Professing Hope

None of this is really about us. We, the Kennedy family, are included in but a few chapters of God’s Great Story. We hope as you read the stories of our journey as disciples of Jesus, that you too are inspired to consider how God is writing your life into His Story.

May 2025

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds…”. Hebrews 10:23-24

Welcome to Lafin

As we shared in our last newsletter, our new home is in a community called Lafin.  Located between the city centre of Aix-les-Bains and the Corsuet Forest, it is bordered to the north by the river Sierroz which flows down into Lac du Bourget.   Once a small village of it’s own, Lafin was previously separated to the north of Aix-les-Bains by farmland.    Although it is now part of the city, the neighbourhood today maintains it’s old village character and charm.  The oldest homes near the centre of the town remain built one up next to another, completely irregular in shape and roof-line, with no clear property boundaries and many spaces that remain shared and connected between neighbours.  

While most other communities in Aix-les-Bains are built with fences and gates separating each home from the other, Lafin exists in stark contrast.  Walking through its irregular maze of streets, it is easy to imagine how life existed here hundreds of years ago, back when it was recorded in history in the year 1561 as a small village with a population of 86.  Life then was lived in real community, both tightly knit in space and in relationship.  Families would have more deeply relied upon each other than we do today.  Livelihood, resources and raising children would have been shared amongst neighbours.  It’s a beautiful thing to imagine.      

Is this why we were called to live here, in this historic part of Aix-les-Bains, where people still live in the very homes built for togetherness and shared life?  

The answer we have clearly received from God is a resounding “yes”!  After only 5 months living in the heart of Lafin, we are seeing opportunities for meaningful community literally all around us.   

Perfectly Situated

Our house is truly in the perfect location.  Just 2 houses away from Place Lafin (the historical village center) and just off the main street, it shares a private courtyard with 4 other houses.  Many of these old village homes were divided long ago into separate properties, so in all, there are 7 properties where 5 families  and 2 single guys call home.  In other words, on this one side of our house alone we have 13 neighbours.  Crazy, right?  And all 13 of us share this common courtyard space, meaning we cross paths on a regular basis.  Genius urban planning if you want to build community, right?  

On the other side of us we overlook a home where a retired couple live, whose home is also attached to another home, both of which are again connected to another shared courtyard of 4 or 5 homes.  Because of the way our main floor overlooks our neighbours to the west, every time we go outside onto the balcony, we are greeted and often engage in conversation with one of the two of them, who are always out in the yard.  

Our family is truly and perfectly situated to live out the gospel here in community.  It’s amazing, really, to experience it.  

Makes you want to come visit and see for yourself, oui?

Let us introduce you…

Just before we purchased our home, this young couple from Paris (with a new baby boy) bought the house right next to ours.  Needing a complete renovation, they moved into an apartment nearby, and when he wasn’t working, Amin was at the house working on the renovations.  

Joel’s 8 year renovation project on our home in Québec just became the perfect tool for building relationships with this family.  Funny how that works.

Joel’s first encounter with Amin was in the courtyard.  Joel introduced himself and was explaining that we were from Canada, when Amin noticed our name “Kennedy” on our mailbox.  Curiously he then said, “hey, are you Catholic?”, assuming that Kennedys were Irish and therefore we must be Catholic.  Within the first few minutes of meeting each other, Joel and Amin engaged in a conversation about faith in God and he was able to share that we were in fact Christians, not by ancestry but by a personal choice to know and follow Jesus.  Amin shared that He was Muslim and that he liked talking about faith.

Shortly afterwards, Joel began helping Amin with the work in his house, and conversations have continued.  We have begun to get to know his wife, Julie, and their baby boy, and already sense the beginnings of friendship developing.

If you live in France, you eat bread daily.  Seriously, a meal is not considered complete without a baguette.  Shortly after moving in we happily discovered a new boulangerie (bakery) had just opened, so we decided it should be the local spot we frequented for our bread and pastries.  

