our global missionaries. What an honour… These people are heroes!!

That’s all for now…

…except, I might just say that, as far as blogging on the iPad goes… Gimme a full-fledged keyboard any day. Definitely a bit more laborious BUT… I’m also thankful to be able to update without having to carry the laptop… It did make for a lighter carry-on!

Thanks for being with us today!

Upper Kent to Sainte-Anne

September 24, 2014 By in Churches, People, Places Tags: , , Leave a comment

We spent another weekend on the road here in New Brunswick, our home province, but this time in the northwest corner…

Upper Kent

Saturday was an awesome day!  A good friend and favourite “auntie” that we’d not seen in quite some time, visited us for coffee & conversation. After which, we officiated at the wedding of a great couple that we’ve known for a couple of years, UpperKentthanks to an ongoing community outreach. Then, at around 9:00pm we set out for a 3hr drive to northwestern New Brunswick.

The Upper Kent Church is  located just off Route 105 and up the road a bit from Florenceville, NB (home of McCain foods and French Fry capital of the world!). In the nearly 60 years that this church has been established, there have only been three pastors, preceding Rev. & Mrs Kent MacKay, the current pastor. This makes for a very stable and well established congregation.  They are an incredible missions-giving church and have come alongside us in our AIM appointment to France.

Thank you, Pastor & Sis. MacKay, for believing in us and the calling God has placed on our family.  You’ll be part of revival in France!

Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska

Roughly 100km up the Saint John River Valley from Upper Kent is another church to which we’d never been, but with which we’ve been familiar for some time: Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska. Two of their “native sons” have attended our home church for several years.

StAnneThis church is predominantly French-speaking, although there are some English-speakers in the mix as well. Rev. Keith Carter has been leading the church for the past couple of years but will be relocating in October, leaving the church looking for a new pastor.

This church already supports the three missionaries to France with whom we’ll be working: John & Anne Nowacki, Paul & Darla Brochu and Marcus & Renée Brainos. They have taken us on as partners as well.

Un Grand Merci… to Bro. & Sis. Carter as well as to the great church family in Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska!  You folks are precious and we are so glad to finally have gotten to visit your church!  Vous êtes partenaires pour le réveil que Dieu amènera en France!!

Cue-up my “Inner Call Center”

I’d appreciate your prayers as I spend time this week touching base, by phone, with pastors from around North America, asking for their support.  I can’t wait. Really looking forward to it!

We only need another forty-eight, $50/month partners.

Keep pouring on prayer… God has a great work that He’s fixin to accomplish!
Thank you for your support!

Fundraising & Miracles

September 20, 2014 By in Churches, Places, Process Tags: , , 3 Comments

Neat things have happened since I last updated you on fundraising specifics… so today’s post will address some of those things.

#1:  half-way there!!!

photoWe are THRILLED to tell you that with only 4 months left, we have topped the 50% commitment level.

Thank you,
Thank you,
THANK YOU!!

One-time donations:
One-time donations total $24,450.00 (40% of the total commitment). Most of these have already been received however a portion of that total is based on a commitment to give.

Monthly Partner Commitments:
Monthly commitments total $36,000.00 (the equivalent of thirty $50/month partners). This total assumes two things:

a) that confirmed donors maintain their giving for the full 2-years that we expect to be in France and
b) that those who have given us a verbal commitment, though the paperwork has not yet been received, will proceed with the giving.

Given that we only announced our appointment in January and began fundraising in March, we are thrilled that, in just over 6 months, God has opened up this level of support through you… his partners in missions.  Thank you!

#2: Every little bit counts

TypicEarlier this week I spoke at Northeast Christian College, in Fredericton NB and presented our burden for France. At the end of our time together, Rev. Mel Calhoun asked the students if anyone wanted to contribute to our support as a one-time donation. The students responded:

There was one donation of $100, one of $50 and one of $40. The rest were commitments of $5, $10, $15 and $20, yet when all was said and done, these students had committed $780.

Thank you @NCC4Ministry!

#3: Baggage bigger than Carry-On

What!? That exists?

