Bells in the Final Program

As part of our final program, the children rang their bells to the tune of "I've got a home in Gloryland."The parents loved this part of the program and we left a set of bells with the International Baptist church in St. Paul de Vence. We wish them many happy bell concerts.

La bataille d'eau

The kids loved the last day when we had a water fight for sports.

La Prière du Seigneur.

McNair and Christine lead the Zebras ( ages 9-12) in learning the Lord's Prayer in French and English.

Ping pong

At the International Baptist church, everyone could play games on the porch. Stephen is about to serve in ping pong.

A swim in the Mediterranean Sea.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Nice to visit the beach. Reagan, Daniel, Kaleb and Katelyn enjoyed the water. A jellyfish ( une meduse) swam by, creating panic. A water patrol boat came to scoop it up. The beach is rocky and stoney, rather than sandy. But we had fun anyway.

On mange bien ici.

Nancy Painter keeps a table of snacks and drinks out in the hall all day. In this hot, dry climate, the children need to drink constantly. Kaleb Reilly helps serve milk. All the students have been so willing to help wherever needed. Today is " all hands on deck" for our final program.

"ON NE SONNE PAS LES CLOCHES!!"

Helping with the youngest group, "les singes," during the first week of VBS in Marseille, Kyle's booming voice brought the rambunctious children to attention. This week, Kyle has been using his deep bass to impress the VBSers as he plays M. Bakari, the safari guide out to capture the Cracatou to get money for a new jeep. From his evil laugh to his baby-talking the Cracatou once he discovers the hurt bird, Kyle brings fun and masculinity to the skit :D

Outside the morning skit, though, Kyle also helps keep the energetic kids in line and translates directions and biblical applications into French for the francophone children.

-Christine

Arts & crafts

Daniel helps with art and crafts. We learned from last week that some crafts need more preparation. It is wonderful to have so many hands!

Claire Beer

Claire is holding Alexandra, one of our VBS girls. Each child has had a teen to hold their hand as we walk through the streets of St. Paul on our way to sports and in each activity. Thank you , Claire, for your cheery smile and song leading.

Katie in the kitchen

Katie is really an amazing worker. She always keeps us fed. However she doesn't just throw something together. No, she makes sure that the food is all decoratively arranged. And then if that’s not enough work she also cleans everything up and gives the kids their snacks. Thank you Katie!

Daniel Stephens (for MadameS)

More on the other blog!

Be sure to check out the other blog: http://mission2France.blogspot.com. The pictures and info are completely different.

Notre actrice magnifique

Christine Orsini is one of our actrices for the Sketch each morning. She is very gifted in drama and the kids love her expressions, comedy and energy. She and her sister, Kelly, make a hilarious team.

Christine has also helped me with translation and worked with the Francophone kids. We appreciate her !

The Monkeys

The lady featured in the picture here is Colleen Hawthorne, the leader for the monkeys, the 4-7 year old group. She is a missionary in Malaysia, and has been for quite some time. She is Mrs. Orsini's sister, and was visiting the states when she found out about the trip. She is great with all of the kids. She loves to connect with them one-on-one to let them know just how much Jesus loves them. It's pretty powerful, and especially important for the age group she works with, which has been the largest of the three age groups both weeks. Last week, I was privileged to work as the main translator for the monkeys. They are a lot of fun to work with, even though they don't always listen all the time. This week, there are fewer kids who speak French only, so the job of translating is not as large a task any more. Also, we lost some of the helpers we had for sports, so I was offered a job as the main translator for sports as the different age groups come in. In some ways, I've missed working with the monkeys, but it looks now as though I'll be working with translation for them in the afternoons. On a last note, there are a few more kids this week, especially in the monkeys, that have never heard the gospel before, so I would appreciate it if you all would pray for them. So far, they all seem to be taking it all well, but we can never have too much prayer for them. Thanks all!

-Kyle Reilly

Bastille Day Fireworks

Last night we drove to Nice and walked along La Promenade des Anglais with 100,000 other people. There was music, food and dancing. As it turned dark, we sat on the beach to watch the fireworks.
Daniel, Stephen, Jonathan and Reagan went into the Mediterranean Sea and had a great time jumping and rolling in the waves.
As the fireworks went off from boats in the middle of the bay, we could see the reflection in the waves. It was magical.

