<\/p>\n
A simple guy<\/strong><\/address>\nI was just a simple guy, one of those you see everyday in the street \u2026<\/address>\nNothing really special\u2026<\/address>\nI\u2019ve done stupid things, nothing terrible though, and not more often thananyone else, a pretty normal guy in the end\u2026<\/address>\n(I haven\u2019t led a gang or killedanybody, sorry!)<\/address>\nMy parents held a small drinks shop (coke, beer, wine\u2026)<\/address>\nand I sometimes worked there after school.<\/address>\nI probably could have taken it over and had a settled life, as ordinary as it gets\u2026<\/address>\nBut I was lacking something deeper, something that I could feel in my guts; something that would taste true \u2026<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nDiscovering an incredible treasure!<\/strong><\/address>\nOne day, at school, I was involved in an old paper collection.<\/address>\nI went into this particular house that had some kind of Greek columns in the entrance.<\/address>\nWhat I wasn\u2019t aware of was that the family that lived there, (and that I didn\u2019t even know) had been praying for me regularly.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nWhen I walked into that house, I couldn\u2019t believe it: someone was crazy enough to be throwing away a whacking great pile of comics!<\/address>\nThose comics were called \u201cTournesol\u201d (Sunflower).<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nI started to read them and something hit me pretty fast:<\/address>\n\u2013 They\u2019re talking about God!<\/address>\nGod \u2026? I knew it was something people talked about in those houses with a steeple on top and that are always closed, some thing for religious people or for a sect, but I couldn\u2019t understand why on earth someone would be talking about God in a comic book (!?!)<\/address>\nThen I felt a soft voice, tinged with peace, in my thoughts, telling me,<\/address>\n\u2013 Read on, it\u2019s for your own good.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nDay after day I literally devoured those comics that spoke of the Gospel and of Jesus Christ\u2019s tremendous and incredible love for me.<\/address>\nGod himself was there in my room (he\u2019s everywhere, actually) \u2026 and I told him:<\/address>\n\u2013 I give you my life \u2026 I know it\u2019s not much \u2026 but I\u2019m giving it to you.<\/address>\nEver since that day, my life has never been the same \u2026<\/address>\nNew dimensions, a parallel world \u2026<\/address>\nI bought myself a small Bible and started discovering God as a friend.<\/address>\nI would spend hours seeking him \u2026 And discovering new dimensions and experiencing incredible stuff!<\/address>\nSo that\u2019s how in 1989, my existence took a turn for the better, I discovered a deeper sense of life; I was 15.<\/address>\nThat was the beginning of a life of adventure, (I\u2019m not exaggerating!) that I can\u2019t even start to describe now.<\/address>\nMaybe next time \u2026<\/address>\nAlain gets started with comics \u2026<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nAlone, with nothing\u2026<\/strong><\/address>\nOn day, as I was attending a youth meeting, the speaker called out:<\/address>\n\u2013 We all have talents \u2013 \u2026. who wants to serve God with theirs? If you do, stand up!<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nI was at the back of the room, thinking.<\/address>\nI honestly didn\u2019t believe I had any particular talent, except maybe a collection of bad marks at school \u2026<\/address>\nI had no training and no job\u2026<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nThat night, I was one of the only ones that stood up and I told God:<\/address>\n\u2013 Lord, I can\u2019t do a thing \u2026 I have nothing, but I give it to you \u2026 you do something with it\u2026<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nAt the end of the meeting, the speaker (he had spotted me earlier) asked me:<\/address>\n\u2013 So, what\u2019s your talent?<\/address>\n– I don\u2019t know, I have nothing special \u2026 I draw a little in my maths notebooks\u2026 maybe I could get into comics \u2026<\/address>\n– So that\u2019s your gift? Ok, let\u2019s pray!<\/address>\n– Huh? Umm, er, sure, ok!\u201d<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nI didn\u2019t want to spoil his evening.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nFire<\/strong><\/address>\nI wanted to share with everyone what I had discovered, what had filled my life.<\/address>\nI wanted to spread happiness and hope in other people\u2019s lives.<\/address>\nSo I started drawing like a madman, every evening, sometimes even all night long.<\/address>\nI got into Arts School (that was really hard for me, I wasn\u2019t really gifted).<\/address>\nAnd I graduated 5 years and a half later with a graphic designer degree.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nStraight down from heaven!<\/strong><\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nMy wife and I then decided it was time I dedicated myself to fulltime drawing.<\/address>\nAt first, I started with working for several newspapers\u2026 But the more I drew, the lower the bank account went. Nevertheless, we knew we owed something to people. What I was doing was important and would meet a true need, because nothing similar to this had ever existed\u2026<\/address>\nWe both agreed not to talk about our financial issues with our friends and family, but only with God.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nAlone before an empty fridge<\/strong><\/address>\nOne morning, I opened the fridge and found it nearly empty, and I suddenly became afraid:<\/address>\n\u2013 Am I nuts? \u2026 Can God really intervene and feed us?<\/address>\nI spent the whole day worrying. Fortunately, that evening, I ran into this verse in the Bible:<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nMatthew 6:31-33: \u201cSo do not worry, saying, \u2018What shall we eat?