In 17 years of married life (with the exception of Liz’s move to Canada from Belgium) we have never traveled with anything but carry-on sized luggage. Consequently, we didn’t own large suitcases. THAT would have to change in preparation for France… and it has; we got six brand new huge suitcases. The price should’ve been $700, but we got them virtually for free!!

How’d we do it?

  • We began sorting stuff that has accumulated in 17 years of married life and we prepared to sell anything that had value.
  • Yard Sale: $400 kijiji
  • Kijiji (Canadian equivalent of Craigslist):  $300
  • Bargain Hunting: My wife had been keeping her eye on some suitcases at a local store. She waited until she they came out with a “buy 1, get one 1/2-price” sale… so the total came to $590, but the sale of our stuff paid for it, so the suitcases really cost us nothing out of pocket.

The bad news…  more expenses are coming.
The good news… we still have lots more stuff to sell!

#4: Inspired Reading

GodAskKindleIn discussion with Bro. Poitras this past weekend at our missions conference, he mentioned the book “The God Ask: A fresh biblical approach to fund raising” by Steve Shadrach. It discusses the process of raising funds for either a missions trip of some kind or a church or para-church ministry or organization. I’m currently only about 30% through it… but it’s a wonderful read and if you’re considering any kind of short-term missions involvement for which you need to raise your own support… I highly recommend this book!!

$19.99 on Amazon or $9.99 for the ebook*
(prices are from Amazon.ca and could vary slightly in the USA)

#5: Postcard Results

Just an update to say that we have already seen results from our postcard mailout back in August.  Although I plan, in the next two weeks, to touching base with many of these pastors by telephone, one pastor in Georgia didn’t wait to hear from me by phone, but sent us both a one-time offering as well as a monthly partner commitment. God is blessing us beyond measure through ordinary people and pastors just like you!  Thank you for your support!

This Weekend

That’s pretty much it for this morning folks. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel to Upper Kent and St. Anne-de-Madawaska this weekend, both in north-western New Brunswick, to present our burden for and call to France.  Two great churches which we’ve never been to before.

God bless you today!

France at a Glance

September 13, 2014 By in Churches, Places Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

Today’s post is simply an “at a glance” overview
of the United Pentecostal Church in France and
general numbers around religious adherence there.

Enjoy!

United Pentecostal Church, France, Église Pentecôtiste Unie

I created this infographic using Piktochart:
An online web service for just that purpose.
Pretty easy to use and if you’re a church or
a not-for-profit, they give a discounted rate
for the full version and are wonderful to
deal with… I highly recommend!

What do you say…?

September 6, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , Leave a comment

MtRoyal

For today’s post, I’m reaching back to an experience that happened earlier this year.

I was in Montreal doing some administrative things in preparation for France and the person I was working with had no connection to the church. In the course of making small talk while filling out paperwork, the individual asked a pointed question and it opened up an incredible opportunity to talk about the LORD.

It got me thinking….
(video length 2:44)

https://vimeo.com/105296061

It reminds me of Matthew 16:13-15

13 …Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, and he asked his disciples, …Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?  14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.  15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 

What answer do you give?

If someone were to ask us honestly… “Who is Jesus?” …how would we respond?
If someone were to ask why they should give up their Sunday morning and spend it in church… how would we respond?

Preachy?

I know there’s a risk that this video may come across as preachy a bit, that’s really not my intention. I don’t have all the answers and I don’t get it right 100% of the time either. The conversation that prompted this was as much an eye-opener to me as to anyone… a wake-up call to the opportunities that we may regularly let slide by.

Narcissistic?

Not this either.  It’s as much about trying to vary up the format of the blog as anything else. Since the launch of this blog, the most-viewed post was the introduction video back in January. It’s also no secret that web-surfers engage with video content better than many other formats. This post is less about me getting a kick from talking in front of my iPhone than it is about presenting an idea in a different format.

This next chapter is arguably one of the most important things happening in our life and it takes the help of many other people to make that happen. In order for them to help, they need to see a compelling reason to help.

