Tag Archives: Paris

Visit from Home

August 15, 2015 By in People, Places Tags: , , 1 Comment

The population of Châtellerault grew by “1” this week… and her name is Miranda Carter!  She came to us from back home in Saint John, New Brunswick… where her dad is our pastor.

Father-Daughter road trip

Miranda flew into Paris on Tuesday but since our car isn’t big enough for 6 people, Liz stayed home with the boys. Since the flight wouldn’t arrive until late afternoon, Soph & I took advantage of the opportunity to spend time together in one of the greatest cities in the world.

father daughter date, Paris, father daughter, lemon shakers, lemonadeFirst stop… “Forever 21” a clothing shop she knew of on Rue de Rivoli… where she eventually scored a few deals. One of the biggest treats that we walked out with though, was the company of two friends – Angela (from Melun) and Melanie (from Bordeaux) – who just “happened” to be in the same store. (What do you suppose the chances are of just randomly running into someone you know in a city like Paris?)

We went for a Starbucks together before continuing our father-daughter date… during which we got some Lemon Shakers fresh lemonade (a must-try!) and a quick stop by the Eiffel Tower before heading…

…to the Airport! 

After a series of delays, Miranda touched down shortly after 5pm. What a trooper… travelling with only a carry-on sized suitcase & backpack (for a 2wk stay!)… THIS is a seasoned traveller! She learned well when she took part in the trip to France last summer.

We headed back downtown for a bite to eat and managed to get a quick bite to eat. It turned out to be McDonalds, but to redeem the “non-Frenchness” of it, we took it to the Tuilleries Gardens to eat… (see photo above).

Paris… by car!

Rue de Rivoli, Driving in Paris, vacation, empty streetsOne of the things that was pretty cool (besides spending the day with Soph) was that I actually drove right into downtown Paris & out to the airport. Here are a couple of pics of rue de Rivoli: on the left side, you can see the Louvre museum.

Normally I wouldn’t attempt to drive downtown, but during the month of August, most parisians are away on vacation so the streets are pretty empty (as you can see).

Friends

keyboard, mentoring, mentor, miranda carter, Châtellerault

Wednesday night was Miranda’s first service & afterward she & Soph fiddled with different songs on the piano.

It was a great Bible Study followed by a really great time of prayer. Afterwards, folks were just content to stick around and chat for a while. It was nice to see the 3-4 different pockets of interaction happening. Thank you Lord!

Remainder of the week

  • Thursday was “Hedge Day“… where we trimmed the hedge at the Brochu’s house. It’s a good 1/2-day job but the kids aren’t always enthused about having to bag up the trimmings for disposal. I get it… I do, but working together it went quickly.
  • 4 mornings this week I’ve been involved in English Tutoring for the young man who rented our first house here, after we moved out. He starts a new job soon and, although his English is strong, wanted to bone up on it. That will go next week as well. Praying that this time together will benefit the Kingdom of God.

Thank you…

… for your continued support. Let what you read here inform your prayers for us and for France.

 

Luxury Restrooms???

August 1, 2015 By in Blog, People, Places Tags: , , 2 Comments

Any of you who are connected to us on Facebook or Instagram will already be aware that Liz & I celebrated our anniversary this week. That was, without question, the highlight of our week…. even moreso than realizing that we have now been in France for a full 6 months!  Where does the time go?

Angles-sur-l’Anglin

Angle-sur-l'Anglin, Crêperie d'Angles, Anniversary, anniversaire de mariage

We knew that our anniversary would fall on the Sunday, so on Saturday evening I’d planned a little surprise for Liz.

That morning I drove out to Angles-sur-l’Anglin with some flowers, a candle and a card. The restaurant would then do the rest. I came back home, got cleaned up and then together, we went  out to spend the afternoon discovering a truly lovely little French provincial town.

When we arrived at the restaurant, at 7:00pm, there was no question which table was reserved for us. Not only did they set out the flowers & fixin’s, but they’d added a table-cloth & fancy napkins. We sat beneath thick, leafy trees on the tiny public square in the middle of town. At least twenty other small bistro tables around us, but ours was the only one “dressed for the occasion”.

We spent the next 3-hours… yes, three, having a simple & leisurely dinner at a little crêperie (la Crêperie d’Angles) so the fare was light… but also laid back. It’s actually pretty rare that Liz & I have a chance to be alone so this was a treat.

Proverbs 31

A major part of Proverbs 31 is dedicated to describing the virtuous woman. Verse 28 says specifically (in response to all that she is and does) that “her husband rises up and praises her”.   It was a chance to, privately, recognize the value that she brings to my life. Her strength is incredible – although she likely wouldn’t say that. She is an incredible lady and contributes greatly to the ministry here in France.

