Tag Archives: Châtellerault

We’ve arrived!

February 1, 2015 By in Blog, Events Tags: 7 Comments

Just wanted to give a quick heads up as to our safe arrival in France.

We have been without internet access for the past few days as we don’t have it at home and will continue to be without it for a little while yet. The past two posts that you’ve seen are ones that I prepared in advance and scheduled ahead of time in anticipation of the break of connectivity.  I was able to get access for a brief while yesterday which allowed me to prepare this  post.

Travel

Église d'Antoigné et Pont Henri IV, Châtellerault

Things couldn’t have gone more smoothly in all aspects of our travel. All of our bags arrived safely as did the bags that we’d shipped via cargo. There were no delays and no extra costs at French customs for the five cases that we’d shipped in separately from our checked bags.

We spent the first night in a hotel in Melun to rest a bit before the long drive to Châtellerault. It would’ve been difficult after a long virtually sleepless night on the trans-Atlantic flight.

It also gave Bro. & Sis. Brochu time to finish preparing our house.

While we will be using their house for the majority of our stay here, we had to have temporary accommodations during the two months where our time overlaps, before their departure. They had the house all ready for us: food in the fridge, some furniture in place, bedrooms set up and even a plant in the corner! All that was left for us was to unpack the luggage which they’d also brought down and had put in the house.

Spending our Time

Châtellerault

We’ve already attended their mid-week service on Wednesday, had prayer meeting on Friday and – by the time you read this – our first Sunday service as well (we are 5 hours ahead of those in the Atlantic Time Zone – the easternmost time zone in North America).

 We’ve spent some time getting things unpacked, getting used to the new neighbourhood and getting over jetlag! (Timo has had the most difficult time with this, but is pretty much there now.)

We also had to make a run to a music store downtown to get Dominic’s guitar fixed, get our welcome-kit and garbage bags from City Hall (yes, city hall provides the regular garbage bags here – based on the number of people in the home – as well as the recycling bags… they give you a 1-year supply at a time… cool!)  

I also had a chance to take an early morning stroll through downtown yesterday and most of the pictures you see are from that tour. The only exception is the very first picture which shows sunset over the church that is literally in our backyard… how European is THAT?!

Besides that here are a few shots of Châtellerault… our town. Once we get increased internet availability I’ll share more.
Thank you for your prayers… we covet them.

chat3

 

4 Weeks from France!

December 27, 2014 By in Uncategorized Tags: , , 4 Comments

Have you ever done a major move?  If so, you’ll be able to relate to what we feel. It seems barely imaginable that we are less than four weeks from moving across the ocean to set foot in France.  With that in mind… let me give you a few updates:

Out with the Old

Ultimate Windows Doors & More, Saint John, NB

You’ll remember from Wednesday’s post that we had taken delivery of a 10′ x 16′ shed that would hold all of our worldly possessions… (well, not really, but at least a portion of the furniture that we will store).

Here are a couple pics of the early morning arrival. Ultimate Windows Doors & More, in Saint John, built this in just over a day and had it delivered within a week of ordering it. Slick as a whistle!

It came on the back of a wrecker truck and is now patiently waiting for us to fill ‘er up!

In with the New

2014_12_house

It looks as though these will be our new digs upon arrival in France. Since we will be there for 2 full months before Pastor & Sis. Brochu head back to the USA, we will need a spot to hang our hat.

It is generally very tough to rent a home for a short period of time in France for 2 reasons:

a) it is just tough to find and
b) houses (whether for sale or rent) typically come without a fully equipped kitchen – only a sink is required by law, the rest is the responsibility of the occupant. Having to install a full set of appliances and cupboards for only a two-month rental makes it highly infeasible.

Nonetheless, God opened a door for us to be able to rent the property pictured above for the two-month period, after which we will use the Brochu’s home.  Not only has the Lord literally given us an open door, but he’s given us one with a fully equipped kitchen!

Christmas in Canada

Christmas at MissionPoint Church

When is Christmas NOT your average Christmas? 

When it’s the one immediately before your departure to live as ex-pats in a new and foreign country.

We spent Christmas Eve with our church family at MissionPoint and I had the honour of hosting that service for the first time. I shared the stage with over 35 kids who got a lesson in Mysteries & Miracles… they were so great!  There were another 15 or so, under the age of twelve, in the audience who were a bit shy but did come forward to get their own Mystery & Miracle sleuth kit!

