PROJECT UPDATE!
We are pleased to report that the full $25,000 has been raised to launch this project!
We rejoice in God's provision and ask all to pray for results over and above our expectations!
ConnaitreDieu - At a Glance
- Over 680,000 visitors
- Over 100,000 decisions for Christ
- Over 30,000 of the 100,000 asking for spiritual follow-up
Click here to download a project description in French (PDF)
Click here for a Ministry Description of TopChretien in English (PDF)
Summary
This project combines internet Evangelism with personal contact to share the Gospel with the growing population of French internet users who remain largely unreached by local churches and other Christian outreach strategies.
By driving them to our already successful Evangelistic internet site in the privacy of their homes, we overcome many of the barriers that past public Evangelism efforts have encountered in France – a country where only .7% of the population is identified as Evangelical. We will partner with 100 local churches and reach 500,000 people with materials designed to drive them to our website. Of these, we expect 10% will actually visit the site and 20% of those (10,000 people) will indicate a decision for Jesus Christ. Finally, 25% of these individuals (2,500 people) will actually be put into contact with local churches and attend seeker groups.
If successful, this project will increase the number of current Evangelical believers in France by 2.5%, encourage and grow 100 local churches (5% of all Evangelical churches in the country), and create a model for all French churches to use for effective Evangelism via the internet.
ConnaitreDieu.com Background
ConnaitreDieu is the Evangelistic website administered by TopChretien.com - the largest French Christian web network in the world. Since ConnaitreDieu went live in April of 2005, out of 680,000 visitors, more than 100,000 people indicated that they said a prayer to accept Jesus. Additionally, 30,000 people asked for spiritual follow-up.
This is the largest and most successful French Evangelistic outreach via the internet to date. Additionally, in this initial two-year start up period, ConnaitreDieu has been able to solidly develop its use of volunteer spiritual counselors as well as its strategy to engage local churches in partnership strategies - both with follow-up and Evangelism.
While there are other French Evangelical Christian websites such as Aleloo.com, blogdei.com, Christianisme Aujourd’hui, and others, they are all primarily information/current event distribution sites. And, while there are certainly portions of these websites along with local church websites that have information about coming to faith in Christ, ConnaitreDieu is the most comprehensive and highest quality website entirely dedicated to this type of outreach in French.
ConnaitreDieu’s model is an interactive, step-by-step path toward knowing God coupled with the large volunteer network to execute follow up with those who ask for more information on a relationship with Jesus Christ which set it apart and uniquely qualify it to execute a project of this scope.
Target Population
Our target population for this project is comprised of 29.37 million French internet users who have no relationship with Jesus Christ.
Most French have a profound ignorance of the Gospel. Although the combination of a secular education system and upbringing with a highly individualistic society has resulted in a continued skepticism of the Evangelical Church and the Biblical message of the Gospel, the most challenging aspect in Evangelism in France is the separation of private and public life. What one believes and does privately is not just off limits to the public sphere, it is also truly untouched by and hidden from others. Because most Evangelistic strategies rely on the public expression and dissemination of the Gospel message, it is no surprise that many evangelism strategies used in France have had only limited success. French people will rarely allow a public message to penetrate their private lives at a relational level required to come into a relationship with Jesus. Indeed, most French people come to Christ after hearing the Gospel and believing through those intimate friends who have gained access to the person’s private life.
Because the French government does not officially track religions, our figure of 29.37 million French internet users is derived from statistics taken from the CIA Factbook, Sébastien Fath, Daniel Liechti , journaldunet.com, and a December 2006 survey by IFOP (Institut Français de l’Opinion Publique – The French Institute of Public Opinion) over the last three years.
With an estimated population of 62.75 million people, even the most optimistic figures put French Protestant believers at only 2.1% of the population (.7% belonging to Evangelical churches). Of the remaining 61.43 million, it is estimated that .6% are Jewish, 3% are Muslim, 28% are agnostics or atheists or without religion, and 64% are Catholic although half of French Catholics don’t believe in God. In France, over 30 million people have internet access and use the internet regularly, therefore, based on the most optimistic figures on Evangelical Christianity, it is estimated that 97.9 % of these individuals (29.37 million) have no relationship with Christ.
