Tag Archives: French Evangelism

Seeing & Hearing

March 28, 2015 By in Blog, Events Tags: , Leave a comment

Hi folks… a happy Saturday to you!  Whether you’re curled up with your hands wrapped around a warm cup of coffee or reading this on the go via mobile, thanks for stopping by again today!

Final move… (for now)

La Grande Bruyère, ChâtelleraultThis week we moved from our temporary accommodations into Bro. & Sis. Brochu’s house, where we will be for a good while as they travel on deputation in North America.

The “house” feels a bit more like a “home” particularly because it’s more furnished, but also because we are once again connected to the WWW (disconnection has been a mixed blessing – but the kids have been doing the “happy dance” since our arrival).

You can see from the bottom pic that it’s already nice enough to put out flower boxes (the gardener in me has been doing the “happy dance” over THIS… gardening weather!) and in fact the ceremonial first time ’round with the lawn mower will likely be this week.

On moving day, Liz was obliged to take to the driver’s seat so that I could drive the moving van. She’s been hesitant to do that up to this point (the first time is always the hardest). Although she grew up in Europe and drove a standard here this summer, she’s been a bit hesitant. Drivers here are pretty aggressive!

Sale of our House

Thank you for your prayers everyone… as of yesterday afternoon, our house was no longer our house. The sale closed and we no longer have to worry about ensuring that what seem like weekly monster-blizzards are cleaned out… Those mountains of snow are now someone else’s responsibility.

It does feel a little strange though… that’s the neighbourhood we’ve lived in for the past 17 years and when we return from AIM, we’ll not be returning “home” per sé. It’ll be strange.

National Sunday School Seminar

For those of you reading this on Saturday, you will no doubt be reading this as Sophie and I attend the National Sunday School Seminar, held at Bro. Nowacki’s church in Melun, along with one of our Bible School Students, Pierre. The guest speaker is Sis. Vickie Oliver, a veteran children’s evangelist from Columbus, OH. She has written a book, available from Pentecostal Publishing House entitled: Birthing your Burden in Children’s Ministry.

Liz could not come because there wasn’t room for all of us + Bro. Pierre in the car so she is home with the boys and Soph & I are on a mission with our good brother.  We drove 3.5 hours up last night and will head back as soon as the seminar is over so that we’re home and in good shape for church tomorrow.

Ever-seeing…

I’ll leave you with this today…  Liz & I found the following while on a recent visit to a 15th church in Châtellerault… it is on the sacrament of Baptism: I’ll translate for non French-speakers… Catholic_Baptism

“In this world of ours, so beautiful yet so disquieted by evil, there is, for the believer another world besides ours.

At the heart of our search, we discover that the Kingdom is within us. We cannot, by ourselves, enter this world of diving love unless we receive from the Lord the possibility to do so.

We accomplish this step by joining ourselves to Christ by the sacrament of baptism. Before preaching the gospel, Jesus was plunged into the Jordan River – symbolizing our purification and our death to sin and pride which turn us away from the Light.

Having chased away this darkness, our spirit is inhabited by the Holy Spirit, in other words, by God Himself.“

…and hearing not

Reading that poster above made us think of the what Jesus said in Matthew 13… Himself reaching back to what Isaiah said in chapter 6 of his book: “Seeing, they see not and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand… for their hearing has grown dull and their heart over-full.” 

It’s surprising, really… with the exception of a few words here and there… this could be something that you’d see or hear taught in Oneness Pentecostal churches… “Our spirit is inhabited by the Holy Spirit, in other words, by God Himself.”

Someone sees folks… at least someone saw enough to write what they wrote, using the words that they did. But somehow, at the same time… they didn’t see completely.

We are indeed buried with Christ in baptism… it’s more than just the public expression of a private decision; yet… just as Jesus was plunged into the Jordan River, we must be BURIED… plunged beneath the water as well.  God Himself will inhabit us… but it is not automatic at baptism. I’m so glad for the infilling of the Holy Ghost!  God still does it just the way he did in the book of Acts… it never gets old!

