Paris Region
The owner of a restaurant next to our distribution table saw our sign and came to get two Bibles, one for himself and another one for his wife. He was very glad to see people distributing Bibles and offered us some free food from his restaurant. I went to the restaurant to have some further fellowship with him and found out that it was a family business. The owner has a younger brother who worked at the counter. He also received a Bible. I showed him John 10:10-11 and the three types of life in Greek. He is about to start university this month and is interested in knowing more about the Bible.
Today is the first day of our preaching. Although there are language limitations, I experienced the desperateness of the Lord to gain people for Himself. Today, A young person came over to us from the crowd of people who just got off the bus, she is a non-believer. I brought her to a French speaking sister and we led her to read MHL. In the end she prayed to receive the Lord. She said she felt free and peace after reading and praying. She would also like to join us for a Bible study.
Today we met a 3rd year French student during the Bible distribution at Jussieu. He didn’t speak much English, but he was open and happy to receive a Bible. He was on his way to campus, but once we began talking, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave us. He spoke with the brother for about 15 minutes. He said his parents were catholic, and his mom really enjoyed reading the Bible. He was eager to show his mom the Bible. The brother showed him the footnotes and encouraged him to read the Bible. He asked him if he wanted to get together to read the Bible sometime and he said yes! We received his contact information and invited him to the gathering on Friday night. He was very open to meet again.
Today was the Lord’s Day. Two new ones from a previous gospel trip came to the Lord’s Day meeting, and we had two appointments with ones from a previous gospel trip in the afternoon.
In OL3 the saints met a young French girl who received the Lord. She came to the meeting that very night and has been coming to be with us every day. During this trip, OL5, she has been helping out in the kitchen and she came twice with the team this week to hand out Bibles. She is quite shy but enjoys being with the local saints. The saints have been sharing with her about baptism, and she decided to get baptized on Monday. As the team was praying and fellowshipping with her about baptism we wondered if she could get baptized on Sunday night. Then we said why not tonight? This was Wednesday, 9/4. As we were considering this she walked into the room where we were meeting, and they asked her if she wanted to get baptized before Sunday. She asked when, and the sister said maybe tonight, or what about right now? It was just before dinner, and she said “okay”! The whole team and the local saints gathered in the bathroom where the bathtub was and began singing and praising the Lord. It was so awesome! Two of the brothers from OL5 who had just met her baptized her into the Triune God!
Wednesday night after the baptism and dinner we had a gathering with some new ones we had met. The young sister who was just baptized was also there. We had a wonderful time of singing and then three new sisters shared their stories of how they got here and how the Lord had been moving in their lives.
*Note: Since universities are starting their academic terms, Bible distributions were
set up in public areas close to campuses since it is illegal to distribute on campus grounds in France.
The lady we had just met told us how the Lord had been moving in her to meet with some Christian believers. The day we met, she was coming up out of the metro at Jussieu and there were two sisters on our the team offering her a Bible. She couldn’t believe it and she said okay! They asked her if she wanted to get together to read the Bible, and she said okay! They met with her that day and had a very good time talking about the Bible. They invited her to dinner that night and she shared her story. She had dinner with us and you could tell during the singing that she was touched. She shared she had never had such joy and fulfillment. She came again for dinner the next night, also!
Our appointment was with one we met from the previous day. She was a first-year student at Sorbonne University and a fellow believer in Christ. We met her at a cafe across the Jussieu university campus. The first thing we were struck by was that she prayed by herself before she took a bite of her meal or a sip of her drink. During our conversation, she mentioned that she had been praying for three years to meet fellow believers as she felt alone. A day before she met us, she prayed to meet believers who could speak English and were from other countries. As she shared, she cried because she was overwhelmed by her feelings of joy and surprise that her prayers were answered. She said she was flabbergasted, having met us.
A young Jewish student approached us to get a Bible. With his Jewish background, he knows Old Testament very well. He was open and wanted to know more about the New Testament. We shared with him John 10:10 and Mystery of Human Life, MHL. He prayed, sang and called on the name of the Lord together with us. He was also willing to meet and bring his friends to meet with us to receive Bibles.
