THANKS...

THANKS!!!
for your encouragement and your interest in our mission trip to France... This is the celebration video that Bill (our worship and arts pastor) put together for our church... but I'm linking it here.

If you look vewy vewy carefully, you will find me...



Deb

Cow Blog for Mindy

I told Mindy I would share this story with all of you...

So, while we were in Paris, checking out various shops, sites and scenes, we came upon a carousel with really cool hand-carved, painted animals on it. The four of us who were touring Paris together hopped on for a ride at 1 Euro a piece (a cheap moment in Paris, to be sure.) I looked and looked for the animal who would invite me to ride. (You know you don't just HOP on any old animal on a carousel, now, do you? You ask them.)

Well, there were unicorns and horses of various colors. Bunnies. Ducks. Sheep. Goats. Coaches. Chariots. Chaise lounges. And... a lovely cow.

I told her I would like to ride her - not the white horse next to her. And would it be OK? I asked her if she minded because, well, the horses were a little snooty and the unicorn looked like everyone asked her. And I just thought that France having such lovely cheeses, that a carousel ride in Paris - HAD to be on a cow. "Si-Moo-plait?" I asked, politely.

She said, "well, you know my paint's worn a little thin and I've really had a up and down kinda day. I really haven't gotten very far along in life."

I suggested that maybe that was what life was like for everyone, whether or not they worked on a carousel.

She stared off into the distance. "I hadn't thought about it that way," she said. "And I guess I would like to do something else... But OK... hop on."


So we went for a twirl. And she and I had a lovely time. And she sends regards to Mindy.

Deb

France photoblog: first edition

THE TEAM!

front row: Naomi, Sara, Vanessa
back row: me, Bill, Jen (in front of) Dan, Keith, Mandy
Taken at the castle Chinon, in the Vienne River Valley, France.

Two weeks ago, the Creative Arts Team from Journey's Crossing was winging its way to France! We were in the city of Poitiers, about 4 hours southwest of Paris. We were tasked with assisting with 2 outreach coffeehouses, and providing part of the music for their American-style Thanksgiving dinner.

The memories and experiences are almost too much to express. I saw God in a new way, He was BIGGER than I had ever had known. I felt God's presence in a small church more powerfully than some of the largest worship services I've ever attended.

It. Was. Amazing.
We went to help this church, Eglise Chretienne de Poitiers. The church planters are friends of our home church. The Poitiers church is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Church planting in a country of centuries-0ld churches seems anachronistic. Yet a minority of citizens actually ever attend church services of any kind, during any season of the year. Protestant churches, particularly evangelical ones, are almost seen as a "cult" because the members are active and involved in church year-round.

The altar at St. Hilarie, Poitiers

Though they are seen more as "museums" than places of worship, to me there was a sense of God's timelessness. And a sense that He works in history, through history, reaching a people He calls His own. I see what I do every day as just a speck of dust in the grandeur of a plan for Eternity. Not in a self-deprecating way, but in an awe-inspiring way, that what I can do is part of a great Movement, a grand design.

Baptistère Saint-Jean, Poitiers

I did not get to visit the inside of this Baptistere, but those who did had to tell me that they were overwhelmed with a sense of history and of the Presence of God. The building has been dated to around 360 A.D. and was built for the sacrement of baptism. (Until it was built, converts were baptized in the nearby River Clain.)

part of a Roman temple column in Sanxay ruins

the ruins of the Roman ampitheatre in Sanxay

Part of the history of France is the way that the Church intertwined with the people, with power and with politics in a negative way. It seems that since Roman occupation, it has been that way. Small wonder that the modern citizen looks at any church with suspicion... or with at least a major disinterest. Dare I say it? The Church in America today should have a cautionary moment of reflection before we get too immerse in politics that we forget our primary mission is people. And that God can and will put into power those He chooses, without our "help"!

a double rainbow! driving from Sanxay to Poitiers

As I shot this photo, I couldn't help but think that we still are living in the time of God's Promise Kept, God's Promise to Come. We are starting to move into Advent. The double rainbow neatly illustrates that...

I have hope. I live in the promises.

More to come...
Deb

Home.

Home. Tired. Dirty clothes and wine unpacked. Must. find. bed. More later...
And yes. BEAUCOUP pictures to share. And stories. Soon.

Love,
Deb

There's nothing left...

I'm still thinking through my recent holiday in Germany and Austria. We visited some lovely places and some very thought-provoking ones, and there are images and memories that keep coming back to me. I know I have blogged about my new "happy place" and I am so grateful for that picture of God's peace and love in my mind.

But there were others places during our tour that affected me as well.

One of the most memorable moments was when we visited the Bunkeranlagen that was built by Hitler under the mountains near the lovely city of Berchtesgaden, in Bavaria. It's not talked about much and you don't find it advertised in the tourist information centers. This I understand. Who wants to invite foreign tourists to America to see places of slavery and prejudice in our history? Or visit the places were crosses were burned during the civil rights era?

This bunker was built under the commandeered hotel Zum Türken, on the mountains between Salzberg and Berchtesgaden. The original owners were able to buy back their property after the war had ended (in ruins) and after extensive repairs and renovations, reopened their hotel and have allowed tours of the site. Tour buses don't stop there because of the narrow corridors, so if you ever go visit, you can count on it not being filled with tourists.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the bunker. (You can see pictures of it here.) The bunker was a steep, narrow, musty set of halls and steps. We descended to 50 feet below the surface. Even though it was 90 degrees up top, it was a chilly and damp 50 degrees below. There were several tunnels to homes and chateaus of the Nazi leadership. The places were the plaster had been vandalized and opened up, you could see the amazing set of reinforced steel bars inside the walls. All of it built by forced labor.

I can't explain my reaction to it exactly, but there was a truly "evil" presence echoing in that place. I'm not a "woo-woo" person and I don't go looking for auras or spirits. But the spirit of oppression still was present in that place. It took several minutes in the hot sunshine afterwards to erase the chill.

Our guide showed us a little-known spot near the bunker where Hitler's house once stood, (which was not marked for obvious reasons.) All that is left is grass, trees and birdsong. This picture shows the beauty of the spot. The local government has taken away all debris and evidence of the house's footprint. It seemed to me most appropriate that a place where evil was conceived and planned could be so removed and destroyed from existence.

My reading in Isaiah 40 later that day was a reminder of the supremacy of... GOD. And God alone...

Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
Who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when He blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of His might,
and because He is strong in power
not one is missing.

[Isaiah 40:21-26]

It could not have been clearer to me. Those who think they are invincible will surely find out they are not. Those who are convinced their war is "right" will find themselves humbled and erased from the face of the earth.

He who has ears, let him hear..." Jesus [Matthew 13:43]

I have been pondering this ever since...

Deb