Team Spirit

Something else that doesn’t happen all that often is a chance to meet with the other missionaries on the field.  Given that Pastor Nowacki would be leaving to head back to Canada during the week, we pulled together a last-minute meal on Sunday evening. Liz and the kids and I drove to Melun following our morning service and got to dine with:

  • The Nowackis (founders of the modern UPCI church here in France)
  • Fellow AIMers Kevin & Crystal Wallace (Jacksonville, NC – formerly of New Brunswick: shout-out to Milleville, Fredericton & Saint John!) They will replace the Nowackis for the next 5 months.
  • Fellow AIMers Dean & Loreen Byfield (originally of the New York District and here in France). They are replacing the Brochus at the work in Paris-Centre.

(Later in the week, we also got to dine with missionaries Marcus & Renée Brainos who have just returned to France following their deputation and are settling in to start a church in the southern city of Nice.)

Paris

Paris, selfie stick, arc of triumph, arc de triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Tour EiffelMonday morning we had breakfast at the hotel with the Wallaces before heading into Paris for a quick visit to the Arch of Triumph. It’s one thing we’d not yet done and Liz’s friend Milena was still in town so we got to do it together which made it extra special.

Timo had been wanting a selfie stick and the cheapest place to get them is from street vendors, so before heading back out of town we walked to the Eiffel tower and he got himself a bright green selfie stick! We are now one of those families!

Luxury Restrooms, pointwc.com, WC de luxe, public washrooms, public restroomsWhile in Paris we also saw: Place du Canada, a boat named New Brunswick and had a chance to use “luxury washroom” just off the street in a shopping galleria.  What constitutes Luxury restrooms you ask? According to the poster…

  • Interior decorations
  • Design restroom fixtures and
  • Japanese Spa toilettes (whatever they are)

What they don’t publicize is the price. To use this restroom costs roughly $2.50 as opposed to the $1 average for public restrooms.

ummm…. our need wasn’t that pressing!
We’ll never know just how luxurious they are!

Thanks for following our adventures.
Whenever you think of us, please pray that God builds a great church in western France!

France & Luxembourg with AYC

June 27, 2015 By in Blog, Events, People, Places Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

According to “theFreeDictionary.com” the acronym AYC could stand for:

(1) At Your Convenience
(2) the Association of Yukon Communities
(3) the Austin Yacht Club or
(4) Are you confused? 

In our week, however… it has referred to Apostolic Youth Corps…
and they’ve lived up to their name!

Ministry

Melun, France, AYC, Apostolic Youth Corps, Missions Trip

The #AYCFrance team arrived last Saturday and barely did the wheels of their Delta flight touch the ground but that they were off to the races!

Day one started off with orientation at the Headquarter’s church in Melun, getting settled in to the hotel and then heading into downtown Paris for a river cruise on the Seine followed by dinner Chez Clément on the Champs Elysées… I was VERY impressed with this restaurant – fine cuisine but not at all overly formal!

The next day, Sunday, was spent back with the Nowacki’s church family where the AYCers ministered in song, testimony and through the preached word.

Pictured along with Liz & I are veteran missionaries John & Anne Nowacki, AYC chaperones Josh & Rachel Carson and Luke & Amy Levine.  By this point the team had only been together for two full days (give or take a little jetlag).  Can’t even begin to say what a great team these chaperones make… just incredible!

Luxembourg

IMG_1956

Over the next few days, the group did 3 more services in as many days, visiting Romilly-sur-Seine, Longwy and Arras, in northern France.

Along the way from Longwy to Arras, however, they had a neat opportunity to visit the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg where we handed out – in roughly 1 hour – nearly 2,000 business card invitations for church services being held weekly by AIMers Jeremy and Khrista Favors.

There was a “God-moment” when Bro. Levine met a man from Brazil in whose town he (Bro. Levine) had preached several years ago. Although they’d never met personally, the man shared that he’d been looking for some time, for a church that preached about the Holy Ghost as it was his desire to have this experience. He immediately put the man in touch with Pastor Favors who did a short Bible study with him there on the sidewalk and voilà… God opens a door for someone who is hungry.

AIMers to Luxembourg

Jeremy Favors, Khrista Favors, The Sanctuary Luxembourg, Luxembourg, AIM, UPCI

Here you can see the Favors along with Liz & I. It’s one thing to do what Liz & I are doing…. jump into a community where there is already an established work in place (with a building, a core, etc.). It’s something very different, however, to go into a completely new community and be the one to lay the foundation for a brand new church.

