Conversations From Paris

Last year during our time in Paris, I met a young man named Daniel who has grown up in the church, but he was interested in pursuing a relationship with a Ukrainian girl (Enesa) whose family is faithful to the Orthodox Church. While visiting, Daniel asked me to talk with her about the differences between Orthodoxy and Biblical Christianity. Cecilie and I arranged to meet them for dinner at MacDonald’s before the Saturday night meeting. At that time, we discussed the differences between Orthodoxy and Biblical Christianity. Usually, Enesa goes with her family to the Orthodox church on Sunday but today (Sunday) she attended the Church of The Living Stones. Afterward she and Daniel walked me back to the place where we were staying so we could continue our discussion. Daniel knows it would not be wise to be unequally yoked, and I explained biblically to Enesa why Daniel is struggling with whether to continue the relationship. In the course of our conversation, I asked her why she chose to come to church with Daniel this morning (she lives 1½ hours away) instead of attending church with her family. She answered, “Because I have listened to all your lectures, and I trust what you are saying!”

This year I was able to catch back up with Daniel. I learned that the many fruitful discussions we had last year eventually led to them ‘breaking up’ in May because she could not see herself accepting the “Baptist” gospel. Then as a result of another crisis in his life, Daniel recognized he needed to decide to follow Jesus which he did on October 25! We met four times this year (before and after our conference meetings) to discuss what it means to follow Jesus, how to know God’s will, and how I came to be a follower of Jesus in addition to other random questions about living the Christian life. Please continue to pray for Daniel.

This year I also met a young lady named Sophia who lives in a very loyal Russian Orthodox household. She told me she became drawn to know the truth about God as a five-year-old, began reading the scriptures as a teenager, was drawn to read the Gospel of John four years ago (believing its truths about Jesus’ Person and work), and is currently studying on her own the Book of Proverbs. She learned and visited the Church of the Living Stones on November 2. She learned at that time about our conference on the Holy Spirit and she faithfully attended each night even though her parents tried to dissuade her attendance (her parents used such tactics as telling her that “Baptists” cannibalize their children for communion—an old communist propaganda tactic). Please be praying for Sophia to be strengthened in her faith and for her parents to relent on their forbidding her to attend any more “Baptist” church services.