Bastille Day Fireworks

One of the great pleasures of eating at La Chappelle is that we get to eat outside under les platanes ( the plane trees). On the terrace are gorgeous flowers, colorful pots of geraniums , morning glories climbing the trellis and bouganvillea covering the walls. We have a wonderful view of St. Paul down in the valley.

Here is Ismini Lamb, our VBS directrice. She has done a fantastic job.

Pig's cheeks

Yes, that's right. This pork delicacy was prepared for us by the Sisters at La Chapelle du Rosaire. In 5 star restaurants this would be served in the pig's head.

Fish soup

The nuns at La Chappelle du Rosaire (the Catholic retreat center) prepare dinner for us each night. This is fish soup served over a piece of toasted baguette with garlic. It takes hours to simmer the various kinds of fish and the results are delicious.

Hurray for Kelly

Kelly is an amazing young woman. She graduated from Patrick Henry College and is planning to stay in France for a year before a graduate degree. She has worked tirelessly for our team. She has made arrangements for the group before hand, led tours and answered our questions. She is Franco-American and beautifully bilingual. Kelly leads the children in the songs during VBS. They love her enthusiasm and energy.

We've started out with a skit everyday these two weeks. The story is of twins named Terry and Julie, who want to see the "Cracatou," and evil Bacari, who wants to capture and sell the cracatou. I'm Docteur Enfaitrop(Doctor Doolots), who assists them. Last week, Katie played Enfaitrop, and I didn't actually find out I was doing it this week until yesterday morning. But I've fun so far and I think it's gone pretty well.

-Katelyn

VBS Take 2: Day 1

Our second VBS got off to a great start with 24 kids in attendance, quite a large number for the first time we run a camp in a particular location. The International Baptist Church is hosting us from its space in St Paul de Vence right outside of Nice, and has graciously volunteered many of its teens and summer workers to add to our reduced team. We now have as many workers as kids, and have run out of orange staff T-shirts!

There are nearly even numbers of French and English speakers among the children, plus one Portugese speaker and one German speaker. One little girl assured us in her lovely British accent that she "spoke all the languages," as we sang in both English and French.

Travel to and from our sports area is much simpler here than in Marseille since the field is only a three minute walk away. Since our expected sports area was set up for a concert today, we improvised on the "aire de petanque" (petanque field). Unfortunately our sack races, soccer and jump rope games stirred up too much dust, so we will have to find another location for tomorrow. Please pray that we find one within close distance with plenty of space for the kids to run around.

Post by Kelly

La Chapelle du Rosaire

C'est la Chapelle du Rosaire. It is a French convent in Vence. While we all are strictly commanded to be respecfully quiet, this has been a very suitable and accomodating place to stay thus far. Interestingly, the nuns told us the primary rule is to refrain from flushing les toilettes after 10 p.m. : ) We do appreciate the hospitality des soeurs. Today is our first day of VBS in St. Paul; please pray!

-McNair (pour Madame S)

English speaking churches

Sunday we visited 2 International Baptist churches. One is in a shopping center in St. Paul de Vence. We sang for them and listened to a sermon by James Arnold. Afterwards there was a potluck lunch of Merguez saucissons, potatoe casserole, bread, cheese, wine, and flan for dessert.
In the evening we went to Nice and heard the same sermon by the same pastor. Both churches have English speakers from Scotland, South Africa, Niger, Germany, Philippines, Britain, etc. It is truly international. The building in Nice hid Jews during WWII.

This is the whole group at the Chateau D'If (pronounced shatow deef) which is on a small island about a mile from shore, and if you didn't know, this is the castle from the Count of Monte Cristo, where the fictional main character, Edward Dantes, was imprisoned. The castle was also used for holding French Huguenots (Protestants). From the highest point in the castle, you can view all of Marseille.

Stephen Taylor

The Philipino French kids love McNair. It has been quite a challenge to teach these kids when some speak French, but no English. Others speak English but no French. Some just arrived and speak only Tangala (sp?); Sometimes their moms join in at the VBS because they want to learn more English and French. It is perfect for my students because we can practice our French and no one expects perfection. We all learn from each other and the Gospel is going out.

