And it started rather dramatically ...
The team of six + guest visitor from Honduras (that our leader met in Honduras) got stuck in a lift at the metro station for about 10 minutes. The lift was for eight people, weight limit of 640kg. There were seven of us, and there's no way that we'd have had an average weight of 80kg ... or did we ... The French station masters excused their lift, saying, 'You Australians are strong'. =D
We walked past a train station for a bathroom break. AND ... the bathroom was blocked off due to a bomb threat. Someone had dropped off a suspicious bag in front of the bathroom door ...
We paired up, went for a walk about (as the Spirit leads) and agreed to meet back together after an hour and half to dine at The Paris Mosque Restaurant for lunch. Never done the 'walk wherever the holy spirit tells you to walk and talk to whoever he tells you to talk to' in a public / foreign place before. Daryll and I = team. We explored the block next to The Mosque and saw lots of students that attended the National University. The Spirit didn't prompt us to start a conversation with them, so we prayed for them quietly from afar.
As we walked around, we saw a couple of acupuncture / reflexology massage parlours. Do you know what that means? It means Irene gets discipleship time from good old Daryll! So I learnt that these therapies tap into a 'chi' (a concept of 'Zen') which is a spirit, for healing. It is important to ask WHAT spirit it is tapping into. Anything that isn't led by the Holy Spirit reaps bad fruits in a believer's life. 'Chi' / 'Zen' is a spirit of anti-Christ, and hinders believers' growth into maturity, such as taking authority in Christ.
It's not the first time I've heard this, as I've had to get rid of a lot of ungodly practices from my culture over the past year (there are ungodly practices in EVERY culture). I felt a little indignant because acupuncture and reflexology is so much a part of the Taiwanese / Chinese culture that I grew up in. But c'est la vie! All it takes is to identify & acknowledge the sin, ask the Lord for forgiveness for committing the sin and walking in its fruits, forgive ourselves for it (and on behalf of our forefathers), turn away from those behaviours, and be SET FREE by the blood of Jesus!!! (If you have any questions about what this deal is all about, talk to me or email me.)
Apart from the discipleship session I had with Daryll, we also spent some time resting on some seats on a pedestrian walk way. Funnily, a nervous looking lady hurriedly walked to us and sat down next to us from across the road. She went through her back pack as if looking for a needle in a hay stack. We asked her whether she understood English, she replied 'a little', and paused as if expecting to be asked a question. We didn't have a question, but gave her our 'Love from Australia' book mark. She looked amused, said a brief thank you, then scurried away back in the direction she came from - across the road. She could've sat on other seats in this area (and there would've been a lot more space), but the Lord brought her TO us. It was a crack up.
We also ventured in a French patisseurie, which attracted three other team members. I bought a crepe, a meat pastry; cheese pastry and a berry tart, and had a chat to the ladies serving us and gave them a book mark each. They were so warmed to us that after I left, they gave the other team members some marzipan sweets.
We then met up to have lunch at the Mosque. It was jam packed, but the staff fussed over us and made sure we had lots of room for our seats. The meal was gorgeous and we were able to reconnect with some of the folks we met a couple of days before. It was a humbling & delightful experience. The Lord sure knows how to plan our trip.
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