The Weekly Update – February 23, 2026
Some conversations are extremely captivating. That was the case yesterday over lunch at a restaurant in Vichy. We are with a couple I met in the mid-1980s. Laurent, a teenager at the same middle school in Clermont-Ferrand, discovered the Gospel through our family. At the time, he would take his Bible to school to read on a bench at breaktime. This young man had a powerful encounter with God.
The woman who would one day become his wife found Christ thanks to an elderly Christian neighbour who invited her mother and siblings to the church in Clermont.
I had lost sight of Laurent and Myriam. I had no idea what had become of them.
But a miracle happened a few weeks ago: Yukki and I were sitting on the balcony of a concert hall in Vichy. A few rows in front of us were Laurent and Myriam.
Laurent recounts: “The Holy Spirit said to me, Turn around, Timothée Paton is behind you!”
When he called out to me, I didn’t recognize him. I didn’t even know that the woman next to him was his wife.
Yesterday, we finally took the time to sit down over a good meal and catch up on close to 40 years!
This testimony reminded us of two truths:
1- The seed of the Gospel is never sown in vain. If only we knew all those to whom we have ever spoken of our faith who are now (without us even knowing it!) disciples of Jesus.
2- Let us always be attentive and obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit. (He can even help us find childhood friends again!)
Timothée & Yukki