Sunday I went to the American Church of Paris for the first time! It takes about 45 minutes to get there from where I live, so I wanted to go once I knew exactly how to get there. My first time there seemed really good. The service started with worship, and I was overjoyed when everything was in English! One song we sang was very powerful! It's this one:
The lyrics stating, "We are one in the Spirit, We are one in the Lord, And we pray that all unity, May one day be restored" really hit me with my situation that I'm in. Being in a different country, God is still the same for these people here and around the world. And the people here are still the same as the people in America. There are times that I feel it's hard to see God in a big city like this that is constantly busy and everything you see is man made. And it makes it harder to see God through a different culture that is new to you. I'm not really sure how to explain it. But singing "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord" just emphasizes that no matter who you are, where you are, the body of Christ connects all Christians together for the glory of God. The chorus of the song says "And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love". Thats what I hope for while I am here. I feel like this city is in need of love. It's supposedly "The City of Love" and "The City of Light", but I'm not feeling the love between the people here and between the strangers you meet. I come from a smaller town, and I am very used to people just being nice to each other all the time, strangers caring for strangers, hospitality, and humility. In a way, I don't exactly want to just emerge myself into this culture and live like the people here do because I want to live the way God told us to. I believe that the only light in this city should be God's light shining through the people. This city is beautiful for sure, but I think it could be so much better.
But anyway, the church seems pretty good. I met some people my age there who are au pairs as well. We all are from different places, so it's a good, diverse group of young people. We all have two important things in common: we all speak English, and we are all part of the body of Christ. That's really all we need. So I don't have any fears of being uncomfortable in Paris when I know that there are so many people in my same position.
I am very excited to attend this church. They do a lot of events for people my age, and I can stay informed about the fun things going on in the city.
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