Wednesday, November 17th - Work session with Agapé Mosaïque
During the journey to Paris, God continued to teach me principle after principle behind doing fundraising in Him. Instrumental in this process was Earl Pitts' book Wealth, Riches, and Money (a copy of which I received the day before leaving) which reveals a deep understanding of the spirit of Mammon which rules this world and pushes people to worship (devote time, energy, and thoughts) toward the man-created entity of money. It is the high value we attribute to money that leads us to seek it as a source of provision rather than acknowledge God as the provider. This starting point yielded so many revelations and dialogues with God around the concept of eliminating money as the objective of fundraising and concentrating on mobilizing His people to seek Him and their role in building His kingdom and, most importantly, trusting Him to provide the necessary funds. It was an enriching and moving time with the Lord as I landed at Charles de Gaulle around 7:30 AM.
I took the RER (Paris metro) to the train station Grand Bourg where Saïd met me and took me to Agapé Mosaïque’s (AM’s) headquarters. We spent three hours talking about what God had showed me and ended the time in prayer, repentance, and ardently seeking God’s ways to move forward. We both felt that God’s timing was perfect – that He was ready to do a new thing in both the CCFOF and in AM to rapidly expand His word throughout France and the Muslim population there and throughout Europe.
Saïd and his family will be in the United States for three months this summer and so we began the process of coordinating his trip. From foundations to churches and individuals who God is calling to support AM’s outreach efforts and come alongside this vision, we talked about different approaches, follow up, and ways to engage new friends in this work. There is much work to do in the re-structuring of AM’s communication but the key elements are there and the Spirit of God is at work. I know that I will be a part of this process for at least the next year and this visit allowed me to get my bearings and become almost an extended member of the team – able to accompany them along this journey. The end result, I am sure, will be a robust, God-led fundraising system that inspires His people to acts of faith and growth!
We left the AM headquarters to visit the first ever Evangelical Kasbah that AM has started. This large space looks like a Muslim gathering place (place to put your shoes, couches lining the walls rather than chairs, a division between areas for men/women, meetings on Friday night which is the traditional Muslim “Sabbath”). In short, it is a place where the Gospel of Jesus can be shared without alienating those of Muslim background but rather welcome them with a layout and style of gathering that immediately puts them at ease rather than on the defensive. This is a place of training, of imparting encouragement through same-background role models, and a place to openly discuss faith in Christ. It is the first ever in France!
Thursday, November 18th
Since Saïd and I had covered so much and established the parameters for going forward, we didn’t meet again formally although we had lunch together with one of the CCFOF board members (André Pownall) on Thursday. I was also able to see our second French board member Jean-Marc Potenti which was a pleasant surprise. We were able to plan our board meeting location for June.
I introduced myself to Sébastien Fath, one of the organizers of the conference and will be contacting him in the near future to go over specific next steps for best sharing the details of what God is doing in France through the Evangelical world.
The conference was well attended this first day – about 200 people – and was a very big deal covered by La Croix, Réforme, Le Figaro and France 2. The leading sociologists (not all Christians) came from universities and Bible Institutes from all around France to analyze and comment on their studies of French Protestantism. Topics discussed this first day were extremely interesting and very detailed. Studies that would never appear outside of such an academic gathering were presented and debated.
For example, Sébastien Fath gave a presentation entitled “Practicing Protestants and Places of Worship: from disused chapels to mega-churches” the resume of which is as follows:
French Protestants could be defined as Christian master-builders. The first part of this lecture will highlight the relatively strong vitality of French Protestants in terms of places of worship. For the use of Reformed, Evangelical and Lutheran churches, no less than around 4,000 places of worship welcome today’s believers. Far more places of worship are inaugurated than closed. But for how many attendees? The second part of this paper will start with some needed methodological assessments, followed by the description of two first ‘circles of belonging.’ The first one is a nucleus of regular attendees, the second one includes regular and occasional attendees. However, there are broader circles and a wider geography to define Protestantism In the last part of this lecture, we will highlight the fact that beyond regular or occasional attendance, it is possible to express a kind of “light” version of Protestant identity, between one-off attendance and a cultural and memorial use of places of worship.
I was also happy to see my friends and acquaintances Georgia Dufoix, Minister of Family Affairs from 1981-1986
Former personal advisor to President Mitterand, Clément Diederichs, the co-director of the CNEF, and Pierre De Maureil, the pastor of the Baptist church in Compiègne. At the end of the day, the latest study on French Protestants was released and comprised the largest sampling of Protestants ever surveyed in France’s history (45%-120% greater than any other survey conducted).
At the end of the evening, I left to attend a Bible study at the Centre Evangélique de Philadelphia. While I had gone to conferences, prayer meetings, home groups and other events, this was the first time in many years that I had simply showed up at church. It was a time that was personally significant since I had grown up in a French church for the first 9 months of my life in Christ. I truly felt at home in ways that are just not possible in the United States. Afterwards, I had a good discussion with Pastor Paul Ettori who was leaving for Cuba that Monday.
Friday, November 19th
The second day of the conference was another day filled with high-quality presentations. I spent most of my time with Stéphane Lauzet – General Secretary of the French Evangelical Alliance and co-director of the CNEF (National Council of Evangelicals of France) – a great friend. At lunch, I re-conneced with Etienne Lhermenault, president of the National Council of Evangelicals of France and the Theological Seminary at Vaux-sur-Seine.
