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August 2007 In the tiny farming village of Huémoz , in the French speaking part of Switzerland , our L'Abri chalets cling to the steep Alpine mountain side. To be sure, glancing down to the valley or lifting our eyes to the surrounding massive peaks around us can often create a sense of vertigo, which we sometimes experience when we assess our seemingly precarious situation. Here we are with a group of 30-35 students, seeking to do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way, as we pray for our daily bread. Our community’s orientation is not only unique, but some might say it’s downright crazy. Where will we get the necessary strength, resources and insights to carry on? What will happen next? The story continues. Following on from what Edith Schaeffer wrote in her book L'Abri, let me remind you who is here. There are undergrads, postgrads, PhD's, writers, artists, philosophers, musicians and so on. They range in age from younger to older and are an International mix. How have they come? Through a diversity of means and ways. What are they doing? Among other things, listening to lectures, reading, pursuing the course of study set out by their tutor, wrestling with crucial issues, taking part in family meals, Sunday high teas, working in gardens and chalets, and seeking answers to life’s important questions. As our cultures find themselves further adrift from God, we’re grateful that all this continues to go on at L’Abri up to this day, decades after the writing of Edith’s book. L’Abri remains a spiritual shelter for all in need of spiritual direction, for all seeking meaning and purpose in life. We are now living in times when the centrality and significance of Christian community has arisen like a phoenix, and L’Abri has been doing it for more than fifty years. Indeed, a remarkable testimony to the grace and faithfulness of God. Over these years we have had the privilege of working with myriads of people and God has used L'Abri in marvelous ways to teach, redeem, restore, shelter and heal. At various moments, including the present, we have the children of well known Christian leaders who, in spite of or partially because of their parents, have lost the way. They are fleeing churches and abandoning their faith in Christ in droves. In coming to L’Abri, they are finding out that the Christian faith is both credible and true. There are others in our midst, some from Christian families, some atheists, and some agnostics that are equally lost - perhaps we should start to call this, ‘the culture of the lost’ – ‘the lost generation’ - ‘generation L’ or some other lamentable epithet. The proliferation of parodies, manipulations and simulations in our culture, it is true, make it easy to get lost and stay lost. Then, there are many others with us now who are Christians. They are here to grow and deepen their faith in Christ, and as the rest of the students, to reflectively drink in the rich resources that we have to offer as we seek to present cutting edge ideas that are true, Biblical, challenging and livable. I remember well D, a very bright and thoughtful woman who was a lawyer. D diligently took notes at every meal discussion and from the tapes and books. She asked tough questions, notably about truth and the existence of God, and received sufficient answers. And God used her time at L’Abri to bring her to faith in Christ. L arrived as a committed Christian, but was struggling with a legalistic and narrow version of spirituality. It was defeating her and she realized it. She came to a better understanding here that spirituality has to do with the whole of life. Moving from a constricted and stifling view of the spiritual, she came to see that Christ is Lord of all life, and this truth freed her to enjoy creation, music and the arts. Then there was J, who had noticed such a lamentable connection between Christians saying and doing, that he was questioning whether or not Christianity was true. After some time here, he came to see that the truth of Christianity cannot be solely evaluated on the basis of the poor performance of Christians, although he was right to see that this does need to be taken into consideration. There should be a closer and visible, though not perfect, connection between what Christians say and do. And B, who thought she was living a masquerade and being a charlatan in pretending to be a Christian – why should she hold on to this? I told her she probably shouldn’t, and that in fact God might indeed be on her side as He too was opposed to hypocrites and imposters. In fact, God would want her to stop the charade and let it go. B was shocked to hear that God might be on her side and that it wasn’t pleasing to God to be faking it out of pretense or duty that had nothing to do with her heart. Eventually, she became an authentic Christian, embracing the truth for herself. There are many other people and their stories; a confirmed atheist who became a theist and then a Christian, an abused woman who experienced deep healing, and so on. I hope this gives you a peak into something of what God is doing here. There was a deep working of the Spirit in all of these people and we’re grateful for the changed lives, for the conversions to Christ, and for how God uses this place and the material here to electrify people, and to direct their paths. Please pray for all these students and us. As God works into lives here pray that people, and especially parents, would realize that there are significant financial costs involved in running this work and that we remain dependent on God to provide. We're so very thankful for the way He has faithfully done this through the gifts of those who support what He’s doing in our lives together, but we ask you to pray for gracious giving, new supporters, and a growing recognition of the value of a shelter like this for those in spiritual need in our turbulent times. As I mentioned earlier, I have noticed, and all too often recently, that there are many children in Christian families or of Christian leaders who are on the edge, drifting away from faith in Christ. I wonder if you know someone (might even be you) deeply struggling with the Christian life, spirituality, and the church. I’d like to help out in some way by offering a copy of my book Living Spirituality: Illuminating the Path to the first ten of you who get back to me at greg dot laughery at gmail dot com with the name and address of the person in need of a theologically refreshing perspective that can offer them an alternative to the impoverishment and ambiguity that’s so widespread in many churches today. You will be able to gift your friend, family member, or yourself with the book. Living Spirituality: Illuminating the Path is now available: ISBN 978-0-9759082-5-9 from www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com or your local bookstore. Yours in Christ’s service, Greg Dr Gregory J. Laughery ***All address changes and requests for the Swiss Newsletter and Prayer letter should be sent to our Swiss address or by email to swissmailings@labri.org. ***Tax-free receipts for gifts meant specifically for the work of the Swiss branch are available from Switzerland when the gifts are sent either to Huémoz or to the Rochester address with a note specifying its designation for Swiss L’Abri. *** Swiss Address: L’Abri Fellowship, Chalet Bellevue, 1884 Huémoz, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland . *** U.S. Address: L’Abri Fellowship, 1465 12th Avenue N.E. , Rochester , MN . 55906, USA .
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