First Dinner Guests

Saturday, April 8, 2006
This past weekend I had my first visitors to my apartment since I moved. Weléli*, who is my colleague in Marseille, and her husband Charles came to Bordeaux, to see the area and contemplate the possibility of moving here to continue working with the team once the office moves this summer. I knew that she had not been at all interested in moving to Bordeaux, and several times she had told me that she had a list of ‘worries’ about the move. I can see why it would be hard for her and Charles to move over 6 hours away from Marseille, where they met and married and have lived for 14 years. She has a sister in Marseille, and I know that she was also thinking she would lose contact with her sister, if she moved to another part of France.

But in spite of all these things, they agreed to come have a look at the area, at least. Because I really wanted them to feel welcome here, I picked them up at the train station Friday afternoon and took them to their hotel, and invited them to my apartment for lunch on Saturday. I am one of the few people they know in Bordeaux, so I felt like they would enjoy seeing my part of town and if they had questions, they could easily ask them over lunch. I was really praying for them to have a change of heart; she is a major asset to our ministry, fluent in French and Arabic and a former Muslim herself. Her husband Charles, originally from Gabon, is obsessed with all things American, so I fixed fried chicken for lunch (can’t get more American than that!). They seemed really open to the idea of moving here, while we ate, and afterwards, Weléli helped me with the dishes, and she said, “When I move here, will you help me learn English?” I was shocked—first of all that she was so open to the idea of moving and also that she wanted to learn English (her fourth language!). I was excited to have my first guests to the apartment, but even more excited by their enthusiasm for the possibility of working in Bordeaux.

By the end of the weekend, God had really changed their hearts and they told me they couldn’t wait to find an apartment and start moving. They felt a total release from Marseille, the church that they%2