Kyle is great with the little ones. His deep voice in French gets their attention. He translates all their classes - crafts, sports, bells, music, Bible and Science.

Last day in Marseille

Katelyn has done a wonderful job translatin for les singes ( the monkeys - the youngest group).

Last day of VBS

Daniel is helping in the Arts and Crafts class.

We visited the Tour de Constance in Aigues Mortes. King Louis IX launched the crusades from here. He also built a tower and named it after his daughter. The protestant women were imprisoned here for many years. Mary Durand was arrested the day of her marriage and spent 38 years in the tower. All she had to do for liberty was to recant, convert to catholicism and take the mass. This monument also shows a boat because the protestant men were sent to the galleys to row the king`s warships. The average life of a pastor, once he took up that job was two years. They died in assorted and cruel ways.

Concert in Anduze. The French love Gospel music because of the rhythm. They like to use it during weddings as something modern and different. They thought we were a professional singing group1 ( We do sound good!) Katie Beer, Jeff and I gave our testimonies in French.

La grotte. ( The cave) 90° outside, 50° inside.

We sang hymns and practiced our music just like the protestants did hundreds of years ago. It was very moving and we were struck by the faith and tenacity they had. We better appreciate our religious freedom.

Once we got to the cave, it was cool inside. Dad sat on a stone to rest. I am behind him and Maureen Orsini and Kyle Reilly are leaning against the wall.

While we were at the castle, we took a hike up to one of the caves that the protestants used for their worship services. It took us an hour of climbing straight up the mountain. I do not know how the women did it in long skirts and clogs! We were sweating and pulling ourselves up on rocks and roots. Here Daniel, McNair and Jeff are helping Dad.

Singing in church

On Sunday (today) some of us sang at the Baptist church: Kelly, Katie (hidden), Katelyn, Claire, Reagan, Stephen, Kyle on the guitar and Kaleb on the piano. There wre about é( in the service. That is a normal size church for France.

( Sorry for the mistakes - the French keyboard is very different.)

Au revoir Monsieur de Casanove!

We thanked M. de Casanove for his hospitality and the use of his château. He appreciated our gifts and wishes:

On thr way to the chateau

After setting up for VBS, we drove 3 hours into the

Cévennes mountains. The chateau is on the mountain behind us:

After 24 hours of flying, the Friedland Reformed Protestant church offered us lunch. Their hospitality and kindness have been great.

Lunch at the French church

Leqving Detroit

Aren`t these the coolest looking missionaries ever?

Protestants in France today

After 1598, religious peace was assured for 87 years due the Edict of Nantes.  Catholicism and Protestantism were both allowed.  Louis XIII had some protestant revolts during his reign. Louis XIV was more harsh and persecuted them.  Many, many Protestants left the country. They went to America and brought their "protestant work ethic" with them. This blessed and prospered the colonies and later, the United States. Due to all the persecution in France, there was a loss of artisans, skilled workers and entrepreneurs.  Some Protestants brought fortunes with them to the new world. 

   The Protestants who remained in France would have to wait until the French Revolution and "The Declaration of The Rights of Man" in 1789 before they saw more liberty.

    Such a complex history makes religion in France a touchy subject. According to Francoscopie, 2007:

73% of French people say they have a religion.

62% say they are Catholic.

2% of the country calls themselves Protestant. These live mostly in the eastern part of France and are divided into the denominations of Calvinists, Lutherians, Evangelicals, Pentacostals, Methodists, 7th Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses. 

A survey indicated 1, 000 parishes and 2,000 pastors.  According to the same survey, 60% of the Protestants interviewed said they did not attend church regularly. 

      This is the situation facing us as we go to serve in France. May God touch hearts and open eyes!

Protestants in France today

   After 1598, religious peace was assured for 87 years due the Edict of Nantes.  Catholicism and Protestantism were both allowed.  Louis XIII had some protestant revolts during his reign. Louis XIV was more harsh and persecuted them.  Many, many Protestants left the country. They went to America and brought their "protestant work ethic" with them. This blessed and prospered the colonies and later, the United States. Due to all the persecution in France, there was a loss of artisans, skilled workers and entrepreneurs.  Some Protestants brought fortunes with them to the new world. 

