20 May
A team of 31 saints and 4 children arrived safely in Bordeaux today for the Bible distribution. Our team had saints from the UK, US, Australia, Brussels, Taiwan, and other parts of France. We gathered together in the evening with the local saints for prayer, fellowship and singing, followed by dinner in small groups at nearby restaurants.
21 May
The next morning, we gathered for orientation with the team and all the saints who would participate in distributing Bibles. Through fellowship and prayer, there was a two-fold burden - firstly that we would not merely be distributing Bibles, but developing relationships with the local French and secondly, for our opening to the Lord concerning His heart for migration (whether physically or in other ways).
From 21–24 May, the team had 4 distribution times in various locations throughout the city. While the amount of French known among the saints varied from merely “Bonjour! Bible gratuite?” to fluency, there were still many long and meaningful conversations with the local people. We learned that the love of Christ and the one accord flows over any language barrier! We enjoyed and were touched with the coordination among us as we talked to people in French, English, Spanish, and Russian. We truly feel that the foundation of our labor was the prayer of the saints over the last few months.
We were impressed by the openness of the young people. Many in this generation were raised in atheist families and are curious about Christianity and the Bible. Some young ones spoke of dissatisfaction and a longing for meaning in their life. At times, there were groups of young people walking by and some left their friends to talk to us and at other times, they encouraged their friends to also get a Bible. While we couldn't give Bibles to minors directly, we were able to share the truths and feed them. Our corporate sense was that many in this generation have very little knowledge about Christianity and thus, a developing openness and seeking for reality.
There were also many conversations with ones who came from a country that persecutes Christianity and Christians, and they were eager to learn about the Bible and to finally have their own.
During the evenings, the saints graciously opened their homes, hearts, and fridges to us. On the evening of the 21st, a home of brothers invited a number of their personal friends and contacts. 12 of them came and the team and other local saints were able to spend meaningful time with these contacts over a lovefeast. This time was filled with joyous singing and fellowship.
23 May
In the evening of May 23rd, there were 4 new ones who joined us for our first harvest meeting. We ate and sang together and enjoyed fellowship on the Bible being a divine romance. One sister testified that after receiving the Bible from the table, she went home and compared the New Testament Recovery Version with her Bible. Her sense from what she read and the singing and fellowship she was receiving at the harvest meeting testified that the Spirit and truth was here.
24 May
We had a second harvest meeting on the evening of May 24th where we enjoyed the 6 keys of the mystery of our human life with 10 new ones. This included a family and three believers who had attended the previous night. While setting up for the meeting, a group of young men saw the sign for free Bibles and came in to ask for one. Later, a newlywed couple walking by heard us singing. They joined us for a few minutes and enjoyed singing the hymn, “This Divine Romance” with us. The wife testified that God’s love is certainly among us.
