PAV-time A year in revue

'TOURNESOL' - So called in french as the sunflower turns to face the sun through the day! We all too have just completed another lap of the sun through the last year...here's a quick lap of all things PAV.

Family life...a reflection of self!

Family Christmas gathering

Emily & Joël with their children, Liam & Evy are living and working in Rennes, Brittany 2 hours drive from Le Pav. Emily splitting her child-care activities between a pre-school crêche, leading sunday school and her own children. Joël just setting out on a new adventure developing a sports chaplaincy ministry and the making of audio-visual testimonies of professional christian sports people for evangelisation.

Joseph & Coline are busy renovating an old house just aquired in Le Mans, 1 hours drive from le Pav. Coline is fulltime in a local chemists, dispensing medication and 'saving lives' each day, as we often say! Joseph left his fulltime web designer role to develop his music! Along with Damien, their two-piece 'math' rockband by the name of Quadrupede. They have written, produced two discs and toured relentlessly on the continent these past two years bringing them alot of satisfaction and popularity to boot.

Kerry coast, Ireland

Philippe set aside his job as a carpenter in France to take on the role of a 'live-in' care assistant in a home for mentally handicapped adults run by 'L'Arche', a christian organisation in Cork, Ireland. This 'year out' is another pathway of christian discipleship that has really helped him to better understand God's masterplan for the return back home in April and the future.

We were delighted to 'get away' to Ireland after a season of service to visit Philippe and clock up 2000 kilometers of coastline wandering and the first 'fish & chips' in ages!

The 'boy' is back home!

Two years of apprenticeship in stone masonry in Angers, 1 hours drive from Le Pav, turned our little boy into a young man! Now he's back home getting his sights set in a 'year out' to catch up in age, (he's only 17), and see a new way open up in the field of graphics. His dad's keeping his muscles toned up on site for PAV benefit as he searches for training and experience to push his artistic talents on.

Family life swings from birthday cake to putting the 'cat among the pigeons', but hopefully its a place where the young grow old peacefully. Oh and by the way, the old man has grown increasingly deaf this year, no joke, HELP! costs are prohibitive to medical treatment!
Le PAV - Life on site

Most days you have to eat - so lets make a meal of it!

Add people to food and 'Hospitality' is born, which makes it a central PAV activity.

People - Old & Young

Be it alone, as a couple, in a group, whether mostly french or occasionally foreign, christian or otherwise have been recieved throughout the year, (there seems to be no season!).

We have encouraged self-catering and opened up our way of charging for most stays on a freewill contribution basis.

Le PAV is a non-profit structure and not a commercial enterprise

A couple can only do so much! So God sends just enough people to ensure them good hospitality whilst allowing us time for daily maintenance, prayer and outside commitments. It's a walk of faith on the financial front, so we're glad He's got that covered!

5 star Accomodation!

Is for the others, meanwhile we are pleased to offer a homely self-contained gîte with 5 bedrooms (en-suite bathrooms) with a capacity for 14 people. We even have family size tents for the outdoor type and the overspill of large groups. A church of 30 was our biggest this year, but it was fun!

Mission / Retreat / Spiritual direction / Community prayer

These are the main objectives of people coming to Le PAV. This gives us a varied expression of CHURCH in a variety of experiences that impact and change lives. From our perspective, the daily rythmn of prayer (3 times a day in the chapel onsite) is the 'backbone' of the day which a growing number of people have latched onto.

"It's amazing what you can do with a JCB in a couple of days"!

General maintenanace of the site( almost 3 acres) has a seasonal daily rythmn. But then we patiently develop the site when finances allow. So the other day a JCB helped prepare for a nice lawned area and pathways infront of the gîte whilst cleaning off the big courtyard and loading up the area that is set aside for a prayer garden with topsoil. The back and one side of the house has been put down to gravel so the mud stays outside!

How long would that take to do with shovel and wheel-barrow?

The start of a 'Prayer garden' which will be enclosed, providing that enchanted secret garden atmosphere and a space to be quiet!

The Grange project is all but complete (in our heads), but awaiting time put aside for drawings, costings, finance, material and working hands. However by prayer and in God's time the current central space that we use in the summer for groups will be made more confortable for all-year use.

POTAGER

Mid 17th century: from French jardin potager 'garden providing vegetables for the pot'.
The vegetable garden fallow in all its beauty!
"By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust." Gen.3:19
"Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously".1 Cor.9:6

A renovation of the potager last year was undertaken with the scripture principle in mind. Beyond growing to feed ourselves, there are a large number of neighbours who don't eat fresh vegetables... lack of financial means, know-how, poor relationships all leading to impoverished diets and poorer health. PAV crops revolutionised the diet of several Vaulandry families and further a field last season.