   The Protestants who remained in France would have to wait until the French Revolution and "The Declaration of The Rights of Man" in 1789 before they saw more liberty.

    Such a complex history makes religion in France a touchy subject. According to Francoscopie, 2007:

73% of French people say they have a religion.

62% say they are Catholic.

2% of the country calls themselves Protestant. These live mostly in the eastern part of France and are divided into the denominations of Calvinists, Lutherians, Evangelicals, Pentacostals, Methodists, 7th Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses. 

A survey indicated 1, 000 parishes and 2,000 pastors.  According to the same survey, 60% of the Protestants interviewed said they did not attend church regularly. 

      This is the situation facing us as we go to serve in France. May God touch hearts and open eyes!

There were 8 wars of religion in France. This was a bloody time - all over religion and mixed in with politics. It really explains why the French think your personal beliefs should be personal.

First war- 1562-1563: It began with a massacre at Wassy. Françoise de Guise charged with his troops and killed a lot of Protestants. The country was divided and Catherine de Médecis tried to bring about some peace. In 1563, the Edit d'Ambroise said that the Protestants could worship in a few reserved places.

Second war - 1567-1568: This came about because the Protestant worship service was only for the nobles. There was great rivalry  in the royal court between the prince of Condé and Henri duc d'Anjou. Both took up arms and fought until the Edit d'Ambroise was re-established.

Third war - ( 1568-1570): Peace was fragile. The Protestant and Catholic armies fought over western France and in the southern Loire valley. The Protestants fortified themselves on the coast at La Rochelle and waited for some help from the English. Le Prince de Condé was killed in a battle and Coligny became the leader of the Calvinists. L'Edit de Saint-Germain was signed and the Protestants felt safe in La Rochelle.

Fourth war - ( 1572-1573) : This was brutal. During the marriage of Marguerite de Valois and Henri de Bouron, there was an attempt on the life of Coligny. The Protestants wanted revenge.

The king and his government decided to surround the leaders of the Protestants and execute them. The doors of the city were closed and the Protestants were trapped. Le Massacre dela Saint- Barthlémy left 300, 000 dead in Paris. The rest of the Protestants fled to the south of France where they organized a republic.

Fifth war- ( 1574-1576): A plot by the Malcontents opened the war and there were many revolts and protests. People were angry over the absolute power of the king. The Malcontents and the Protestants fought the government of Catherine de Médicis until another edict brought freedom of worship for all.

Sixth war - (May 1577- September 1577): This time the king was all along against the Protestants, the Catholics and the political men of his kingdom. He was trying to get back absolute power and was suspicious of everyone.

Seventh war- (1579-1580): Catherine de Médecis gave the Protestants places of safety for worship. But then the Protestants didn't want to give them back! The Catholic family of Les Guises governed most of France.  Henri de Navarre, was a Protestant and could understand the problems. But he was leading a party life with his wife, Marguerite de Valois.

Eighth war- (1585-1598): Things got very complicated and this was a long war for power. Henri III did not have any children, so the throne went to Henri de Navarre. Since the latter was a protestant, the Catholics refused to have him as king. The Guise family tried to take over the power. Henri III tried to align himself with the Guises, but then he tried to kill them. That made the Catholics angy, so Henri III took the side of Henri de Navarre. In the end Henri III was assassinated by a monk and Henri de Navarre became Henri IV, king of France. He converted to Catholicism in order to do this and the Protestants didn't support him.

         Henri IV established some religious peace through l'Édit de Nantes. This gave everyone a liberty of conscience to choose what religion they wanted. It gave limited freedom to Protestant worship and equal civil liberties with the Catholics. There were safe places established for the Protestants, but after all the fighting, there weren't many left.

      With all this fighting, you can see why religion, especially supported by politicians, makes the French nervous. They get upset when our leaders ( no matter which party) declare, "God bless America". The French believe church and government should be completely separate with no mention of either one by the other. 

Change of blog address

If you are following this blog ( and I am so glad that you are!!!), please go to :

http://mission2france.blogspot.com

   I will continue blogging more info about our trip there.

