Living on the Other Side Part 1

Staff and 21 students of the Christian Comics Seminar,  Lac-Brome, Quebec, 2011
I'm to the right of the man in the center and Shaina is to his top left.

Not surprisingly, this blog post took over one month to write. Since it's still incomplete I decided to break it down into parts which I'll be working on and uploading periodically. What I hoped to be a settling down of sorts after a long-awaited and much prepared for BD (Bandes Dessinees or comic books) seminar in Quebec became a time of work and business, but that's typical and I guess expected for now. I'm happy nonetheless.

So here it is, the first of a few blog posts devoted to the Christian Comics Seminar held in a rustic camp retreat in Lac-Brome, Quebec, this past April!

Living on the Other Side


Why the title? It happens to be the theme of my church until summer. My pastor had been speaking about how the Israelites crossed the Jordan and prepared themselves to take possession and live in their new territory. I found the correlation between this theme and how God is leading us very timely. What is happening  physically is a reality of the spiritual in this case.

I can't tell you how anxious I am (in a good way) to do comics again. Right now things are beginning to settle down after an intensive three day Christian comics seminar that took months to prepare for, recently held in scenic Lac-Brome. I'm sitting in front of my pc with no (nearly no) distractions, listening to the soft, melodic chirps of finches outside my window while trying to gather my thoughts.

Last Friday afternoon around 5pm Shaina, her husband Hans, and I had finally crossed the border into Canada, having taken Interstate 87 from New York. We had driven north about 7 hours at that point (starting from Philly) and were getting a little antsy to stretch our legs. It was warm and sunny, and as I caught my first French stop sign ("Arret")  after putting away my passport, it became clear that we were now in foreign territory. I didn't know how I'd do in a French speaking culture, considering I only took some French in highschool and by now could only understand a few words and phrases. Our trip to the BD seminar hosted by EVQ Media and put together by Comix35 was well underway and we wouldn't get there to participate until later that evening after getting something to eat first. We were excited.

Our first stop was to set foot and "claim" the territory. We're not presumptuous in saying this but it has been on our hearts and minds ever since we found out we were called to this people group (story for another time). Shaina and I didn't know exactly where we'd stop the car, but Hans pulled into a stone covered parking area next to Lake Champlain near Venise-en-Quebec. Shaina had a great idea to put oil on the bottom of our shoes as a symbol of the Spirit's anointing so I brought along my last batch of olive oil in a small jar. We stepped out of the van onto small rocks. I felt it was symbolic of "seed sown on rocky ground" since this territory is known among Bible circles as a hardened spiritual territory (but they are not without hope as God remembers them). Although I would never downplay the seriousness of any nation's unbelief in spiritual matters,  I found it odd that Quebec has less believers than Japan being situated in our western continent; 1 in every 2000 people claim they know Jesus as their Savior as opposed to Japan's 1 in 200. The USA seems to  concentrate evangelism strategies to reach the 10/40 window and other populations. Why?  The pastor of EVQ sat down with us Friday night and told us point blank that ministries in Quebec have left their own province and have come into the USA because it's much easier for a church to thrive and gain support, the spiritual warfare is not as intense, and the money is much better. How sad that is! I have to admit that the adversity is indeed intense over this region which I will explain a little more in the next blog post.

After stepping foot on the land, thanking and praising God for all that He will do here, we got back in the vehicle and drove through what looked like a narrow country road.  I caught the sight of a tall church building in the distance with an odd shaped steeple. I wanted to find out more about it but dismissed the thought until we drove around a large bend and came right up to it! I noticed something peculiar that I had never seen before stuck in the ground in front of the church: a foreclosure sign!

In all my years I had never EVER seen a Catholic church for sale. We definitely were in foreign territory.

God had been preparing our hearts for months and has shown me some important things about my role and relationship to come with the Quebec people. Shaina has been born and raised there, and God has graciously given me their heritage. My nationality is Italian, having both parents come through Ellis Island in the 1900's. The Italian mindset, a stubborn and proud one, is exactly opposite as that of the Quebecois, a humble and contrite people who often poke fun at themselves. This is a far cry from what I'm used to growing up, but something I've come to appreciate and love. I seem to be like Ruth, taking hold of Naomi's hand and saying, "Your people are my people!"

After spending some time on the property and taking pictures, we drove on until we arrived at our next destination--La Station des Patriots!

So here we are, hungry but alert.  I had mentioned the Quebec people poking fun at themselves; one of the ways they do this is through their "greasy-spoon" rendition of a certain dish they're so fond of: the classic, traditional delicacy called poutine (pronounced poo-TSIN). I'm not sure what to make of it, and I'm not sure the Quebecois know either.^_^ It's an interesting concoction of french fries, brown gravy and cheese curds (I'm not kidding!) which Hans had to order for cultural purposes. :). Shaina and Hans bought me the Italian style poutine (they had so many varieties on their menu!) which substituted spaghetti sauce for gravy and mozzarella instead of curds.  What did I think of the poutine? Well..it wasn't as bad as it sounded. I think the taste and texture of fries with the warm tomato sauce didn't blend as well as cold ketchup and fries do.  And adding the cheese on top just complicated the flavors! On a side note, Hans also ordered some Quebec pizza I suppose to make me feel more at home. That was special, and he ate the leftovers.
Moving on to our stay at Lac-Brome and the comics seminar in the next update!

This Italian-style poutine deserves a spot in this blog all by itself^_^.