Wednesday- Day 2 Quebec City

This was our first day of performance. The day started with a quick breakfast and we made our way back to Quebec city. We drove in this time, and we were dropped off in front of the church. We went inside and prayed again. As I sat in a pew and looked upon the massive, ornate interior of the church, I sensed the presence of the Lord. I had never sat foot in a Catholic church before. I thought it would be a spiritually cold place, but it was so rich. I know it was because of the intense and abundant artistic imagery of Jesus everywhere I looked. The reverence practiced by everyone I saw was inspiring. I prayed for the lost to be found as I watched an old woman touching the breast of mary and faithfully saying the rosary.

We gathered outside of the church and met Helene Morrel and her daughter Rebekah. Helene is a prominent leader in the Protestant Quebec mission. She has been serving the Lord in Quebec for 30 years. I believe she knows the father's heart for Quebec better than anyone else. She is a unilingual french speaker, and a scholar who clearly has a mainland French accent. Her daughter/ translator was only 18 but I gathered that she had more life experience than most girls her age. I could tell she was very discerning off of the bat.

We made our way to the vans and set up the equipment. It took us much less time to get everything together and everything ran like clockwork. We marched single file back to the church-- it was about a block away. We must have looked quite strange all dressed in black, toting a black box and carrying brightly colored flags. We set up in a circle facing the church. As we started to perform, onlookers began to congregate on the church steps, on the benches in front and around us, and outside of the shops. All told there were 40 to 50 people watching us.

I was nervous and performed a little recklessly, but I was very impressed by how well everyone did. When we were done with the set, Greg, Frankie and I walked among the folks and played a popular French song while everyone packed up the equipment. A Quebecois approached me in french, and when I didn't understand he switched to English.

"Do you sing for Jesus?" he asked.

Saying a quick prayer I responded, "We sing for joy." I was unsure of his motives but he seemed like a happy man.

"Ah, so you sing for Jesus," he said.

I grinned and nodded, and I answered his questions about where we are from. We were playing in front of a church and delivering a message of love, so why wouldn't he think we were singing to Jesus? I think he definitely respected the fact that we were not openly preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to believe that the Spirit gave him he discernment to see that, but we were definitely not the first Christian performers he has seen.

Helene Morrel confirmed my thoughts when we went to lunch. The name of Jesus closes doors in Quebec. It is sad, but no work is too big for the Holy Spirit. Greg and Helene shared with each other about their ministries. It was encouraging and spooky how similar their hearts and visions for Quebec are; When the Lord has a word for the people he often uses many people to confirm it. Helene asked Greg if he felt like God was calling him to be a missionary. He responded that God was calling him to be a prophet. She nodded her head in agreement. We split up from the Morrels and drove to the plains of Abraham, a massive park near the Chateau Frontenac. Greg shared the history of the plains concerning their part in the French and Indian war. It was ironic that there was a parade getting ready to happen in a few hours to commemorate the war, even though the French were defeated.

From the plains, we walked to Frontenac. It was beautiful, but I am not a big fan of tourist traps. We watched a street performer do some acrobatics and a few of us set out for a fortress on top of the hill. We discussed discipleship, leadership, humility and submission. I could mull over those topics forever.

We went back to the Plains of Abraham and watched a little bit of the parade as it headed down the street. We met up with Helene again, and she told us (through Frankie and Rebekah) how moved she was by our performance. Her spirit was touched deeply. she shared some of her testimony and vision for Quebec. I love her heart, it is so genuine. She encouraged us and prayed for us. It was strange and powerful hearing her prayers in French and then again in Engish.

We went back to the church and debreifed until 1 am. I am so behind on journaling, there is no time!