In addition to sharing my personal path toward fundraising in God, we spoke at length of the difficulties that the Bible Institutes of France have in finding funding for special projects. For example, at Vaux-sur-Seine, they only have 5,000 € a year to buy books for their library. Because of the need to keep the costs low for students, raising tuition is not an option and the French churches, while they benefit from the high quality pastors and Christian workers that come from these seminaries, it is difficult to provide support due to their own financial situations. Nevertheless, this year, Vaux-sur-Seine launched their first ever fundraising campaign with a target of 40,000 €. To their great surprise, God blessed them with much more than that – showing that the potential for French-financed ministry is huge. We also spoke about evaluating U.S. funding opportunities and their lack of knowledge in this area. I offered the CCFOF to help with this evaluation so they could quickly identify potential leads for special projects. We also spoke about the CNEF’s development and the need for much prayer in this regard since it is a new organization and requires a lot of work and reflection on the best ways to begin its work.
I left the confernce a little early to go have coffee with the co-founder of Alpha France, Florence de Leyritz and their director of development, Camille Lacoste. It was an unexpected meeting but one in which friendships were nourished and I was again able to share what God had been speaking to me about fundraising in Him. It was clear that the structures and techniques of fundraising were tools that God wanted to use and the experience and history of philanthropy in the United States was in God’s plan to bless France – just as the faith that the French have in God to provide will only strengthen what American Christians often lack – an unadulterated and passionate living faith in our Provider. We were able to speak about the work of God in our lives and how Alpha is being used by the Lord to reach tens if not hundreds of thousands with the Gospel.
I returned to the conference which had ended for the evening and spoke with Daniel Liechti (Vice-President of the Conseil National des Evangéliques de France and Director of Church Development of France Mission) about the CNEF and the French Protestant Federation. What was most enlightening was the clear difference between the FPF and the CNEF – the CNEF being an organization based on common beliefs (statement of faith) uniting believers and the FPF which is an organization regrouping all those who label themselves as “Protestant” regardless of personal/organizational beliefs. This distinction is important when understanding how these two groups came to be and the future of their work.
I left the conference with Pierre Jeuch, General Secretary of the French Baptist Federation, to have dinner and get to know him. We shared our stories and how we came to be at the place where God had placed us and then discussed how we could work together. Pierre is very open to beginning the steps to explore what role God may have for Americans to support the French Baptist Federation churches. Specifically, we talked about mobilizing past missionaries that served with their churches who may be able to ignite networks of support in the States.
Saturday, November 20th
The last day of the conference was extremely interesting with two presentations standing out in particular. The presentations on ecumenism and on the internet were outstanding and even showcased a couple CCFOF partner ministries – Alpha France and TopChretien.
For lunch, I spent time with Stéphane Lauzet who shared some personal prayer requests and invite our family to Nîmes. I deeply appreciate his friendship and trust and know that God is going to do great things!
I then went to have coffee with Benoît Wiener and Didier Lejean – directors at Syloe Productions. We spoke at length about the issues that Americans have in understanding evangelism in France and how a new phase is coming for France when God will (and has already begun to) redeem the calling on France to be a nation exporting the Gospel around the world. We all have had the feeling for some time that God is shaking the nation’s foundations and that new and unique ministries are being positioned to reach the French (33% with “no religion” and 17% declared atheists) in pertinent ways.
At the end of the meeting we prayed together - right there in the café at our table. It was something I had never done and I was surprised that it was happening. But, before I knew it, God began speaking through Didier and told me that He had already given me the key to unlocking the door before me – I needed simply to seek Him and look deep within my heart to discover what that was. It was a clear confirmation (yet another!) regarding all that God has been giving me in regards to the future of the CCFOF. I could not have been more encouraged and blessed by this visionary ministry and the ardent fervor with which they seek to spread the message of God’s Kingdom.
I left that coffee and headed out for a meeting with Raphael Anzenberger, the founder of the Student Evangelist Training Network (R2E). I shared (again!) what God was doing with me and his words of encouragement (God’s not finished) were stimulating and extremely well-received. We rejoiced together to see God’s hand at work in so many areas in France. He told me about his time at the Lausanne Conference in South Africa where one of the teachings was about friendship being the basis for all partnerships. I knew at that moment that God had truly brought friends into my life in France and that His family was growing through the work that we have all been called to. We spoke about the next projects for the CNEF church planting commission and said goodbye.
I went to meet a friend of a friend, Randy Greer, and some American/English missionaries returning from Mozambique and other locations as well as a good number of French believers from Paris, Lyon, and Brittany. It was a rich time of encouragement and fellowship – one that reminded me of my times in Toulouse with my first Christian family there.
I went to bed that evening knowing that I belonged to two countries and, in fact, I had two cultural identities – a motherland (America, where I was born first) and a “fatherland” (France, where I was born again) – both of which were equally important in shaping who I am. What is the most significant in this is that God alone gave me this. It is nothing that I created or worked to bring about but His plan. I left Paris also knowing that God is ready to bring about a new increase in what He is doing in France. The role of the CCFOF is entirely in His hands but the transformation I saw coming to bear in my life in regards to fundraising and the understanding of His provision is yet another step in aligning our heart, vision, and activities with God’s Spirit. I can’t help but wonder what’s next and for what God is preparing us!