We got up and quickly packed our things. I paid Majid and we headed west to Rigaud to meet Brendan's mother-in-law, Francine. Rigaud is about 45 minutes from downtown Montreal. Her neighborhood was quite beautiful; it is in the country and is very quiet. She welcomed us into her home and offered us refreshment, and then she drove us all to Mont-Rigaud for a hike.
Mont-Rigaud is the home of a Catholic monastery and a shrine to the virgin Mary. It is known for it fields of rounded stones. They are called "champs de patates" (potato fields). There is a legend of a farmer whose fields were turned to stone by God for working on a Sunday. It is a reflection on the hard nature of the Catholic church. The terrain was beautiful and we got a nice view of the Ottawa river from the top of the mountain. There were wild blackberries and raspberries everywhere. We walked back to our cars and chatted with a priest from the monastery. he had a friendly sense of humor and a sharp wit.
I chatted with Francine on the way back to her house. The people of Rigaud are traditionally very Catholic, and they are quite religious. They have mostly relegated their worship to the Virgin Mary.
We spent some time dancing and playing ball in Francine's yard.
We arrived at "La Corde" (the rope), the mission where we will operate out of for the next few days. It is a small office in a shopping center in Cloverdale. It is run by a man named Asmec Jean-Jacques. He is a former convict who gave his life to Christ and has been preaching the gospel in the West Island for years. Every day the neighborhood kids come to la Corde for free breakfast and lunch. In Quebec, there are no government food programs or cafeterias in schools, so kids go to schools that they can walk to and go home from for lunch.
After a quick orientation, we set up the black box and walked to the government housing project a block away. As we marched down the sidewalk, a wheel fell of the box! We ended up having to carry all of the gear and instruments to the basketball court ourselves. I think this is the end of the black box.
When we got there, the neighborhood children who were playing basketball began to get curious. Asmec instroduced us to the kids in French. He told them we were a music and dance group from North Carolina and that we loved the Lord. People on the West Island are much more open to the gospel because they are primarily immigrants and are not influenced by the typical Quebecois culture. 
We started performing for the children, and it wasn't long before we had a pretty big crowd gathered round- children and their parents. When we finished, we cleared the "stage" and put on Micheal jackson's "Thriller". Any child in the entire neighborhood that was not already out of their house quickly booked it to where we were. Those kids could dance! All of the team, musicians and dancers alike, joined in the fun. Asmec said those kids rarely get that kind of attention from outsiders, so it was very good for them.
We carried everything back to La Corde and began to prepare a big feast of spagetti. Everyone helped and we sang and danced. We served the food and broke bread. Greg called it our "prophetic communion". One of the visions of La Clef is to one day see the church carried out in Quebecois fashion, on their own terms. Greg hopes that he will have to deliver the message that Paul gave the Corinthians, telling them to stop getting drunk at communion!
Mont-Rigaud is the home of a Catholic monastery and a shrine to the virgin Mary. It is known for it fields of rounded stones. They are called "champs de patates" (potato fields). There is a legend of a farmer whose fields were turned to stone by God for working on a Sunday. It is a reflection on the hard nature of the Catholic church. The terrain was beautiful and we got a nice view of the Ottawa river from the top of the mountain. There were wild blackberries and raspberries everywhere. We walked back to our cars and chatted with a priest from the monastery. he had a friendly sense of humor and a sharp wit.I chatted with Francine on the way back to her house. The people of Rigaud are traditionally very Catholic, and they are quite religious. They have mostly relegated their worship to the Virgin Mary.
We spent some time dancing and playing ball in Francine's yard.
After lunch we said our goodbyes and headed for the West Island region of Montreal, where most of the la Clef members live. This was a much more American-looking side of town. The best part of Charlotte to compare it to would be Eastway or Shamrock, though it is cleaner.
We arrived at "La Corde" (the rope), the mission where we will operate out of for the next few days. It is a small office in a shopping center in Cloverdale. It is run by a man named Asmec Jean-Jacques. He is a former convict who gave his life to Christ and has been preaching the gospel in the West Island for years. Every day the neighborhood kids come to la Corde for free breakfast and lunch. In Quebec, there are no government food programs or cafeterias in schools, so kids go to schools that they can walk to and go home from for lunch.
After a quick orientation, we set up the black box and walked to the government housing project a block away. As we marched down the sidewalk, a wheel fell of the box! We ended up having to carry all of the gear and instruments to the basketball court ourselves. I think this is the end of the black box.
When we got there, the neighborhood children who were playing basketball began to get curious. Asmec instroduced us to the kids in French. He told them we were a music and dance group from North Carolina and that we loved the Lord. People on the West Island are much more open to the gospel because they are primarily immigrants and are not influenced by the typical Quebecois culture.
We started performing for the children, and it wasn't long before we had a pretty big crowd gathered round- children and their parents. When we finished, we cleared the "stage" and put on Micheal jackson's "Thriller". Any child in the entire neighborhood that was not already out of their house quickly booked it to where we were. Those kids could dance! All of the team, musicians and dancers alike, joined in the fun. Asmec said those kids rarely get that kind of attention from outsiders, so it was very good for them.We carried everything back to La Corde and began to prepare a big feast of spagetti. Everyone helped and we sang and danced. We served the food and broke bread. Greg called it our "prophetic communion". One of the visions of La Clef is to one day see the church carried out in Quebecois fashion, on their own terms. Greg hopes that he will have to deliver the message that Paul gave the Corinthians, telling them to stop getting drunk at communion!
After dinner we worshipped the Lord with prayer, singing and dancing. We left La Corde and headed to the Co-op where the La clef team lived. A few teammates and I are staying with Alex Babin and his wife Maritsa in their apartment. We talked with Brendan until late in the night. We are nearing the end of the road. I am going to miss this place and everyone in it.
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