Paul Cooke reflects on a recent road trip
I spent 12th-19th May on a “missiological road-trip” from Metz to Marseille. The trip was led by Michael Eckstein and Jean-Georges Gantenbein who both have roles with Liebenzell Mission, an organisation that also runs an evangelical seminary and university called IHL in Bad Liebenzell, Germany. Michael is based in Nantes and is the Team Leader for Liebenzell’s French missionaries, while Jean-Georges is based in Mulhouse and is Liebenzell’s European Area Lead for France, Spain,and Germany. (Jean-Georges was formerly Regional Director for Perspectives churches in Alsace, Lorraine, and southeast France.)
The trip was primarily for a group of IHL students with an interest in France, to give them a better understanding of France as a mission field. Two additional staff members from IHL provided theological input and practical support. They were a wonderful group!
The trip started in Metz, a city in northeast France where French and German cultural influences meet. The students were able to hear from a Franco-German couple who’ve served at the Perspectives church in nearby Amnéville over the past couple of years.
Jean-Georges and I took the train from Mulhouse to join the group in Dijon. Here we spent time in a Baptist church, doing some theological reflection with Prof. Tobias Schuckert from IHL about joy as the biblical source of mission, and also hearing a moving testimony from a man whose life had been completely transformed by Christ.
From Dijon, we drove south to Lyon, the cradle of French Christianity. Romain Tessieux, pastor of L’Église comme à la maison (part of Perspectives), shared about their approach to church-planting, with a strong emphasis on building relationships with non-Christians and making church accessible for them (while remaining clear on the supremacy of Christ). Romain and the team had clearly thought very carefully about their context, and the Lord is blessing their witness.
We then drove down the Rhône Valley to Marseille, where we spent three days with the Perspectives church in Saint-Just. They have new premises called Fabricquai which combine a community café upstairs with a worship space underneath. The young adults group hosted an evening meal for us on Friday, which provided a great opportunity for different nationalities to mix; on Saturday, pastor Paul Gabrielli shared about Actes 13 – an exciting vision for church-planting and missionary training in Marseille (I’ll be sharing more news about this over the coming months); and on Sunday we were able to participate in the service and enjoy a church lunch afterwards.
The Liebenzell group then embarked on the long drive home, while I spent an extra couple of days with those (especially Simon & Radia Allchin) serving in the city’s northern quartiers. The media image of this area is very poor due to various social problems, but it was a privilege to spend time praying with and listening to those who minister here. God is at work, but the context is very challenging with Islam as the dominant faith. Please ask the Lord to continue to build His Church.
Participant impressions:
Jannis (24): “I was reminded of the diversity of France: diverse cities, people, cultures, architecture, churches, ministries etc. And for those diverse places there’s also a need for a diversity of people going into mission. Pastors, Church Planters, Youth workers, Professionals. All are needed and prayed for in the churches in France.”
Rahel (19): “Whereas established churches tend to focus on welcoming existing believers, church-plants focus on reaching out to non-Christians.”
Birgit (IHL staff): “I was touched and impressed by the passion, patience and love the people we met have for their cities, suburbs, and the unreached people living there.”