Today we met a young student from a Paris University. He started asking where the sister
was from and if she knew anyone in Paris. He himself was from Lyon and was happy to talk with her because he felt people were not friendly in Paris, while everybody was easy to talk to in Lyon. When she asked if he wanted a Bible, he took it and said, “Why not?”
Later today, we felt it was best to head to a different nearby station - La Croix de Berny, to redeem the last hour of our Bible distribution. We passed out 22 bibles in around 30 minutes, including one Portuguese and one Spanish Bible. When the local saints learned of our location, two came almost immediately to join us and help us with translation. We were very grateful for their service and enjoyed being together with them. One of the Bible recipients enjoyed seeing Christ’s genealogy in Matthew. She had never seen anything like that before. Five new ones from previous gospel trips came to join our dinner and Bible study that night. We read through John 4 about the thirsty woman at the well and the Lord coming personally to touch her conscience, lead her to confess, and open up to take a drink of living water.
A young person came up to the table and we read the MHL with her. She prayed on the spot to receive the Lord, and said she feels free after she prayed! Hallelujah!
A young man who is a Christian was with his teenage sister approached us; they both received a Bible. He was very impressed with the footnotes in the Bible. He brought his mother out to meet us. They are open to meeting with us.
We as a team were very impressed with the number of teenagers who were interested in receiving the Bible and the Lord. May the Lord gain what He is after in the young people in Paris.
A young Christian student read John 10:10-11 and then read the entire footnote for verse 11. She was grinning from ear to ear.
One student said, "I know you from Massy.” He had received a Bible from us at Massy. We got his contact information, and he’s going to come to our dinner on Saturday. Students are very precious!
A young person passed by me while he was going to the grocery store. When he passed by me the first time, he didn’t get a Bible. But when he came out of the store, he decided to get a Bible. I asked him if I can show him the MHL video. He watched the video and when it was over, he didn't want to leave. He asked if he can get it from YouTube, and found out it wasn't available on the internet, and said it was a shame.
My highlight for today is to meet a freshman from the university. When he said that he has never read the Bible and was still lingering to listen, I realized that he needed the gospel. I shared MHL with him. He was very attentive and eventually prayed with me the prayer at the 5th key. And in the end he told me that he wanted to buy or find a Bible from the library, but never succeeded in finding one. I was very much impressed by his seeking heart
Today I got a 3rd year college student interested in the Recovery Version study Bible. When I approached him initially, he said he was a Christian and already had a Bible. After I showed him how helpful and enlightening the footnotes can be, he gladly took a French study Bible with him to school.
I met a graduate student who was impressed by the footnote in John 3:16 on the word “believes”. She received light from realizing what it meant to believe “into” God. She gladly accepted a Bible. I am in contact with her. May the Lord cause her heart to be soft and open.
I was really touched by the seeking heart of one from a previous OL gospel trip. Even in a difficult situation of having to take care of a whole family by himself, he paused his work to come to the gathering meetings. What an encouragement!
Today I met a freshman law student. She was very open to speak to me about the Bible. We read John 3:16 and footnote 3. She was also open to come to a Bible study and we exchanged contact information. May the Lord continue to draw this new one to our meeting.
A student who is getting his masters came to our home meeting. He enjoyed both the physical and spiritual food. He said he has not had home cooked meals for so long. He also said from our reading of the Bible and fellowship he is much clearer about the rhema word and logo word. He said he will come again tomorrow night. Praise the Lord!
A young man came asking me how to answer some questions for his Muslim friend so that he could preach the gospel to him. We went through verses both in the Old Testament (Gen.1:26, Isa. 9:6, Mic. 5:1) and New Testament (Matt. 28:19, John 1.1, 14) to see the Divine Trinity and Divinity of Christ. He was very satisfied. He took a Bible with him and left his number for further contact.
I was very encouraged by the young man who came to the meeting today. Seeing his expression as he received light from the Word and from the saints' speaking greatly increased my burden to preach the gospel especially to students.
