It's very fun and exciting traveling to a different country, culture and language. I've always loved Paris and France. I've had a strong desire since my early 30's to learn the language and culture and go there. So, I did. I've visited several times now and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before I go again. I admit, I'm dragging my feet on traveling right now for a number of personal reasons. However, three years ago, I got to go back to France on a trip with meaning, more than just for my own selfish pleasures. I went with some people from my church and we met and stayed with some people from a small church in a town north of Paris.
It was a wonderful experience being with Christians of a different culture and language. We stayed with a retired couple who spoke no English. I was really able to put to work my mediocre French with all its mistakes! Something happened, though and my French actually improved over the course of the trip. Well, some nights, I collapsed in my room feeling like my brain would explode, but there's nothing like immersion, the "you have to use whatever French you know or you don't get to communicate" mode to force you brain into action.
The couple we stayed with was charming, warm, welcoming and friendly. We all tried very hard to speak their language, be gracious guests, and not offend them with our loud and brash American ways. Dany, the lady of the house made us wonderful home cooked meals every night. Every meal had at least three to four courses including a cheese course and desert, and don't the forget the wine! I'm sure I gained close to ten pounds on this trip.
We did want to provide some service to our French friends on this trip. We met with the pastor of their church. There was a lot of work to be done around the parsonage. So we helped with some of those jobs. Paul, one of our team members worked on the kitchen doors which didn't close right. He sanded them down and worked on the lock so they could close correctly and not cause drafts or be broken into.
Chris and I varnished the back stairs that led out into the back yard, and we also painted the iron gridwork on the front door. I had paint all down my shirt on that one. I don't think the actual work we did was much. In the grand scheme of missions, it's fairly far down on the list of life changing things. But Jean-Claude the pastor and his wife Joelle were really grateful, and the couple we stayed with, Willy and Dany, we became really good friends. We started thinking of future work projects we could do on subsequent visits. They looked at us and said. . . do you really need a work project to do, in order to come back and visit us?
So, the mission of our trip was really to make friends, to offer encouragement and pray for other Christians in France where it's extremely difficult to practice one's faith. These small acts made the trip worthwhile. Yes, they took us sight seeing in Paris, and we spent a weekend traveling around Normandie and we were blessed with their friendship and hospitality. This was the most fun and meaningful trip to France for me.
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