\u2019 or \u2018What shall wedrink?\u2019 or \u2018What shall we wear?\u2019 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.\u201d (NIV)<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nSo I asked God to forgive me for worrying, and I thanked him for the food that would be provided for the following day. And I fell asleep peacefully.<\/address>\nThe next morning, an old man was at the door, his arms filled with supplies.<\/address>\nFor the seven years that followed, God literally fed us!<\/address>\nI could give you so many more examples but \u2026 let\u2019s carry on with our story.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nDiscouragement \u2026<\/strong><\/address>\nI was two months away from finishing my first comic book and suddenly, I just wanted to give it all up.<\/address>\nTrue, we\u2019d never lacked food, but with my worn-out shoes, my torn trousers and my army coat, (it did keep me nice and warm!) I probably looked like a tramp.<\/address>\nI felt the weight on my shoulders of \u201cwhat others must think\u201d.<\/address>\nPeople around us were going on holidays, owned one or even two cars, had a TV, bought whatever they wanted\u2026.whereas, I went back to the shop to return empty bottles hoping to collect a few coins.<\/address>\nAnd as if that wasn\u2019t enough, Eliane and I were going through a rough time in our marriage.<\/address>\nEven though I kept on going to church on a regular basis, I just didn\u2019t feel like praying anymore.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nMister the devil \u2026<\/strong><\/address>\nOne day as I was wandering in the forest, \u201cmister the devil\u201d who felt \u201cconcerned\u201d by my situation started to make me think:<\/address>\n\u2013 Let go of all that, leave your wife, your drawings, your God. You\u2019re a lousy Christian anyway.<\/address>\n(As if letting go of God was going to solve anything!)<\/address>\nI could have let it all go indeed, but not Jesus. Through the years, our friendship had become what I treasure the most. So I said to myself:<\/address>\n\u2013 #*@ !! That\u2019s enough! This has GOT to change in my head! I will pray till I find my inner peace again.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nGod came the very moment I made that resolution. I felt his peace in me once again.<\/address>\nAt the same period, three or four people I barely knew came to see me and told me they felt called with a mission to pray for five people in the country, and that I was one of them (???!!!) It sounded like a joke\u2026<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nThe phone call<\/strong><\/address>\nAround the same time, the phone rang, and somebody I didn\u2019t know started to tell me this strange story:<\/address>\n\u2013 Sir, you don\u2019t know me, but I\u2019ve had a vision of you speaking to thousands of young people \u2026 What can I do for you?<\/address>\nI couldn\u2019t believe what I was hearing and stammered:<\/address>\n\u2013Well, ummm, I don\u2019t know \u2026 What\u2019s your job?<\/address>\n\u2013 I manage an American firm.<\/address>\n\u2013 Hah! Well if that\u2019s the case \u2026 Could you lend me US $ 16 500 so I can print<\/address>\nmy new book?<\/address>\n\u2013 I\u2019ll get back to you in a few days \u2026<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nHe called back a few days later, and said ok.<\/address>\nMy first book, \u201cId\u00e9es recues 1<\/strong>\u201d (available in English as Conventional Wisdom) was self-edited and quickly became a success.<\/address>\nIt was followed by \u201cMarcel\u201d, \u201cRobi\u201d (also available in English), \u201cId\u00e9es re\u00e7ues 2\u201d, \u201cWilly Grunch\u201d (which won three awards at the International Christian Contest in Albuquerque), \u201cLes vacances de Marcel\u201d and \u201cId\u00e9es recues 3\u201d.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nI received three times the first prize at the International Christian Comic Book Festival, in Angoul\u00eame, France. (The biggest festival of its kind in Europe).<\/address>\nToday, more than 100 000 books have been sold in Europe.<\/address>\nSome books have been published in China, in the USA and in several other countries that I could never have even dreamt of\u2026 However, I know very well that there are artists much more talented than me.<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nI regularly receive numerous messages from people who were deeply moved and born again testimonies \u2013 and that touches me strongly.<\/address>\nFinally, in 2013, MOONDOG ANIMATION studios released five teasers of a TV series adaptation of my comic \u201cWilly Grunch\u201d, in view for it to be sold to major TV networks with a potential to reach millions of people.<\/address>\nAll this happened to a guy without talent who stood up for Jesus.<\/address>\nI\u2019m just a simple guy, nothing special, but my Friend is great \u2026<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nLoad in PDF:<\/address>\nAlain Auderset testimony<\/a><\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\n\u00a0<\/address>\nIn French,<\/a><\/address>\nIn Deutch,<\/a><\/address>\nIn Spanish.<\/a><\/address>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A simple guy I was just a simple guy, one of those you see everyday in the street \u2026 Nothing really special\u2026 I\u2019ve done stupid things, nothing terrible though, and not more often thananyone else, a pretty normal guy in … More…<\/a> More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5678"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10194,"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5678\/revisions\/10194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.auderset.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}