Christians Together in France

A 'Bonjour: Ca va?' greeting to a Christians Together web site in France produced another of these 'It's a small world' stories.

Chris Barge from Christians Together in France writes:

Chris and Liz Barge

This is my short story. I arrived in the Highlands to start work for Highland Regional Council Water department in 1983 as part of their mechanical electrical section.

It was a daunting feeling, on my own after a failed marraige and a life time of living and working in the South of England. Despite feeling homesick and alone the prospect of working in the Highlands was very exciting, and I quickly became part of a team which was built up over many years to serve the community.

I soon came to exeperience the kindness and generosity of the colleagues and new friends for which the Highlands is renowned, and over the years settled into the area.

There were however aspects of my life both past and present then that caused much reflection and unhappiness. I arrived at a point where I knew instinctively that I could not carry on living my life as I had in the past. I had been attending the Apostolic Church [Inverness Christian Fellowship - Ed.] in South Kessock for a short while, and in January of the year 2000 asked Jesus into my life and everything changed as I was baptised and became part of the family of God.

I retired early at the age of 52 and moved south again where I met my present wife Liz, also a Christian. We were married and then moved to central France (Limousin) where the Lord guided us into establishing Christian home groups for the English speaking community.
There are now three groups meeting in that area providing a real service for Christians who would not have any other means of fellowship. In one of those groups we met a couple who were also from the Highlands and still conected with the Blythswood charity.

chris barge1

In the summer of 2009 we moved again to Brittany where we have the priveledge of leading a group from the local Anglican Chaplaincy. More recently in October 2010 we were in the Highlands to attend my old church now moved to Milburn Academy and to meet with old friends just 10 years after becoming a Christian.

It was encouraging to see the Church vibrant and looking forward and a little amusing to see one or two people confuse us with the new pastor David Williams and his wife Eunice who were there for their inaugeration. Although we have travelled and moved overseas I still retain that fondness for the Highlands and its people.

Ed footnote: Visit the Christians Together in France web site to find out more about the groups of Christians who meet together across the different regions of the country.

In the above article Chris mentions being baptised while a member of Inverness Christian Fellowship. You can see an article which links to a picture/video presentation of ICF conducting baptisms in the River Ness by clicking here.

Chris Barge, 08/04/2011