Thu 12.02 Hearts Burning

Thu 12.02 Hearts Burning

Luke 24:excepts

   Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem...¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing Him.

 ¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”...

      “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”...

   Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

   Well my heart was full as I slept in. I heard Eve get the girls up and head out. Then hours later Josias and I walked to the Boulangerie to get fresh croissants, pain(bread) and croissants aux aumondes (a delicacy like manna to me). We talked more over breakfast/lunch. We did sleep late,lol.

   We both were pensive. he asked many times when I would return. I explained the support-raising process and my goal to depart Myrtle Beach in February. After some training I would hop the next flght out to France!

   Josias seemed, like me, to expect that we will be able to make good on my promise to teach his wife Eve to play piano like I do and that we will continue this friendship. At dinner last night she and he mocked the way visiting Americans are so quick to call everyone their "best friend" and toss around the "I love you's so freely." They comments left me a little worried they saw me this way. Until we were in the car, navigating the snowy streets at high speeds, on our way to catch my train to the Furrs, UWM Missionary Team 2 outside Paris.

   Josias looked thoughtful, kinda like I felt. So I hesitantly said it was strange/funny how sad we were when we left camp 5 years ago. I tempered with how I knew it would be a long time before I returned but that even tho we joked about it last night I really felt we bonded in a non=French way like brothers. In essence he said "Me,Too!" We parted, not sad, but rejoicing in the hope of future friendship for many years to come.

   I headed to the Furrs ready for the 2nd half of this adventure. I arrived at their home and...let's just say it was amazing to connect with them and their two preschool children. I got a great picture of their journey to France and my possible roles here. If I end up in Paris.
     My heart burned with acceptance and confirmation as we shared and connected.

Pray for the next 3 days. I meet the French team leaders and Pastor Friday. Saturday I meet the American UWM Director for Europe. Sunday I see the childrens and family ministry in action in our church plant!

Pray with me for

Ears to hear, eyes to see, & heart to listen.

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...