"You have some courageous youth here! They are really bold to have done this."
"This is great - really nice of them to have done this. These are people that aren't from here and they're doing what the residents themselves should be doing."
- residents of an at-risk neighborhood that AJC teams cleaned.
"This is what brings their smiles back. They see that someone cares about them and wants to play with them. I think that is just magnificent."
- mother who was present at one of the outreach activities for young children.
"We're a small church, so for us, to all of a sudden have young people come ready to invest themselves in service - it's really a breath of fresh air."
- Pastor of a local church
(coming soon!)
Action des Jeunes dans la Cité (AJC) - Strasbourg is an eight day Christian service mobilization designed to show the love of God to the French city of Strasbourg. Working together and bringing a powerful Christian witness to thousands throughout the city and suburbs, over 400 young people from a variety of Christian backgrounds will spend day and night sharing the love of Christ through special events and projects of service.
Practically, 20-30 groups of young people will spend their afternoons serving the people of targeted neighborhoods through service projects (see below for more specifics) and their evenings putting on festive concerts and Evangelistic outreach projects for the whole city. Projects have been chosen by local churches, the neighborhoods themselves, or social service organizations already active in the city.
In addition to the outward witness to unbelievers, AJC-Strasbourg also aims to provide a venue where young people can be encouraged in their testimony for Christ and move closer to finding their calling in Christ by serving with other youth as well as local churches and organizations.
Inspired by the evangelistic effort in the U.K. called Soul in the City, AJC-Strasbourg was started in France in 2006 by Arnaud Schrodi. Focusing on Strasbourg, an organized and passionate group of 250 young people spent five days serving the city of Strasbourg with the love of Christ.
Groups came together and were sent out to freely give acts of service to residents of nursing homes, difficult neighborhoods, and anywhere they could find people in need.
In its first year, organizers saw three local press articles and dozens of projects and events. See the sidebar for some testimonies from 2006!
Today, the organization and implementation of AJC-Strasbourg has been entirely transitioned to the youth themselves! All of the organizing members are less than 25 years old and have take bold steps to realize this event!
We know that among all the members of the Body of Christ, there is no group possibly more important than our youth – the future of the Church.
And, in France, young people who don't know Jesus are also the most open to His message! In a recent national survey, 48% of the French population said that they were less interested in the spiritual dimension of life. But 40% of young people (30 years old or younger) said they were actually MORE interested in spiritual aspects of life (Source: France 2 - Cultures et Loisirs, April 2007).
Additionally, just last year, over 3,700 young people were motivated and challenged to live out their calling and gifts in Christ by serving God and serving others during Pentecôte 2007: Mission Attitude. For three days these young people were asked to open their eyes to the reality of God’s plan in their lives, stand up and answer the call to follow Christ. Many did just that.
We believe that it is no coincidence that God is bringing forth AJC-Strasbourg to offer the youth of France concrete ways to be used by God to reach Strasbourg!
Pentecôte 2007 called out the youth to consider their existence in light of God’s plan. AJC-Strasbourg is allowing them to live out that calling and existence in service of others!
The principal activities of the event are broken into morning, afternoon, and evening sessions/events.
Morning!
The group will come together for worship and a plenary session with speakers Luc Maroni and Pierre Barito. This is a time of encouragement, gathering into their groups, and preparing the day in prayer, motivation, and praise.
Afternoon!
After this time together, the groups are sent out into the city to perform service projects such as:
- A neighborhood outreach in two at-risk areas (Hautepierre and Meinau). This will primarly be cleaning, trash removal, etc. This effort in 2006 produced the lasting fruit of a continued outreach and testimony in Hautepierre where groups of Christians are still going and establishing strong ties to the adolesents here.
- Clean up in Illkirch
- Clean up and painting in Vendenheim
- Visits to and fun activities at retirement homes throughout the city.
- Painting low-income housing projects (with approval, direction, and collaboration with the habitat sector of Strasbourg Urban Development).
- Graffiti project (where participants express their faith through graffiti on a giant canvas) in the center of town to stimulate interest and attendance in the evening concerts.
Evening!
The evenings is where the youth will have great opportunities to engage many residents in the following evangelistic efforts throughout the week:
- 3 Concerts with contemporary energetic groups in three different parks throughout the city
- Street Fair with a basketball freestyle show
- "Praise and Share" evening
- Christian Art exposition on the theme of "movement"
Local churches have also offered ample space for any and all extra activities.
We believe in the youth of France and that through this population will come important keys to the revival that God wants to pour out on this nation!
Out of a total budget of $107,000, this team has done EXCELLENT work in getting the necessary resources together but they still need help! There is still a need of $23,000 (15,000 euros) to complete the project.
Will you help us encourage them, strengthen their witness in the city of Strasbourg and open pathways to deeper evangelism?
Send your gift today via our secure server using the following links OR mail your gift to the address below!*
Every gift will go directly to AJC-Strasbourg to help encourage hundreds of young people, perform hundreds of acts of service, and be a light and testimony to the French people in Strasbourg!
The CCFOF will take care of all bank/wire fees so that 100% of your gift goes to this project!
Can we count on your support to encourage the youth of France?
To send a gift in US Dollars click here:
To send a gift in Euros click here:
To send a gift by mail, please address all checks to "CCFOF" with "AJC-Strasbourg" in the Memo section and send them to the following address:
Christian Community Foundation of France
829 Stansbury Drive
Marietta, GA 30066
*The Christian Community Foundation of France is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. As such, all gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.