Monday Update

Although we thought Sunday afternoon's concert would be the climax of our trip, Sunday night turned out to far exceed our expectations, especially when you consider that we didn't even yet have a location to play on Monday morning.

Monday was our last full day in France. It was the first and only day that we were able to "sleep in"...we ate a late breakfast at 9am, and then drove down the mountain to the small village of Froges. We simply spent some time walking around, enjoying the quietness of the mountain village.

Late morning, we drove into Grenoble to eat another great meal at the CEP. We then drove into downtown Grenoble to scout out the awesome location that Matt had worked out for us and to do some final site-seeing and shopping (and find one more eclair chocolat).

A few of the guys returned to the CEP to load up the equipment, and by 8pm we were set up and ready to rock! Within just a few blocks of us in nearly every direction, there was another band on every corner, and with thousands of people celebrating fete de la musique in the city, it wasn't difficult to attract a crowd, especially considering we may have been the only American band in the entire city that night.

Our first 60 minute set went well, although it was a bit rough in spots, figuring out how to deal with the wall of sound from the other bands coming at us from every direction. We took a 45 minute break to walk around and take in the music from other bands before beginning our second set around 10pm.

What took place next is not something that is easy to explain...those next 60 minutes or so were some of the most fun and God-filled moments of musical worship that anyone on our team has ever experienced. Again, I promise that we will have photos and video very soon to show you. Our guess is that around 500 people came by to at least stop for a few minutes to listen to us play and sing about Jesus, and at least a few hundred stuck around for more than a few songs. Many people from the two local churches were there to support us, but most of the people who heard us that night were most likely Grenoble locals who had no relationship with God.

Perhaps the highlight of the night was the opportunity to sing/pray "God of this City" as a few hundred people stood around listening. Knowing that God indeed has greater things to come for the city of Grenoble is a powerfully encouraging thing, both for our team and for the fellow believers that we are leaving behind.

On Tuesday, we head home...leaving the camp at 4am, traveling with the sun all day, and hopefully in our own homes by 8pm that same night.