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses (Acts 1.8) ….and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2.4)”

God is leading people – right in Châtellerault – and we are glad to be part of it… we’re glad YOU’RE part of it – Thank you!

In a couple of weeks I’ll share with you the incredible story of Sébastien…
Have an awesome day! The Lord is with you!

New, Bizarre & Everyday…

March 14, 2015 By in Events, Places Tags: , , , 7 Comments

If it weren’t for “the bad” in “the good, the bad & the ugly,” I suppose I could’ve used that as a title for today’s post – there’s lots of good and a little bit of ugly, but no bad – instead, let me just use… The New, the Bizarre & the Everyday as a way to order my thoughts.

The Bizarre

IMG_8139I’ll start with the bizarre because I promised it two weeks ago and failed to deliver.

I’ve shared a number of pictures with you, showcasing the beauty of Châtellerault, but there is something that still makes my skin crawl a bit every time I drive by it (at least every other day): “la main jaune” (the yellow hand).

Smack dab in the middle of one of the busiest traffic circles in the entire city, it is the first thing that visitors & residents see when they exit the Paris-Bordeaux highway, coming into Châtellerault.

At 24m (72′) high and 20 tonnes, it’s a giant forearm supporting a hand, in which sits a huge black egg. Descending the arm and continuing behind the sculpture (barely visible) are 7 famous cars (incl. a 2CV, Fiat 500, a VW Beetle, etc.) also painted black.  …Makes me think of giant black ants crawling down my arm when I see it… Oh yes, and they’re like ghost ants because at night, the car lights are on. WEIRD! 

It supposedly represents the valiant nature of the community and the past connection to the automotive industry… a resilient people who will rise up out of the rubble of the past. I, however, just see ants on arm.

This sculpture is visible from our church property and the one redeeming factor is this:  from the angle at which it is seen from church, neither the cars nor the egg are visible and it would remind you of a hand raised in surrender and worship to God – the only one who is worthy of our praise and adoration.    May that be the case for many in our city and beyond in Western France!

The New

Subway, sandwich shop, Châtellerault1. Châtellerault just got its very own Subway & we ate there this past Sunday. The French have heard about it and/or tasted it elsewhere and are very excited to have one in their own backyard, so to speak. The kids were glad to find a familiar taste of home as well.  Still… at about $45 for 5 people (that’s with no cookies or chips)… it’s a treat & won’t be a regular thing.

Happy Birthday Balloons, craquant abricot, auchan2. Liz has begun a new year… #41 to be exact (honey… don’t hang me out to dry for sharing this…. but the smart ones would’ve figured it out anyway from the numbers on the cake!  🙂 .  She was saluted with 41 balloons and presented with a challenge… burst them all in less than 30 seconds and she would get the second part of her gift (she managed).  We got an apricot mousse cake with some café éclairs to go with our coffee. God bless the baker at Auchan!  Thank you too, to the many who have sent cards, emails, texts, Facebook messages, etc.!

3. This one is a bit more difficult to define I think… something else is new to us.  We are accustomed to be in a large church setting where a good portion of our involvement is in managing… events, tasks, structure, etc. and much of our time is taken up with that. There are 275-300 people who invite others to church, share their faith, etc. We spend a great deal of time preparing the church and the church body to receive those guests that come, make them feel welcome, etc.  Working in what I’ll call a “home missions environment” is new to us.

I found myself asking God this week… “God, how do we share our faith in a city where, outside of the people in our little church, we know very few?  How to we do it? How do we find people interested in a home Bible study, etc.?”  The question was not asked out of discouragement… not at all, but out of an eager desire to know how to grow and move forward in a new reality.  (Incidentally… I was encouraged by an article written by Kent Carter that will appear in March’s Pentecostal Messenger – “How Church Planting Saved my Life.” For those of you in the Atlantic District… I highly recommend the read!).

Pray that God helps us to do great things in the new as we rely on Him.

The Everyday

mini oven, new way of cookingI suppose that the lines are really blurred in this last section because it bridges both the new and the everyday.

One of the things that Liz has had to get used to is life without a microwave oven: How do you do all those quick little heat-ups without a micro-wave?

