It was 2000 and we were staying overnight in Metz, France on our way from Holland to Romania. We had a group of high school and college students from Mt. View Baptist Church in Hisperia, California. We had walked from our hotel to a little pastry shop downtown. One of our kids gave a tract to a young man, who seemed interested. Between my sparse French and his little bit of English, we were able to communicate somewhat. I offered him “petit déjèuner” – breakfast, so he came into the shop with our group. Each of us, including the young man, picked out a pastry which went into the to-go box on the counter. But as I was handing the cashier a bill, the young man grabbed the box and ran out the door. We were caught off guard, and in a moment, the young man was gone . . . with our breakfast! The cashier shrugged and handed me my change. So much for kindness. We had to pick out more doughnuts and I had to pay for them – again.
