Monuments of Paris

These are pictures of some of the cool monuments located around Paris.

This is a picture of Notre Dame ("Our Lady"), probably the most famous church in the world. The artwork and detail on this church is incredible. Though the architecture has often drawn people away from focusing on the Lord it was easy for me to see the good intentions behind them. The huge cavernous ceilings make you feel so small and insignificant. The statues and artwork point to important aspects of Christian history and Biblical teaching. Though it is primarly a tourist location now, I pray may God truly use this place for his purposes!

This is a St. Michel's fountain located near Notre Dame.

This is the Arc de Triomphe. It is a monument dedicated to the French soldiers from the Napoleanic wars. There is also a monument underneath to an unknown soldier from WWI.

Here is the monument: "Ici repose un soldat francais mort pour la partie 1914-1918" meaning basically "Here lies a soldier who died for the country 1914-1918."

This is the Grande Arche. It is kind of a newer version of the Arc de Triomphe. It is a few miles from the Arc de Triomphe, but they perfectly face each other.

This is a huge thumbs up near the Grande Arche. There was lots of interesting statues and pieces of artwork in this area, but this one was definitely the most interesting by far.

For any of you who have any doubt, this is a picture of me. Oh yea, and the Eiffel Tower. Behind the Tower is a large grassy area where lots of young people hang out late at night.

This is Sacre Coeur another famous church in Paris. Sacre Coeur meaning "Sacred Heart" sits atop a huge hill overlooking the city. This church though much like Notre Dame seemed to do a great job of making an intentional effort through various signs and explanations of artwork, statues, etc. of pointing its visitors towards the true reason behind the church.

This is a view of the city from Sacre Coeur.

This is a small section of the Louvre (the whole thing would have taken about 6-7 pictures from where I was standing), one of the most famous museums in the world and home of the original Mona Lisa.

This is Versailles. It is located just west of Paris. These buildings were built primarly by the French kings during the 17th and 18th centuries. This place was definitely one of the nicest places I've ever been. This place was loaded full of gold and jewels all over the place.

While waiting on Greg to purchase tickets for Versailles a few of us made up a coin tossing game to pass the time. And apperently Security thought we were gambling. And just so you know gambling is illegal at national monuments in Paris. Fortunately we were able to communicate we were just goofing off and not gambling. Thank goodness cause I'm too young to die in a French prison!

This is the Hall of Mirrors from inside Versailles. This is just a small picture of the extravagance of the buildings.

The Wonderful Land of Paris

I have finally gotten back from Paris. Well I actually got back Tuesday so for both of you who were waiting anxiously to see this already, I'm sorry. For everyone else, welcome to the present. My 10 days in Paris were an incredible time to see God work and to listen for his direction in my life.

There was a group of 13 of us from Southeastern who went to Paris for the trip. The purpose of our trip was to aid the full-time workers there in the work they are doing with the IMB. The group that we were working with work with North Africans. This allows them to have opportunities to present the gospel to people from 21 unreached people groups that can be more openly conversed with in France, who then would be able to return to their homes and reach their own people more effectively.

Some of the things that we did during our trip was to do surveys, distribute Jesus films, and to put on a "carnival" for young children in a local park. The people groups we were working with are so friendly. And in general the French were so much nicer than they are categorized to be, but a possible reason for this stereotype is likely because they come from a culture were they don't talk to and make eye contact with strangers. In their mindset, and truthfully, it doesn't really serve much of a purpose in most cases to do otherwise anyhow.

We had an opportunity to interact with many great people. Sometimes we were told by Muslims that we should not be there and that we were stirring up trouble which often results from the tension created between devout muslims and those who have rejected what all their friends and family believe. Also since areas which claim to be "Christian" like America broadcast such immorality is it easy to see why devout Muslims who pride themselves in trying to live as pure as possible would have problems with what they believe is Christianity.

The main purpose of our trip was basically to gain contacts for the full-time workers which we did a great job of doing, but we also had one unexpected result. For many Muslims is takes a long time in order to convert to a different religion because for many it requires forsaking everything and everyone in their life. However, on Sunday one of the workers had the opportunity to see God draw a man to himself after only 2 hours! God is so good!

In the next posts will be pictures of France that hopefully can give you a good idea of what went on and some of the cool sights. Thanks again for everyone who prayed for and financially supported our team!