France (MNN) — Less than two percent of Europeans consider themselves to be Biblical Christians. In France, the number plummets to under one percent.
"There's not only great indifference but even resistance to the Gospel of Jesus Christ [in France]," says Karen Langstraat with Greater Europe Mission. "Ministry is hard there, and we just really want to encourage that local body of believers."
In order to do so, Greater Europe Mission is sending two teams from seven churches in Des Moines, Iowa to northern France in May. They will spend the majority of their time in a suburb of Lille. The only evangelical church in the suburb as of now is still in the planting stages.
The teams will work with this budding church to encourage them and to help them with a few practical things. They will, for instance, help with renovations for the building they have leased.
One team will work on various outreach projects, including musical street evangelism, outreach to children with a professional story teller, interaction with university students and even a carnival.
"This will be a short-term project, for about 10 days, but our prayer is that it will ultimately lead people to make a commitment to serve for longer terms–for two to three years," says Langstraat.
Many in Lille have never heard the true message of Christ or interacted with His representatives. Pray that the teams would be clear advocates of Christ and would start to break through the spiritual resistance in France. Pray that this short-term ministry would pave the way for the budding evangelical church in the area and would motivate others to begin permanent ministries in France as well.
If you would like to support this trip financially, visit the GEM Web site.