I admire this couple!

Prayer

Luxembourg, The Sanctuary, UPCI Church, #AYCFrance

Some of the team members, as they were handing out invitations, met Pierre a cab-driver who, when asked if there was anything in particular the team could pray for, said this…

“There’s never really been a real-led revival in Luxembourg and every day I pray that God would raise up an army of believers who would bring God to this country. Pray that God uses me, in my taxi, to be a witness for Him… for only what’s done for Christ will last.”

We prayed.

Sowing & Reaping

Within only two hours of us leaving Luxembourg, Pastor Favors texted us to let us know that he’d already had several calls from people wanting to come to church. Praise the Lord!

Normandy

WWII, Normandy, Normandie, Colleville, American Cemetery

Several in the group really wanted to visit Normandy so we did our best and managed to fit it into an already jam-packed schedule.

We visited the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, run by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Pretty incredible and very sobering to see several thousand white crosses overlooking the English Channel… either crosses or stars of David… most identified, some “known only unto God.”

Following that we dipped down to the city of Arromanches, where a Mulberry Port (artificial port) had been built to offload some 9,000 tons of weapons and supplies each day, with some days seeing as many as 18,000 tons.

Today

Today we’re accompanying the team to Disneyland Paris before spending another day tomorrow in services across greater Paris. Before we head to Disney however, I’ll be teaching a 1-hour course at the Bible School (this is going to be a very long day!).

Prayers

Today we could use your prayers for strength. It has been an awesome week, but one during which we’ve gotten little rest.

Thank you for praying for us… as you pray, you are part of the work here and our victories are YOUR victories too!

Paris and back!

May 9, 2015 By in Blog Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey there!  Good day to you… got your coffee in hand?  Want to hear about the past week?

Paris-Centre

United Pentecostal Church, Paris-Centre, UPCI FranceLast Sunday was another opportunity to train up to the capital and help out with the church in Paris-Centre.

The congregation is primarily made up of Filipino and Sri Lankan Christians and they rent a local in the south eastern part of the city. It’s a bit away from the “touristy-center” but still very much the capital.

United Pentecostal Church, Paris-Centre, UPCI FranceI preached from Joshua chapter 1 as they are a church in transition right now… in between Bro & Sis Brochu (who are on deputation) and Rev. & Mrs Dean & Loreen Byfield (AIMers who will stand in the gap until the Brochu’s return…. Incidentally, Sis. Byfield is also Bro & Sis Nowacki’s daughter). As it turns out, the guest minister who was there the previous Sunday also preached from the same chapter… I’d say that there was something that the Lord wanted the church to hear and be encouraged by.  God is good!

Another Funeral

On Tuesday I participated in the funeral of M. Henri Leday (brother of Cecile Leday, the first member of the church here).  For a number of years, M. Leday resisted the gospel and was tolerant, at best, of his sister’s faith.  With time however, the Lord softened his heart. In 2007, Sis. Cecile was admitted to hospital and ended up never coming back out prior to her death, however, the Sunday before she entered the hospital, her brother did join her for service… he never stopped for 3-4 years until his own health would no longer permit him.

He was buried from the church that his daughter attends, in a neighbouring city, but we were asked to participate in the funeral service and then to look after the graveside service as well, which did take place in Châtellerault. What an honour.

I met M. Leday back in 2009 when I was here to teach in the Bible School so he was not unfamiliar to me. I had a chance to visit him again a few weeks ago with Bro. Brochu… but his health had already declined greatly.

*thankful the Lord still softens hearts hardened by any number of things or circumstances.*

Heavy Lifting

Thursday was a very productive day in terms of just plain ol’ hard work.

I started by attempting to mow the church yard (about 1.5 acres).  The ride-on mower was out of commission so I figured I could use Bro. Brochu’s electric “yard mower” to just get a 20′ perimeter around the building and at least “take the edge off” … so it would look less like a pasture!

It was a task, to be sure, but here’s the silver lining… at one point, I saw an older gentleman across the street. I waved at him and kept on mowing, but he was back near our fence a few minutes later.

Thinking he might need directions, I stopped the mower, went to greet him and asked if I could help him with something. It turns out that he was wanting to help me. This was the first time I met M. Poirier, the church’s neighbor. He has a large John Deer, dual-blade lawn tractor and he offered to finish up the rest of the lawn.