  • those 2-3 last portions of yesterday’s leftovers that will become today’s snack.
  • that mug of milk for hot chocolate
  • the small pitcher of milk to froth and put in coffee

The other thing that we don’t have yet is a full-sized oven. We will have one in two weeks (as well as a micro-wave) when we move into the Brochu’s home, but for the time being we’ve been using this neat little counter-top convection oven (purchased for us using a gift from the U.P.C. of Bordeaux, France – “shout out” to Pastor & Sis. Paul & Melissa Majdling – THANK YOU!!)…. btw, if you haven’t seen their video promoting the upcoming Pentecost Sunday Convention… take 2:10 to watch it… VERY well done!

Very excited to be there in just a few weeks. Derald Weber (Lafayette, Lousiana) will be guest speaker.

Prayer

  • I’m teaching at Bible School today – likely as some of you are reading this.
  • Tomorrow is Bro. & Sis. Brochu’s last Sunday service in Châtellerault.
  • Pray that we excel in the new… for God’s glory.

Summing it up

Getting us out of our comfort zone is causing us to rely on the Lord to a greater degree than we would normally have back home. The exciting thing is… God has an incredible track record of doing “exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever ask or think…” when we put our trust in Him.

Here’s to more hands reaching to the sky in Western France!

God bless you today!

AIMKids MM9 – Big-Little Country

February 18, 2015 By in AIMKids Missionary Moments Tags: , Leave a comment

AIMKids Missionary Moments are designed to be a resource for Sunday School Teachers / Youth leaders, to help kids relate to the life of an MK (Missionary Kid). They’re intentionally short because we know you already have a lot of material to cover.

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Everything in one “little” country

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Most of us in North America would consider France to be a very small country size-wise. In fact, Texas is 1.26 times the size of France. Yes… you heard correctly, this country is smaller than the state of Texas.  For those of us in Canada, it might be better to say that the province of Quebec is roughly 3x the size of France.  So for us then, it’s considered a small country although in Europe, it is one of the largest.

One of the nice things about France though, is that, for such a “small” country, it has a very diverse landscape and climate.

  1. AIMLong.caAlong the southern coast (the Côte d’Azur) it is sunny and warm all the time… like Florida or California.
  2. In the south-eastern part of the country are the French Alps, rugged mountains that are great for skiing… like the Rockies in Colorado or Alberta… where you can get snow and very cool temperatures.
  3. In parts of central France and to the north there is incredibly rich farm land where much corn, wheat and sunflowers are produced, similar to the Canadian plains or the American mid-west.
  4. Along the north-western coast (Normandy), the coastline is similar to what you might find in the State of Maine or Atlantic Canada.
  5. In other parts of central France you can find lower, rolling mountains like those in the Appalachian mountains of the eastern US and up into Quebec.

All of that variety in a “small” country… it’s pretty incredible really.

For us in North America it’s hard to imagine isn’t it?
Yet it’s all there… just the way God created it.
– If you like tropical beaches… they’re there.
– If you like mountains… they’re there.
– If you like empty plains or big cities… they’re there.

Everyone can find something that they like in France.

You know that God wants each one of us to be just like France in a certain way. Listen to what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:20-22:

20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak…
I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

That is Jesus’ top priority… that we would teach someone to know Him.

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Prayer Focus:

Pray that we (you in your church and us in France) become a little bit more like the country of France:

  • That everyone we come in contact with might find something in us that will make them think more about God than they did before they met us.
  • That we might become like Paul… we can be kind to everyone, whether they’re like us or not, so that they will want to know Jesus.

 

  • If your students have specific questions, please don’t hesitate to email us and we’d be happy to respond specifically.
  • Please let your kids know that by praying for us regularly, THEY TOO are part of taking Jesus’ love to France… they’re part of missions!

Note: The maps graphics are from the site OverlapMaps.com

French Evangelism Conference 2014

November 19, 2014 By in Blog, Events Tags: , 2 Comments

A weekend in “The Word” is what we had in the city of Montreal!  For that was the theme of the 2014 French Evangelism Conference (FEC) at the Église Pentecôtiste Unie de Saint-Laurent, pastored by Rev. Dieudonné Kahozi, under the oversight of Bishop Rev. Paul Graham.

