Wed 12.01 Josias' Testimony

Wed 12.01 Josias' Testimony 
I Cor 3:5-15

     What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 

   The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

    I headed Wednesday night to the home of my friend Josias Eyraud after spending an intense afternoon tourist-ing a litle and praying/journaling and listening for discernment. I was primed and ready for Him to move. Little did I know.
    I met Josias when I was still searching for an organization to be in France as a missionary. The Navigators only had short-term teams of a month each summer. I decided to try that to see what God would do. So a team of ladies and I headed to the Camp des Cimes in Grenoble where we worked with the children 11 or 12 and under. I had the 10 yr-old-boys. I enjoyed them but I roomed with the teenage boys.
    They spent all day with the adults in discipleship. Then in our free time we just hung out and connected. They were excited about an American. I connected best with Josias. I usually don't get around to his story because I also connected with David Braesch, somewhat, whom I joyfully got to lead to the Lord the last night of Camp.
   David and I were cool the whole time but Josias and I connected right away. Anyone who knows me well knows I like to tease and laugh and can take as well as I dish it out. Josias was the same. And he loved R&B so he never stopped making me sing or talking about all his African friends back in Paris. And when it came time to leave you could tell two things. He was sad to say goodbye...to the point of tears. And he was surprised by how he would miss our friendship.
  We left and maintained contact barely thru Facebook. David is in Engineering School far from Paris and could not meet. Josias had a baby in the Spring and then married the mother in the Fall. He picked me up at the station and we immediately fell back into our old friendship, picking up where we left off.
  He had his daughter Ana and her older sister, his step-daughter, all by himself until Eve his wife got home from work at almost 10pm. We fed the girls until then and chatted. He shared that he was proud, that I would be proud when I learned how he had connected with God...really for the first time.
   See, as we left Camp I tried to nudge him closer to God but he wasn't ready. he was mischievous and hard-headed. he even refused the Bible I offered at first as a gift. Today he said he only took it because it was a gift from me. I had forgotten all this. Today he said I told him one day he would find faith and need a bible. So that day came, with some help from God and a pushy director at another summer camp 3 years ago. She helped him get over his difficulty with the bible by suggesting a daily devotional.
     He made a commitment on his own to read the scripture from the devotional in his once-dusty gifted Bible EVERYDAY! He has been reading and growing for more than 2 years. He was so proud and happy! So was I. I didn't lead him to the Lord but I did plant a seed that someone else tilled while all along God was watering and caring for it!
  He said mostly he resisted because his christian parents always "expected" him to be christian. So he did the opposite of what we all wanted until his own hunger for God could no longer be denied. I had always prayed I would get a 2nd chance at Josias. Imagine my joy and surprise! This video is his story in his own words. Subtitles will follow when I get a chance to edit. But it is already powerful!

Tue 11.30 Travelling Alone

Psalm 84:5+7
Blessed are those whose strength is in You, 
   whose hearts are set on pilgrimage...
They go from strength to strength, 
   till each appears before God in Zion.

   So Tuesday I had lunch at the kims in Auch and then immediately boarded a train to head to Paris for a day and a half. I had been unable to re-connect with several friends in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence down south and had not yet re-connected with those in Paris.
   I found myself quoting this passage from Psalme 84 but in a mopey way. I felt lonely and I had all the weight of processing the opportunity with Team Auch which seemed to end with an open invitation to return. I was also a little anxious about a day of free time when I had planned to spend it with friends. I have some favorite spots but I'm no true tourist because I hate artificial forced fun...museums..guided tours..lines of tourists and cameras. Ugggh. And the weather had gone from pretty cold down south to cold, gray and snowy as I moved north-just like my mood.
   Despite all those things, as I journaled on the train and listened to this passage again I was impacted by the phrase "they go from strength to strength." The passage even opens with blessed are those whose strength is in the Lord...AND whose heart is set on pilgrimage. I was rebuked and encouraged all at once. Not only does God have a plan..He knew I needed to be alone to process. And He didn't want me to miss what was coming next!