Incredible! Though not hostile toward the church, he’s not had all that much contact in the past so this was quite something. It’s opened up the possibility of inviting them for a meal at some point as a means of saying thank you…  *Lord, let our contact with the Poiriers bring you glory*

Compost, DéchetterieAfter the church yard, I returned home and trimmed the hedge at the Brochus. This is about a 4-hour deal (with Liz and/or the kids coming along behind to load up the trimmings). We’ll likely have to repeat the trim once or twice more during the summer growing season, but it’s sure easier than scraping & painting a fence!  Here are the kids helping me transport the trimmings to the church yard where I’ll use them for mulch / compost.

A Few More Highlights:

  • We visited with an older couple who are related to someone in church. It was a very warm visit and I’m confident we’ll see them visit church one day.
  • Wednesday night was the 3rd night of a series I’m doing on the basics of salvation. We’d already discussed repentance & baptism and this was the first of two lessons on the Holy Ghost. There is a gal there that needs it and is also not quite ready to be baptized… *a matter to keep in prayer*
  • Today I am teaching at the Bible School on the books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians then driving 3.5 hours back home.

In a Nutshell

La Manu, La Manufacture, Les Manuchards, Châtellerault, France, EscaliersThat’s pretty much been our week in a nutshell… Thanks for taking the time to stay on top of our goings-on here… let it inform your prayers for us and for the church in Châtellerault. God DOES have greater things in store for this city… and you’re part of it!

God bless you today!

Paris est Charlie

January 10, 2015 By in Events Tags: Leave a comment
Soldier & Eiffel Tower, #JeSuisCharlie

Photo: CBC.ca

Two images stood out for me yesterday as I followed the news coverage out of France. The first one is above and depicts a soldier standing guard with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The second, immediately below, shows Paris’ city hall dressed in the black banners of mourning: “Paris is Charlie” and “We are Charlie”.

Deux images m’ont frappé hier alors que je suivais les reportages sur la situation en France. La première se voit ci-dessus et montre un soldat qui monte la garde avec la Tour Eiffel en arrière plan. La deuxième se voit immédiatement en dessous; c’est l’Hôtel de Ville de Paris habillé en deuil avec des banières noires: “Paris est Charlie” et “Nous sommes Charlie”.

I’ve crossed the Pont d’Iéna many times as I approached, always with the same sense of awe, the great lady which stands watch over the city, but it was pretty much always with a “blue sky” mentality and a care-free manner… never with the weight of anxiety as had gripped the city for three days.  I can’t say that I’ve been to Paris’ city hall as many times as the Eiffel Tower, but to see this magnificent building dressed in black was an incredible thing.

Combien de fois j’ai eu l’occasion de traverser le Pont d’Iéna, m’approchant tout doucement l’un des quatre piliers de la grande dame… mais toujours sous un “ciel bleu”… jamais sous le poids de la crainte tel que souligné par la présence des soldats dans l’image. Je n’ai pas été aussi souvent à l’Hôtel de Ville de Paris, mais voir ce grand bâtiment habillé en noir n’en est pas moins impressionnant.
Paris, Hôtel de Ville, JeSuisCharlie, NousSommesCharlie

Photo: Jacky Naegelen, Reuters

 

I am 5,000 km away, yet it has impacted me. Perhaps because it was only a couple of months ago that a lone gunman shot an unarmed soldier in my nation’s capital and stormed our national parliament… it was a gamechanger moment.

Bien que je sois à 5,000 km de là, ça m’a touché. Peut-être est-ce parce qu’il y a à peine quelques mois un seul fou armé a tué un soldat non-armé à Ottawa, avant d’entrer dans le parliement national canadien. C’est un de ces moments qui changent tout.

This being said… in two weeks, I will be there as well. I’ll be there for the long haul… and I can’t wait!  I come representing One who, time and again began teaching the people with the words “Fear not.”

***

Thanks for stopping by again this morning!  I wanted to try my hand at a bilingual post, but for the time being, getting the HTML code right for the tables involved is a bit tricky and slow-going. I’ll have to get better at it (or get a better way) before trying it again.

God bless you today!

Ceci dit, dans deux semaines, je serai là avec vous. Je ne serai pas simplement de passage, mais compte rester un bon moment… et j’y ai fort hâte! Je viens en tant que représentant de quelqu’un qui, à maintes reprises, commença son enseignement au peuple avec les mots
“Ne craignez point.”

***

Merci de me lire ce matin!  Je voulais tenter de faire un article bilingue, mais pour l’instant c’est beaucoup de travail pour bien manier le code HTML requis pour les “tables”… faudrait que je m’y habitue un peu plus avant de ressayer cela de nouveau.

Dieu vous bénisse aujourd’hui!

France in mourning…

January 8, 2015 By in Events Tags: Leave a comment

Today is a national day of mourning in France, and the nation is hurting.
It is also resilient and resolute.