Guest Speakers

Services began Thursday and ran until end-of-day Sunday. We were privileged to rub shoulders with fellow guest-speakers:

Justin MacKenzie, OneHalifax.com, Rev. David Sagil, UPCI Ministry of Jewish Relations, Valérie Agba, Arras, Dieudonné Kahozi, UPC Saint-Laurent

  • Rev. Justin MacKenzie
    (Lead Pastor of One Church in Halifax, NS)
  • Rev. Valérie Agba
    (Pastor of UPC Arras, France)
  • Rev. David Sagil
    (Pastor of New Hope Temple, Chicago, IL and North American Director for the UPC’s Ministry of Jewish Relations) and
  • Rev. Dieudonné Kahozi
    (Host Pastor)

This was the first time I’d heard Bro. Agba and Bro. MacKenzie minister (although I’ve known of both for quite some time).  Bro. MacKenzie was the youngest of the group, but I can tell you my esteem for him increased yet more: What a profound young minister!

Rev. David Sagil, UPCI Minsitry of Jewish Relations It was the second time that I’d heard Bro. Sagil minister and as I said to a couple… it was like trying to eat a steak with no bone, fat or gristle…. 100% pure meat!  Incredible. So appreciative to spend time with such high calibre men.

As for Bro. Kahozi… there’s no question. Friends for a long time, he is doing an incredible job there in Montreal. There were 534 in service on the Saturday night service. A record for any French meeting in North America. God is raising up a French church in that city!  All in all… 28 people were filled with the Holy Ghost and 18 were baptized in Jesus’ name.  AWESOME!!

Surprise Offering

Our kids are homeschooled using the DVD curriculum from Abeka Academy  requires that they use a laptop computer. The ones that they’ve been using are roughly 8-10 years old and just before we left for conference, one gave up the ghost completely. Hoping to buy a new one before leaving for France, the handknit scarveskids were selling scarves that they’d knitted a while back (they probably sold $200 worth this weekend alone).

Bro. Kahozi indicated that Friday night he’d do a promo of the scarf table to let people know what it was for. In addition to doing that however, he took up an offering solely for the kids’ computer need. Over $1,700 was collected and we will easily be able to replace both of the old laptops. Thank you Pastor Kahozi… what a blessing!

Church Growth: a daughter work

Meubles Hochalaga, Église Pentecôtiste Unie de Montréal Est, 8729 Hochelaga MontrealSunday morning we attended one of Saint-Laurent’s daughter works… Église Pentecôtiste Unie de Montréal Est. I’d been there several times but it was a first for Liz and the kids.

They meet in the old Meubles Hochelaga building: nicely done inside, but they have yet to change the signage. It’s a young church with young teenagers playing music and twenty-somethings doing just about everything else. That morning 2 young people were filled with the Holy Ghost for the first time – after having attended for only about 3 weeks.

New European Citizens

IMG_5832Our main task for Monday was to visit Montreal’s Italian Consulate to get the kids’ passports.

Oh they do have Canadian passports already, but because Liz is an Italian citizen by birth and since, upon their births, the kids were registered at the consulate; obtaining Italian passports is simply a question of paperwork, which Liz had done in advance. We only had to show up with photos, sign some “autographs” and wait. In fact we were in and out in less than an hour… passports in hand.

Then, we celebrated with chocolate covered waffles at Suite 88 Chocolatier on de Maisonneuve. o. my. goodness.

Back to work

As I write this… my head is still somewhat in the cloud given that we spent just over 10hrs on the road, driving back. Just under two months to go and there’s still a lot to prepare. We appreciate your prayers for the sale of the house – and other preparations.

We’re excited about what God is going to do!

 

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!

The Dynamics of Soulwinning

October 15, 2014 By in Blog, Events Tags: , , Leave a comment

This is the second workshop from General Conference that I’m going to highlight. I’m not presenting them in the order that we attended them necessarily… pretty much just a random order. My eyes landed on the notes for this one… and it’s a good one!

