Thursday 24 May 2012

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! 

3 comments:

  1. They say that travelling/living in 'foreign' places is the best way to gain life experience. I know this because I left home when I was a 13-year old boy. Note that back in the old days, there's no such things as internet, email, video chat or cell phone. I'm glad you've learned to adjust to your environment. You are fortunate to have good housemates and brother Eric around. From the photos you posted of Old Quebec, the city looks more European than American. Time flies, you've been there almost 3 weeks. Your blog certainly kept us up-to-date with your activities there.

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  2. Hi Pat,

    I agree with Papa - being in a "foreign," unfamiliar, even uncomfortable environment is the best way to grow humanly and spiritually. I'm really glad to hear of all the wonderful things you are experiencing. I miss you very much!

    The conference in Bellevue was awesome! One nugget for you to consider - "the Lord's move today is to deify man." The Lord is not only moving outwardly but also inwardly in our being to make us His match.

    love,
    lou

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  3. I think you were reading bible in French, that is why you became sleepy. Looks like you found a friend there to pursue your learning in French. Few more weeks you will be speaking French more fluently. On the Lord's day Memorial conference, we had 2,342 saints. Ron Kangas told us to pray like this: "Lord, increase in me, grow in me, make me an overcomer to bring you back. Don't let me end this earth journey without the maturity in life, make me an overcomer.|Then the Lord will say, you want to grow in life. Then He will arrange our environment so we can grow in life. Our prayer to be an overcomer should not only focus on ourselves so we can be co-kings with the Lord or get the crown of life or be able to attend the wedding feast. Our desire to be an overcomer should be for the Lord, so His Body will be built up, His Bride will be ready and His Kingdom will come. Amen.

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