Songs of the Heart and Why We're Here

Wow, the past 24 hours have been incredible. I still can't believe that I'm really here. I am so blessed to have this opportunity.

Last night, we went to La Fonderie's worship service. (La Fonderie is the ministry that we came to assist. Their mission is to minister to the art community here as a means of influencing the culture.) We met a guy named Jeff who is in France as a missionary and helps out a bit with La Fonderie. He's from the States and has been here for four years. He has an incredible passion for the people of this country. He said that when he talked to a mission board with the hope of connecting with them for support, their response was that "Europe had its chance." I couldn't believe it. Isn't our God a God of second (and third, and fourth...) chances? Isn't our God a God of grace? Yes, they've made bad decisions. We all have. Does that mean that we just walk away? Can we really give up on anyone just because "they've had their chance?" Naturally, he didn't work with that mission board. He talked a lot about the state of the church and society in France. He said that it's like the entire country has been covered in gray ash - everything is dull and dirty. There's no hope here. We take hope for granted at home. Every little kid dreams of some great job. We say that we can become anything that we want to become. Obviously there are limits, but we all have an abundance of opportunities. We have hope that tomorrow can be better than today. We have hope that better things will come. We have hope that where we are right now is not the place we'll always be. France doesn't have that kind of hope. There's a quiet desperation that's embedded in society. As a result, France also has the highest rate of depression of any country in the world. There are neighborhoods where the unemployment rate is 50%. 50%! We get angry and panic if it reaches 5%. There are young people with no jobs living off of the state with no hope that anything will ever change. They don't have any answers, so many of them turn to violence. That's the real story of the most beautiful city in the world. It's really in many ways a microcosm of all of us. We cover ourselves with beauty in order to hide the pain and brokenness that's on the inside. We think as long as the outside looks good, then we're okay - at least in the eyes of other people. There's a lot that we need to learn from France.

Anyway, La Fonderie's worship service was beautiful. It was all in French, although Marie translated part of it for us. They opened with "Come, Now Is The Time To Worship," which was really neat to hear a song that we knew sung in a foreign language. It was a very moving experience. We didn't know their words but we knew the song of their hearts. It was one of the most emotional experiences that I've ever had at church. I can't put into words what I felt or experienced there. The best way I can describe it is that I just felt a heaviness. After listening to Jeff talk about life in France and then watching the people of La Fonderie meet to praise God and knowing how hard it is for them to make real connections, I just felt an incredible burden for ministry - not just for Paris, although that was the heaviest piece. I also felt it for people at home and for the generations to come. I also felt a renewed commitment to this work with the hope that we won't ever have to dig ourselves out of the hole that Europe is in. France needs our prayers. Pray for an awakening in this country. Pray for the ministries here - La Fonderie, YWAM, and Young Life, among others. Pray that, in Jeff's words, it will be France's turn for hope.

***

Today started a little later than planned, which was good because some of us stayed up a little late acting goofy, having good conversation, and processing some stuff. I didn't get to sleep until around 3:00am, so sleeping until 9:00 was appreciated.

We spent the morning at the garden at Musee Rodin. It's gorgeous. There are tons of trees and roses, plus Rodin's statues and former home. The Thinking Man is there. It was nice to just take some time to rest. It's cool how just outside the garden walls is a big, busy city, but within the walls is an amazingly peaceful place.

This afternoon we went on a historical Christian-perspective tour of Paris. It was led by Marie's friend Isabelle. What an inspiring woman! We got to see the Roman baths that were built at the time of Caesar. We also went to Notre Dame and the pyramid at the Louvre, and she gave us some great info. She talked a lot about the different influences in France's history - paganism, Christianity, Freemasonry, etc. - as well as the fighting between the Catholics and the Protestants. Lots of people were hurt by the tight bond of the church and the state. When the church and the state officially separated, lots of people left the church. She had so many details and so much history that I feel like I'm on information overload and will need some time to process and digest everything. Suffice it to say that it was fascinating and reinforced what we already knew about the current state of the church.

Pictures: Notre Dame window dedicated to Mary and the Pyramid at the Louvre

We had dinner outside at this great little cafe across the Seine from the Louvre and watched the sun set and the lights come on. Paris is awesome at night when it's all lit up. It was a great meal. Dana and I split lamb chops and brie, and we shared apple pie (pictured below) and hot chocolate for dessert with Jen. French food rocks and I'm completely ruined for American food - especially cheese and mustard. And bread. French bread is fabulous. We all ended up sharing food, so food was being passed up and down the table. It was great.

Right now we're debating Revelation 12 (the part about the woman and the 12 stars) and what happens to the clothes we're wearing when the Rapture comes. The slap-happy stage has hit and it's probably time for bed.

Au revoir pour ce soir!