The 14-18 years old Youth Group in France on August 5-15, 2018

The 14-18 years old Youth group Perah Ha-Midbar (Desert Flower) traveled to France. The main goal of the visit was to spend a week in Taizé. It is a village with an ecumenical Christian community, in Burgundy, that was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz, a Reformed Protestant. It is composed of more than one hundred brothers, from Catholic and Protestant traditions, who originate from about thirty countries across the world.

During the summer the Community of Taizé hosts thousands of young people from all over the world. The groups come to participate in a one week program. Desert Flower arrived to Taizé after a long trip, taking a flight from Tel Aviv to Paris and two trains: to Lyon and to Macon, as well as a bus from Macon. We were received by one of the volunteers and the main rules were explained to us. Simple accommodation, simple and commonly shared food, and a lot of other young people who make an extraordinary atmosphere in Taizé. There are people singing, dancing, playing and laughing everywhere. There is also a lot of time for prayer. The schedule of a typical day in the youth meetings: Morning prayer, Breakfast, Introduction to the day with a brother of the community followed by quiet reflection or small group discussion, Midday prayer, Lunch, Song practice (optional), Meetings in small groups, Tea time, Workshops (optional), Supper, Evening prayer, Informal gathering at Oyak, a common area at Taizé. We were also invited to a special meeting with Br. Emil.

The time was a good opportunity to deepen the relationship with God, to learn and practice personal prayer and to meet young Christians from other countries.

After a week in Taizé the group headed to Paris where we could spend great three days. Thanks to fr. Jean Marie Aubert that gave us the accommodation in his Parish at Montparnasse. Two friends that we knew from Jerusalem (Clotilde and Gregoire) helped us a lot guiding us to the most beautiful places in France's capital.

We would like to thank all those who contributed and made our trip possible as well as those who helped to organize the trip.