Yesterday we drove 45 minutes to go to a church in a village called Chinon, where David gave a message on Church Planting. There are 5 churches of our denomination in our region, and together they decided to dedicate a Sunday to Church Planting. Since the church in our village has a church planting training center, leaders from Loches went to each of the other churches to 1.) Explain the NEED for more churches in France, 2.) Share what is already being done, and 3.) Invite people to participate in the work.
I was impacted on so many levels! First, most of you know that our goal is to have 1 church for every 10,000 people in France. Today there is one church for every 30,000 people, so we have a long way to go.
But even then...consider this: The church in Chinon, which has been around for several years, has about 30 members. It is the only evangelical church in that town, which has a population of 8000. That means there are just thirty people to do all the work of running a church. Thirty people to reach their own community. And those thirty people, with so much on their own plates, STILL caught the vision for church planting. They were engaged, asking questions, moved to participate in some way!
Then this morning I drove to the house of a friend from church. I had never been there before, so I did not realize that it was 30 minutes away. She and her family drive 30 minutes to get to church every Sunday, and they do not pass a single other church on their way. They are not being picky, they are going to the nearest possible church! In fact, three years ago, before this church was planted in Loches, they drove an hour and fifteen minutes in the opposite direction to get to church.
Over these past two days, I was reminded of the value and the importance of this church planting work in France. My passion to reach this country for Christ was once again inflamed. I felt the heartbeat of the Father, who desires for ALL to come to faith. And I felt His pleasure in our participation.
I was impacted on so many levels! First, most of you know that our goal is to have 1 church for every 10,000 people in France. Today there is one church for every 30,000 people, so we have a long way to go.
But even then...consider this: The church in Chinon, which has been around for several years, has about 30 members. It is the only evangelical church in that town, which has a population of 8000. That means there are just thirty people to do all the work of running a church. Thirty people to reach their own community. And those thirty people, with so much on their own plates, STILL caught the vision for church planting. They were engaged, asking questions, moved to participate in some way!
Over these past two days, I was reminded of the value and the importance of this church planting work in France. My passion to reach this country for Christ was once again inflamed. I felt the heartbeat of the Father, who desires for ALL to come to faith. And I felt His pleasure in our participation.
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