YEARNING FOR SPIRITUALITY IN FRANCE
Much has been written about spirituality in French world from 1945 until the present. So many good people have given much and poured out good portions of their lives for the sake of filling this Yearning for Spirituality. All kinds of creative efforts have been made from campaigns, door to door distribution, and teams full of hope, energy, and great faith. But, during this first fifty years the energy of youth, the hope, and in some cases even the faith gradually faded. Of all things, someone is writing a doctoral thesis on re-integrating missionaries into US culture, and restoring their faith. How can this be from people who are often portrayed as the holiest of brethren? I would refer you to the case of Africa, the glamour mission field. For the first fifty years nothing much happened. Some good people even lost their lives in the efforts. Then, in God’s time things began to change. That seems to be the way God works in our time to fill this Yearning for spirituality. If we are wise we will discern it and put it into practice. Now is the time. In considering French World, consider the typical American Suburb; well educated, pragmatic, very materialistic. I don’t see evangelistic efforts there setting the woods on fire. From the statistics gathers among us we seem to have had 2% declines or more in membership in some years. Nevertheless, I don’t hear any calls to pull out our efforts there. We instead concentrate our best preachers there. It is very similar to French World.
With the exciting possibilities with low cost world wide communications, and the Internet we believe now is the time to answer Yearning for Spirituality. Some scoff at the idea of Internet marketing. It is true you don’t get the same rush as from a well delivered well received sermon, but consider this. After three years work we now hold the #1 position with Google search engine for our page, Origine de la Bible. The same is true of the English, Origin of the Bible. We were told so many times that the French were not interested in the Bible. Well, we get around 2000 hits a month from yearning for spirituality souls who say otherwise. One of the most searched French words is Origine de la Bible and Origin of the Bible; so we put both titles to fill this Yearning for Spirituality.
For my visitors I offer selected books free for download in return of their e-mail address and agreement to receive our monthly teaching bulletin. We have given away300 copies of Le Dessein de Dieu (The Plan of God) in return for their opt-in. I am now doing Max Dauner’s commentary on Revelation. There were many books written in the 60′s and mid 70′s that never got read because of the enormous printing and shipping cost. Computers didn’t exist then. All these books are distributed free with only our own efforts and low cost equipment.
So where is all this leading? What results do we expect? It hasn’t worked out to build a string of congregations of churches on the US model throughout the country, so we have to look closely at the past to see what the future might hold. In the Restoration Movement in America we see that they began in other churches with a search for truth. Some of the pioneers seemed to have stayed where they were, helping many with their struggle for truth. They answered the Yearning for Spirituality.
Here in France and Belgium we do have at least four strong churches. In one case they have purchased their own building and the men meet regularly to make decisions. In another they have elected elders. In a third the men regularly oversee the native preacher trained in the US. That is good news! They are answering the Yearning for Spirituality. why the long faces about French World? Things are going great right on God’s schedule.
The exciting future that God is unfolding is what turns us on in answering the Yearning for Spirituality. Do you know that some 10,000 Catholiques a year are immersed for the remission of sins upon the confession that Jesus is the Son of God. The average age of priests is around 78 with few or none in training. In some cases now when the priest dies off the men are taking over and serving the Lord’s Supper. They don’t use instruments in many cases. If we can live here and teach by internet and in person because of our influence we have built up, there are great possibilities. We must not fear to visit with these people when we can and speak if invited. Certainly don’t attack them. Great things can happen if we but believe in the power of God and use a little wisdom and discernment that He has given us over the years.
Who can do this work? We are retired teachers and business people. We did serve 15 years in full time preaching and as missionaries long, long ago. Our later years have been filled with running an Insurance District, our own Real Estate business, and teaching. Anyone retired or with pension of some sort could do this specialized work. Just being here and showing you care about them will go a long way. Good Bible knowledge, level headed, and average learning ability will enable anyone to get into language that you will have to speak. Believe that you can do it. After three months you can access the best medical care in the world. I made a side trip through Chemo last year and learned a lot of medical words I didn’t really want to know. But the words do help me in my ministry to the sick now. God will provide. You could be a part of unexciting restoration movement the likes of which haven’t been seen for many years. We want to answer this Yearning for Spirituality.
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