Carol Service at Condé-sur-Noireau

Our English/French Carol Service - Célébration de Noël - was held at le Temple Protestant, Condé-sur-Noireau on Sunday, December 16th, beginning at 5pm. As many people have been praying for this service, we have put together this note for you so that you can see how your prayers have been answered and also to encourage you to keep praying.

A packed church...
We had no idea how many people were likely to turn up, but in the end the place was packed out. There were even some people sitting on the stairs. How many people came? There were at least 120 there, and probably nearer 140. My estimate, which is only very approximate, was that there was a mix of about 70% Anglophone and 30% Francophone. There was also a mix of those who have regular church connections through to those who hardly ever, if at all, go to church.

A great success...
In addition to all the many posters that were put up in the area, and the number of handouts that had been distributed, there was a good write-up in the local paper last week about the Carol Service, which no doubt encouraged many to come along. The reporter also came along to the Carol Service and will be writing an article for this week's edition of the paper. In an email to me he said “Yesterday's service was a great success indeed. I attended it and was very impressed with the choir and the involvement of everyone there...” He will also mention in his article the English Worship services starting at Condé in January.

An enthusiastic response...
So many people helped out in many different ways: in decorating the church, providing cakes etc. for the refreshments, Bible readings, singing in the choir, playing musical instruments, giving out the programmes, translating into French, setting up and operating the audio system, and many other ways besides... All these things helped to make the evening such a success, with many enthusiastic comments being made by those who came along and who evidently enjoyed the service immensely. We even got an unexpected and spontaneous round of applause at the end! Most people stayed for the refreshments afterwards, which was a further opportunity to chat with people. Hopefully some of the English-speakers will come along to the English-language services at Condé.

An opportunity to hear the Gospel...
The most important aspect of the evening was, of course, that everybody had the opportunity, some maybe for the first time, whether in the Bible readings, or in the carols, or in the talk, to hear the good news of Christmas: “A Saviour has been born for you - he is Christ the Lord”. Please pray that seeds planted in the hearts and minds of those who came along to the Carol Service would be used by the Holy Spirit to bring people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that many of those who came along to the Carol Service would want to come along to the English services, whether as Christians who want to worship and meet together with other Christians, or as those wanting to know more about the Gospel for themselves.

Philip and Simone Loose