Intensive 'raised beds' with integrated irrigation surrounded by permenant paths means lighter labour and gardening in your slippers!

It was a joy to erect this 12 x 4m Polytunnel bought and paid for by a backpaid entitlement from state welfare that we didn't even know we were entitled to! Did someone suggest that God moves in mystrerious ways!

Home grown 'Ratatouille'
Chicory, peaches, Parsnips, Spinnach, Cauliflower
Bees need water and a potager too!

Partnership with local beekeepers is turning out to be a sweet thing at Le PAV

Le PAV hosts 50 hives and the mission is to start off new bee colonies to create hives that will be introduced into plant cultures grown in polytunnels for their seed by a local seed company.

Ludovic and his wife, Elise, have become friends as they come to tend the PAV bees and there is always honey to eat chez nous!

PAV contribution to all things ecological...

We have found all this 'back to the earth' activity a natural christian responsibility to take and in this rural setting we seemingly sing from the same song sheet as our neighbours and leave you to guess the rest of how this possibly allows us to tell the 'GOOD NEWS'.

JARDI-TROC

Principle: A totally uncommercial, money-free means of exchanging plants, seed and associated materials between private individuals gathered together.

1st PAV Jardi-Troc in April

Well attended with1/3 local neighbours, 1/3 christians from the parish and 1/3 regional people.

Take out the 'commercial' introduce the 'giving' and one strangely feels more 'FULLY HUMAN' to discover afresh the pleasure that can bring to relationships!

Curiously, as you look over the variety of plants you have just gone home with, you know instantly that a similar trip to the local garden centre would have ruined you! "One plants the other waters but God gives the increase"!

Shared plants...shared food!

Around the table there is talk of subversive ways in which one could reach their neighbour through all sorts of food and plant growing schemes. Talk of a changed economy for our times and a putting into practice starting small!

Around this table, french and english...Protestant, Jewish and Catholic talking about 'doing this again'!

La Fraternité

Perhaps we are today living out our calling to Christian Unity in an applied way more than ever before! Leaving the comfortable ideas of unity lived within our evangelical fellowship, we have returned to Le PAV implanted in a region where the expression of christian faith is Roman Catholic. The personal relationship with Joseph Rahard, the priest and the favorable conditions within his parish allow us to stand within that expression and collaborate fully, being accepted as an evangelical pastoral couple. from this place we have seen encouraging growth in relationships and witness.

Our small fellowship group has been meeting now for over 3 years in Baugé, 12 minutes drive from Le PAV. From our Protestant/Catholic/Jewish backgrounds, today we worship together in a Spirit-filled colourful expression of contemporary faith in Jesus the Christ. Meeting regularly within a small chapel belonging to a community of sisters, we are able to appreciate practises from both religious and church expressions.

Joseph, the priest next to Alain the mayor getting their speaches ready as we gather with the neighbours to inaugurate a restored chapel in village

Debbie in the Village Comitee with their own version of a chapel for the Agricultural Show float this year.
Its not every day you get to help the Archangel Michel combat the devil, as the village association gather to spring clean the church!

Huddled together, cos it's freezin' for a prayer meeting we organise for the village community several times a year. A precious time of exchange where we can pray directly for our neighbour.

This light is brought in relay like the olympic torch from 'The Grotto of the Nativity' in Bethlehem each year. We distribute this symbol of peace to neighbours with a short message before Christmas.
24/7 prayer has been here for over 200 years in this community in Baugé where we meet with the sisters for 'Nights of Prayer'

Christian Unity expresses itself through the annual public meetings in January each year which we help organise in the region. This January we shall lead an evangelical worship session within that Community of sisters in Baugé.

Ignatius Ephrem Joseph III Younanis the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syrians for the Syriac Catholic Church

Occasions to encounter the other confessions is not lacking as we sit down here in Baugé to talk about the Syrian crisis with the Patriach.

A conference with Pastor François Clavairoly, Chairman of the French Protestant Federation, as we explored Fresh Expressions of Church together in Angers
We participated in the Synode for the French reformed protestants allowing us a better understanding on internal gouvernement and practises.
We cannot escape the inevitable Christian - Muslim dialogue at this time and have embraced opportunities to visit one of the 3 mosques in Angers, meeting the Imam and leaders leading to further public meetings and open dialogue.

FINALLY

Gods love is wider than the ocean and it's sure to cover every need of a man like the tide here in the bay of Saint Michel's Mount, Normandy, and more! This years completed lap of "all things PAV" is just a drop in the ocean, but together with YOUR drop and that of others we are filling up the whole world to His Glory! Thanks for doing it with us...keep doing it!

Created By
Marc SMALLEY Le PAV
Appreciate
Famille Smalley

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