Monday - June 11

Another day in Paris. I began my day when the wake up call came. I was having one as a precaution. This morning it was wise because I was still sleeping and would have slept right through breakfast. I did my morning thing and my roommate and I headed for the breakfast provided by the hotel downstairs. It is all very French with croissants and yogurt and even meat and cheese if you like. It is a little crowded. We ate and sat to talk for a while. I had some coffee which has become a little coffee and a lot of milk so I don’t overdose on caffeine.

We left to visit two churches in Paris itself. I could not tell you where they were. We followed World Team European director Dave Riddell to the Metro and to wherever it was we went.

Our first stop was a store front church. It is a long established church in which perhaps 75 people could be seated. It is very difficult to get a building for a church since the mayor of the area where you want a church must give permission. They are reluctant. They don’t want to endorse evangelical religion. It is all very complex. Evangelicals need to find a way in.

At this first stop, we met the former pastor of the church, Michel Petrossian, who left a year ago to begin another church in Paris. He said something very interesting which I noted. He observed that in America, Catholicism was an immigrant religion. In other words, America was largely protestant when it was begun and Catholicism has been added over the years. In France, Evangelicalism is the immigrant religion. Catholicism is the established recognized religion. So, evangelicals are viewed as outsiders and viewed with suspicion.

Michel has begun a church in a theatre holding a service every other week. He wants to be conservative in theology and experimental in methodology. He has written his own music. He has written an hymn to the Trinity using a John Lennon tune. He takes his precedent from Martin Luther who supposedly took a drinking song to form the tune of “A Mighty Fortress.” Luther said it was a shame that the devil had all the good music. Michel plans to begin a theological café modeled after the tradition of philosophical cafes that are held in Paris. He notes it is hard to support workers in Paris because it is so expensive.

Detlaf Gwinner, the France field leader shared the vision for France V.I.E. VIE is the French word for life. But V.I.E. is also an abbreviation -

Vision

Implantation

Eglises

V.I.E. is their vision for planting 50 churches in 20 years. That is a high hope but they believe God is going to accomplish this for France.

Dave Riddel shared some statistics for France. France has 62,000,000 people and 400,000 evangelicals. In percentage, that is 0.0065% - less than one percent - 1 evangelical for 200 persons in France. There are about 2100 evangelical churches. During the time of Calvin, when there were many fewer people and the Protestant church was strong, there were 2000 churches.

We traveled to somewhere else in Paris (sorry, I can’t tell you where!). We met with those who are working with Guadeloupian believers in a church called La Source. We learned of the migration of Guadeloupians to Paris and of their struggles over the years. They recently lost their church building and have been unable to get permission to have another building from their mayor. They have been renting another church part time and meeting in 15 house churches.

Our host pastor was Pastor Allain Marie.  He is a bear of a man whose love and tenderness is immediately apparent.  He is a Guadeloupian as well as Octave Lubin. When I told them that I had been to Guadeloupe and found the Guadeloupian people to be a delightful joyous and fun-filled people, they broke out with their infectious laughter.

We heard from Octave Lubin who works for Campus Crusade. We heard his story and how he is working with the church and Campus Crusade which is called Agape in Paris. He is a dynamic speaker. He was working part time with France VIE and part time with Campus Crusade but two part times were like two full times. He was able to get full support through Campus Crusade and he carries on. During the time there, I met a seminary student from Cameroon named Pascal. He told me of his studies and how hard it was to get to France and how hard it is to be there because of high costs.

We returned to our hotel a bit earlier tonight. Some had an appointment to have dinner with a friend. The rest of us walked toward the Louvre to see what we would see. We stopped at the Palais Royal. We wanted to do supper in a café but they were crowded and expensive. We ate at the food court at the Louvre and headed across the River Seine to walk toward Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral is nearly indescribably ornate with its design and sculptures. I wish I could post the pictures I am taking but limited internet restricts me.

We decided not to walk back and took the Metro using our pass which gives us unlimited riding. After last night’s walking marathon, we were glad for a ticket to ride.