Category: Ministry

We did our usual visit to the Guingamp Market last Wednesday. The sun was shining and it was quite warm by the time we left. There were no major incident apart the lady replacing the usual market manager. She pretended we weren’t supposed to be there. But I was quite convinced of the contrary and when I mentioned the freedom of the press, she suddenly walked away to do her business.

Later, I overheard a gentlemen speaking Breton next to me. When he had finished his conversation, we started chatting. He was friendly and quit knowledgeable. He seemed to have a lot of respect for the Welsh missionaries who came to Brittany in the 19th century and translated the Bible into Breton. It turned out he seems to be quite a militant for the Breton language and culture. He used to paint over signs back in the days when everything was monolingual. He also did it in Wales once (and if I understood well, he got arrested for that). When I told him my wife was Welsh and I was learning Breton, he seemed even happier to speak. One interesting fact is that he knew the former Pastor of the Guingamp church who used to be involved in the Breton Cultural centre for years.

Apart from this conversation it was fairly quiet. We packed up at the usual time and went back home for lunch.

I am preaching in the “Eglise Réformée Evangélique de la Gironde” in Bordeaux on Sunday. I will speak three times, one of them in English. The journey on the train will take me through Paris (but no time to wander around). God willing, I will be back on Monday evening.

This morning weather was beautiful, Still a bit chilly, but sunny. There were a lot of people out, and more stalls than usual. We didn’t have much chance to speak to anyone for most of the time. One of us talked with the man selling double glazing for a while. Pray for this man, he his thinking about many serious issues.

One thing was different today: we were entertained with music for the whole time we were there. A young woman was busking not far from us. It was nice and she played the accordion quite well. Right before we left, she seemed to want to chat. Naomi and myself started talking with her but we had to go after a few minutes.

Emmanuel Hartiel and myself were back in Lanvollon today. It is our third visit to that town. We set up in the same spot as last time: in a street joining the two places where the weekly market is held. A busy cafe is just accross the street. People can’t miss us and most are intrigued by our stand.
We talked briefly to a lady who told us she is a neither a Roman Catholic nor an Evangelical, but a Protestant. Not sure what she meant, she didn’t really want to talk. The lady to whom I gave a Bible last time was there, selling her oysters but I didn’t get to speak with her. We’ll be back in a few weeks time.

The new issue of “Y Cylchgrawn Efengylaidd” (Spring 2012) has just come out and features an interview of Esther and myself. I won’t post it here because I want to encourage you to buy your own copy in order to support that magazine. So If you speak Welsh and don’t usually buy “Y Cylchgrawn Efengylaidd”, can I suggest that you get a copy for yourself? If you live in Wales, any Christian bookshop or Welsh bookshop should store it. If you can’t get a copy where you are, get in touch with the Evangelical Mouvement of Wales. If for any other reason, you cannot get a copy, and would like to read that article, get in touch with us.