Today we hosted one young man at our place for dinner along with several of the local saints. We sang “I am the Living Bread”, in both French and English. We later read half of John 6, including vs 48, that Jesus is the bread of life. This young man appreciated the footnotes, and said he felt he could better understand the Bible with the help of the study tools in the Recovery Version.
Two out of three ones that I contacted today responded to my WhatsApp text. May the Lord continue to soften their hearts and cause them to be willing to come for further times together.
Tonight, a student we met earlier came to our Bible study. Before she left, we asked if she wanted to come again, and she nodded an enthusiastic “yes”! Most of the time I had no idea what she was saying (she spoke French), but I felt so joyful that we shared a physical and spiritual meal with her.
During the distribution today outside the train station, a young man walked up to me. He had arrived from Congo a week ago to study at the university, and he said to me that he forgot his Bible at home! He received a Bible from us and got some guidance on how to use the study tools, as well as some information on how to contact some saints in Nanterre. Praise God this man was brought to us and may he take a step towards the Lord in fellowship.
After we split our group meeting into smaller groups, the attendance became higher (one evening we had 8 new ones!). The fellowship became more mutual where everyone could ask questions and give answers. We learn from one another and atmosphere was in the Lord’s presence. I believe that everyone enjoyed the fellowship. All the new ones said when they will come again next time. The Lord is spreading in Nanterre!
There were 3 students and 2 young working ones who joined the Bible study this evening, and we read John chapter 7. Those who are from Christian families shared that they experienced vanity and thirst in the past when they were away from the Lord. But now they can say that the Lord has called them back and is giving them the living water.
One of my gospel friends came to the meeting tonight. She grew up Catholic and church hopped after moving to France, but she couldn’t find a genuine group of believers. She started to read the Bible recently and she is thirsty for the truth. I am encouraged by her.
We met a student at the train station, she was very open and later came to our place for dinner and the Bible study. We read the second half of John 6 together, and she liked the truth of Jesus being our real food and drink. She also enjoyed singing hymns. Eventually, she prayed with us and said that she will come again tomorrow.
We read John 7 together tonight. I was thrilled to see every one of us open our mouths to supply each other. Praise the Lord for sending the new ones to come fellowship with us tonight! My highlight for today was that a new one continues to come to the meetings and is full of enjoyment. I really enjoyed how we distribute the Bibles during the day to gain new ones and then have the new ones dine with us in the evening.
In the Bible study today, we had 2 gospel friends and 1 new one joining us. We read John chapter 9 which is about the need of the blind in religion. One of them enjoyed John 9:39 “those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind”. He shared that because the blind believed the Lord so he could see eventually, whereas the Jews became spiritually blind because of their unbelief. He concluded that he also read the Bible before meeting with us, but he didn’t understand much back then. Now, he really enjoys and can apprehend the meaning of the verses.
There was a university student who lingered near where we distributed Bibles as if waiting for something. Therefore, I responded by approaching him and chatting with him for a while to break the ice. Then I let him read John 10:10-11 and the footnotes after informing him that I do not read French. His eyes opened wide after I showed him the footnotes. This raised his interest in the French Bible, and he happily took it home. Praise the Lord!
We had much fellowship with one of the sisters who got baptized in February this year. She shared all her hardships to us. And after reading John 8. She realized she received the light of life and is not in the darkness anymore.
We had a Bible study at a home with one who has been meeting with us for 2-3 weeks. We were on John Chapter 9. He shared that the Pharisees were so stuck to the law and ordinances that they were the ones who were blind and that the blind man did not sin but obeyed God’s word and could eventually see. He also said that before he met us, he couldn’t understand the Bible. Now after meeting us, he is starting to understand the Bible.
We tabled at the train station outside of Nanterre University. We are very impressed that there are many students who are wide open. We had some significant conversations with most of them. I really enjoyed the oneness of our coordination, although I am lacking in the language, the saints who can speak French joined the conversation together whenever someone stopped by, and others prayed for them.
