We arrived safely in France an hour early Thursday morning after flying 8 hours and hit the ground running. We had several hours before we could check-in to the hotel for the night. We road the RER{train} to Paris, found our way to the hotel to drop off our luggage, and proceeded to have a family day before taking the TGV(train) to Marseille the next morning. The girls were great travelers despite being very tired. In these two cities (the largest and second largest cities in France} I saw thousands of faces of many different nationalities and speaking multiple languages. I remembered that so many of these faces paid a huge cost to get here - some leaving their countries under duress and escaping with their lives from North Africa or the Middle East. I also remembered the picture in Revelation of a multitude of people worshipping God from every tribe, tongue, and nation. They may not look or sound much like me but Jesus paid the full cost for us to be in Heaven with Him forever!
In Marseille we took the subway to our Air BnB apartment where we would stay for the rest of our journey. The next morning I was off to attend(as an observer) the Leader's Forum for Pioneers' Team Leaders and Coordinators. Our Field Leader started it out with this challenging quote from Deitrich Bonhoffer, "If we cling to our rights we cease to follow Jesus." These leaders were all potentially dealing with their teams, with the pressures of ministry, with the challenges of culture, and a spirit of discouragement that resides over the whole country. We engaged in Bible Study to examine counting the cost of following Jesus here in France.
Afterwards, these leaders and I set out on a Prayer Walk around the downtown of Marseille. The Field Leader shared some insights about Acts 10, He asked us to think about what we were willing to lay aside to follow Jesus, and then sent us out in groups of three and four to pray for the city and the people. I looked at all the faces that passed, the busyness of the city, and the beautiful backdrop of the landscape surrounding this port city. I considered what the cost would be for me and my family to lay down the comforts of living in the familiar, convenient, spacious suburbs of America and the relative stability of doing secular work in exchange for the newness, unfamiliarity, constrained living spaces, and the unknowns of what following Jesus would bring to us. Part of this trip for us is about counting the true cost of following Jesus to Marseille. The rest of the trip is about getting to know our team, what role we would play in the growing ministry here, and getting more familiar with Marseille, its people and its culture. Along with the Apostle Paul, I'm learning to see everything as a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord! To know Him more and see Him be exalted in France is worth far more than any cost I could pay!