   I laughed and my mood improved immediately when I got to the street, Rue Garibaldi, where I had scoped out several inexpensive hotels online. I ended up getting a discount of 30 euros at one because of the front desk clerk's generosity and kindness! The name of the Hotel was... Hotel Baldi! I laughed so hard and am still laughing at God's humor!
   That night I visited the Eiffel Tower because she was looming over me to greet me as I headed to the Hotel.
    The rest of the afternoon I spent touring and walking randomly but really just headed towards me favorite spot...The Eglise St. Gervais. A cathedral where I re-dedicated my life right before i returned to the US and joined Christ UMC. I spent Lent that Spring of 1998 and Easter in this beautiful haze; I came to hear the beautiful music and to pray with the congregation of monks and nuns that make up the Fraternite de Jerusalem. Everything was introspective and meditative in a minor key until Easter. The voices raised were pure as I wanted my heart to be. And God drew me back to Himself. I found peace I had been missing for a few prodigal years and returned home a changed man with the soil of my heart ready to be planted by the many seeds of discipleship with the college crew at CUMC.
  I left refreshed and made this video that I hope makes your heart smile the way He made mine smile...

Mon 11.29 Christe en Moi

Auch Day 3 Vision
Christe en moi
L'esperance de la gloire

Colossians 1:24-29
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

The church's motto for the year is
Christ in me
The hope of Glory

That's just makes my heart sing. I saw it Sunday and it was reaffirmed in meetings today with the Pastor Jean-Marc and several other members of the Pastoral staff including Jeff Kim the missionary from United World Missions. We explored the vision for this team's work in church planting and what my participation would look like.
The Church called L'Espace Bethesda is essentially a tight-knit family of French believers who meet in the center of a region of small towns. Some drive almost an hour to attend the only church accessible to them. The team's vision is to plant new church's in each of those villages and for them to grow naturally as God himself nurtures them naturally.

Romans 8:25-28
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Phillipe, one of the lay leaders, spoke with Jeff and with me first to explain a little what it's like when lay people join the ministry. He spoke about the period of waiting for relationships to develop naturally over the first year before diving into action. He counseled learning the culture of the church before attempting to serve it. Most importantly he addressed and expanded my understanding of the balance and family spirit of the church as I observed it Sunday. He was easy to talk to , and to listen to!


Phillipe quoted and prayed the passage from Romans cited above. He also spoke of fruit which is a sign of where God has called and is leading. It was a powerful moment as he affirmed almost prophetically that God already knows where I'll end up and that he believes I will know it as well by the time I head home because the SPIRIT IS ALREADY PRAYING FOR ME IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS WILL!

Over lunch we met with the Lead Pastor Jean-Marc. He was also so at peace as he shared in depth about the landscape of the ministry as it was before a recent re-birth and where it is headed. The picture he painted includes foreign missions, small groups and a network of church plants in the region where so far there is only this church and it's first fledgling plant in Comminge, one of the not so near villages. I had so much peace as I listened to him qualify things often with the warning that they are planning but trying to always follow the Spirit's lead and timing naturally without pushing. I was suddenly moved when he echoed a sentiment a was on the verge of expressing aloud...that whatever was done I the future would proceed so that god would get the credit and glory instead of man.

The Kims had some errands so I have spent the rest of the afternoon touring Auch on foot. I spent quite a bit of that time in the Cathedral Saint Marie. I have included pics on Facebook which are accessible if you click on the photo in this post. At the end of my time in the cathedral I knelt in a chapel filled with candles lit with the light of prayers of the faithful in Auch and added my voice to theirs.
I have such a peace that I have seen a sincere view of the picture here. And I feel absolutely welcome. Everyone made sure there was no pressure to influence but a clear invitation and welcome if God leads me here.

I'm still processing but thank you for your prayers during the most important day in the first half of this trip!!!