This weekend was one of the most spiritual I have had in France. The Lord truly blessed every aspect of my journey to Nantes, and I have truly felt the inner workings of the Holy Spirit here. How very thankful I feel to have such a strong church family that has been so kind and welcoming! After having a long week at school, I got picked up by Juliette at my house on Friday evening and I went to the church in Laval to meet the pastor. There was a gathering there with several people from the church. We had bible study and then a time of prayer. The church members prayed so earnestly for the youth gathering that it would touch many youth from the Brittany region of France. It was very moving to hear people lift up their voices in prayer for us as we prepared to go to the gathering in Nantes. Afterwards, I left with the pastor to go to his house to spend the night. The Bin-Nouveau family is truly wonderful. I especially got to know Philip, who is the eldest child (23 years old) and we shared cultural differences and had many good conversations. Philip and I could relate well, because we are pastor's children and the eldest sons as well. It's a cool connection that I think will make us good friends. It's good to meet a guy who is my age and is very much in love with his Savior, Jesus Christ. Very encouraging. I love talking to Philip, my brother in Christ.
The next day, we went to Nantes by car. In France, currently there are strikes that have closed down gas stations, so many people are unable to drive their cars. Fortunately for us, everyone had enough gas to make the 2h30 journey to Nantes. We arrived right before the service started at 10h. Everyone was a bit tired, but it worked out well. We spent thirty to forty minutes in prayer and singing to the Lord, some praise songs that I knew, others not so much. Our speaker came from Puerto Rico and had a French interpreter. We were listening to both the Spanish and the French. And here I was interpreting everything into English. The first service was rather enjoyable. The pastor converted about 20 youth from among those present in the church. It was so very powerful. After our lunch break, the service became even more filled with the spirit. The singing became much more lively and all the youth seemed to come out of their shells into a true place of worship. It was remarkable. There was a unity in everything. We were all there to give praise to our savior and to listen to his Word spoken. The pastor (who was over 70 years old) was dynamic and moved around a lot. His gestures were filled with grace and his words were encouraging. He spoke about taking our faith into the world and sharing with our neighbor (actions of grace). The moments of prayer were so incredibly spiritual and I could hear about a hundred young people in prayer with a fervor, excitement, and passion that was unbelievable. As is usual in the Pentecostal church, there was some speaking in tongues. It did not, however, affect my impression of the experience, because I genuinely felt the Spirit moving, and it was awesome! Thank you Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The pastor talked about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and I definitely felt that kind of sensation in my heart.
Upon leaving the church in Nantes, I felt happy and blessed by the words of the speaker and by the company of the other youth there. The Lord is indeed present here in France and at work with the young people, the next generation of the Church. I got to continue talking to Philip. He wanted to improve his English, so we talked in English the whole way back. Philip and I have a lot in common. We enjoy movies, listening to music, etc. It was great to share a bit about my experiences in America. He has likewise shared with me about the French culture. I feel as if we're already like friends, and it seems likely that we will grow in this relationship that the Lord has given us. It's such a blessing to have friends and a church family that has been good to me in these first several weeks. Praise the Lord, our God!
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