Well project is just past the half waypoint (was Monday) and I figure it would make sense to fill everyone in on what we are doing here and what we’ve done thus far.
We’re here in France to start a movement of French students reaching out to other French students for Christ. To find the stakes to spread wide the tent of the Lord open wide over this land. “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” – Isaiah 54:2-3 (NIV) [Project Vision]
Stakes that we have already received it in the spiritual world because of our prayers and petitions to the lord through his son Jesus and are only waiting for them to become a reality in the material world. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt with his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” – Mark 11:23-24 (NIV)
We are here to do evangelism and to reach out to the students whom God has placed on the verge of a relationship with him. We’ve met the first French, young, university students who are Christian – this hadn’t happened in the prior three years of summer project and STINT in Toulouse, France. If they are saved or not is unsure, but they are Christian nonetheless. Our mission statement for the evangelism team is “Transforming French students hearts and souls by teaching them to seek Christ through prayer and servant hood.” We desire this ministry to flourish and for the demonic and secular influences on this city to disappear and allow the harvest to be brought in. We are simply going out and checking the fields, working the soil, and waiting till we are able to see the white of the harvest to bring it in. “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” – Matthew 13:8 (NIV)
We’ve been really putting ourselves out there; in the first week we (the team) initiated with 291 people, had conversations with some sort of spiritual content with 94 people, and shared the full gospel with 17 people. We’ve been richly rewarded, and will be further blessed eternally. School is now out of session at most places and we’re having a harder time finding students who fit the profile for this ministry (Young, French, College Students). It’s been even harder to find men to even talk to or grab a meal with.
Our ministry has been so blessed, we are praying to have four solid contacts each to turn over to the STINT team when they arrive again in august after being in the states for a month or so.
In other news, I’ve taken over 1400 photos so far! and finally broke down today and spent 6 euros on cookies. Most of them are French except that I did find a box of Oreos!! And am pretty excited about that (I think they were imported from Spain).
I hope that you are feeling blessed by the spirit and are embraced within his comfort.
God Bless,
~paul
(To all my now graduated friends, I’m so sorry I can’t make it to your parties. I’ll try to give you all a call and we can grab lunch and catch up on life.)