When Jews were Saved in France

      From April 30th-May 6th, Leslye and I joined up with a prayer team from Louisiana, led by Roger and Charlotte Merschbrock, to visit groups that love the Jewish people and places where Jews were saved by descendants of the Huguenots in the south of France. We were amazed to learn of how extensively the Christians defied the Nazis by hiding, protecting and leading thousands of French Jews to safety in Switzerland. One such town was Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, an hour and a half northwest by car from Valence. In the area around Le Chambon, we meet with a mayor who told us how the City Hall fabricated identity and ration documents for Jewish refugees. We also visited a school that was filled with Jewish children whose identities were hidden from the Nazis and the French Vichy government. We participated in  meetings with believers in La Rochelle on France's west coast and in the the South of France, including opening the Shabbat in a French church. This all followed our attendance of the Deportation remembrance in Paris on April 29th. So it was an eye opening week and an encouragement that there are believers who embrace God's word and who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the Jewish people. This type of courage will be needed in the days ahead. Here are some photos. The rest appear on Picassa at https://picasaweb.google.com/messianic.initiative/May13201202. Shalom, David Schneier

David sharing at a gathering in the south of France

Leslye sharing a word as well

Memorial plaque honoring Christians who protected Jews during WWII quoting Ps 112:6

School photo including Jewish kids whose identities were protected by their school

Home of the pictured elderly woman who was a child when her parents hid Jews there

School that saved many Jewish children

Young girl's family saved Max, a Jewish kid

The young girl and Max today

Shabbat with believers in the south of France

The one and only synagogue in Valence

House of the Israelite Community

Inside the synagogue

Sign on the synagogue door which warns congregants not to touch suspicious people, objects or cars