Vieux-Québec / Jacques Cartier Parc / Frère Eric

The days are just flying by.  Almost 2/5 through my program.  We have many outings throughout the week to help us improve our French.  Sometimes I get frustrated with not being able to fully communicate my thoughts and feelings in French, but then I remind myself that I am learning this language for the Lord.  I will do my best to learn, and the rest is up to Him.

And as I've told some of you, at first I found it tough here for my spiritual life, but now I'm learning how to adjust.  I am really fighting for my time with the Lord, especially in the morning.   There's a guitar here so sometimes I'll just sing to the Lord.  I don't have as much free time as I like so sometimes I'll just pray-read some verses and that will supply me.  And I'm learning how to rely on the other members of the Body of Christ (see the bottom photos).

Here are some photos taken from my first week of activities (Don't worry Pa and Ma, the first photo was safe and my feet were almost touching the ground).  The first few photos are in Old Quebec, an area with rich history.  It is one of the oldest founded cities in North America, and served as a fortification base against the Americans in a war that never happened.  The city is right beside the Saint Laurent river and it attracts many tourists.  It reminds me a lot of Paris..

Here is RJ and I, my housemate who also attends UBC.  He is originally from Kingston Ontario but he is in Vancouver for university.  We are at the same level of French so it's easy to communicate with him.

Le Chateaux Fontenac, one of Old Quebec's most famous landmarks.  And its just a hotel!

Last Saturday, we went on a hike to Jacques Cartier Park!  

Moi

Awesome view of mountains and rivers.

One of my classmates took a photo of me sleeping while reading the bible.  Don't worry, this doesn't happen often :) 

My home stay family (which is actually just a single mother, named Jocelyn) cooked us all lobster one night.  Not exactly my favourite but an interesting experience!

Sunset after the hike.

Brother Eric, his wife Nadine, and his son Etienne.  At the left is my other housemate, Katherine, who is learning French in order to move to Africa to preach the gospel.  She needs to reach a certain level of French in order to move there, and afterwards she plans to translate the Bible into some native dialects in Congo where the Bible is not well known.  She attended bible school and did her masters in the Bible in Southern California.  The Lord really answered my prayer by giving me 2 great housemates who are very responsible and serious about learning French.

I joined brother Eric with his brethren church on Lord's day morning and it was an interesting experience.  It was all in French so I didn't understand much, but they actually practice prophesying one by one too.  Afterwards we went over to his house for lunch and we had some good fellowship.  Eric shared with Katherine what God's economy was and I was very impressed.  It seems like he knows it better than I do and he's only been reading the ministry for 2 years.  He also gave her a copy of the NT recovery version with footnotes and explained it.  May the Lord really gain this couple for His heart's desire.  

Et finalement, ici est mon companion Leonard Lan.  Sometimes you don't appreciate something until it is gone.  I am learning that I received so much supply in the church, which is the Body of Christ, in Vancouver, without even realizing it.  

Some recent enjoyment in the Word I have is from Revelation 21:2.  The New Jerusalem as the city of God comes down from heaven as a Bride prepared for her husband.  As the Bride of Christ, we need to love Him for His satisfaction.  As the dwelling place of God, we need to express Christ for His rest.  We don't have to wait until that day to come, but we can live and workout the New Jerusalem today!

I look forward to seeing you all soon, either at the summer training or back in Vancouver.  Please keep in touch and let me know how you are all doing! 

Vous me manquez tous! (I miss you all!)

So this is my first time being away from home AND being away from the saints, and I'll admit that it is not exactly my ideal living situation.  My home stay family is nice, but it's not the same as when I'm with the saints.  I am missing the spiritual supply.

But on the positive side, I will be spending time with brother Eric this Lord's day morning/afternoon.  He is a local Quebecois and he really loves the Lord.  He has been reading brother Lee and Nee's writings and has contacted the saints a few years ago, and since then he is enjoying the ministry and has been in fellowship with the saints in Montreal.  Last year, him and his wife went the winter training and they really enjoyed it.  I'm looking forward to spending time with them!

Here are some photos I grabbed off Facebook.  There will be plenty more to come and I'll be doing a lot of sight seeing.  In the first photo, we are playing some French games which require us to answer basic questions or to give our opinions on subjects.  I've been able to practice my French often and I feel a lot more confident, but I'm still a ways off before being able to preach the gospel in French, which is one of my many goals.  I really enjoy the quality of teaching here.  The professors are great and the students are super friendly and willing to practice French at all times.

Like I said, I really miss you all so please leave some comments or some bits of enjoyment and I will try my best to reply.  A verse I've been enjoying recently in French is John 1:12.  Even though I am far away from the saints and have not been going to meetings, I am still a son of God.  And as a son of God, my Father God is still taking care of all my needs.  He knows what I need to be transformed into a precious stone for His building. 

à bientôt (see you soon!)

C'est bon de revenir (It's good to be back)

It's as if I had never left.  Transitioning back to life in Montreal was very smooth.  It was so easy to jump right into the enjoyment of the Lord with all the saints.  This morning, after having my personal time with the Lord, I found my breakfast made for me.  Thanks bros!  Don't worry Pa and Ma, the saints are taking good care of me.

So I've got one more day in Montreal then I head out for Quebec City.  I found out that the mother of my home stay family was a French teacher before, so that should be a big help in my learning of French.

Below are some photos of Annette, a very cheerful baby at our home meeting yesterday.  She's the sister of Vanya, Koyla, Misha, and Masha, who are a family who migrated to Montreal from Ukraine a few years ago.

And to end, I'll share some recent enjoyment in the Word.  As I went for a run yesterday afternoon, I sat down at a park and the Lord gave me this verse: Ephesians 2:22, “in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.”  I appreciated to see that God's dwelling place is not a physical building, but the mingling of God and man in our spirit.  We need to have an uplifted view of the brothers and sisters, to see that they are God's habitation.  God desires a building, but He cannot gain this if we remain as individual believers.  We must be a group built together by being in our mingled spirit.

  

- Day 3/74

Nouveau chapitre (New chapter)

For the next few months, I'll be back in Quebec to study French.  I'll be leaving tomorrow morning and to be honest I am very excited but at the same time nervous about this whole experience of being in a place where you don't know anyone and can barely speak the language.  I am very determined to improve my French for the Lord's interests, so I'll do my best and the rest is up to Him.  Please keep me in my prayers and I will do likewise for you.  Specifically, pray for my daily pursuit of the Lord while being in a place with no churchlife.  And for the Lord to open up opportunities for the gospel among my classmates and friends that I meet.  I'll also do my best to update you all in my blog, but I may start writing in French :)