40 years ago today

September 5, 1972.

That date will forever remain engraved in my memory.  One reason is that I've had to refer to it a lot since then.  You see, that is the day that we first arrived in France to begin our overseas missionary career.  So, on all residency papers filled out over the 37 years that we lived in that country, the line that asked for "date of entry" was filled out with 5 sept 1972.

In and of itself, the day was very special.  I remember my nervous excitement as the airplane descended through the clouds toward the old Marseille airport and I caught my first glimpse of France.  FRANCE!!!!  After several years of decision-making, finding a sending agency, raising support, working temp jobs so we could travel around the country to contact supporters, multiple trips to the New York City French Consulate for a long-stay visa, it was happening!  We were moving to France.

We were met at the airport by Eugene Boyer, and his wife Charlotte introduced us to the French style of eating with a lovely multi-course dinner.  (Note to self:  DON'T fill up on the first yummy thing served, there is a lot more to come).  We stayed with them for several days and the first French city that we walked around was Aix-en-Provence where they lived.

The day is also significant because of what happened in Europe that day.  The Olympic Games were being held in Munich, Germany, and it was on that day that Palestinian terrorists attacked the Israeli athletes in the Olympic village, eventually killing 11 of them.  The news was breaking on French television and our horrified host was translating what was happening as he learned about it.  That was great motivation for learning the language -- we needed to be able to get information ourselves.  It was also a sobering reminder of the complicated world in which we live and minister.

Forty years later we are still ministering, although no longer living in France.  After an intense ministry of church-planting in cooperation with the Evangelical Reformed Church of France (Eglise Protestante Réformée Evangélique) in 3 different areas of the country, time during which we came to deeply love and appreciate the French people, French culture and history, France's place in the world, and especially the wonderful French Christians, our ministry is base is now located back in the USA.  However, instead of "pulling back" to a retreat-like home base, our interests and involvement have actually expanded to embrace West Africa, along with Southeast and South-Central Asia.  God expresses himself in cultures all around the world, and he is giving us the on-going privilege of working alongside several of them.

Today is another September 5, and there is an inevitable surge of nostalgia and gratitude as we again remember where it all started.