Salut!

Today I led the first part of the service for the first time!  And if you know me, you’ll know that I don’t like following traditions unless someone can give me a very good reason for why they exist!  So I used psalm 96 and got everyone colouring in and highlighting and reading out favourite parts and discussing etc.  It was quite fun!  As we’re a tiny church I figure we may as well make the most of it and do things big churches can’t.

At the end the pastor said to me, "Hmmm, thanks for leading the service Stacey.  It was, hmmmm, well….ermmmm…creative!"  I don’t know if that was positive or not!  lol!

I’m very proud of myself this morning!  I HATE confrontation and will do anything to avoid it.  But my neighbours upstairs have been waking me up in the early hours of the morning all month and last night was the straw that broke the camals back…or the drip that makes the vase overflow, in French!  So I went, trembling, and knocked on the door.  She took my comments really well and even invited me in for a chat.  She is a lovely girl and I hope I get to see her again soon…rather than hear her!

My tap dancing class has been cancelled because there weren’t enough participants.    Anyway, they do a beginners irish dancing class on Monday nights, so I’m going to go to that just to see.  Tonight I had such a great conversation with the 2 others.  One is recently a widow (she’s only in her 40s) and the other was talking about how a guy she knows who is buddist just overflows with calmness.  How I wish people talked about Christians who overflow with love…  So I gave the widow a card for the church but she said she wasn’t interested at all.  Please pray for her.  She is so disapointed in life and God and seems just to be in a constant battle.  The other lady is typically french, ie open to any faith except the Christian one!  The conversation was so personal that it had to come from God.  So I’m going to the Irish Dancind, even if I do find the music annoying!! 

A friend of a friend was hurt during an (american) football match at the beginning of the month and suffered severe brain trauma.  I’ve never met Zack but through reading his blog I’ve been able to pray for him and his family.  If you have the time, read though the notes posted.  You will be incredibly blessed to see the way God is working in this situation.  It is a real inspriation to see how the family of God have supported him and his family.  Although we don’t know them, we can still support them through prayer.  How amazing is it to belong to God?!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/zackmcleod

On Friday evening I went out to do the ‘rando roller’ again.  I had looked at the proposed route and saw that they were going to have the break at the eiffel tower!  I was determined to make it there.  I didn’t realise however it was about 23km in 1.5hrs!  I was COMPLETELY exhausted!  But I couldn’t stop until I was under the tower!  I had only taken half a litre of water with me.  d’oh! 

This is the proof I made it!  However getting back was really hard becuase I was so exhuasted and so thirsty that I wanted to throw up!  I’ve certainly learnt my lesson!!

Then on Saturday I went to meet a girl who might be interested in mission in France.  She has been in Paris a week so I thought maybe we could do something touristy before having a coffee and talking.  So as usual I wanted to try something a bit different!  In my tourist guide the tour of the paris sewers is classed as ‘an often forgotten gem’.  So I suggested me we go!

NEVER EVER GO THERE!  It is sooooooo foul it is untrue!    I thought it would be a museum with horrible stories to make you go ewww.  but in fact it is the sewers themselves, covered by a metal grill, above which there are posters with info.  The sights, sounds and smells leave nothing to the imagination and it was 3pm before we were able to eat lunch!

 

What a lovely intro to mission in France!  ha ha ha!!  You can always count on me!

BTW:  My noisey neighbours have been away all weekend and it has been bliss to sleep without ear plugs!  But while writing this post they arrived back.  My heart has sunk…

When I started in Orleans, the pastor Jean-Marc took me to a wine festival to share his love of good wine with me.  Starting here is Paris with pastor Henri from Korea has been different but the same!  He took me to the 13th arrondisement today and to one of the big chinese supermarkets there.

It was certainly an eye opener!  I saw loads of fruit and veg that I had never seen in my life before!  But it’s great for vegetariens!  There was tofu and soja a go go!  In a country which revolves aound meat, this was a very wecome change!

I’m all stocked up on all varities of tofu, soja drinks, fried gluten - whatever that is - and wierd little crisp things.  Such joy!

Monday through Wednesday I was at the national Baptist pastors’ conference.  To be honest I was dreading it!  Last year I spent most of the time trying, and failing, to keep my eyes open.  This year was very different!  Thankfully!  The sermons were helpful and interesting and there were wonderful times of prayer and sharing.  All in all a tiring but useful 3 days.

On Thursday Carole and John came through Paris and we had a pinic together in the Parc de Seaux.  A really beautiful park and the sun shone  - nice!

After the lovely sun comes the storm!  So while going to bible study on Thurday evening I got absolutely soaked!  I sat for 2 hours in wringing wet clothes and ended up with a cold.  My grandma would have told me so!!

Friday and Saturday the Pope was in France.  It was a very sensitive visit for France, a secular state welcoming the head of a religious state.  There was loads of discussions in the newspapers about Sarkozy’s quote about ‘Positive Secluarism’ and the fact that he met the Pope on the tarmac at the airport (only the 2nd time in his carrer he has done that) was much remarked upon. 

