I count it a privilege to be able to travel around France. Last weekend, we were in the Deep South for a Wedding. This weekend we are in the Far West for a youth conference. On Wednesday and Thursday, we drove several hundred miles to get here, South of Le Mans. The views are so varied. The local architecture as well.
We had a lovely trip. The first part was on motorways, from Chambéry to Montluçon. We hoped to see my grandmother who live there but weren’t able to do it. For the second part of the journey, we travelled for some miles on a roads. It was beautiful. The roads were wide and quiet. Without us knowing we drove through some cultural places. We came across George Sand’s village and house and we had our picnic near the “mare au diable” which is the setting of one of her novels.
Most parts of France are very rural. You can drive for miles without seeing anyone. There are houses scattered around. You drive through sleepy villages, wondering whether you are in 2014 or 1960. This is la France profonde. It lives in the 21st century yet, it seems that many things haven’t changed over the last 40 years. The pace of life is much slower than in other parts of France. The countryside is lovely it the sea and the mountains are very far.
There’re few churches around, and Christians must be easy to drive for a while if they want to get to church. There is still a lot of work to be not here. But it is not glamorous. It needs people committed to building relationship over a long period of time. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to raise workers for the harvest.