One of These Things is Not Like the Other.

It's Monday. I enjoy Mondays in general. Depending on the semester. And this semester, Mondays aren't bad at all. I only have 2.5 hours of class and then English club is in the evening. I love English club.

So today is Monday which means that yesterday was Sunday. And what happened yesterday? Beaucoup de chose. But I'd like to talk about one thing in particular: Le Culte en Commun. What is that? Never fear; I'm going to tell you.

First of all, I'd like to just say that sometimes French words and English words aren't the same. Duh, right? But many words in the two languages are similar. So when you come across a word that looks like an English word, you can often guess the meaning. However, this doesn't work all the time. When the meaning is something completely different, we call this set of words "Faux amis" or "False friends". I hate them.

[Side note: I do have a favorite pair of false friends. "Preservatif" does not mean "preservative". It means "condom". I find this very funny.]

Anyway, all this was said to help explain Le Culte en Commun. In French, a "culte" is not a "cult". It is a religious service or a worship service. So Le Culte en Commun was just that. A common worship service.

Not common as in ordinary. Common as in together. Like having things in common. Maybe communal was a better explanation. But I trust you get the idea.

So yesterday, most of the Protestant churches (I was told all, but I don't know if that's true) in Montpellier got together and had one big church service in the Corum (which is like a big auditorium in the center of town). They do this every 2 years, and it was amazing! We sang together, prayed together, and listened to a few people speak briefly. It was so moving to worshiping the One and Only God with these French believers. It gave me so much hope for this city.

At the same time, it saddened me though. I was sitting in the balcony (which wasn't full) and was looking down on the lower level (which wasn't full), and all I could think was that there are probably more people that attend one church in Minneapolis like Bethlehem Baptist or Hope Community than were in the Corum that morning. I pray that I'm bad at estimating.

But praising God together was great. Most of Agape had come, and we all sat together, which was wonderful. After we went to the Skurs and had pancakes :) What a lovely day.

Pray for the people here. Pray for more laborers. Pray that God moves in this city in a big way.

Love.