On one such visit to the bakery Joel met the owner, a young Tunisian guy named Mahomed.  They hit it off easily, and began to talk about life in France, culture, business and eventually faith.  A very proud Muslim, Mahomed said he loved talking about faith.  Joel was amazed.  Here was another Muslim guy who seemed eager to discuss the very subject Joel was deeply passionate about too… faith.  

As Joel was getting to know both Amin and Mahomed, God planted an idea in Joel’s mind:  a faith exchange.  He began to pray for an opportunity to meet and openly discuss beliefs about faith.

Over the next several weeks Joel continued to visit Mahomed at the bakery, and on one such visit, Mahomed himself proposed to Joel that they meet to study both the Quran and the Bible together.  It was as if God gave Mahomed the very idea He had given Joel.  

A cool detail of the story:  Joel has been working on converting part of our garage into an office space.  This would give him a quiet space to work, but is also a space where Joel envisions gathering with groups of guys for the purpose discipleship.  One bakery visit, Mahomed asked Joel what he has been up to, and he told him he was working on this office space.  Mahomed’s response was – “great, we’ll meet there, then.”  It is incredible how in that moment Joel’s hope for this space was already becoming a reality.

A bit of the theory behind our methods…

We have previously touched on the idea of ecosystems as a powerful analogy for ministry with the hope that disciple-makers would be the fruit of our labour.  Before we can establish anything, however, we must first study ecosystem principles and how they apply in our ministry context.  Just as a farmer would need to first understand the present state of his land before attempting to develop a regenerative farm (ecosystem), we too must first do the ground work.  To that end, since our arrival in France we have spent much of our energy on understanding 3 important elements:  climate, landscape and the health of the soil.

Climate

Before establishing any ecosystem, knowledge of your climate is paramount.  Understanding what will work and what won’t is a great time-money-energy saver.  So for our community Lafin, we have been asking many questions.  What is the spiritual climate?  Is it oppressive?  Harsh?  What are the shifts in spiritual climate that have happened in history?  Is this recent or ancient?  What about the larger scale of France?  

Landscape

To establish an ecosystem, it is also critical to understand the physical environment or landscape you are working with.  What is the topography?  What are the “natural resources” (walking paths, parks, etc) around you?  What is lacking?  Are there natural meeting places?  How do people interact with one another?  The physical layout and organization of a community can either promote or inhibit relationships.  Much of what we touched on above explains our analysis of the landscape here in Lafin.

The Health of the Soil

Before seeds can be planted, any smart farmer would first analyse the soil.  In this same way, we too are seeking to understand the present health of the “soil” in our community.  Why? It is the existing soil health that will determine whether seeds planted in the soil will be able to take root. Consider the Parable of the Sower.  

So what does this look like?  

True anywhere on the planet, soil is made up of 3 major & 1 minor components:  silt, sand & clay, PLUS  organic matter (smallest in percentage but hugely important to the health of the soil).

The metaphor plays out in discussing community “ soil” analysis as well. Also true anywhere on the planet, there are 3 major & 1 minor components in any society:  developmental, cultural & spiritual, PLUS gospel presence.  As the organic matter determines the fertility of the soil, so too it is with gospel presence. 

On a personal note…

We were trilled to have Becky’s parents come to visit for 2.5 weeks, and the kids got their fill of Nanny & Grampa time.  What a joy to share our love for France and the Savoie with them.

Pray

Thank you for supporting us in prayer!  Please pray for:

• Our community.  Friday, May 23rd is “fête des voisins” which is a celebration of neighbours.  We are planning to invite our neighbours to meet in our courtyard with the hope of more regular get togethers over the summer.

• Amin & Julie

• Mahomed

• Our family, for love and unity in our home.

• For Noëlle & Brennan, who amaze us with their own spiritual journey.

Invest

Would you prayerfully consider joining our financial support team?