What I'll Miss the Most

I was going to wait a couple of days to write this entry, but the impending termination of our internet service dictates otherwise. Tomorrow night is the last meeting of our partage biblique (Bible study) for the year, and our last before our long stateside assignment. This group, this gathering, is what I will miss the most while we are in the U.S.

For 1 1/2 years, this group of 17-22 adults and children have gathered once a month for fellowship in the classic French fashion. Everyone brings one or two or three dishes, puts them in the middle of a table, and we pass them around and eat for three hours. This group is where I really learned the bisou, and where I really learned what it means to love French people. And to be loved by them. I will miss this fellowship of young and old, American and French.

For 1 1/2 years, this group has gathered for worship. One of our men -- a true Frenchman from a Catholic background he can't quite part with -- plays the piano while we sing songs from old French hymnbooks and new translated choruses. Some raise their hands and sing, some just listen. Either way, it's worship, and I love it. I will miss Robert singing and playing the guitar, seeing N. raise her aged hands in praise, and French songs that now mean as much to me as "Amazing Grace" and "Victory in Jesus."

For 1 1/2 years, this group has gathered to read and share from God's Word. Most of the group are non-believers. Some got their first Bible at this study and started reading it as a result of hearing their friends share the power of the Scripture. They found that the Bible was much more than an antique book of stories, but is rather a powerful and applicable source of Truth. We go around the circle every month (again, in classic French fashion) and everyone shares their insights or thoughts on the passage we studied. Sometimes, it's some strange stuff, but most of the time I am touched by the way the Holy Spirit teaches from inspired Scripture. I will miss the way the Bible (especially Acts!) comes alive every month when we gather.

For 1 1/2 years, this group has grown together. J. and G. and E. are all closer to recognizing Christ than they were a year ago. Every month, we see them draw nearer to the cross. L. has all kinds of philosophical arguments, but he also has found the comfort of the Scriptures and the Body in the midst of troubles. I have grown, too. God has humbled me over and over, reminding me that it's probably not the missionary who has the most to say. The Father has taught me what the church really is. I am going to miss seeing the Holy Spirit gather the Father's sheep into His fold.

I have shared in other places how hard it has been to plant a church in France. This group is not yet a church, but it's close. As close as any of us has been to starting a church in a long time. Now, we're headed back for the States for a season, leaving them to continue without us. Continue they will, because the group is not us. We are part of the group, the group is part of us, but it will go on without us. These folks laugh and cry, they are patient with my terrible French mistakes and still care about what I have to say.

I've been studying 1 Thessalonians for a message I'll preach this Sunday. Paul loved that church. In chapter 2, he says, "having been taken away from you for a short while -- in person, not in spirit -- were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to be with you..." (v. 17-18, NASB). He missed that church.

I think I'm getting ready to know how he felt.