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France, Paris, the Olympics and the Gospel

26/6/2024

So, the Euro 24 football championships are well under way, but sport has still a race to run this summer! Paris is hosting the 2024 Olympics. What has that got to do with the gospel? Well, as veteran missionary David Brown tells us, and as EMF missionary Liz Lasnes reiterates, there will be many evangelistic opportunities in Paris during the games; they would love you to support them in prayer as they and the Paris churches aim to use these opportunities well.

There are few people who could give us a more concise vision of the situation of the gospel in France than David Brown.  He says a lot in the following brief paragraphs!

Historical background

There were Christians in France as early as the 2nd Century, with periods of persecution, leading, for example, to the martyrdom of several believers in Lyon in the year 177.

France was also a seedbed of the Reformation. John Calvin was born in France and by 1560 the number of Protestants was estimated at 2 million, representing 10 % of the population. However, in 1685, King Louis 14th decreed that it was illegal to be a Protestant in France and this remained the case for over a century.

Progress in the gospel in the last 60 years.

This persecution of Protestants only makes what has happened over the last 60 years even more remarkable. In 1960 there were about 100,000 Evangelical believers in France as compared to an estimated 750,000 today. This increase has happened in an unheralded way as hundreds of churches have been planted, and the media are only just now beginning to realise how many Evangelical Protestants (as we call ourselves) there are in France.

David goes on to highlight points for prayer:

The challenge is to keep this momentum going in an increasingly secular society. Two additional challenges are related to the need to bring the Gospel to the more unreached parts of France:

  • Rural areas: France is a big country, and there are very few evangelical churches in the villages. In fact, most rural Catholic parishes have only a handful of masses celebrated each year, so the countryside is increasingly pagan.
  • Central Paris: the cost of living drives evangelical families out to the suburbs, making it more difficult to have any contact with the many influential people living in the capital.

Please pray too for evangelism during the Olympic games as people from every nation come to Paris. Many activities are being planned, both to reach out to these visitors and to  enable churches to get to know more people in their local area by organizing sports events, for example. You can find out more (in French) at https://www.ensemble2024.com/projets/

In EMF we are endeavouring to help advance gospel work in France. David Brown mentioned evangelistic opportunities in the Olympic season; EMF missionaries Romuald and Liz Lasnes, who are involved in developing a church planting project in the 11th district of Paris, are eager to make the most of this chance to spread the gospel. Liz explains more:

In the nine months that I have called Paris home, the city has transformed. Monuments have been cleaned up, souvenir shops have been filled with Paris 2024 memorabilia and temporary arenas are springing up in front of iconic Parisian sites, such as the Eiffel tower.
Paris is already a densely populated city with an overburdened public transport system, and so there is some scepticism among locals about whether the city can accommodate an expected 15 million visitors. Many of our neighbours in the 11th arrondissement plan to keep to their usual rhythm of escaping to spend the month of August in the countryside. But at the same time, there’s a growing sense of anticipation and excitement for ‘Les J.O.’ (Les Jeux Olympiques).
French churches are getting ready to mark the occasion with events and evangelistic efforts. Two new initiatives for 2024 are the production of a special Olympics New Testament and a website sharing the testimonies of Christian Olympic athletes.
Romuald and I are inviting local friends to get into the Olympic spirit in the typically convivial French fashion: an aperitif. It’ll be a relaxed evening featuring a sports quiz and an interview with Guillaume Pascal. Guillaume is a friend from Romuald’s previous church in La Garenne-Colombes and a former professional Muay Thai kickboxer - a sport which will make its debut at the Olympics this year. Forced to retire due to an injury which threatened his eyesight, Guillaume illustrates in his story the difference Christ makes to our identity and purpose.  
As this will be the first evangelistic event we’ve held, we’re somewhat nervous about what our self-consciously secular neighbours will think. There couldn’t be a better opportunity than the Olympics however, to bring people with different points of view together and to start a conversation about things that matter.

Will you pray for France, for Paris, for evangelism during the Olympic games, for Pastor David Brown, and for EMF’s Romuald and Liz as they look to the Lord for gospel opportunities this summer?

To find out more, and to support the French church in prayer, visit:

www.ensemble2024.com (French and English)

www.lovefrance.world (English)

www.france1million.world (English)

Ten-Week Course Church Revitalization — FOCL Initiatives

David Brown planted three churches before revitalising a church in central Paris. For many years he was involved with GBU (Groupes Bibliques Universitaires), the French student movement affiliated with IFES. More recently he has been promoting church revitalisation through his chairmanship of the Evangelism Commission of the French “National Council of Evangelicals” and through his teaching and mentoring at the Bible Institutes in Geneva and Paris and by leading a range of seminars and workshops in France and across Europe.

(Source: FOCL Initiatives)

Liz Lasnes is married to Romuald and they live in Paris, and are working to plant a church in the 11th Arrondissement of the city. Liz is from the UK.
Before she moved to Paris, Liz lived in London for 14 years. During that time she worked for UCCF and for her church Christ Church Mayfair.
She has been interesting In crossing cultures since living in China for 2 years.

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