Rev. Eli Lopez

UPCIGC14 welcome

The first thing you need to know about this particular session is that it was pretty much  standing room only!  We met someone we knew outside the room and when we asked them if they were just arriving or leaving, they answered that they were just arriving and wanted to enter, but that people were lining the walls. We walked in anyway and a family with a couple of small children got them to move so that Liz & I could have a seat. YES… First victory!  (although, you’ll note that I was unable to get a decent photo of the speaker… we were further back than my iPhone could handle)

The second thing that you need to know is who the facilitator was… Bro. Eli Lopez, Director of Ministries and Senior Associate Pastor at Stockton California’s Christian Life Center. He’s got an impressive C.V. and has a great deal of responsibility in this incredible church for such a young man. Definitely Kudos!

Now for some of the highlights:

3 Battles of a Soulwinner

  1. Complacency: It takes effort to overcome complacency, for it is much easier to do what we’ve always done rather than trying something new.  …to stay with those we know rather than get to know someone new.  Yet the gospel is not just for us:  “Jesus is the propitiation for our sins… and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”  1 John 2.2
  2. Selfishness: Things will really begin to change and growth will be visible when we get to the point of thinking about others more than we think about ourselves.  It’s not about our comfort, but about their eternal life…
  3. Weariness: Remember… “We will reap, if we faint not!”  Galatians 6.9

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3 Things to overcome those Battles

  1. The Power of Purpose: Truly understanding our purpose will help us overcome complacency, selfishness and weariness… “The motivation that took Jesus to the cross will take us to the lost.”  Jesus didn’t consider the harvest a future event, but rather a present and a pressing need!
  2. The Power of Prayer: Matthew 9.35 relates a prayer request that Jesus made to his disciples: “Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest sends our workers into the harvest.”  If Jesus’ identity, as the Lord of the Harvest, was wrapped up in the harvest, then shouldn’t we, as his followers be likewise?  As they began to pray about the harvest, they began to take on responsibility for it… after that, Jesus sent them out into the same harvest that they’d been praying for!  Who better to go but them that have taken on responsibility in prayer?
  3. The Power of the Personal: Statistics vary in different parts of the country, but there’s no disputing that a significant factor in people coming to church remains that of personal contact. We can be active (going toward them) or passive (waiting for them to come to us)… intuitively we all know which one is better.  We are commanded to “GO and make disciples…” Give them a compelling reason why they should want to come to church!

“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you…
and ye shall be witnesses unto me…”
Acts 1.8

Thank you Bro. Lopez!  Really a great seminar!

Upcoming Posts…

  • Saturday – An info-graph showing the growth our relationship with, and the call to, western France.
  • Next Wednesday – Highlights from General Conference Workshop #3

Prayer

  1. Pray that God helps us, through his power, to grow as soulwinners while in France.
  2. We’ve begun the process of applying for our visa from France… (Passport renewal done this week) and we’ll have to visit the French Consulate in Montreal in the coming weeks. Pray that each step in the process goes smoothly and that we find favour among men & women.

 

Here’s to #Revival_inFrance

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.

#MPTeamFrance 3

July 9, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

in the Homestretch…

France composite pic 3Yes… we’re still in France, and yes… we still have Nick Cannon with us (He may just make it home Tanya & Jason!).

Over the past few days we’ve covered a great deal of territory and witnessed some pretty incredible things!

After saying good bye to the Brochus in Châtellerault, and in Bordeaux, we got to spend a few short hours with Pastor & Mrs. Paul Majdling, while our young people had a service with the youth of their church. We got to meet and hear an incredible testimony by one of the young men in that church before singing, testifying and bringing a message from God’s word.

After church, we headed back to Bro. Nowacki’s church in Melun (roughly a 6+ hour drive from Bordeaux). We arrived rather late and readied ourselves for a full day Monday:

  • Prayer meeting at 8:00am (one of the local young people was filled with the Holy Ghost in that prayer meeting).
  • Breakfast all together at 9:00
  • Downtown to hand out invitations for church from about 10-11:30am
  • Back to the church & then to the Bois de Bréviande for a BBQ lunch
  • Youth service at 8:00pm (another local young person was filled with the Holy Ghost in this meeting… incredible!!)

