Archive for March, 2009
Not yet, but maybe later
Monday, March 30th, 2009Does this thing work?
Thursday, March 26th, 2009Trip to Marseilles
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009Wife and I caught an early morning train out of Lausanne on March 18, then transferred to the TGV in Geneva. 3.5 hours later we were in Marseilles, ready to surprise Daughter on her 19th birthday. It was great fun, and we not only surprised her, but also the 3 interns co-renters! The girls treated us to lunch the next two days, cooking for us in their very small, but almost tidy, apartment.
That afternoon we sang in a retirement home near the center of Marseilles. All of the chorus members (us included) went into the “crowd†and greeted each resident. They were waiting patiently for us to start singing and welcomed us warmly.
When all was over and we were “checking out†the place (hey, I’ll be 50 soon), the director for activities told us that this was the first time a chorus had come and had mingled with the residents. No one had taken the time before to greet and talk and listen. She told the group they could come sing anytime, not just for their talent, but for their affection. Then she said: I’m Israeli, but I’d love for you to come and lead our residents in worship. Do you think you could do that?
We left that place abundantly blessed.
Boasting
Friday, March 20th, 2009Daughter’s birthday
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009It’s Daughter’s birthday today. She is in Marseilles, France doing a busy day’s ministry. Then she and her buddies will head off to KFC for a greasy birthday supper.
We love you, Daughter. Wish we could blow out some candles with you. Hey, I’ll make that wish when you blow out those candles…
Weather
Monday, March 16th, 2009We’ve had just a few days of weather in the low 60’s… Barely enough to think that Spring might actually come. Enough heat to bring out the crocus (or crocae) hidden under the grass near the cherry tree.
But it won’t last (say the meteorologists). Saturday’s high will be in the mid 40’s. And that’s the day Wife and I do a 15K race in Swiss Germany.
I’ll be starting with the last and slowest group. They put me in the dead-last category because last year I had a tachycardia at kilometer 9 and, after a 25 minute wait, finally finished the course third to last in my category. Third to last.
Taught me not to boast!
Paris
Thursday, March 12th, 2009My colleague from Geneva called me up a few months ago with a plan. He wanted to get two Paris churches together for a time of singing and worship. Emails were sent and commitments made. We headed off this last Saturday morning by bullet train to Paris.
Wife, colleague and I met with 23 "youth" on Saturday afternoon. The singing was beautiful and they kindly listened to the studies. We dove into a table full of snacks and caught up on what everyone was up to.
Our Saturday night hosts live on a hill 10 miles north-east of Paris. The view was spectacular and you could easily spend all evening gazing at the skyline with the dominating Arc de la Défense. But we chose something even better: good fellowship and food around a table, laughing and loving our spiritual family.
Sunday morning’s crowd was just over 160. I got to give a polished sermon full of truth AND stories. Well received. We waited for the other small church to arrive before starting a delicious potluck.
The singing was enthusiastic, with several sharing favorite hymns. I also introduced several songs that the youth know and that, sung all together (young and old), manage to move the spirit.
Sadly, after two hours it was time to call it quits. I taught a small English group that came for evening worship before we headed to the train station, arriving home before midnight, having been caught in a cold, heavy rain. All in all, to do again…
Brain drain
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009Ukraine has lost 5 million of its population in the last few years. Average life expectancy of the Ukrainian male is about 62. Times are tough and fewer children are being born. Those that can leave the country do. There is a true brain drain going on.
The church in T. is made up of godly women. There are about 5 men who help out with the spiritual leadership. Their hearts are good, but the task is huge.
The Christian girls have no one to marry, at least no one in the Lord. One just turned 30, but she knows that many not-yet-believers (maybe even most of those from Western Ukraine) are drunkards and will not make good husbands, so she keeps on praying, as do the other young ladies. “Will there come a time that God will answer our prayers?â€, they ask me. I assure them that God is listening and that he is strengthening them, preparing for them a glorious future.
It just may be a future without marriage, and that can be disheartening.
Kiev, or Kyiv
Monday, March 2nd, 2009I have been Kiev a bazillion times, but have never really been on my own in the city. (Which is not necessarily a bad thing.) The Metro dives hundreds of feet under ground and speeds around, letting people off only if they can read the mysterious Cyrillic writing that is hidden in each station, or when they can distinguish the garbled Ukrainian that comes over the 1960’s intercom system. The Metro is amazing. It is way old, there is danger everywhere (no barriers, no directions, crushing crowds) and no one speaks English, French or Spanish.
My good friend Olha met me at the airport. She and her husband are starting a camp to welcome orphans and teens, but she took a week off to accompany me to Ternopil where I was to speak, and where her mom and grandmother live. In the 4 hours before our night train, we went to the Pinchuk Modern Art Museum. It was free and loaded with university students who were checking out the wonderful "still-video" exhibits. Fascinating to see the “art†AND the crowds of students! Then we headed over to the monument built to honor those who Stalin and his henchmen starved to death during the harvest of sorrow (1932 to 1933). In order to force farmers onto collective farms, Stalin took away seed, food in storage and the new harvest. He let the people (mostly Ukrainians) die, wiping out an entire generation. Perhaps around 10 million people.