Month: October 2012

An interesting meeting in the Mairie (town/village hall)

This morning, the residents of our estate and the surrounding streets had been invited to a public meeting in the village hall to discuss a problem of speeding on the main road. Several people had complained about the level of traffic and the speed of cars on the road just outside the estate. I went along with about 30 people from the neighbourhood to meet with the mayor and some of the other councilors. It was a first experience for me, and I really enjoyed it.

The mayor was a master at leading a meeting where everybody wanted to talk at the same time. He was quite down to earth, saying that speeding was a problem on many other roads. He also reminded us that often, residents who ask for improvement are the first to complain after the works have been done. But he is willing to do something to help. I also noticed he didn’t promise anything he couldn’t later achieve, which is fairly good for a politician.

The discussion was fun. I imagine you always find the same kind of people in this type of meetings. One was a lady who was clearly out of context and wanted to complain about something else in another part of the village. You had the specialist, a man who sounded like he knew all the laws and regulations concerning road works. I can imagine that he is retired and has time to spare to research these things. There was also the man who got worked up because he is a lorry driver and he is fed up with all the road improvements that have recently been made and make it difficult for a lorry to go through or turn.

But we all agreed in there were a number of problems on this road. amazingly, nobody knows what the speed limit is on that stretch of road. Not even the police. We agreed to have some speed limit signs put in place. It will now be 50 km/hr (30 miles/hour). We also agree that the council need to make some improvement on that part of the road where there is no pavement. They will mark a space for pedestrians so that the road seems slightly narrower and people hopefully slow down. None of these works will cost lot of money, but hopefully it will help.

If you had told me 10-15 years ago that I would one day sit in a town hall for such a public meeting, I would have laughed. But I enjoyed that experience, and it was an opportunity to meet some of the people living on our street.

Ministers’ fellowship in Pontivy

On Monday, we had our first ministers’ fellowship meeting of the year in Pontivy. As usual, not many had come but there were a few new faces. On is was a young man named Paul Yang. He works with the GBUs (UCCF), in the West of France, including Brittany. He was an interesting young man in his early thirties. Another visitor was a German minister who Pastors a church in Normandy. He has recently moved there from another pastorate in Normandy as well. It seems that both of them will be coming regularly.

It was good to be there and catch up with people. The most interesting part of the day is always lunch because that’s when people do the real talking and open up.

On the market in Rostrenen

We had a good time on the market in Rostrenen. I love going there. The atmosphere there is very different from the atmosphere on the other markets we visit around Guingamp. It’s more rural, more authentic.

People seem to have more time. They spend a lot of time going from stall to stall talking. They don’t talk to us though. I also heard some folks speaking Breton, which is always nice. There are  also more outcasts it seems, people who have been excluded from society or live on its margin, selling their fruits and vegetables, or homemade cheeses.

There are also lots of British people as well. They are usually quite visible and sometimes noisy.

We are usually insulted by a man who lives on the main street each time we go. But he was quiet today. I saw him watching us from his window, but he didn’t say a word.

But there is no Evangelical witness in the town, and as far as we are aware, there is only one believer, a retired woman who is a member in the church in Guingamp and hosts our monthly Bible study in Rostrenen.

When superstition holds you

An old man approached our stall today on the Market in Rostrenen. He told us that when he was young, the Roman catholic church prohibited people from reading the Bible because it was a deadly sin. He admitted that he had never read it. But he refused to take the one I wanted to give him. Why? He believed what he’d been told as a child. He would rather stay in darkness than come to the light because he was afraid reading the Bible would send him to hell. Or maybe he was afraid he would come to see for himself the lies of the Roman Catholic church.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-10-07

  • Recently, I started listing all the books on the shelves on the study. 2,5 shelves done, already 128 books. About 20 shelves to go. #
  • Impressionant!!! Attention au language…When reindeers attack! http://t.co/SUqxg5kn via @youtube #
  • Quand une langue disparait, c'est tout un univers qui disparait, et c'est une grande perte pour l'humanité http://t.co/ZQ38THML via @slatefr #
  • Klevet em eus brezhoneg war ar marc'had Gwengamp ar beure-mañ
    . Dreist #bzhg #
  • Naon o deus ar bleiz. Emañ o vont da zebriñ Kabelig Ruz #bzhg #
  • 40 ans Bagad Gwengamp: http://t.co/eSYVeVAu via @youtube #
  • Pastors who didn't make the cut http://t.co/TeGG1fxj #

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Jonathan Edwards in French

For the most French Ministers, Jonathan Edwards, the 18th century American theologian, is unknown.

I remember once reading the review of a book by a well known French Evangelical Pastor. According to this man, Edwards was the Father of Pentecostalism…

But I saw some time ago that Edwards’ book “The distinguishing Marks of a work of the Spirit of God” had been published in 1996. But it is now out of print. I found a second hand copy only through Amazon, and was able to get it. It cost me a bit more than the initial price, but I am convinced it is money well spent. It arrived today.