What language barrier?

“A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 Over Easter my best friend from England came over to Paris to stay with me for a long weekend. She’s not a Christian but she’s looking to find out more about God and faith and has opened up to the idea fairly recently. We had a great time spending time together but also being involved in church events. Of course because it was Easter there were a lot of things going on! At the end of her stay she remarked at how friendly and how welcome everyone had made her feel. She really felt at ease and had had a wonderful time. This is great in itself, but what makes her comments all the more poignant is the fact that she felt this despite not being able to speak a word of French! I translated quite a bit for her but obviously I couldn’t translate every single conversation or sermon. Luckily a lot of people in the church speak very good English and made the effort to include her in the discussions and the jokes. She also picked up the feeling of community and happiness just from the atmosphere during the Easter services, meals and times of sharing together. We all had a good time together and laughed a lot over the weekend! She had said previously that she finds that the Christians she knows and that she’s met are always so friendly, so welcoming and so inclusive. There’s definitely something different about them. In the Tuesday prayer meeting before she arrived the people in my small group and I prayed that she would really be able to see the love of Christ in this community and could feel that the Lord is present here. I really think that God answered my prayers. Even though she didn’t speak French and couldn’t understand the teaching from sermons or the prayers, she could still receive and appreciate the message of the love of Christ shown through his Church. I find this truly amazing and so encouraging. If we choose to accept Jesus’s love and to share it with the people around us there are no language barriers. It can come across even in a simple smile or a small gesture. When she left I was sad that I wouldn’t see her again for another couple of months, but this was quickly replaced by joy when I thought about the feelings and experiences that she was taking away with her and the impact that I pray it will have in her search for faith. I praise God for this community here in the Marais which has welcomed me with open arms as well as my friend, and which is so ready to demonstrate and to share the awesome gift that it Christ’s love.