ChiChi takes over my social life
(still catching up on old posts) Saturday, March 25, 2006
Last week, I mentioned that one of the girls from the church young adult group invited me to the movies. Her name is Chinyere, which is just too hard for the French, so everyone calls her ChiChi. She is very outgoing and jokes with everyone. This week, she decided it was time to break me out of my shell at church. She has been after me for a while to attend the young adult group meetings on Saturday afternoons, and I have been a little reluctant to give up my one day off on the weekend. But she finally convinced me. I went to a regional rally on Saturday afternoon, and there was a time of fellowship afterward. ChiChi used that time to introduce me to about 20 people, all the while quizzing me on their names! But I did meet a nice young guy who wants to improve his English, so he talked to me quite a bit. I met a college student from Mauritius who speaks English as well. Of course, most of the people I met spoke only French, but that was fine, too. It was nice to finally feel like I am meeting people who are my age and potential friends.
ChiChi also convinced me to sing with the young adult choir at a wedding next week. I don’t know the couple getting married, and I don’t know the songs we are singing, but somehow ChiChi managed to drag me to the choir practice. Again, I was introduced to at least a dozen more people, but they were all extremely friendly. The majority of them are African, so they are also “foreigners” in France. I think for that reason (if not just their natural disposition), the Africans in the church are much more open and warm to me, as an American stranger at the church. Some of the others in the choir are from Chile and Mexico, and we are singing a beautiful song at the wedding in both Spanish and French, while they play their Spanish mandolins.
As if it wasn’t enough that ChiChi made me her specific social project, my pastor at the church asked me to give a testimony on Sunday night, as a way of introducing myself a bit to the congregation. Since there are six hundred people at my church, it was a little nerve-wracking to get up in front of all of them and give my testimony in French. I wrote it all out, so I wouldn’t make mistakes and then when I got up there in front of them, I had a heart-stopping moment of fear. But it went fine, and afterwards, many people introduced themselves to me and that was a real blessing. I feel like I am starting to fit in at the church, thanks to these small opportunities.
Last week, I mentioned that one of the girls from the church young adult group invited me to the movies. Her name is Chinyere, which is just too hard for the French, so everyone calls her ChiChi. She is very outgoing and jokes with everyone. This week, she decided it was time to break me out of my shell at church. She has been after me for a while to attend the young adult group meetings on Saturday afternoons, and I have been a little reluctant to give up my one day off on the weekend. But she finally convinced me. I went to a regional rally on Saturday afternoon, and there was a time of fellowship afterward. ChiChi used that time to introduce me to about 20 people, all the while quizzing me on their names! But I did meet a nice young guy who wants to improve his English, so he talked to me quite a bit. I met a college student from Mauritius who speaks English as well. Of course, most of the people I met spoke only French, but that was fine, too. It was nice to finally feel like I am meeting people who are my age and potential friends.
ChiChi also convinced me to sing with the young adult choir at a wedding next week. I don’t know the couple getting married, and I don’t know the songs we are singing, but somehow ChiChi managed to drag me to the choir practice. Again, I was introduced to at least a dozen more people, but they were all extremely friendly. The majority of them are African, so they are also “foreigners” in France. I think for that reason (if not just their natural disposition), the Africans in the church are much more open and warm to me, as an American stranger at the church. Some of the others in the choir are from Chile and Mexico, and we are singing a beautiful song at the wedding in both Spanish and French, while they play their Spanish mandolins.
As if it wasn’t enough that ChiChi made me her specific social project, my pastor at the church asked me to give a testimony on Sunday night, as a way of introducing myself a bit to the congregation. Since there are six hundred people at my church, it was a little nerve-wracking to get up in front of all of them and give my testimony in French. I wrote it all out, so I wouldn’t make mistakes and then when I got up there in front of them, I had a heart-stopping moment of fear. But it went fine, and afterwards, many people introduced themselves to me and that was a real blessing. I feel like I am starting to fit in at the church, thanks to these small opportunities.