CoffeeBus
Today I got the chance to do something I have wanted to do for months! I worked on the “CoffeeBus” of my church in Bordeaux. The CoffeeBus is a ministry that converted an actual bus into a mobile café; each Thursday, an evangelism team drives into a ghetto north of Bordeaux center, parks the bus, and serves free coffee and other goodies to anyone who enters the bus. There are tracts and Bibles on each café table, along with muffins or other refreshments. While some team members walk the neighborhood with tracts, others sit at the tables in the bus to start conversations with the people who enter. Since the neighborhood there is low-income housing, it is also filled with Muslim immigrants; voilà pourquoi j’y suis allée! (That’s why I went).
During July and August, the ministry stops its usual trips there, so this was the first day back in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all day here. For those two reasons, we didn’t have many people come. There were about 12 of us from the church, and only 2 people came to drink coffee and talk (both had been before and knew the team). We spent most of our time folding and organizing tracts in their designated storage baskets. But still it was cool to see how the ministry works, and I know that I will enjoy being a part of it in the future, too. I can’t wait to go back next week, because I want to be one of the people who walk the neighborhood next time.
There are three pastors at my church here, and the pastor of evangelism is the one who created the CoffeeBus ministry in Bordeaux. I don't know how to say it more nicely, but he doesn’t ever speak to me. I have often wondered why, and to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he’s just not a real talker. I have really prayed for an opening to get to know him better and have him know me (he could be a great contact for me in the missions work here!). Though he wasn’t there today, his wife was the one who offered to drive me to the location, so I would know how to get to that neighborhood next time. On the way home, we got in a huge traffic jam, and during the hour or so we spent on the beltway, we talked and talked. She is wonderful, and I felt that the Lord had given me an opportunity to get to know her and have her get to know me as well. Hopefully in the future, this will translate into a better relationship with her husband.
In other news . . . . I foolishly watched a scary movie last night. I live alone. What possessed me to watch a movie that had me checking under the bed, in the closet, and behind every door before I went to sleep? A recurring theme of this movie was “you’re not alone.” Oh great! I prefer to watch scary movies with my mother, who slaps the people next to her during “jump scenes” and “sucks all the air out the room” as my dad says, when she gasps in fright. She kind of provides comic relief for tense moments (Love you, Mom)
In this case, it was the type of movie that was driven not by its plot, but by the scary music and creepy atmosphere. But once the movie started, I couldn’t stop watching. I had to know who the killer was! I would never have gotten to sleep without watching the last ten minutes, where the real killer is found and brought to justice, of course. Why is it that even when the movie is terrible, you can't stop watching?
During July and August, the ministry stops its usual trips there, so this was the first day back in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all day here. For those two reasons, we didn’t have many people come. There were about 12 of us from the church, and only 2 people came to drink coffee and talk (both had been before and knew the team). We spent most of our time folding and organizing tracts in their designated storage baskets. But still it was cool to see how the ministry works, and I know that I will enjoy being a part of it in the future, too. I can’t wait to go back next week, because I want to be one of the people who walk the neighborhood next time.
There are three pastors at my church here, and the pastor of evangelism is the one who created the CoffeeBus ministry in Bordeaux. I don't know how to say it more nicely, but he doesn’t ever speak to me. I have often wondered why, and to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he’s just not a real talker. I have really prayed for an opening to get to know him better and have him know me (he could be a great contact for me in the missions work here!). Though he wasn’t there today, his wife was the one who offered to drive me to the location, so I would know how to get to that neighborhood next time. On the way home, we got in a huge traffic jam, and during the hour or so we spent on the beltway, we talked and talked. She is wonderful, and I felt that the Lord had given me an opportunity to get to know her and have her get to know me as well. Hopefully in the future, this will translate into a better relationship with her husband.
In other news . . . . I foolishly watched a scary movie last night. I live alone. What possessed me to watch a movie that had me checking under the bed, in the closet, and behind every door before I went to sleep? A recurring theme of this movie was “you’re not alone.” Oh great! I prefer to watch scary movies with my mother, who slaps the people next to her during “jump scenes” and “sucks all the air out the room” as my dad says, when she gasps in fright. She kind of provides comic relief for tense moments (Love you, Mom)
In this case, it was the type of movie that was driven not by its plot, but by the scary music and creepy atmosphere. But once the movie started, I couldn’t stop watching. I had to know who the killer was! I would never have gotten to sleep without watching the last ten minutes, where the real killer is found and brought to justice, of course. Why is it that even when the movie is terrible, you can't stop watching?