First, thank you for reading the blog! It's a blessing to receive your comments.
I was able to go for a nice run when I awoke (refreshed) yesterday. It's cool here in the mornings and the provençal countryside is beautiful! Thereafter, Matt and I spent most of the day exploring the city. He picked me up around 9 a.m. from Ésaïe 55, and that started our day-long journey into the typical behind-the-scenes life of a missionary. We bought our métro passes, went from office to office trying to sort out details about cartes de séjour (visas) renewal, checked on van and hotel reservations for when the team arrives, met some very nice people, and stocked up on some supplies for later in the week. At La Préfecture, the lady who helped us asked Matt what he did, and thus began a conversation about religion (particularly in France) and the Bible (which she is currently re-reading). It was cool to watch Matt interact so authentically, eventually offering to sit down and study the Bible if she was ever interested. God is so faithful to orchestrate divine appointments with people. Please pray that the Lord will continue to work in this lady's life.
We had lunch at a nice café near ResidHotel, where the team will be staying starting Saturday. Matt knew the owner, a nice Jewish lady. About 10% of Marseille is Jewish, compared to 1.5% Protestants. Here's a picture of my dessert (choc-amandes), a chocolate-filled croissant covered with almonds. Vegan? Debatable. Delicious? Definitely.We proceded to walk down La Canebière after lunch, the famous stretch in Marseille, simliar to Les Champs Elysées in Paris.
We followed it to the Vieux Port (Old Port) of Marseille. It's a very culturally rich place. There are a lot of shops, restaurants, monuments, etc. There's une poissonnerie (a fish market) there in the mornings, so hints of the aroma were still lingering.
On the way back to the métro, we passed a candy shop that I visited last time I was in France (in Aigues-Mortes). It's quite a place! The name is La Cure Gourmande, and I picked up a few sea salt caramels. Boy, are they deliciously rich!
Finally, we got back to the car and headed to the supermarket to buy bottled water (about 300 bottles). We're going to attach a flyer for one of our events to the bottles and hand them out to college-age people at the beach next week.
With all that done, the rest of the evening was spent relaxing with Matt's family. Once the kids were in bed, Matt, Christy and I spent time praying together for what the Lord will do during the team's time here. Christy said the Lord impressed on her that He was going to give me a real favor with the French people. I receive it!
I can't wait to see what He has in store for us. I've already seen Him set things in motion in the past few days and I know it will just increase as our team grows.
Thank you for your prayers!