Project Overview
One large-scale strategy that has had a profound effect in spreading the Gospel in France has been in using the internet to share the message of God’s love. Although publicly accessible, individuals who surf the web feel that they are on a very private and personal terrain. Given the French public/private challenge, this unique and compelling vehicle where “public” meets “private” is potentially the best method to reach the French.
ConnaitreDieu’s success thus far has shown that it has the capacity to bring the Gospel to hundreds of thousands of French people and provide spiritual follow-up. ConnaitreDieu is an interactive Evangelistic website that explains the Christian faith in 7 steps:
During the last step, visitors can access a prayer page where they can give their lives to Jesus and experience the love of God. They can leave their contact information if they want to be put in touch with one of our volunteers. The primary objective of this site is to connect individuals with local churches. While ConnaitreDieu has seen good success in the past two years, we believe that the time is right to begin a campaign to dramatically spread its impact.
Through a more formal and measured engagement with local French churches, this current project is designed to increase the number of French people who hear the Gospel and are engaged by and through their local church. Additionally, this model encourages and facilitates personal Evangelism within church assemblies where more “traditional” outreach methods may not have been as engaging or attractive to local church members.
In this project, all those coming to local churches via this project will be immediately placed in a seeker group which will be continually viewing and discussing the video “The Hope.” This video from Mars Hill Productions is a tour of the Bible in 80 minutes going over 36 different events that lead the viewer to the fullness of the message of a relationship with God through Jesus. The three narrators are French and the video has been completely adapted for use in the French culture.
Project Details
We aim to establish partnerships with 100 churches in France and provide them with materials to invite 500,000 French men and women to come to the site ConnaitreDieu.com. To reach 500,000 French people through ConnaitreDieu.com, each of these 100 churches will agree to the following partnership:
We will also refer all those who come to ConnaitreDieu.com in response to their efforts to their church and provide them with the DVD “The Hope” to show at seeker groups as part of follow-up.
Expected Outcomes
Via our 100 partner churches, we will distribute 500,000 business cards and flyers with an expected site visitation rate of 10% (50,000 visitors on the site). Of these 50,000, we expect that 20% (10,000 people) will indicate a decision for Jesus Christ and of those 25% (2,500 people) will provide their contact information in order to be put into contact with local churches.
This will result in an average of 25 new people per partner church who will become a part of a seeker group. For us, success will be measured by the number of individuals indicating a decision for Jesus, who request follow-up, and who ultimately attend a seeker group with their local church.
Outcome Measurement
Through our Field Coordinator, we will evaluate our outcomes throughout and after the project using the following metrics.
*Visitors coming on the site are identified geographically. Those coming from the postal codes in which our partner churches are located will be identified as successful hits in this project. All ConnaitreDieu visitors in the geographic region of our partner churches will be referred to the closest partner church for follow-up.
The three critical success factors are:
Should any element be lacking, the Field Coordinator in conjunction with the team at ConnaitreDieu and TopChretien will confer to help partner churches find solutions to difficulties. We believe that even if the materials are not distributed during the year, that this type of Evangelism needs to be encouraged on a long term basis, therefore churches will be given as much time as they need to distribute materials and see success.
Budget and Funding Needs
Through a generous 3:1 match, all contributions to this ConnaitreDieu grant were multiplied by four!
The breakdown of our budget is as follows:
| Description | Cost |
| FTE Salary for Project Coordinator | $30,000 |
| 500,000 Business cards | $50,000 |
| 200 flyers | $2,000 |
| 200 posters | $1,000 |
| 100 "The Hope" DVDs | $1,000 |
| Postage costs | $2,000 |
| Total Administrative Costs* | $14,000 |
| *Transportation, Telecommunications, Correspondance, etc. | |
| Total | $100,000 |
Total commited through Maclellan grant (75%): $75,000
Total raised: $25,000
Total to finance (25%): $0
Although this project is complete, as a CCFOF partner ministry, you may still support the ConnaitreDieu outreach with a gift.*
To send a gift in U.S. Dollars, please click here:
To send a gift in Euros, please click here:
To send a gift by mail, please address all checks to "CCFOF" with "ConnaitreDieu " 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.