An Opportunity for Compassion

A few days ago Jenna and I went with Chad (one of the church planters) to a modern art museum in Paris. It was very good to have Chad with us so that we could learn from the study that he has done on the subject. A missionary cannot possibly do their job without getting to know the people he / she is trying to reach. It is necessary to have a working knowledge of the general society, it's cultural history, and the people, events, and ideas that have shaped it. This museum trip was an opportunity to get to know the French a little bit better, to understand their questions and struggles. Modern Art, beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was a movement away from the past. Prior to this point all painting and artistic endeavors were strictly regulated by the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (the royally accepted institution of art patronage), which ran the Salon art exhibition. If your work of did not meet the criteria of this group, meaning that it had to include only certain "important" subjects (like kings, nobles, or religious subjects), and be painted only in acceptable styles (realism), you had no chance as an artist. Modern art was a rebellion against this oppression. It sought freedom of expression for the artist, seeing value not just in the work itself, but also in the artist who produced it. This change of attitude came about (according to Chad) along with the realization that historians were essentially influenced by their individual subjective perspectives and biases, and were not objective recorders of events. Just as a subjective historian records an interpretation of an event, so the modern artist presents in his work a particular interpretation of whatever it is that he observes. What was produced was often quite bizarre to the viewer, often confusing and devoid of meaning. Contemporary art, which is now being produced, is everything that modern art was and more so. It is more confusing, more bizarre and rebellious. My professor Dr. Minto always told us that in order to understand a culture we must look at the products of that culture, particularly the products of the artists and high culture. Europe is a very old place with a lot of history behind it. Many modern artists, working during the early 20th century saw the great wars and violence that all of this history and "progress" had brought to the world. So they rejected that history and declared the world meaningless and absurd, as indeed it seemed to be. For an example of this look at the artwork of a Frenchman named Marcel Duchamp. These artists were expressing, and are still expressing what is referred to as the "spirit of the age". This "spirit" is entrenched in the society as a whole, it is not isolated within the artistic or philosophical communities. The good news of Jesus to these people is that there is an ultimate meaning to the chaos which they observe, that God is working out his plan in history, and invites them to be a part of it. To see this gospel expressed in the contemporary art world check out the work of Makoto Fujimura.

Annual Celebration!

Every June 21 there is a festival of music or Fète de la Musique held all around France. What this means: there are people/bands/groups/whatever playing music all throughout the country well into the night. They may be on street corners or in concert halls and whether they are good or bad, no one complains because that is the spirit of the day! We accompanied Baptiste and Emilie (a young French couple working with France VIE) to Montigny - a small town on the outskirts of Paris - to see Baptiste play in an orchestra! It was a great time and later around 10pm we went into the heart of Paris to walk around and experience the full fledge activity. It was completely crazy but awesome; border line chaos and yet controlled! It was just neat to be able to experience something that is really community oriented and there were so many people out and about. The metro/trains run all night for it and we took advantage of that arriving home at 2:30 this morning :) Anyway...we had French lessons with Emilie this morning and I was really encouraged by it and it was extremely beneficial being taught by a French national!

Christians and Culture

Just something I thought of as I posted the Paris Prayer Conference...one of the sessions we had was about Christians and Culture. The Frenchman who talked to us had an incredible presentation prepared and he basically just talked to us about the Protestant Cultural Forum (It's all in French!) (http://www.forumculturelprotestant.com/Accueil.html) which exists to provide training in apologetics and culture as well as present a Christian worldview in all areas of life. He talked about how as Christians, we don't always know how to interact with the culture that surrounds us because it often goes against our moral/ethical beliefs. He talked about walking a fine line between accepting all of culture as good so as not to offend anyone, or rejecting all of culture as bad in order to protect ourselves. He talked about creativity and beauty originating from the Creator and though man often deludes it, we cannot overlook the fact that those gifts and talents come from God. He emphasized having a Christian worldview and having discernment as we engage culture and he challenged us to do it well and with wisdom. If we as believers isolate ourselves so far from the world around us, how can we reach out to anyone if we have no common ground? What if we looked at the same art as nonbelievers and were able to have an intellectual conversation about it that was permeated with our worldview, but also showed that we have taken the time to reflect and think about what the art represents and what the artist was saying through it? It was a great time and one of my favorite sessions! That's just a brief glimpse into one of the Prayer Conference sessions!

Paris Prayer Conference

This past week was the Paris Prayer Conference and what a week it was. It was an intimate time of prayer and fellowship with both the French believers and the participants who came from the U.S. and Australia. I have been reminded about the power of prayer and have been taught many things this past week! Each morning we had a time of worship and listened as French nationals talked to us about the work they are doing here in France. We heard a little about the spiritual history, about culture, and about the new projects France VIE is planning here. We heard French testimonies and prayed often for France and her people. We traveled to various church sites to hear about what God is doing there as well as pray for the people. It was an incredible opportunity and I am glad to have been here to be a part of it and assist in any way possible!

East Meets West

Many Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa immigrated to France looking for Jobs and a better quality of life. They brought with them a culture and a religion which was foreign and unwelcome. Well paying jobs were more difficult to find than perhaps they had hoped, but practicing their faith in private, they rarely came into conflict with the native French. However, their children are a different story. They have been born and raised in France, some are now even third generation French citizens. Still, due to their ethnicity and religion, they are regarded as foreigners. When they go to Africa and the Middle East they are considered foreigners there as well. These young people have been raised in poverty and rejection. Not knowing who they are or where they belong, some turn to drugs and drug trafficking, while many others grab hold of Islam in order to give them a sense of identity, unity, and meaning. But unlike the faith of their parents, theirs is a radical Islam. While the Muslims of the East are looking to Europe and the United States, becoming gradually more Westernized by MTV, the Muslims here in France are looking back East. Protruding from the lower working class housing complexes of Paris are scores of satellite dishes, all tuned in to Islamic television programs like Al-Jazeera. This complicated and volatile social situation was explained to us today as we were given a tour of the East Paris neighborhoods which were the setting of the violent riots of 2005. Our guide was a young man who grew up in this neighborhood as Muslim, but is now a disciple of Jesus and is a strong witness among the Muslim Population here in Paris and throughout Europe. He explained to us that the tensions here are still very high. On the first floor of one of the rundown apartment complexes we swatted flies which swarmed by the ceiling tiles above which traffickers would stash drugs. The mailboxes all bore Middle Eastern or North African names. Just outside in the street one can still see the burn marks in the pavement where police cars were set ablaze; a sobering experience. Our tour guide explained that nothing in these neighborhoods will change until the hearts of the people change, and that, only Jesus can do. We ate lunch with our tour guide (whom many have referred to as the "Protestant Imam") at one of his favorite Turkish restaurants. He shared with us his experiences of doing ministry among these French Muslims. He has had a great deal of success and has seen many of them come to follow Jesus, and to find their identity in him. There is still a great deal of work to be done here. Please pray for the Islamic communities in France and for our "Protestant Imam" and those like him who are working among them to make disciples.