This is L'Eglise Baptiste Evangelique des Laurentides--our home for the past 8 days. I drove to Lachute, Quebec with 10 college students and one intern, really not sure what God was going to do, but expecting great things.
The week surpassed my expectations. We worked hard, played hard, and the team merged in a way that only God could do. Plus we fell in love with the people of Lachute, and gained a heart for the street kids of Montreal.
Fun things I learned while in Quebec:
1. Mi
lk comes in plastic bags2. If you take french fries, cover them in cheese curds, pour gravy on top and call them "poutine", it's considered a delicacy (see pic at left.)
3. Trees don't always fall in the direction you would expect when chainsawing them down.
4. The French expression "Thank You", if pronounced incorrectly, can also mean "nic
e ***".5. It is possible to walk on water, (and DRIVE on water) when it has two feet of ice on top of it.
6. There are actually roads with potholes as big as your car.
7. Plastic trash bags, combined with steep, snowy hills, result in a wild ride and a snow wedgie.
8. Manitoba is the slurpee capital of the world.
9. It is possible to survive six hours of scraping paint in freezing rain and frigid temperatures.
10. The customary greeting in French culture is to kiss on both cheeks. One of our students innocently announced, after being welcomed in church on Sunday, "that was my first French kiss!"
We had the most amazing time in Quebec. They welcomed us into their church family, and we got a glimpse of how it will be to all worship together someday in Heaven. Can't wait.
9 comments:
Kiki,
Awesome post. I remember those college days well when I would do trips like that. What happened to that kind of enthusiasm for God's kingdom and the joy of making that kind of investment? Did it leave with all the responsibilities of life? I don't know but I wish I and others could recapture that vision. Reminds me of that Michael W Smith song "Missing Person".
BTW...I'm thinking about you guys. It's 41 degrees in Delaware and I'm smoking brisket!
Be blessed!
Sweet. I wish I could have spent my semester in Montreal. It's North New Orleans, from what I hear. Woulda been cool (cold).
I learned some of what you said while I was up there last November. Things like poutine (dark gravy, apparently, not white gravy, in my case) and Timmy Ho's (Tim Horton's) which my friend Jonathan (currently in Cochrane, Alberta) told me all about. That sentence wins the award for the most parenthetical asides. Anyhoo, good good good, glad you went, glad you posted, good to know you're still around.
I thought we re-named french fries--"freedom fries." :)
Dear Kiki,
I praise God for such a trip! We missed you here in the blogosphere. (It's been busy!)Welcome back!
Love in Christ,
Jeff
I enjoyed your "missions report" from Quebec, but was also curious about the other group that went to Peru. Any news from their trip?
Won't it be fun to gather one day in Heaven and see people from every tribe and nation worshipping the Lord?
The Peru team gets back today. On last report, they had seen 12 people accept Christ and had a wonderful trip.
They also got a threat of detainment, when police stopped them on false charges and wanted a bribe. But IMB policy forbids bribes. So Doug was a little nervous there for a while.
Kiki,
This may not be germaine to the main subject of your post, but I was stunned when you said that in Quebec milk comes in plastic bags. Now, I just happen to be a world class connoisseur of milk, but I can't figure out how on earth you can pour milk out of a plastic bag without making a mess. And how can you drink milk straight out of a bag?
Anyway, now on to something substantive. Sounds like you had a wonderful time of ministry and fellowship. I know that some of the most important times of spiritual formation in my life occurred on similar mission trips. What I have never been able to figure out is why it seems to be more difficult to have such growth and fellowship when we minister in our home areas. Maybe it's because when we go somewhere else to serve we can focus on the mission without being distracted by everything that goes on at home. Any other ideas, or am I the only one who has experienced this?
Just how DO you say "thank you" in French??
Heeh...and yes, I'd like to know how one can pour milk out of a bag, too...
Kiki,
Great post. Plastic bags aren't that bad. It is the norm here. Everything liquid comes in bags,milk, yogurt, chocolate milk, and all juices. They sell a plastic container for this and they say it is easier to recycle the bags. Who knows. (Quen sabe?)
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