Toulouse
In the beginning of our distribution time, I saw my team handling out Bibles and I still holding onto my first Bible. I was praying! Eventually I saw a guy with his headsets on. I decided to approach him. I stopped him and I said, ‘Would you like a free Bible?’ He stared at me and said ‘Free?’ I said ‘Free!’ and he came to the table. In the conversation, we found that he is a university student. He speaks English and wants to meet tomorrow. Really soft and eager to have more fellowship.
One of the new ones spent all day with us, helped us passing out Bibles, attended the dinner, and was baptized!
It's impressive how open young people are! A Christian woman said that knowing that we are distributing free Bibles has been a comfort to her. We read 1 Corinthians 2:9 and footnote 3 which talks about God's need for us to love Him! This footnote explains that God not only wants us to worship Him and do things for Him, but to love Him. She provided us with her phone number for further contact. She blessed us and hugged me and left happy with her Bible.
A young man approached us. He said after he receive a French Bible from us he went away and a friend of his saw his Bible and wanted one too. Because his friend was working, he came back to get him a Spanish Bible.
We met a woman who, after three years meeting with a group stopped meeting with them because she said they were very focused on rules, and she didn't enjoy the meeting and got very disappointed. She is looking to meet with a group of Christians who worship God in a simple way. She gave us her number to contact her for more fellowship about the Bible, and she said she will attend the welcome dinner with her daughters.
We met a lady who was very happy when we gave her the Bible because she said she was thinking about buying one because she wanted to be closer to God. She is worried about her 9-year-old daughter because since they moved to France 2 years ago, she realized that the atmosphere here is very dark, especially with the young people. She is looking for a group of Christians to meet with in Toulouse.
We met with one from the Torch Relay gospel trip, TR3. She is a first-year student at the Toulouse University. She had joined the harvest meeting during TR3 and is in weekly contact with a sister, pursuing the Lord and reading the Bible. This one is so seeking. She mentioned that she had started reading the Life-study of Mark. We will meet again this week to read The Basic Elements of the Christian Life, BXL. She also shared that in the last two weeks, her parents received Christ. We gave her 2 New Testament Bibles for her parents. How wonderful is this! Because of this, her parents were invited by the sisters to the next appointment and to the welcome meeting we are having in a few days, along with her three siblings.
I was saying to pedestrians: ‘Bonjour! Want a free study Bible?’ Within one hour, six believers stopped and showed interest in getting a study Bible. With a warm invitation to these ones to have a dinner with us and to get to know this study Bible and us, they all scanned the code and exchanged their contact number with me.
I read John 10:10 and 1 Thes. 5:23 to a young unbeliever. He asked questions about God. I told him the whole process that the Lord went through: Starting with God as the creator, then incarnation, the One who die for our sins, resurrection and then I talked about the problems of sins. He picked up a Bible and joined the CdV channel. He is quite open but scared.
There was a young man who could not get close to the table because of the many interested people all right around the table, but he kept peeking to see what was on the table. I approached him. He spoke English. He came to France from Brazil a few months ago. I showed him the MHL booklet and since he told me he is a Christian, I showed him that man has three parts and when we receive the Lord, God imparts His life into our spirit, and that makes us sons of God. He was quite impressed and was so happy. He said today was a very good day because of two things: he just got a job, and he met us. He said he recently bought a Koran because he wants to learn about different religions and was very happy to receive the Bible. I said,” in your learning don’t forget Christ!” He said, “No, no, my soul was born in Christ and is in Him!” He gave me his contact information and will come to our welcome dinner on the Lord’s Day.
A young man was looking at us and I approached him. He was interested in the Bible. I showed him the MHL video. He was in a hurry, but he viewed it entirely all the while nodding his head. I gave him the MHL booklet and asked him to read the prayer, but he had to go. He was smiling the whole time. Tomorrow, he travels to Italy, but gave me his contact information.
I was encouraged by a young French person. She has started reading the Bible and she enjoyed footnote 1 of Matthew 1:1. Afterwards she saw the MHL video in French and prayed to receive the Lord, calling on His name several times. Then she read Romans 10:13 about calling on the Lord and being saved. After hearing the Word and praying she was joyful and shared her contact number.
A young French woman received the Lord. She shared with us that she wanted to start reading the Bible. Although the moment I offered her a Bible, she rejected it but then she turned around with a look of interest. It gave me the opportunity to offer it again and she accepted it with a twinkle in her eye. She listened to the recording of the MHL and accepted her condition of emptiness and need for God, so we prayed together to receive the Lord. She immediately changed her countenance and provided us with her phone number for further contact.
A man originally from Ukraine approached us. A brother had a long conversation him. They eventually decided to go to a bench to sit down to continue their very good fellowship. Although he said he was already a Christian, he prayed to receive the Lord. Later, he left and after a while he came back to get two more Bibles for his sister and another family member. He lives in a city two hours away from Toulouse, but he said that he will come back to Toulouse on Wednesday and would like to meet with us again. He has four children.
