Sunday, July 29, 2012

Final Day / Departures


FINAL DAY

Our prayer team before going out on the streets.
Yesterday was our final day of outreach to the city of Clermont-Ferrand. Overall it was a really powerful day. Since it was a Saturday, we had quite a lot of extra help from people in the community. We began the day with prayer, asking God to make our efforts effective for Him. It was so great to see so many people gathered to pray.


















Just before the flash mob on the city square.





This particular day's focus was on one of the main squares in Clermont. We set up a large flash-mob, did mime, testimonies, and Sketchboard presentations. 


























The many faces of Timothy after jumping in a fountain at the central park in Clermont-Ferrand.
















The response seemed to be very good. We also passed out invitations to a BBQ that the church hosted that evening.












Emily and Nathanja passing out invites to the soiree.








Le Flash Mob in front of Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral

Aforementioned store...


We moved locations several times in order to present the gospel to more people, and the last location was in front of the Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral. It was so good to be part of shining God's light in such a spiritually dark place. This was evident because a local shop owner threatened to call the police if we didn't leave. She put up signs in her store windows warning other people about us!
The night ended with a meeting at the church (called a soirée, which is just a really fun way to describe what we were doing!)
This included an all-you-could-eat BBQ, songs, traditional Irish dancing, skits, etc... We had a very positive turnout from the community, and had a chance to share the gospel with many for the first time.





View of the courtyard from our balcony during the BBQ.


DEPARTURES


Today was a final celebration service. All of the local churches gathered together at Les Eaux Vive (the host church during the outreach), and we all worshiped together. It was really amazing to see the unity of the local churches.
Me and my buddy Sam!
Me and the pastor of the
church in Riom, Jean-Pierre
The pastor of the church, Jean, preached on using our gifts and talents for God. Each person is unique with different skills and abilities, but all of us have to be willing to let Him use us for His purposes. The Spirit of God was so strong in the room.








After the service, we all ate a final meal together, and began saying our “goodbyes” to one another. There were a lot of bittersweet tears, hugs, and prayers for one another. It was hard to believe that we had only known each other a week.
Our family and Marlene, she really
connected with Emily and Daniel!


This afternoon a host family invited our kids to a local waterpark with some splash pools and inflatable rides. We had a little trouble when we got there, because Daniel and Timothy’s swimming suits were not considered proper “swimming costumes” and they would not let them into the splash pool.





Fortunately for them, our host family knew someone nearby with two boys near Daniel and Timothy’s ages and size, and they got to borrow their swim trunks. I really wanted to get a picture of the boys in their French swimwear, but they were already in the water, and I didn’t want to be the creepy guy taking photos of kids in a pool.







NOT PICTURED, DANIEL AND TIMOTHY IN
PROPER SWIMMING COSTUMES






We then went to the Michelin tire plant where we saw the world’s largest tire.
It was pretty big, but I was forbidden to climb it. :(
Afterwards, we had a lovely outdoor dinner with our host family in their backyard. Tomorrow morning, we board a train to head back to Paris for one last night before our flight to the states. Thanks so much for your prayers for us this week. God is really moving in our family, and I can’t wait to tell you what He is doing in our hearts over a cup of coffee, or a 3-course meal!
We won't invite this weirdo, though. Emily in the backyard
at our host family's home.

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