My last post was about two weeks ago and that is WAY too long to go without updating you guys. Drastic measures will be taken. Everybody buckle your seatbelts, because I’m going to give a day-by-day synopsis of the past two weeks……..
I’m completely kidding. Gosh that would be a brutally long post. Not only for you all reading but also for me because that is a lot of typing!
So instead of doing that, my goals in this post are just to share with ya’ll a few of my favorite stories about what the Lord is doing, and also a few struggles/thoughts/prayer requests.
Stories:
#1 – To give some background to these stories, our team of seven moved to another cheaper Airbnb a little over a week and a half ago. Before we moved, one of our team members met two Arab muslims that live and work here in Paris. Their conversations quickly turned to religious beliefs and the basic “ins and outs” of both Islam and Christianity. They exchanged contact information and decided to meet again a few days later over coffee to talk some more. Once she figured out the time and place, she asked me to tag along since the differences between Islam and Christianity is a topic I’ve researched extensively. During that next meeting, as we were ordering our coffee, another Arab muslim man heard my teammate and I speaking in English and the two men we were with speaking Arabic, so he walked up and asked if we needed a translator. At first I was hesitant since the guys we were meeting spoke decent English, but after our coffee was brought to us I changed my mind and let him join… and man was I glad he did. That entire afternoon, while my teammate chatted with the two original men she had met, I ended up talking with the third guy, the one who wasn’t even supposed to be there. He is from Algeria and is living in Paris with his cousin and working as a barber. We had an extremely fruitful discussion. As soon as I told him why we were in Paris, our discussion immediately went to religious beliefs. In case some of you don’t know, the Quran (Islam’s divine book which has supreme authority) actually teaches that the Jewish Tenakh (the Old Testament) is TRUE and should be used as doctrine. Also, many muslims believe Christians are “tri-theistic” (worship three gods) and have a lot of trouble grasping the concept of the “Trinity.” They believe Allah (god of Islam) cannot be “divided” and that he is “absolutely one.” Knowing this, I (respectfully) explained how the prophets of the Tenakh distinctly prophecy of Jesus and how Jesus fulfills the law (torah). Plus, I explained that the Tenakh actually describes God in a singular plural form (elohim) numerous times.
As we continued talking I could tell he was becoming more intrigued and interested and he had never heard any of this before. So to keep from drowning him with information, I shared the gospel with him and told him that the only reason we do this is because of what Jesus has done for us.
Our discussion ended, we exchanged contact info, and despite trying to get a hold of him numerous times, I haven’t seen him since.
#2 – Ten days ago our entire squad worked alongside YWAM and a few other organizations in prepping a new refugee camp to bring in 500 refugees from Porte de La Chapelle. Everyone worked well into the early morning hours doing virtually anything possible to help the camp workers and sleep was hard to come by since the refugees were arriving the next day at 8am. As everyone was working and midnight came and went, I sat down on a bench at the facility to take a breather and wait for orders on what to do next. A nicely dressed man came and sat next to me and after a few minutes a conversation began between us. Working for the state, his job was to oversee and direct the camp for refugee processing. I could tell he was tired, drained and was operating off very little sleep already. He and his team had been working nonstop since the day before we arrived to prepare the camp. We talked about his family and where he grew up in southern France. We talked about how he graduated with an engineering degree but decided to go back and get a masters in economics (we talked about that for awhile since economics was one of my majors). Appreciative of the help our team was providing, he asked me why we were doing this, which opened the door for me to share the gospel. I don’t know how he received it, but that’s alright. As the refugees arrived the next morning and the camp began its operation, every time I saw him we would give each other a fist bump. At the end of that day, he thanked me and our team for the help, told me his job here was done and he was moving to another camp, and said he enjoyed our talk the night before. We shook hands and wished us good luck the rest of the Race.
#3 – (This one is shorter.) If some of you guys don’t know, about a year and a half ago I started dancing almost weekly with a small group of new friends, which was weird for me because I had never been the social type. Man was I awful at it, too. (I still don’t think I’m very good. haha) But these were no ordinary friends and we quickly built a strong bond with each other… Words wouldn’t really do justice to how much this group has impacted my life. Every one of them is irreplaceable. Anyways, sorry about the tangent. Back to the story. One of those awesome friends (Rachael Dickson) happens to be quite the world-traveler. Taking a small tour of Europe seeing friends, she came to Paris and basically became a part of our team and did ministry with us for a few days and we were extremely blessed to have her. I don’t imagine many people can say they’ve two-stepped in front of the Eiffel, which is kind of cool.
Struggles:
Personally, thinking about home and missing everyone is probably my biggest “struggle.” Depending on your perspective, I guess it isn’t really a terrible thing since it’s a testament to the family and friend community I have back in Texas. Sometimes it gets difficult being present and focused here on the Race when I think about home, though. So it is definitely something I’ll need to manage.
Prayer Requests:
1) That hearts would continue to be open and receptive to the Gospel
2) Our teams would grow closer in community and we would serve each other selflessly
If you made it this far, thank you all so much for reading! Our time in Paris is winding down and we’re preparing for the Camino in Spain. We leave Thursday!
Love you guys. May the Lord bless and keep you close to him.
-Bradley
