France
Hope for a Secular Nation The beauty of France overwhelms the senses. From fertile countryside, to worldfamous art and architecture, to rich culinary delights - France is famed for its pleasures. But look deeper, inside the grand cathedrals, into the hearts of the people, and the emptiness is testimony to the spiritual darkness that has draped France and most of western Europe for the last century. Today, only about 0.5 percent of France’s 60 million people consider themselves evangelicals. There is a very real need for a Gospel witness among the French and the millions of Muslim immigrants from North Africa. Location: The largest country in western Europe, France is blessed with 2,000 miles of coastline, fertile agricultural land, the splendor of the French Alps, and economic and cultural centers of Paris and other historic cities.
Language: French is a Romance language with its origins in Latin. Religion: Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in France, though most are nominal adherents and rarely attend mass. Eighty percent of French people have never even handled a Bible. Five million Muslim immigrants from North Africa are quickly changing the face of France’s urban areas.
Customs: The French take great pride in their rich cultural history, beautiful language, and long lineage of artists, thinkers and writers. Good meals are central to daily life, something to be enjoyed and savored, not rushed. Friendship looks different in France than the US, though fewer in number, they often run much deeper and take longer to forge.
History: French history bears the scars of extravagant Kings, religious wars, plague, famine, revolution, and social division. The birthplace of the Enlightenment, philosophers such as Voltaire and Rousseau impacted the world with their ideas and challenged the old aristocratic order. After surviving the devastation wrought by two world wars, France managed to maintain its influence in the arts. Writers, musicians, and thinkers crowded the streets of Paris in the 1900s. Though the French are protective of their culture and language, the country’s location and desirability have made it appealing to immigrants from around the world and particularly nearby North Africa. Today France faces the challenges of growing minority populations that enjoy their own cultural distinctives and are not always eager to identify themselves with the French way of life.
France is one of the most historically and culturally important nations of Europe and, indeed, of the whole Western world. Yet to most French people, the evangelical message is still seen as an alien ideology rather than a homegrown faith. Nearly 50 million French people have no real link with a Christian church and full-time occult practitioners far outnumber Christian workers. Young people have grown up without any religious training. When asked what they think about God, some identify with nature or consider God to be a creation of man’s imagination. The often dark history of the church in France has jaded many who now see the claims of Christianity as a farce or a system designed to control the masses. The flux of North African immigrants to France has tested the nation’s religious tolerance in recent decades. More than five million Muslim immigrants have developed a distinct subculture in Paris and other metropolitan areas. They speak French as needed, but maintain their own language and culture. Despite the French claim of open-mindedness, racial tensions have become a major concern. World Team in France A multi-cultural team of North American and European missionaries, and French church leaders, form a team known as France V.I.E. This is a play on words, "VIE" means life, yet the initials stand for "a vision to plant churches." France V.I.E. has a vision to see 50 churches planted within the next 20 years. The greater Paris area has one church for every 50,000 inhabitants. In Oise, the numbers are closer to one church for every 80,000 inhabitants. Overall, France has an average of one church per 38,000 inhabitants. A three part approach is necessary to see this God-sized vision become a reality. First, we will continue to encourage World Team’s existing churches to multiply, as well as plant new churches in multicultural teams. Partnership is a key to this vision and the second element of the plan is to work closely with other French churches to grow in them a vision for multiplication throughout France. Thirdly, we are committed to identifying and training ten French national church planters. Some are already in the process and participating in pastoral internships. Come to France! Long-term workers are still needed to join World Team’s church planting teams in the greater-Paris area. Short-term workers can make a meaningful impact on long-term ministry efforts while growing in their understanding of the Gospel and cross-cultural ministry. ♦ ♦
Internship (6-8 weeks each summer) Apprenticeship (10 month career exploration with language learning and extensive training)
For more information about opportunities to serve in France: mobilize@worldteam.org
We are seeking committed families and individuals to help us reach the least-reached peoples of France, both the ethnically French and immigrant Muslims. Will you join us in reintroducing the people of France to their Creator?
World Team Australia 61.3.9879.6377 World Team Canada 800.610.9788 www.worldteam.org
World Team USA 800.967.7109