From there we drove to Moncton to be with my mom. I don’t care how old you are… you’re never too old for mom’s home cooking, turkey dinner, seafood chowder and a sweet or two (or twenty!).

Preparation & Prayers

How can you help us this week?  Here are some specific things to pray for:

  • We are nailing down the details of insurance while overseas. Pray that that works smoothly.
  • We will begin a new round of packing & moving (trying to fill the shed)
  • We will begin saying some goodbyes
  • We will be preparing the final mailing to partner & prospective partner churches  (mentioned here)
  • We will begin preparing for our farewell service on January 11th.

Know this….

There are times when exhaustion would get the best of us, but we are able to carry on because of His strength, our resolve and YOUR prayers.

Thank you for strengthening us… you make a difference!
God bless you today!

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?

.

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!

 

News from “our Missionaries”

December 6, 2014 By in Blog Tags: , , Leave a comment

Today we want to serve up to you some news directly from Pastor & Mrs. Paul & Darla Brochu.

Why do I refer to them as “our Missionaries” in the title of this post? Many of you know the Brochus already, but for the benefit of any who may not, these are the missionaries whose shoes we will be trying to fill during their deputation travels in the United States. We have had the privilege of working with them in the past, enjoy an important friendship and look forward to carrying forward their vision during the time of our stay in Châtellerault, beginning in late-January.

 Focus on France is the title of their Partners in Missions newsletter.
You can also connect with them via their Focus on France FaceBook Page.

.

Focus on France, UPCI Global Missionaries, Paul & Darla Brochu

Greetings, Partners and Friends !

As it pertains to the work of God, great, great things are happening in France and throughout Europe! What a privilege it is to be about God’s business in these last days. The darker the obscurity of this world, the brighter the Light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Regional Evangelist George Craft, UPCISince hosting a group of young intercessors from Mission Point Church of Saint John, NB last summer, prayer walks and prayer drives have continued each week in and around Châtellerault with amazing results. We’ve had trained Apostolic help move in from other parts of France. We’ve had an increase in church attendance. We’ve made new contacts and have had several new Home Bible Studies. God is impacting these new attendees, and the local church has also been impacted in a very positive way. Please keep the work in Châtellerault in your prayers. Planting this church in the West of provincial France has been no small challenge!

Institut Biblique de France, epufrance.orgThe international work known as the “UPC of Paris Centre” is thriving, with 7 water baptisms since our last newsletter, and new ones receiving the Holy Ghost regularly. Our numbers there are also up with an average attendance of close to 70 people in our worship services. Currently limited to meeting just a few hours together on Sundays, we’re seeking a bigger place to rent that we can have throughout the week. Will you help us pray?

Thank you for the role you play in making all of this possible.
God bless you richly for your faithful support and prayers!

Euro Youth Convention, Melun, Chadwick King.

For more information on “our missionaries” you can click here.
Want to support “our missionaries” ? Click the “Support Us” link on this page.

I Wonder…

November 29, 2014 By in Blog Tags: , Leave a comment

After a productive couple of days, I found myself – yesterday – sitting alone in the office for a few moments.  The white-noise machine was humming and there was nothing else but the rhythm of my pulse ringing in my ears and the clicking of the keyboard beneath my fingertips… the steady staccato interrupted periodically by the need to backspace or select & delete to correct an error or a misprint.

Many tasks had been scratched off of that day’s to-do list and as for the greater list… the one that’s still looming, well… there’s still work to be done. But for a few moments, the weight of that list was offset by the thoughts… the hopes… the dreams… the promises of what will begin two months from now.

I wonder…

  • Châtellerault, by Night, kiosque à musiqueI wonder what it will feel like when the plane touches down at Charles-de-Gaulle, knowing it’s not for a 2-week stay.
  • I wonder what it will feel like when the car exits the highway into Châtellerault for that first time.
  • I wonder what it will feel like to take an early morning walk down by the Vienne River, breathe in the musky air as the current ripples and bubbles its way downstream and pray over the city that God has called us to…
  • … to greet the boulanger (baker) or the caissière (sales clerk) at our local grocery store for the “Nth” time… to get to know their name and to somehow be both an example and conduit of God’s love.

I know that I have the opportunity to do that in the city where I live now, and I do. But this is my hometown. I didn’t choose it… I chose to stay. Our family will be in Châtellerault, not “by default” but by choice… God’s choice and our agreement with that choice.

(btw… that bandstand photo, that’s part of our city, Châtellerault… by night. Isn’t it beautiful!?)

…and I wonder!

