I'd reached the conviction this past summer that I needed to take a vacation. I would always use my vacation days for conferences or travels, but not to truly rest; and it was catching up with me. I'd shared with my missions director who takes a week of solitude to pray for us each year of my request and need for vacation, which SAMS requires and he gladly prayed for.
Of all cultures in the world, the Swiss are probably the ones who take vacation the most seriously, at least that I’ve met! When I shared with my boss, he encouraged me to take the week (or even two) at Thanksgiving. To be honest, it was later than I would've chosen as I was scheduled to return to the US the first of December, but of course I wouldn't be picky! That same week, a good French friend I'd lost contact with for a couple of years "randomly" re-connected with me and let me know she had moved back to Rixheim, France. Then I read that a French missionary to Cambodia would be speaking in Rixheim of all places that same weekend I was scheduled for my vacation. Wow!
Backing up, I first heard of this missionary during my travels in Thailand from an Australian woman. She told me about him and shared his blog with me. Anyway, my thought was to hear him speak while visiting my friend in Rixheim (a town I lived in many years ago), then spend a week at a place I found in Brittany, France. It was beautiful and affordable, and I was excited to visit a part of France I've not yet visited.
I was dialoguing with the couple who owns the place, but wasn't quite ready to confirm. Something was holding me back. I asked my Swiss friend to pray with me about this vacation opportunity. That very night my twin sister called and shared that she was actually thinking of visiting me for Thanksgiving. Oh wow. At first we talked about going together to Brittany, but then realized we couldn't go there as well as Switzerland; and she'd want to see where I live, etc. I informed her that there was a conference I would be going to the weekend she came, but otherwise we could be flexible.
I was dialoguing with the couple who owns the place, but wasn't quite ready to confirm. Something was holding me back. I asked my Swiss friend to pray with me about this vacation opportunity. That very night my twin sister called and shared that she was actually thinking of visiting me for Thanksgiving. Oh wow. At first we talked about going together to Brittany, but then realized we couldn't go there as well as Switzerland; and she'd want to see where I live, etc. I informed her that there was a conference I would be going to the weekend she came, but otherwise we could be flexible.
Then I started feeling guilty at the thought of my sister flying all the way over and being taken straight to a conference she wouldn't understand. I checked in with the Lord, trying to be willing to give up what I wanted. I decided to check and see if the missionary would speak somewhere the week before and discovered he would be speaking at a place which also was a retreat center. I inquired if I could stay there, and they said yes. Perfect! I could work from there, but it would also give me the chance to have some time to myself and to pray before meeting up with my sister for our vacation.
After making arrangements, my sister called, so upset, that she wouldn't be able to come after all! She felt terrible, and even though I was disappointed, I understood her situation and even felt like she’d made the best decision. I even had the sense that the Lord was "in it" and decided to make the best of this new plan.
I was yet again surprised when I arrived at the center called La Porte Ouverte to learn that the missionary I’d come to hear was speaking locally, but not on site. It's the whole reason I'd gone there! I knew I would hear him in Rixheim, so wasn't too sad, but talk about a mixup! He was staying on site, though.
I think it was that Monday that he was on his way out the door when I showed him a picture of the lady who'd told me about him. I kept quickly scrolling through my photos of Cambodia since he'd lived there. At one point, he took my phone in his hands, saying "That's my house." I started to refute, thinking he was mistaken because I knew whose house it was. But he insisted, "That's my house. I lived there for 5 years." At this point, I abandoned French and said "What?!?" He went on to explain an incredible story, which I won't share here because it's his and not mine; but for the purpose of my story, the SAMS missionaries I'd stayed with during my April visit had bought his house!!! We were both completely shocked. There I was in this tiny village in France that no one's ever heard of talking to this French missionary I'd heard about in Thailand whose former home I'd stayed in during my two days' visit to Cambodia!!!
That week our team received several inquiries for ministry in France. We don't have ministry in France, though it's something I've pushed for since I joined the team in 2016. We'd had interest before, but in need of the right people. We're still in need of the right people; but while I was there, I couldn't escape the recurring message in my Bible Study not to shirk God's call even if we feel unworthy or unfit. I was listening and getting excited at the thought of opening up to helping with the French training despite my very rusty non-native skills. I also agreed to share the center's needs with those I know. Even so, as I left the tiny town of Lux, in my mind it was more of an "adieu" (goodbye) than an "au revoir" (see you again).
The next week in Rixheim was a series of events, conversations, prayers, etc. that left me returning to Switzerland wide-eyed in awe and ready to entertain the idea of returning to France, something that seemed more like a forgotten dream than a possibility. As I shared all that had happened with my missions directors and boss, they were all fully supportive of me taking this step of faith to leave the tremendous blessings I’ve had in Zurich to go to France where I'll be better situated to help build a ministry there.
Since I learned that the place I'd visited houses missionaries, I inquired with them if it would be possible to be based there; and they've agreed. So, in less than a weeks' time, I'm about to return to Lux, France where I'll spend the next three months, my "next step"! This little community I'd never heard of and got to through a series of misunderstandings and foiled plans...or so it seemed. THAT's how I found this place. The Lord is an amazing and mighty God!