After a busy few days, Tuesday was a “sleep-in-a-little-later” kind of morning followed by a visit to the UNESCO designated “World Heritage Site”, the medieval city of Provins where the ramparts date back to the 11th & 12th centuries.  This was the first real rain that we had all week, and did it rain!  Later that evening we attended the mid-week Bible Study at the church in Melun with Bro. Nowacki. (to the right you can see our young people mixed in with the young people from Melun).

Today… Paris!

France composite Broch-Majd

Liz & I with the Majdlings (top). Shown with the Brochus (bottom), standing in a field of ripened wheat… with Châtellerault in the background.

As you are reading this, we are SOME-where trekking through the city of Paris. The team is, of course, very excited to see this incredible city!! We got on a bus at 8:30 to take us to the local train station where we caught one of the RER trains that whisked us in to the Gare de Lyon.  From there we begin to tackle the city one attraction at a time!

Ka-BOOM…. Paris!

Since we will end our time in France in the capital, you can be assured of one thing… by the time we hit the airport tomorrow, we will be completely wrung out!! To all family members reading this… please have nice comfy beds ready to receive some very tired bodies!!  🙂

Overall it will be a “good tired” though…. our hearts are full!
Thank you LORD for all the good things you’ve done during these days!!

#MPTeamFrance 2

July 5, 2014 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , Leave a comment

5 days in…

Châtellerault's City Hall

Châtellerault’s City Hall

On Thursday, I had just left you off as we began our first day of active ministry out and about in Châtellerault.

We had devotionals at church in the morning followed by some instruction on how we would go about our prayer walk… this instruction would apply to both days – Thursday and Friday.

Rather than focusing on the negative and stirring up trouble in the Spiritual realm, we simply prayed that God’s light would spread throughout the city and the region. By necessity, when light enters a room… darkness is banished… so it is on a  spiritual level… the light of Christ pushes back any form of darkness. That was our prayer.

On Thursday, we split up into three teams and went to different areas of the city. Friday’s time of prayer walking focused on the downtown core… including in front of City Hall and (pictured below) in front of a monument dedicated to the glory of the French Revolution… a pivotal moment in French History, which provoked a great shift in attitudes toward God and the Church.

During Thursday’s service, Bro. Ryan Shephard brought the message and his wife Trisha shared a testimony.

Friday

France composite pic 2While going through the city, we stopped to take a picture of the team in front of the Henri IV bridge, built in 1564. During WWII the German army had wired it with explosives in an attempt to completely destroy it and prevent American tanks from crossing the river. A German-speaking Frenchman pleaded with and was able to convince the soldiers to disobey that order, thereby saving the bridge… which is to Châtellerault what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris – an irreplaceable and  immediately identifiable municipal landmark.

After Friday’s prayer walk, we had a BBQ at the church with members of the family of God… where the girls got to do something so typically French…. (apparently) … walk around with a bouquet of flowers and a baguette (French Bread) in hand.

*Inside joke alert*
This is something that they’d seen the previous day (which was market day)… a lady walking down the street with a fresh bouquet of flowers and a baguette under the other arm.

Following our BBQ lunch, part of our team spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the Sunday School room in preparation for the new Sunday School year which will begin in August. What a HUGE help they were!  In this way, our time here will be remembered and appreciated each Sunday morning for many weeks & months to come!

To God be the Glory!

In service last night (our final service), a first-time visitor (who’d been visibly moved upon on Thursday) had returned for the second time. Praise the Lord!  She will be moving to an adjacent village at the end of August, but has already left open the possibility of Liz & I coming to visit her upon our return in January. Pray with us for this open door!

Today… Bordeaux!

This morning, we will leave Châtellerault and proceed to the city of Bordeaux where our youth will minister to and have service with the young people of this church.

As always… thank you for following our activities in, and in preparation for, France. Let these updates inform your time of prayer with the Lord.  God bless you today!