Notre petite église

After a month long break, our little church resumed services on August 31. Being an international congregation, we experience a lot of comings and goings as people from different countries move into and out of Lyon. In May, June, and July we shed many tears as we had to say farewell to lots of folks from our church. Thankfully, now it's the season of "hellos" as the beginning of a new school year brings a whole new batch of people.

We didn't know quite what to expect as we reopened the church doors this Sunday. Would everyone still be on vacation? Or too tired from back-to-school shopping to come to church? After we swept away many cobwebs (and the spiders which accompanied them), we waited to see who would show up to worship with us. Our waiting was rewarded. Besides the many familiar smiling faces of the seasoned "regulars," we welcomed:

• A family of 5 from the UK who just moved to Lyon for a short-term job opportunity. Their lovely children included a sweet-natured preschooler with Down's Syndrome, and two shy elementary school aged kids. A game of "Simon Says" in Sunday school broke the ice, helping them to get to know some of the other kids.
• A sharp-dressed university student from Holland who is eager to meet other international students in our "Refuge" university ministry.
• An older lady from Ireland who wanted to go to church while on vacation in Lyon and found our website. After the service she said that Greg's sermon on "working for the Lord" spoke right to her heart, as she's currently dealing with a difficult work situation. 
• A refugee from Sierra Leone whose strong faith is sustaining her while she tries to get assistance and housing from the French social services. Fortunately, we were able to get her connected with two other people from our congregation who have a lot of knowledge in this area.

Sometimes we wonder if our little church is making a difference in Lyon. We long to serve the community, and we see so many needs. The lyrics of a contemporary worship song echo the desires of our hearts: "Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city." But we could tell from the smiling faces on the newcomers as they left our humble building that they were encouraged, refreshed, and renewed. Not because of me, not because of Greg's sermon, not because of the worship music, but simply due to the sweet fellowship of believers gathered together to glorify the name of Jesus Christ.