Shopping for the future

Last Saturday night at a prayer meeting for artists, Judith Robertson said that artists are often thinking about the following 2 generations: that of their children and their children's children.

Today I went grocery shopping with Francis Dognon for the future. We met at 8:30 a.m., drove to a huge grocery store called Metro, and picked up 2 huge carts worth of cups, plates, water, soda, coffee, candy bars, and other food items. The total came to 640 euros (around $900 U.S.). We didn't finish unloading in the church office until 1:00 p.m.

Our shopping was for items related to the Mission Radicale concession stand that we'll have at a conference in northern Paris next week called Embrase Nos Coeurs (Light Our Hearts). For 4 days, we'll be selling food and drinks as a fund raiser for our July 5-9 conference in Normandy. After falling into debt during our 2001 conference, we're just about out of the hole.

Francis commented that this event would probably be the last time that he does this kind of shopping for such an event. A number of us have sacrificed our time, energy, and finances during the last few years for the next generation. For the vision of Mission Radicale is to train and free the next generation to be witness to their generation.

Like a lot of the tasks of parents, grocery shopping is pretty unglamorous. But we trust that God will use our efforts to help financially support an event that will indelibly mark the lives of our young people.