Many of you will likely have heard on the news yesterday, about the gruesome attack in Paris, killing twelve but leaving millions asking why. The hashtag #JeSuisCharlie has popped up everywhere… a reference to the name of the weekly satirical newspaper targeted by the assassins; Charlie Hebdo. The publication was definitely left-leaning and irreverent in its tone, but that irreverence was shown equally toward Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. Not my cup of tea, for sure, however yesterday’s events were senseless.

JeSuisCharlie, Charlie Hebdo

All over France last night, vigils were held, town squares were filled and people banded together in an attempt to both seek comfort in community and show united determination. Below is a short video (1:45) by Thomas Blanc at TV Tours, of people gathered together in Tours, France (about 45min from Châtellerault). Kudos, M. Blanc, for a wonderful depiction of French solidarity in the face of adversity!

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Note also that another hashtag popping up in the Instagram, Twitter and Facebook worlds is #PrayforParis. Rather incredible… a largely secular society is asking for prayer for its national capital and, by extension, for the nation.

Let’s give them what they’re asking for:
Pray for Paris, and for France on this, their national day of mourning.

 

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!

#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!!

Paris… the quiet city

February 8, 2014 By in Places Tags: , Leave a comment

One evening, while searching for some video footage of France in general, and Paris in particular, I came across the video below, filmed and edited by Andrew Julian.  At first, the title intrigued me, because when I think of Paris, I do not think of a quiet city, but after seeing it and stopping to think about it; Paris in the winter, is indeed quiet compared to Paris in summertime when throngs of tourists flood the city.

If you have 4 minutes to spare (plus a bit of time waiting for the video to load)… this is an absolutely incredible look at the beauty and magic of Paris and well worth the look!  Thank you, Andrew, for putting together this amazing package!

The Quiet City: Winter in Paris from Andrew Julian on Vimeo.

Big & Little Crowns

December 4, 2013 By in Places Tags: , , 5 Comments

Hold onto your hat… er, your crown, for the first paragraph or two… it’ll make sense… REALLY!

French Administrative Structure:

In contrast to the USA (where regional divisions are called ‘states’) and Canada (where they are referred to as ‘provinces’), the regions of mainland France are called départments, and there are 96 of them.

We need to let that sink in for a moment, because for North Americans a department is found in a retail store (the ‘toy department’ or the ‘kitchen department’) or it denotes part of an institution (the ‘loans department’ of a bank or the ‘human resources department’ in a corporation). In France though… it’s geographic!

Unlike in North America, not only do the départements have names… they also have numbers; for example:  Seine et Marne (77), Vienne (86) and Paris (75 – yes… Paris is both a city and a département, just like Quebec, QC).  These numbers constitute part of postal codes, social security numbers and vehicle license plate numbers as well.

Île de France = Grande Couronne (Big Crown)

It is necessary to understand this as you’ve already seen me refer to one region called the Île de France  (which, when translated means the “island of France”). We are, of course, not talking about an island. The term ïle de France refers to carte_ile_de_francea collection of départments which surround the capital… Paris. You can see île de France at the right. Paris is the red area in the middle, denoted by the départment number 75. So then île de France, is made up of 8 départements all together. 

  • 95  – Val d’Oise
  • 78  – Yvelines
  • 91  – Essonne
  • 77  – Seine et Marne
  • 92  – Hauts-de-Seine
  • 93  – Seine Saint-Denis
  • 94  – Val-de-Marne
  • 75  – Paris

Another name for this area (Île de France) is La Grande Couronne (the big crown)… so named because it visibly forms a large, thick, ring around Paris.

Petite Couronne (Little Crown)

What really interests me for the purpose of this post though, are the three other départements which form a smaller, innermost ring around Paris: départements 92-94.  If the larger ring is called the large crown, then it makes sense for this smaller area to be referred to as the petite couronne (the small crown). petite couronne

God’s Little Crown… 
                     ….in Western France

Why does the notion of la grande et la petite couronne interest me? Because of something that God told me in 2012 while visiting Bro. Brochu’s church in Western France.  He impressed upon my heart that, in the same way as Paris had its petite couronne, so too would the Église de Châtellerault… it would have a ring of churches around it… whether full blown churches, preaching points… all of which were, of course, subject to His timeline.

I’m not sure whether that is something that we’ll see the results of of not during our 1.5-2 years.  Perhaps it will begin while we are there onsite, or perhaps it’ll be further in the future.  Nonetheless, I’m glad that as a family we will quite simply, not just “go with the flow” but we have something to dream of… to plan for… to work toward during our time there.

Please join us as we pray for a ring or a crown of churches surrounding the church in Châtellerault, in western France.