The other day, I was privileged to sit through one of my church's missionary's presentations on his work in the Philippines. During his presentation, he showed many pictures depicting the poor living conditions of the people and described the dangers (think typhoons and terrorists) of living and ministering there. He also shared the ways in which the Lord is working there and how responsive the people have been to the Gospel. Praise the Lord for that.
But here is what struck me: the God that called this missionary to the Philippines, is the same God that called me to France. The French may be wealthier and more educated than the people in the Philippines, but they need Jesus just as much.
The sad thing is, most people don't realize that the need in France (or Europe in general) is so great.
Yep. There are countries outside of the 10/40 window that need the Gospel, too. Now, some of you (maybe all of you) are probably thinking, "France has had the Gospel for hundreds of years. They're Catholic." True. Sort of.
France is a traditionally and predominantly Catholic country. They have a rich (often brutal and violent) religious history. However, France has seen a sharp decline in religious faith. The vast majority of baptized Catholics (58%) never attend Mass. In fact, only 12% of the French population as a whole attend any sort of religious service more than once a month. Nearly 50 million French people have no real link with the Christian church.
France is the most visited country in the world, and one of the least evangelized.
Furthermore, Evangelicalism is often seen as a cult in France and looked on with suspicion. France is less than 1% Evangelical. Meanwhile, half of the French population believes in faith healing while 1/4 believe in clairvoyants or astrology. There are only 2,350 Evangelical churches in France but over 30,000 registered mediums and spiritual healers.
I want the people of the Philippines and the rest of the 10/40 window to know Jesus, but I want the French to know Him too. Please join me in praising God for the work He is doing in both countries, and ask Him for more workers into these harvests.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The point of all this...aka my story
I didn't grow up in a Christian family, but I did grow up attending church. The church we attended had its pros and cons, like all do, but my favorite thing about it was their missions education program. At this church, I grew up learning about different areas of the world and real-life missionaries who got to live in these different places and travel to many others. I didn't understand what a missionary truly was at the time. I didn't even understand what the Gospel was. All I knew was I wanted to go to these places and be among these people too. This was the--very fitting--beginning of my fascination with all things foreign.
As I got older, I drifted away from church and focused on fitting in with kids at school, trying to obtain that ever elusive prize--popularity. Still, my interest in other cultures and places remained. In fact, my interest had narrowed to a more specific area: Europe. (Still a bit broad, but a little more specific, at least. And this is not to say I lost interest in other parts of the world. It's just that Europe took precedence in my heart.) I'm not sure how my love for Europe began...maybe it was all the Travel Channel shows I watched that zeroed in on that particular continent, or maybe it was all the books I read by European authors, or maybe it was all the British accents I heard in movies or on T.V. Whatever it was, the Lord placed a love for Europe in my heart.
At the beginning of my freshman year of high school, there came a point when I realized that a life consumed with other people's opinions and always trying to fit in was not working out for me. There was more to life than trying to get people to like you and doing whatever you could to fit in. I needed more. I needed Jesus. After I came to know Jesus, the Lord took my new found excitement to share the Gospel with others and the love I'd always had for Europe, and began to cultivate a desire in my heart to serve Him as a missionary in Europe.
Fast forward a few years to the summer after my freshman year of Bible college. I was finally able to travel to Europe and figure out if this was where the Lord was calling me, or if it was just where I wanted to be. As soon as I set foot in northern Sweden, I knew the Lord was confirming my call to Europe. Being there felt like coming home. That whole summer, I had this feeling of rightness. I knew I'd be going back.
Sure enough, the next summer, I had the opportunity to return to Europe, this time to France. The rightness was still there, and the Lord used that summer to show me that He was calling me to France.
That's what this blog is about. God. Me. Europe. Maybe you're wondering: Why France? Well, that's a tale for another day. So, until next time, God bless.
As I got older, I drifted away from church and focused on fitting in with kids at school, trying to obtain that ever elusive prize--popularity. Still, my interest in other cultures and places remained. In fact, my interest had narrowed to a more specific area: Europe. (Still a bit broad, but a little more specific, at least. And this is not to say I lost interest in other parts of the world. It's just that Europe took precedence in my heart.) I'm not sure how my love for Europe began...maybe it was all the Travel Channel shows I watched that zeroed in on that particular continent, or maybe it was all the books I read by European authors, or maybe it was all the British accents I heard in movies or on T.V. Whatever it was, the Lord placed a love for Europe in my heart.
At the beginning of my freshman year of high school, there came a point when I realized that a life consumed with other people's opinions and always trying to fit in was not working out for me. There was more to life than trying to get people to like you and doing whatever you could to fit in. I needed more. I needed Jesus. After I came to know Jesus, the Lord took my new found excitement to share the Gospel with others and the love I'd always had for Europe, and began to cultivate a desire in my heart to serve Him as a missionary in Europe.
Fast forward a few years to the summer after my freshman year of Bible college. I was finally able to travel to Europe and figure out if this was where the Lord was calling me, or if it was just where I wanted to be. As soon as I set foot in northern Sweden, I knew the Lord was confirming my call to Europe. Being there felt like coming home. That whole summer, I had this feeling of rightness. I knew I'd be going back.
Sure enough, the next summer, I had the opportunity to return to Europe, this time to France. The rightness was still there, and the Lord used that summer to show me that He was calling me to France.
That's what this blog is about. God. Me. Europe. Maybe you're wondering: Why France? Well, that's a tale for another day. So, until next time, God bless.
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