Today’s update comes from two team members: Michael Colucci, a junior Computer Science major, and Courtney Skiles, a senior Pre-Physical Therapy major.

Michael wrote about his experiences this morning touring the nearby city of Bayeux with Pastor Hossack:

We got up, had a great breakfast, and packed for lunch. After, we headed into Bayeux. Dr. Alvarez demonstrated his servant heart by staying behind at a laundromat and doing the entire team’s laundry. Pastor Hossack gave a wonderful presentation on the Olympic athlete Eric Liddell and how he would not run on a Sunday because of his Christian convictions.

Pastor Hossack presents a devotional from the story of Eric Liddell (Photo by Johnny Cashman)

He then took us around the city and showed us many historical city landmarks like the old fish market, the oldest building, the meat market, etc.

Pastor Hossack shares the history of his city with the team (Photo by Isabella McCoy)

Finally, we headed to the main attraction of the city, the cathedral. The building was amazing to see with a Gothic influenced exterior and a Romanesque interior. We all had to be very quiet, but still had a great time through the viewing of the art and history of the building.

After the tour, we headed back to the church to enjoy lunch. Our team was involved in distributing the gospel of Luke before the Olympic torch passed through the city. The police became agitated about the tract distribution, and we soon had to stop. Even though many of our team members had trouble passing out the tracts, so many people had the opportunity to witness to the various locals and tourists. I trust that God used us today to further His work in France.

Courtney Skiles shared this about her experiences today:

The Lord had been so good to us we started the morning cold and wet, but the sun finally shown through while we were passing out the literature. Prior to handing out literature, our team was able to visit a 1000-year-old cathedral. The cathedral was beautiful but the reality of how many people have put their faith in an empty cause instead of the one true God was heart breaking. After the cathedral the team was able to walk around the city of Bayeux visiting more historic sites, shops, and cafés. The Olympic torch passed through the city of Bayeux today on its way to Paris for the July 2024 Summer Olympics.

This event drew thousands of people to the streets of Bayeux giving us the opportunity to pass out special copies of the Gospel of Luke.

Although we had opposition from the local police, we still were able to hand out many copies of the gospel of Luke; and we know the Word of God will not return void. Our prayer that those did receive the word of God will be receptive. Pray for us as we travel back to Paris tomorrow in preparation for ministry this weekend.