Editor's note: Dave and Betsy Scott, and their son, JJ, are Mission Corp missionaries who arrived in December to serve in France.
Today I met George. I took JJ to a nearby playground, and JJ made a little friend. George is the father of this little friend. He is from Greece but has lived in France for a long time. And we began talking.
Initially church came up because I told him that I knew of that park because we walk through it to go to church every Sunday. I asked him if he was Greek Orthodox and if he attended one in Montpellier, and he said that basically culturally he is, but that he doesn't attend a church. When I asked why, he told me the GO church hasn't and doesn't change, and he thinks it should. He said the church has done things the way they've always done them, but life changes. He said he wants to be able to worship God in a park, not just in a building. And that the priests wear robes and gold, when there are starving and poor people who come to church. I asked him, "So, you feel the church is not relevant?" He said, no, not at all. I asked him if he thought it was the same with the Catholic church in Montpellier, and he said yes.
When he asked what we were doing here in Montpellier, I told him after our intense language studies, we would love to open a coffee shop in connection with the Protestant church we go to. This sparked his interest, but soon we had to leave due to lunch for our kids.
JJ asked me if they were coming home with us, and George responded, well maybe next time you can come to our house!
I never know how God is going to work through our relationships or open doors; today I didn't think it was going to be in a playground. But there we were, George and I, discussing the relevancy of the Church.
Now, I don't know where George is on his journey of faith; it's clear he's been disillusioned by the Church. And I hope to see George again and continue where we left off.
Despite a very difficult week for me while Dave was gone, I love the concrete ways that God has reminded us of our call to France, a place to be Christ to a culture, that in large has been disillusioned by the Church and long to find their way back to God.