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Families that have a lot of excuses for not getting together for a family reunion could take a lesson from the Nelsen family.

Some of them came all the way from France.

Mark Nelsen, a 1984 Estherville High School graduate, recently returned to the U.S. with his wife, Denise (Brown), and their children, Zacharie, Emilie and Alissa. The Nelsens have been living in La Rochelle, France, where Mark is a Baptist minister. This week they are visiting his parents, Tom and Nancy Nelsen, and Mark's grandmother, Ruth Reed.

It was the first time that Mark had been to the States with his family for five years. After graduation from Estherville High School, he attended Faith Baptist Bible College then went on to seminary at Columbia International University in Columbia, S.C., an institution geared for people serving the ministry in restricted countries.

Mark first saw a need for a ministry in France when he visited there in 1986. What he found were relatively few Protestants and even fewer pastors.

"There's a real need there," Mark said. "That's how the door opened."

Mark and Denise located in a former French Huguenot area in 1994. "There's more of an openness to me being there," he said.

An obvious obstacle immediately for Mark was the language.

"I knew how to count to two. I knew how to say hello. And I knew how to ask to use the bathroom," he said.

He immediately resolved that deficiency by attending language school in Bordeaux.

Nelsen said only 4-5 percent of French people attend Catholic Church even though it's the dominant church in France. Strangely, while Roman Catholic churches are found in practically every city and town in France, many have been relegated to mere curiosities - museums or spots on a tour map.

The laxity of France as a nation of church-goers, however, finds compensation in a highly rigorous educational system. The school day ends at 4:45 for Alissa and Emilie and at 4:20 for Zacharie. The Nelsen's children are bilingual in English and French and Zacharie and Emilie are learning German as well.

"I think they help out the English teachers," Mark admitted.

While all three children will have dual citizenship at age 16, Mark said Zacharie and Emilie definitely consider themselves as French.

He said his children were surprised by all the American flags they saw, something rare in France where the French flag is seldom flown because it conveys a connotation of nationalism, something that evokes memories of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi swastika.

After losing 20 million men in World War I and having the country occupied in World War II, the French have come to abhor war, Mark said. "It's just taught to avoid war at all costs," he said.

Even in Normandy, where people are eternally grateful for being liberated by the Allies, Mark noted an attitude something like: "You did liberate us at D-Day so we can disagree with you" regarding American military policies abroad.

The same goes for French troops serving in Afghanistan: "It's a job. You signed up for it. You either live or die" seems to be the French attitude toward their own troops.

Nelsen said the French are sensitive and nervous about anything that could be considered a cult. He has found that he has even been called upon on occasions to explain the history of the Baptist Church and why he's in France.

An openly socialist country, Nelsen said the country has managed to dodge the bullet of the world economic downturn. "France has weathered this economic storm fairly well," Nelsen said.

He's very grateful that his children have the opportunity for greater cultural enrichment than they would have in the U.S. He said his children will benefit from living in Europe because they are more aware of world events.

Mark has found himself changed by living in France - more open-minded toward other cultures, for example.

"You have an idea that there's more than one way to do something," Mark said. "I saw a whole different way to live. I've moderated myself. It's made me much more tolerant of people. It's made me more aware of how I live my life."