I wonder… and I wonder. Oh the two words look the same, but put together in that short sentence, they don’t mean the same thing.

  • I wonder = I try to guess, to imagine… to conceive in my mind what it will be like.
  • …and I wonder = I’m a bit… no, let’s face it, a lot in awe of what we’re on the brink of. To think… that we get to be part of God’s great Kingdom and secondly, that we get to play such a part in it, through our involvement in Short-Term Missions… and I say like the Psalmist:

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him?“
Psalm 8.4

It’s like that song that Jason Crabbe sings… “Who Am I?”

.

Enjoy your day today.

Whoever you are and wherever you are reading me from … know that you are important enough for a “King to come and die for.”  For that very reason… be conscious – today – of what you do by default and what you do by choice for they are not the same, nor do they produce the same result.

You are too important to simply live by default.
Live by choice. Lead.

 

 

Timeline of The Call

October 18, 2014 By in Blog, Process Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Here is a look at the timeline detailing how God connected us to French-speaking Europe and eventually western France in particular… over time.
“He who began a good work is faithful to complete it!”
Philippians 1.6

 

Timeline (web)

 

 

What do you think?

Can you see the hand of the Lord at work, leading, guiding and preparing things in advance… leading us, over time, into the center of His will for our family?

If so, we are still in need of financial partners whose gifts will enable us to advance the Kingdom of Christ in the city of Châtellerault. Would you consider partnering with us?  Click here for a Partner Form and instructions on how to go about supporting our family.

Thank you for your prayers… by them, you too are par of #Revival_inFrance!

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

 

 

Atlantic District Connection

August 16, 2014 By in Blog, Process Tags: , , Leave a comment

Long before we ever had any inkling about God’s plan for us in France, there was already a connection between the city of Châtellerault and my home province of New Brunswick. It caught me by surprise back in June 2009 and I thought I’d share it with you today.

Twinning – Bouctouche, NB

“Twinning” (“Jumelage” in French) is primarily a social agreement between cities, towns, regions, villages, etc., for the purpose of promoting cultural and sometimes economic ties. It is extremely common in Europe but, in my experience, less so in North America.

photo

Back in 1984, however, a relationship was born between the city of Châtellerault (France) and the municipalities of Bouctouche and St. Antoine (New Brunswick, Canada).  The formal language defining this relationship refers to a pacte d’amitié (a pact of friendship).

Back in 2010, when Bouctouche was celebrating it’s 225th anniversary, Mr. Jean-Claude GAILLARD, a Châtellerault municipal counselor with responsibilities for international relations, was appointed to represent the French city at festivities in the Kent County towns.

La Ferme Acadienne… near Châtellerault

archignyThe link between Châtellerault and the Acadians of Kent County is not just a new thing though.  After the expulsion, many of them returned to France and settled in the area surrounding Châtellerault, where they were granted land to cultivate. It wasn’t the best land, and was quite wet, but early settlers dug ditches which allowed for drainage and gradually eeked out a living for themselves. Some 58 houses were originally built and a couple of them remain today to form what is called “La Ferme Acadienne” (watch a short presentation of it here or read a bit about it here).

So yes… the Acadian flag flies proudly, just outside of Châtellerault.

Memories

Bouctouche and St. Antoine were very familiar to me since my grandparents lived there in the early 1990’s and my parents moved there in the early 2000’s and we were out for a stroll in Bouctouche back in 2009, when I made the discovery.

Sitting on a small park at the end of the main bridge coming into downtown sits not much more than a parking area with a lovely closed-in gazebo (see photo) along with a rose-lined stairway leading down to water access; on the roof of the gazebo, the sign announcing that this, is “Place Châtellerault”. Today, it’s a spot for locals to come and shoot the breeze, discussing a bit of this and that, but the park also sits roughly where once stood the Irving Department Store.

For those familiar with the virtual Irving Empire in New Brunswick… there was once a little department store of typical 1970’s fare; one big open space with long lines of metal shelving just tall enough that a 7-10 year-old could barely see over them. What do I remember most? …the assembled seashell and tiny lobster-trap souvenirs, typical of most seaside communities of the day. Horribly tacky by 2014 standards, but “the coolest thing ever” for a young boy in the 70’s!

Connection

Why do I share this bit about the twinning of these three municipalities?
The Lord is subtle and does all things well.

Remember that although I’d been to Châtellerault as early as 2004 (in the context of graduate studies), it was in July of 2009 that I would go back there, for the first time, to teach in the Bible School.  I discovered this just one month earlier, in June of 2009.