Main players

   When the protest movement got going, it came to be called the Protestant Reformation. The main players were:

John Wyclif - He translated the gospel into English at the end of the 14th century. He introduced the idea that God is Sovereign and everyone must bow to Him - even the Pope.

John Hus - He translated the Bible into czech and encouraged everyone to read the Bible for themselves. He was ex communicated from the church and burned as a heretic.

Martin Luther - He started out as a monk and found in Romans that the just shall live by faith.

In 1515 Luther posted his 95 theses. Léon X condemned his ideas and burned his writings. Luther was ex communicated, but the idea of Reform spread throughout Germany.

Ulrich Zwingli worked in Switerland.  He was more interested in Predestination, than justification by faith.

Martin Bucer was in Strasbourg, France. He found a compromise between the Swiss and the German Lutherans. 

John Calvin studied in paris and then went into Law. In 1536 , he formed the doctrine of predestination, believing that if God knows all and controls all, then He calls men to Himself.

Calvin took charge of the Reformation and directed from Geneva. Many French refugees and persecuted protestants came to study with him.

The need for change

 Over the years, Christianity became solidified in the Catholic church. The church was a religious force, but also a political force. During the Middle Ages, the system became more and more corrupt. The wealthy people could "buy" a seat in Heaven by purchasing "les reliques" or indulgences. For example, l'électeur de Saxe, Frédéric le Sage owned 17, 443 reliques which were supposed to spare him  128, 000 years in purgatory. The poor did not have these means.  They had to pay taxes to the government and taxes to the church. When the Plague swept through Europe, it  left many questioning about life after death. 

    People wanted to turn to the Bible for answers. But there was no Bible in the common language of the people .  With the invention of the printing press in the 1400's, more Bibles were printed in French for the people to read for themselves.  This led to a personal faith.

    On the political side, the individual kings and princes wanted more control over their territories. Grégoire VII proclaimed the universal authority of the Pope in 1075. The Pope could make decisions, raise taxes and gather an army from the entire Catholic world. The individual leaders wanted more independence.

     Everyone was a ready for a change. The religious people, the poor and the powerful began to protest.

History of Religion

Sunday, March 22, 2009

History of religion

Since we can't get the group together to prepare for this mission, I thought I would share a little about the history of religion in France.  When Charlemagne was crowned in 800 ad as the empereur of the Holy Roman Empire, he wanted all his subjects to be Christians. Christianity became the national religion. 

  Over the years, Christianity became organized into Catholicism with leaders ( the Pope, cardinals and bishops) and rules.  Around 1000 AD, the Pope asked the kings of Europe to help him win the Holy Land back from the Turks ( the Muslims). So the kings of France made several Crusades to the Holy Land. The lost the battle, but they bought "les reliques" while they were there. These holy objects were things like....a piece of the Cross, the Crown of Thorns, the head of John the Baptist, etc.  When the kings of France brought them back to France, they built cathedrales to house them. The people wanted their cathedrales to soar to the heavens and praise God. We will see some of these in southern France.

Participants

Here is a list of the people who have signed up. Please pray for them:

From Michigan: Kaleb Reilly               French 3 Kyle Reilly                 French 3 Stephen Taylor         French 3 Claire Beer                French 4 Katie Beer                French 4 Brian Beer                 Dad John Beer               Beginners Mary Beer               Beginners Judy Beer                Mom Barbara Starosciak     Instructor Daniel Stephens      French 1 Fred Lathrop           Instructor’s father Ohio: Amber Cassill         TPS French 3   Viriginia: Reagan Cerisano       TPS  French 2   North Carolina: Katelyn Mullins          TPS French 3       From VA   Angelise Anderson Nikki Lewis                            Fluent   From Faith Dominique Orsini               Fluent Maureen Orsini Kelly Orsini Christine Orsini Dominic-Xavier Orsini   Terry Bittenbender Bruce Bittenbender Tom Beach Ismini Lamb Chris Lamb Jonathan Lamb

Preparations

There are 10 students interested in going with me to France. We plan to help with 2 VBS programs on an English-speaking church plant. The first will be in Marseill and the second will be in St. Paul de Vence. So we will stay in southern France.

It is difficult to ask for support, but we need it! I have led other educational tours, but this feels very different. We are dependant on God to lead in a special way because we want to serve.