First Sunday in Nantes

Just had my first church experience in Nantes. Saturday night, we all split up and formed groups to go to the seven different protestant churches in Nantes. A guy named Aaron and I went to l'Église Protestant Évangélique de Nantes Ouest. I know, it's a mouthful, but regulars call it Protestant Évangélique Ouest.

First, Aaron and I had to find our way there. We boarded a bus at 9:40 (the busses only run at half-hour intervals on Sundays, and this was the first run – it was do or die) with only two people on it, including the driver. As I scanned my ticket, the driver asked "est-ce un biblé?" I answered yes, and he told me that he was protestant. We had a conversation about different churches, and the spiritual condition of the city, and he gave me his name and phone number. The giving of names in France only comes at the end of conversations, if they like you. The giving of phone numbers seldom happens. So, needless to say, I was very encouraged with the first conversation of the day.

When I went to take my seat on the bus (it was about a half-hour trip) Aaron, who doesn't speak any French, was trying to talk to a man who didn't speak much English. It was funny to see their interaction of mainly body language as they ground out a few facts. "Are you Christian?" "Yes" "Protestant?" "Yes" "Where are you going to church?" "PEO" "Moi aussi!!"

Two for two. Thanks, Big Guy.

The service was two hours, with meditation, public prayer, worship, sermon, offering, communion, news, and benediction. The church was small (45-50 people), and very diverse. The sermon was, in short, about keeping Christ our priority, and Christ's priority was the great commission.

The highlight of the service – singing one of my favorite hyms "It is well with my soul" in French.

During most of the service, I journaled – about the experience in the bus, about the day of exploring the sights of Nantes and initiating conversations the previous day, about our vision for the summer, and in prayer.

After the service, I met with about five people. Étienne, a U of Nantes student, Bevis, the youth pastor at the church, Daniel, the senior pastor, and some other members of the congregation. They were all excited to hear about the Project, and excited to hear that they had two American missions students joining them for six weeks.

Bevis invited us to his wedding next Saturday. David invited us to a congregation picnic and coffeehouse next Sunday. Étienne invited us to the Marche pour Jésus, a walk for Jesus (a sort of gathering) in the city.

Better morning than I could have anticipated.

Now, I'm sitting near the river, in the LU cookie company brasserie, one of the only places with free wifi.

I just read about the death of the father of a close friend. It's devastating news, and proof that life on this earth is temporal and precious. The news refines my sense of purpose to share the gospel with the lost on campus and in this city. I will continue to pray for Evan and the rest of the Wray family.

Some verses that are helping me with our purpose in this city:

1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Joshua 1:9
Philemon 4-7
Matthew 28:18-20

Thank you all for your continued encouragement! I hope this blog is helpful in letting you all know a bit of what is going on during our action-packed days!