Fighting For Faith, Family & Freedom

Sunday, April 30, 2023

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Carol Bauer

As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a monthly prayer alert. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshipers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion. -- Gary

Since my last Prayer Alert, Gary and I and our adult children and their spouses were blessed to take a week-long trip to France with the major focus being on D-Day historical sites. It was a trip years in the planning, and one we had dreamed of even longer. 

As history buffs, Gary and I enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction that is historical in nature. Preparation for the trip ranged from books on D-Day to novels about the French Resistance in World War II. 

Our trip was an opportunity for all of it to come alive as we toured D-Day sites, walked through centuries-old French towns and visited religious sites. Sharing the experience with family was an added bonus. When you finally experience any long-awaited event and then take the time to look back at the experience certain takeaways stand out.

I'd like to share with you a couple "lessons learned" from our trip because of their timeliness and application to where we find ourselves today.

One thing that stood out was that the Allied victory in World War II was the culmination of countless personal sacrifices for what is true, right and good. 

Yes, the Allies were blessed by remarkable military leadership, innovative hardware, state of the art ships, aircraft and personnel carriers. The flexibility and coordination required to assemble an invasion force of more than 150,000 soldiers, representing several countries and launched from England, was breathtaking. 

Plans were precisely laid out, but almost immediately cast aside by high winds, rough seas, and landings blown off course. Yet the Allied forces pushed forward, incurred heavy losses, adjusted to changing conditions and moved into France to free a continent and the world of Nazism.

The sacrifices of the military were matched by individual citizens and members of the French Resistance, often acting alone and in great peril, but doing one thing, anything to make a difference. They cut communication lines, sabotaged trains and trucks, received and implemented instructions that arrived to them via carrier pigeon drops, listened to coded messages on BBC radio and surreptitiously communicated with one another. 

One of my favorite stories is that of a coastal Normandy farmer and his blind son who lived on land taken by the Germans to build a four-gun battery from which Allied forces would be attacked.

The furious farmer paced off exact distances between the bunkers, bunkers to observation posts, etc. His young blind son, gifted with a marvelous memory, memorized the measurements, hitched a ride to the town of Bayeux and got in touch with a teenage member of the French Resistance, who in turn forwarded this treasure trove of information to England via a homemade radio transmitter that was hidden in a Campbell’s soup can!

The efforts of this father, his son and the teenaged Resistance fighter resulted in Allied forces knowing the exact coordinates of these bunkers, which they would face on D-Day.

Brave, righteous individuals acting alone or together, with just a handful of others they could trust, were instrumental to the war effort. It is a good reminder to each of us of the right and responsibility we have to take a stand for our faith, our beliefs and our values.

One other thing stood out to me. 

As we toured numerous D-Day locations and the little towns that dot the Normandy countryside, we were struck by how each little hamlet, however small, had a church at its center.

A very few were magnificent structures with beautiful stained-glass windows and soaring arches. But most were simple small churches with a bedraggled cemetery close by. Inside there were stark pews and crosses and there was likely to be a homemade pamphlet describing the role of the church and its congregation in freeing a continent.

The stories were uplifting, but all were rooted in what had happened nearly 80 years ago. Toward the end of the simple pamphlet there was an almost apologetic explanation that attendance at the church was under 30 souls and funds to keep the structure repaired were in short supply. A humble plea for financial help followed.

It felt like so many churches in France now serve as historic tourist attractions to help tell a story of another era. An active, thriving, uplifting, serving church rooted in core Christian beliefs is not today’s story of French faith. 

Another thing of note. It seemed like the countryside and little towns, including shops and restaurants, shut down on Sunday, but it was a cultural slowdown like the U.S. used to have during the Blue Laws era, not a faith-based slowdown to worship and practice one’s deep faith with fellow believers. 

In short, the church in France seemed rooted in history and culture, but was not a thriving, breathing, impactful force for believers in the 21st Century. Is this where we are headed?

Heavenly Father, author of our lives, we thank you for those moments that clarify our life experience. It is easy to get wrapped up in the challenges of daily life and not see the bigger lessons You are teaching us. 

Prompt us to take a breath, quiet our minds and hearts and listen to You and what You desperately want us to learn. Open our eyes to the lessons we need to learn and the many ways, some big, many small, that we can have an impact on those around us and our fellow citizens. 

Remind us that though we are to focus on You for guidance and direction we are also called to live out our faith in the soil and place where You have planted us. Open our eyes to steps we may take in our families, churches and communities to affirm You, encourage others and keep the beacon of faith alive and shining in our culture and our country.