Today I woke up refreshed and ready to work. I completed my morning routine and engaged in some worship. I could finally sing! I need to take it easy though; my range is not quite where it should be yet.
We had breakfast complete with Canadian bagels (same as American bagels but the holes were bigger) and nutella. We packed up and headed towards Quebec city.
We stopped in the outskirts of Montreal to exchange currency and then we went to a chicken place for lunch. Apparently there is an abundance of chicken places in French Canada. We met a couple there whose children live in Charlotte. What a small world! They were touched by the story of our ministry.
We arrived at our protestant church outside of Quebec City by late afternoon. It is located on some rural farmland off of the highway. The church looks fairly new and is quite spacious. Surrounding the property are some country houses, a huge barn complete with goats, several sheds and a large old blue cross. On the church property is the most interesting amalgamation of playground equipment I have ever seen. There is a contraption that looks like the lovechild of a swing and a picnic table. The church elders keep a vegetable garden complete with corn, beets, greens, cabbage, lettuce and others that I don't remember. I want one like that someday!
After we settled in, we rehearsed for the following day's performance. This was the first time in a while that we had all of our musicians with us. We ironed out some technical apects of the performance and got ready to go into town to see the church we would be performing in front of in old Quebec city. We had the choice of driving in or taking the ferry across le lac Megantic. We elected to take the ferry.
I was a bit hesitant to choose the ferry due to the cost, but I'm glad that we did. We were able to enter the old city from the center and walk the streets for a bit.
The biggest feature of Old Quebec is Le chateau Frontenac, a giant mansion that has been converted into a hotel and marks the heart of Quebec city tourism. We made our way to a place where La Cirque du Soleil was performing. They had four stages scattered under a 80 yard section of the freeway. The action moved from stage to stage. There were dancers, acrobats, jugglers and various themed characters, and gaily costumed performers on stilts moved through the crowds the whole time. It was such an immersive experience; I was blown away by their excellence and flawless technique. We were all very inspired artistically. I don't understand how that performance could be free and their tent performance is $250!
We made our way to the Catholic church where we would be playing. It was truly massive. In Quebec, the Catholic church represents decades of oppression and empty doctrine. The name of Jesus is generally shunned. We all stood in front of the church and marveled at it for a little while, and then we prayer walked around it for about an hour. It was surreal; for me it was a new experience to walk the streets and pray. We prayed for vision and direction. I saw a vision
of revival for the church of Quebec. Greg and I talked with a volunteer from the church, and he said there was a secular mission for underprivileged operating out of the church- he himself was not a believer. The church is gigantic and it took 20 minutes to completely circle it. As I neared the place that I originally started praying from, I saw the dancers worshiping the Lord in front of the steps of the church. Quebecois began to stop and stare at the strange sight-- who dances around a church at 11:00 at night? One of our musicians, who was a former missionary to Quebec, said in his four years in Montreal combined he never saw so much happening in the spirit. Praise the Lord!
We were all very sobered by what we had experienced. On the way back I realized how drawn I was to the culture of Quebec. I have never felt a push away from my home town of Charlotte until now. This is definitely not my last trip here.
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