The separation of church and state in 1905 was seen as a loss for the Catholics and a boost for all other religions.  The Catholics lost their privileged position in society but other religions gained more freedom.  France is very proud of it’s secularism and anything to do with religion provokes very heated debate.

Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to go and see the Pope!  So I sat in the road with millions of other people for 2 hours wating for him to drive by in the pope mobile.  I had a quick glimpse, but as I was 13 people deep it really was a glimpse!  It was all very middle class.  All the kids there, and there were a lot of them, were obvioulsy from respectable families and looked very French.  It’s a far cry from the rainbow of people you see on the paris metro…and in our little church!

Then Saturday night was my housewarming.  I had invited a few friends from Paris and from Orleans and we had a nice meal and laughed lots! 

Yesterday me and Henri drove 3hrs to Tours for the ECM team day.  It was great to get together and pray for each other after the summer months.  There has been a lot of changes and quite a few difficult situations so it was good to be together to pray. 

As you can imagine I am COMPLETELY exhausted now!  This morning my little Fifi passed her MOT, and I’m very proud of her.  I’m going to try and get my prayer letter done tonight, after my first tap dancing lesson - yes you read it right - tap dancing!!!  ha ha ha!!!  And after 2 weeks without a break, tomorrow I’m going to have a well earned day off! 

Hey there!  Our little church has just got its first web site and personnally I think it’s pretty snazzy!

Check it out on www.eebac.fr

(EEBAC stands for Eglise Evangelique Baptiste d’Arcueil-Cachan.)

I usually send out my prayer letter on the 12th of the month…I will be sending it out soon!  I have a pretty heavy weekend so bare with me!    If you don’t recieve it and would like to, just leave me a message on this board.

Paris is just soooooooooo wonderful.  Thank you God for letting me work in this fantastic city!

Last night a friend from Orleans came to visit.  We met up with some guys from another church in the city and ate together in a typically teeny weeny Paris appartment.  Then we went out to the park to watch arty short films that were being screened and hear poetry being recited!  Ha ha!!  I’m cultured me!  Well, when my knees started aching, my bum got damp and I’d had enough rage against the establishment we made our way to the eiffel tower. lol!

WOW!  France has the presidency of the EU for 6 months and the tower is all lit up in blue.  It is breath taking!  Then on the hour it twinkles with little white lights.  Really really beautiful!

This morning was church and a new student called Matthew arrived.  There were 20 adults and about 6 children!  We’ll be neededing a new meeting room very soon at this rate.

This afternoon I saw my friend off and then had a wander round the area near the Hotel de Ville.  It was Sunday and everyone is out walking and relaxing.  There are street performers everywhere.  In the metro there was even a 10 piece string orchestra!  I went there to see a rollerblade exhibition and watch a demonstration.  All very good fun!

Tomorrow I go to the national pastors’ conference for the federation.  It’s going to last 3 days.  Last year was incredibly boring, I’m hoping this time it’ll be better!

BTW:  Fifi had her brake operation on Friday and all went well.  I now have to book her in for another MOT examination next week and hope that she passes!

My poor baby is ill.  She has ‘une enorme fuite’!  Sounds serious doesn’t it!?!  The price certainly is. 

Does having an MOT in England take loads of time?  I don’t understand how people live here and work normal hours - it seems impossible. 

I had an appointment at the garage at 10.45.  I arrived at 10.30 and left the car and wandered round until 11.45.  Apparently the brakes are all a mess and I’m driving a death trap!  Hurrah for the MOT!  Anyway, they can’t repair it because that’s not how it works in France and they can’t reccomend any garages either.  So I had to drive around (in my death trap) and try and find a garage.  Baring in mind I am in a HUGE city where every road seems to have 20 lanes and predominantly suicidale drivers. 

Eventually I find a garage, then have to get stuck into the parking challenge.  Another 10 minutes lost.  Anyway, walk in and they tell me they only do MOTs and not repairs.  They do however give me an address of a garage in the neighbouring town.  Head back home, becuase by this time it’s 12.30 and of course everything will be closed until 2pm… 

Ring at 2pm, ‘can I come?’  ‘Yes, come straight away.’  Manage to get there relativly easily and give myself a silent pat on the back, it’s 2.15.  Walk in to find 3 men standing around with fags in their mouth and talking in Arabic.  Feel quite ill at ease.  Anyway, it turns out the manager isn’t there and I need to come back in half an hour!  So I wander AGAIN (Thank goodness for cafe culture and Glamour magazine) and go back in 45mins (because I know French time keeping).  At the garage all 4 men then stood around talking about the apparently ground shattering problem of Fifi’s brakes.  And I thought this was their job?  Wait an hour stood up while the men try to find the problem and work out how much it’s going to cost etc.  They even bring me in and show me little Fifi strung up high stripped of her wheels and point out various bits of pipes and metal.  I nod patiently, trying to pretend that I’ve got a PHD in mechanics and will not be allowing sharks to rip me off.  My empty stares and Glamour Magazine might have given me away…

The end of the story is that it’s 4.05pm and Fifi has an expensive vist to the doctors on Friday morning to have her rear brakes changed.  Is it normal that this took the best part of a day to sort out?!