Normandy Vision - News Update, August 20th 2008

A full report will appear at the end of the Expo, but here is a brief account of some of the key features of "The story so far..." to encourage you to keep praying, and so that you can see that your prayers so far have been positively answered.

We started the work of setting up the church at Houlgate and installing the exhibition materials on the afternoon of Monday, August 11th. Thanks to the help of some friends from the UK staying for the week, and of others who are members at the church at Houlgate, we were able to get the installation finished by the end of Tuesday afternoon, so we opened early, doing a "dry run" on Wednesday afternoon, 2pm to 6pm.

Rainy weather If it's raining... it must be Normandy!

Well, "dry run" is perhaps not the correct expression! The weather, apart from a couple of days over the weekend, has been for the most part cloudy and wet at some time during each day, often accompanied by strong winds and heavy squalls.

Views from the front door of the church

Beach Views - normal (cloudy, wet, windy)!

The scene on the right - empty beach, cloudy skies - has been a lot more common than the one on the left - full beaches, sunshine!

The Expo panels have been set up around the walls of the church - see photo on right - and they just fit into the available space perfectly. In addition to the Expo panels, the table at the front of the church has been covered with Bibles in various languages and scripts - Greek, Hebrew, Russian, Serbian, Arabic... even French and English, and this has been a focus of great interest.

We have had a great many comments about the Expo from visitors, all to the effect that they thought it was a very professional - well-presented and impressive, both in appearance and information. This, of course, is all thanks to the quality of the panels, their style, presentation and content, that we have borrowed from "France Pour Christ".

Despite the problems with the weather, by the end of Tuesday evening somewhere around 270 people have visited the Expo. We haven't counted the many others who have stuck their heads through the doors, and then left without coming in to look at the Expo, nor those who come in just to view the architecture or to just sit quietly to think or pray. Many of the visitors take up to an hour to go round, reading every panel very carefully - and there is a lot of information on some panels. It is interesting to see a lot of people start out moving fairly quickly from panel to panel, but before long they are going a lot slower as they read carefully and think about the information and the message that the Expo presents to them, discussing among themselves what they are reading, moving backwards and forwards among the panels to remind themselves of other things they have read, and how it all fits together. There is a real engagement of the visitors with the Exhibition.

We have been able to give away a large quantity of Christian literature and a large number of Gospels, particularly Mark. We have set up various tables where the literature is available for people to take away, though sometimes it has proved difficult to convince visitors that "Gratuit" means "Gratuit" - and that there is no catch if they take it!

Despite that reluctance at times, we have already used up our supply of some of the literature, despite ordering it in large quantities. English literature, especially the 40 or so New Testaments and Psalms that we had available, were quickly taken - and the number of British visitors that we have had has been almost zero! One young Frenchman said that he already had several Bibles in French, but preferred reading it in English!! The two most popular tracts have been "Tu Comptes" ("You count" - or, in effect, you are not a nobody!) and "Qui suis-je?" (Who am I?). This seems to reflect a deep-seated question that French people are asking: Who am I? What is my place in the world? Do I have meaning and significance? Is everything meaningless?

With the generous help of CLC in France, who have provided us with a lot of Bibles and Christian Books on a sale or return basis, we have a small bookstall as part of the Expo. Several Bibles have been sold, and quite a few other books too, such as (with an approximate English translation of their titles) John Blanchard's "Basic Questions", John Stott's "Authority", Charles Spurgeon's "How to Read the Bible", John Chapman's "A New Start". We have also sold copies of Ravi Zacharias' "Can Man live without God", and Phillip E Johnson's "What to think about Evolution". We think we have learned one lesson about Bibles in France. People expect them to look like a special book, not an "ordinary paperback".

Common questions that we have been "Is the Protestant Bible the same as the Catholic Bible?" and, one which in a sense surprised us, "Why do the Protestants have so many different versions?" - a good question indeed, and not easy to answer perhaps... There have, of course, been deeper questions than that, and here is an example that shows the impact that the Expo is having in the lives of some people...

One young French lady, probably in her early twenties, visited the Expo Friday evening. She hadn't got very far round the Expo when she read something that affected her deeply, so much so, that she began crying. As she slowly worked her way round the Expo she often had to stop because of her tears. When she got to the end of the Expo, and arrived at the Bookstall, she tried to explain through her tears that she must have a Bible, that she must find answers. But she had no money with her, and wouldn't take the Bible offered to her freely. "I will come back tomorrow with the money to buy one", she said. But she didn't come back the next day. No, she was back within the hour to buy one, still distressed. One of our helpers was able to chat with her and help her with answers to some of her questions. She took the Bible, desperate to read it and discover all the answers that she was searching for.

Pray on!

Inside the church First of all, give thanks to God for the way everything has gone so smoothly so far, especially with the setting up of the church and getting everything organised to be ready and in place on time.

Thank Him, too, for the many visitors that we have had to the Expo, despite the weather sometimes keeping the beach and streets looking as deserted as they do in winter rather than being like they can be in the summer, jam-packed with people.

Pray for all the visitors, that what they have read and learned will not just evaporate or be snatche away from their minds, but will continue to be something that they think and wonder about and that it will stir them to want to find out a lot more.

Many of the visitors to the Expo who are already Christians said that they found it very helpful and informative, and some purchased books to help them continue learning more about the Bible and its contents. Pray that the enthusiasm the Expo inspired in them for the Bible will continue with them, and that it will spread to the churches of which they are a part.

Pray that the very large number of Gospels and tracts that we have given away will be read carefully, and that these little books will be the means that the Holy Spirit uses to make big changes in their lives, to lead them to Christ or to build up their faith.

For those who have been particularly touched by the Expo in a very deep way, such as the young lady mentioned above, pray that they will find the answers that they are looking for, that they will find The Answer for themselves, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray that the many who just look in would be drawn to step inside and spend time looking at the Expo, or that they would pick up some of the literature, and then read it.

Pray for stamina to keep going, and wisdom to know how to answer questions...

Pray that visitors will continue to stream in.

Thank you for all the support and encouragement that we have received in the run up to the Expo, and especially for all your prayers. Please pray on, that still more people will be put in touch with the Word of God. Who can begin to calculate the effect of the Word of God as it enters into a person's heart and mind?