Would you help us find fertile soil and plant seed in France?
Click here to see how you can.

Thanks for coming back today!
What do you think of the video format? I’d love to know your thoughts.

“Team France” Presents…

August 13, 2014 By in People, Places Tags: , Leave a comment

For the first time in a couple of weeks, we were home for the weekend and it felt good, not only because we didn’t have to do and subsequently undo suitcases & garment bags, but also because we got to be in our home church with our 10+ kids!

Whoa! Wait a minute… did you say 10+ kids???

Yep… lemme explain.

Team France

photoIf you have been following our blog or following our life… you’ll know that we spent the first 10 days of July in France with a team of young people. Twelve of us were from MissionPoint in Saint John and one was from Capital Community Church in Fredericton, NB. We spent time primarily in the cities of Châtellerault, Bordeaux and Melun, ministering in services, handing out invitations to church and prayer walking city streets.

Here you see the team standing on the bank of the Vienne River, in front of the Henri IV bridge.

Presenting…

photoThis past Sunday night, members of the team addressed the local church, sharing their experiences in a service that was entirely dedicated to the involvement of young people in missions during the summer of 2014.

Not only did this team head to France, but we also had one young lady, from Mission Point, spend the month of July in Ghana, West Africa with missionaries Nick & Pam Sisco.

Here are a few highlights of that evening…

“God opened the door and you (the local church) made it possible for us to go. Thank you! It was truly life Changing.”
Trisha Shephard

“My time in France began 9 years ago when Bro. Long took me on my first trip there. One service, then, impacted me incredibly, so going back just felt like home.”
Ryan Shephard

MPTeamFrance-Presents“On other mission trips I’d taken, it was always with people that I mostly didn’t know. It was so great to go with a group from my own home church. I will be forever changed from my time there.”
  Jayne Taylor

“It was during one of our FX (France Extravaganza) nights that, as I began to talk about my expectations for the trip, that I could barely speak and God placed an incredible burden on me for France and our time there. It was so heavy, all I could do was weep. Just talking about it makes me miss France all over again.”
  Erin Taylor

“There were people from our church that I got to know in a totally new way during this trip. I thought I knew them – or, at least, I had my impression of them – but I got to know them much better and we had a blast together.”
  Nick Cannon

AIMKid Sophie speaks

One speaker in particular holds an extra-special place in our hearts… our daughter Sophie, the only one of our three #AIMKids to make this trip. She highlighted the fact that she enjoyed getting to see the church and meet the church family there, but when she talked about the other kids in the church, it touched us greatly:

“One thing I noticed was that, with the 12 or so kids that are in the church over there… they’re all boys. I’ve got some work to do.”

Her implication wasn’t so much that she’d need to straighten out all those boys, but rather that she’d have to do her best to make friends with and see some young girls come to the Lord.

*Thank you Lord for speaking to and through our kids… putting a desire in them to be missionaries… soul-winning Christians*

Thank you!

This trip would not have been possible without:

  • The whole-hearted support of Pastor Brent Carter of MissionPoint in Saint John, our home church.
  • The financial and prayer support of the church family at MissionPoint.
  • The collaborative planning by the Brochu & Nowacki missionary families in France, Pastor & Sis. Majdling of Bordeaux and the youth leadership in both Bordeaux & Melun.
  • A great group of young people who formed the team!

As we criss-crossed the country – planning meals, drives, rest-stops, sightseeing, etc., we gained the nicknames “mom” and “dad” (hence the comment about our 10+ kids at the outset of this post).

Mom & Dad were proud of you kids Sunday night!

Take a Missions Trip

I highly recommend planning a missions trip of some kind in and for your local church… whether for youth or for a wider age-bracket. There will be some cost involved, both in terms of time, finances and energy, but the payoff will be well worth it.

  • You will see a greater sense of cohesion amongst team members
  • New talents and abilities will be uncovered that will bless your church
  • Team members will gain confidence about stepping out in faith and letting themselves be used of God in either familiar or new ways

Missions involvement… there’s nothing like it!