Four Years in France
On February 23, 2013 Jordan and I officially moved to and arrived in France.
On February 24, 2013 in the new, unfurnished house of our teammates, Steve and Donna Niles, Le Rivage (though the name didn't yet exist) gathered for the first church service in Aix-les-Bains.
Jordan and I hardly spoke any French. We understood even less. We were being introduced to people for the first time; people we'd only heard of or emailed with or met via Skype; people who were just there to help with the first service, people who were just there to encourage the launch of the church in Aix-les-Bains. We didn't know how to greet people; whether to shake hands, give hugs, or kiss cheeks. It was awkward and uncomfortable and exciting. My long-time dream of living abroad had come to fruition; our efforts to move to France, to start a church in Aix-les-Bains, were becoming a reality before our eyes!
Two weeks later, Jordan stood in front of the small gathering of people with Steve's guitar in his hands. He and Steve had picked out a few songs that they both knew that existed in both French and English. Jordan sang quietly in English; Steve sang louder in French. This went on like this for several months before Jordan felt confident enough to lead the songs alone in French. Now Jordan leads worship about 90% of the time.
On Sunday, February 26, 2017, 4 years and 2 days after the very first church service in Aix-les-Bains, Jordan preached. Did you read that? Jordan preached a full sermon, in French. Sunday wasn't the first time he preached a sermon in French; Jordan has been preaching several times a year for the last 2-3 years, but still.... Four yeas ago he couldn't even sing a song in French. Praise God!
As a way of acknowledging and celebrating what God has done in and through Le Rivage and Aix-les-Bains since 2013, we posted some photos in the back of the service on Sunday and we ate some chocolate [zucchini] cake.
Looking around the room I smiled. Of the 30 or so people present (many families were away this past weekend as the schools have their annual February vacation this week), only 8 of us [including 2 kids] were present at the first service. In the last year or so we have seen significant growth - both in numbers and in depth. For a long time, the only regular kids in our church were our teammates' kids; now we easily have 10+ elementary aged kids each week, plus a growing number of teens and pre-teens. This is an answer to our prayers!
On February 24, 2013 in the new, unfurnished house of our teammates, Steve and Donna Niles, Le Rivage (though the name didn't yet exist) gathered for the first church service in Aix-les-Bains.
Jordan and I hardly spoke any French. We understood even less. We were being introduced to people for the first time; people we'd only heard of or emailed with or met via Skype; people who were just there to help with the first service, people who were just there to encourage the launch of the church in Aix-les-Bains. We didn't know how to greet people; whether to shake hands, give hugs, or kiss cheeks. It was awkward and uncomfortable and exciting. My long-time dream of living abroad had come to fruition; our efforts to move to France, to start a church in Aix-les-Bains, were becoming a reality before our eyes!
Two weeks later, Jordan stood in front of the small gathering of people with Steve's guitar in his hands. He and Steve had picked out a few songs that they both knew that existed in both French and English. Jordan sang quietly in English; Steve sang louder in French. This went on like this for several months before Jordan felt confident enough to lead the songs alone in French. Now Jordan leads worship about 90% of the time.
As a way of acknowledging and celebrating what God has done in and through Le Rivage and Aix-les-Bains since 2013, we posted some photos in the back of the service on Sunday and we ate some chocolate [zucchini] cake.
We've had teammates come and go, many of which were interns from the Geneva Bible Institute, but the vision for our church in Aix-les-Bains has remained the same: We want to BE the church, not GO to church (N'allons pas à l'Eglise; vivons l'Eglise). We want to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to love the people of Aix-les-Bains as God loves us, and to share the Good News of the Gospel. We want to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples.
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| Fall 2013 |
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| Spring 2016 |
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| Fall 2016 |
"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.'
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad."
Psalm 126:2-3
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