We were so far from France, yet here was a bit of Châtellerault staring me right in the face. It was familiar. It was a warm reminder which brought back memories of my time there in the previous years… to some extent, it was like getting a hug from an old friend.

Connection.

Châtellerault is only twinned with 7 communities around the world (no others in North America) and one of them was right in my backyard, so to speak: here in little old New Brunswick, there was a connection to this city in France that I would one day inhabit and carry a burden for, although I didn’t know it in 2009.

It’s one of those things which, at the time didn’t mean a great deal, but, as I look back, is just one more link in the long chain of events that have brought us to this point.

Thank you

Thank you for keeping aware of what the Lord is doing.
Let this knowledge feed your prayers!

From our #AIMKid Sophie

July 26, 2014 By in Churches, Places Tags: , , , 7 Comments

As part of her schooling, Sophie did a written report summarizing her time in France between June 30 and July 10th… we offer it up to you as today’s post on AIMLong.ca.  Enjoy!

In Her own Words…

Hi my name is Sophie, and this year I was privileged to go on the mission trip to France. I was one of the 13 people who went, and my friend Maggie & I were the youngest ones on the trip. picstitchWhile over there we were involved in three places, Châtellerault (Western France), Bordeaux (the Southwest) and Melun
(the headquarters church).

Our first stop was Châtellerault, where we spent three days in the city, prayer walking and holding services. Châtellerault is a church of 20 some people and is also the church we will be stationed at as replacement for the Brochu’s while they are on deputation. During the time we were in Châtellerault a lady came with her friend and we got news that she has continued to come. So the first experience in the city was cool for me, to be able to see the church, meet some of the people, and just get used to the place.

Next was Bordeaux, we spent one and a half days there, and that’s where we did an all-youth service with the youth of Bordeaux on a Saturday night. That night was the day I chose to give my testimony (that was also the night where my head decided to have a migraine it was gone within a couple hours so it was all good). After service the youth took us walking downtown to see some sights and also to go eat. After having a nice meal we started to head back and before we got to the tram, one of the young people from picstitchChâtellerault noticed we had a little problem; we now had one less person. Our friend Nick Cannon had bent down to tie his shoe, saying he’d catch up but had totally lost sight of us. No worries, he was found in about 10 minutes. Once we got to our destination, via tram, we had a five minute walk back to the hotel, and it started to downpour. We got to the hotel wet and tired, but we dried off and had a good night sleep.

We woke up the next morning got ready for church. As soon as the service was over we took pictures with the youth of the church, and headed out to eat. After we finished, we hit the road because we had six hours of driving to get to Melun. The drive was long but with my friends and some hilarious people in the car it made it feel a lot shorter.

The next morning we were going to the headquarters church in Melun (Bro. Nowacki’s church). There we met with the young people for an hour-long prayer meeting to help us prepare for the day. In that prayer meeting a boy from the youth was filled with the Holy Ghost. After praying we went upstairs for some breakfast where we mingled with the youth and got to know some. They brought us outside where they created teams for evangelizing. We handed out invitations to the church, then we went to a square were we sang like a choir. It was really fun too do. Since it was lunch time they took us to a park where we had a BBQ and just had a lot of fun. picstitchThat night we had a service where there was another young person that was filled with the Holy Ghost.

The last day of the trip was dedicated to sightseeing in Paris. It was a rather foggy day but we made the best of it since we were in Paris. We saw a lot of sights and then we headed to the Eiffel Tower. It started raining… then it rained harder. Thank goodness we had ponchos and umbrellas, but our feet were still uncovered. Well, we went to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and it was nice, for a few minutes, then we were all begging to get down. We had finished that day and now we had to get ready to leave. We got all packed and ready, set our alarms, and slept.

And of all the times for our alarms not to work they decided to not work the day we had to leave. We were scheduled to leave at 8:45 A.M. and our alarms went off at 8:00 A.M. we jumped out of bed, threw the last things in our suitcases and got dressed… all in 45 minutes, which we were proud of.

This trip meant a lot to me. For one thing my family will be moving there in the new year and being there in the church that we will occupy, and meeting people that we will see a lot more, just prepares me, I guess, for when I’m over there.

“I hope to make a difference and help with the growth of the church.
I’m not just going to maintain, but I’m going to see growth.”

Your turn…

What do you think of what Sophie had to say. Want to give her a “shout-out” or a “Kudos”? Leave a comment below… she’ll see every one.

Thanks for encouraging (and praying for) our AIMKids!