I was in Bordeaux this weekend to preach in the local Eglise Reformée Evangélique, in Cenon. It was a long train journey, but French trains are usually reliable and comfortable and I was able to do a lot of reading. I arrived in Bordaux just before 8pm on Saturday evening and was picked up by the family hosting me for the night.
Sunday was a good and busy day. I had three opportunities to speak, one of them in English. People were overall warm and welcoming. They seemed responsive to the message and several came to speak about it after the service. The response seemed overall positive.
Although I’ve known of the Eglises Réformées Evangéliques for a while, it was the first time I attended one. French churches all sing from the same books now, so there wasn’t anything different on the music side. But the whole service followed a clear liturgy.  Most French churches don’t seem to follow any order of service. It’s usually up to the person leading it to do what he wants. They are afraid that using an order of service or a liturgy would hinder the Spirit. This is debatable, I believe that we all use some sort of liturgy. In Bordeaux, the way the whole service was led was simple and the liturgy wasn’t in the way at all. I was only aware of it because I had been given a printed order of service. I think that people coming to the service for the first time wouldn’t notice the liturgy that structure it.
We had lunch in the church and a meeting afterwards where I was given the opportunity to share my testimony.
The English service was in the evening with about 20 people, mainly International students. Afterwards I stayed overnight with my friends and fellow missionaries the Daveys. It was good to catch up with the latest news.
I caught a train back on Monday morning and spent another day travelling through France. No need to say I was glad to arrive home and see my family. Thank you for your prayers.