One of today’s highlight was meeting a brother originally from Guatemala. He mentioned that he hasn’t been attending the church meetings, but he is seriously considering resuming them. He knows that meeting us today was not by accident. The first appointment the brothers had with him was during the Bible distribution, and then they arranged an appointment for that evening. After he left, he texted the brothers to remind us about our appointment. This shows how much he was yearning for fellowship. During our evening appointment with him, he shared that when he saw us at the table, he felt as though he had found the fountain of life and the light of life. The brothers had a wonderful time with him, they shared verses about Christ, the church, and the Lord’s interests. During the appointment he said: “It means a lot to me to see you and I would love to be part of the church in Toulouse.” He was so happy, and the brothers even felt as if the entire trip was just for him, we saw how the Lord sets aside the 99 to search for the one lost sheep. After the appointment this man sent a message to a brother saying: “Right now I feel like the happiest man in the world”. We pray that the Lord would gain him and that we will meet him again, probably every day this week, as his flexible work schedule is favorable for the church life.
Another highlight has been with a young working woman from Toulouse who was very open. A sister offered her a Bible and she was very happy to receive it. But the most wonderful thing is that she said that she would like to believe but she didn’t know how to believe or become a Christian. Two sisters shared the MHL booklet with her. She did the prayer and after that the sisters helped her to call upon the name on the Lord in French. She genuinely received the Lord! The sisters could see how her eyes filled with tears.
Today, we had very good appointments with ones giving very positive responses. Yesterday we met a young student that received a Bible. In the conversation a brother spoke about how much we try to be good and to do good but at the end we can’t do good no matter how much we try. The brother shared with him about our experience as Christians in Romans 7 and 8. After hearing that the young student was open to have an appointment. Later, the appointment we had with him went very well. The brothers shared about how to contact the Lord and during the appointment he prayed for his family and friends. He said he will come to the welcome meeting tomorrow.
Three brothers had time with one we met the first day of our distribution. They brought him to the gathering we were having. The meeting turned into a very living meeting. One of them opened up his testimony and said how happy he is for finding us. We sang Hymn: 1333 “What a happy day”. He repeated again that he wants to be part of the church in Toulouse, and he is considering to be baptized again. We feel that the Lord is truly blessing us, and that He is flowing and operating during these past weeks.
We don’t know how many will attend the welcome meeting, but we believe there will be more than we expect, as many may bring family and friends. We are all filled with joy to see such an abundance of fruits. Praise the Lord for His move in Toulouse!
The welcome meeting went very well. 18 new ones attended, most of them were young ones under 30 years old. We welcomed them with a very good dinner and then there was a fellowship about the Mystery of Human Life, there was spontaneous singing; the new ones were super happy. One of them even stayed until the very end helping to clean. We are full of praise to the Lord for what He is doing in His special move in Toulouse.
Yesterday we went to visit a dear sister who is originally from Armenia but lives in Toulouse. We have been communicating by Google translation. It has been a time of mutual supply. She told us that she has been praying for the Lord's move in this gospel time and asked us for the statistics of how many Bibles have been distributed and how many people have received the Lord. She desires to meet the new ones and prays that the Lord will raise up His testimony in Toulouse.
We are experiencing something that many of us have never experienced before. We feel like we truly are in the continuation of the book of Acts. We are learning the model, the prototype of how we should continue the preaching of the gospel here in Europe. People are receiving the Lord, and we are having appointments with them even the same day of meeting them, the new ones are coming to the meeting and they are getting baptized. We had 4 baptisms today. Hallelujah!
A brother was at the entrance ushering for the welcome meeting and a young man was coming to the Ibis Hotel to find a room. At that moment the brother was at the entrance talking with a French lady and the young man realized that the brother needed help with translation. The brother took the opportunity to invited him to the welcome meeting. After the invitation, the man went to check if the hotel had room for that night, it didn’t so he went to another place to find a room to sleep. After he found a hotel room, he came back to attend the welcome meeting. He lives close to Toulouse, but he came to Toulouse to be away from his busy and stressful environment. He wanted to relax. But “by accident” he found us and came to the best place!
Today we met a young lady. She approached the table, very open to receive a Bible and know more about the Bible. She has a heart for the Lord and loves the Bible. It was through her grandmother that she came to know the Lord. After talking for a while we realized that she didn’t want to leave so the sisters decided to have lunch with her. She was very happy. During the lunch the sisters shared with her testimonies about their baptisms, the young lady was very touched. After that, the sisters spent the whole day together. She came to the welcome meeting and a brother shared with her more about baptism and she said she wanted to be baptized at that moment. So, she did, she got baptized! Amen!
The brothers were spending time with a young catholic man. This one met the brothers yesterday during the Bible distribution and since then they have spent all their time together. He got baptized this evening.
There was one that was originally contacted during the May Torch Relay here in Toulouse and this one wanted to get baptized, but she was doing a course in her church with lessons she had to take to be able to be baptized. She saw a young sister getting baptized with us without taking the lessons and she was impressed. She had reached out to a sister expressing a strong desire to get baptized. She decided to come over in the afternoon after doing a course with her group. She had some questions about the baptism, like who would be baptizing her and whether they were genuine believers in the faith.
According to a brother, her desire to be baptized was very strong, and she was completely clear about her decision. Her parents were incredibly supportive, encouraging her and saying how amazing it was that she could finally be baptized. She shared a bit of her testimony with us. She explained how she was drawn to the Lord, always having an inward feeling about the Lord. She also said that the Bible is very clear to her. Her prayer before the baptism was a prayer of consecration. This young lady got baptized!
We met a couple who work in a restaurant. He is very open to us; while he was working, we were able to talk with him, when customers came in, we would go out and after the customers went out, we went back in and continued with our conversation. Three times we did this. He watched the video of the MHL. He said if time allows, he will come to Lord’s Day welcome dinner. We got his contact information.
I invited a first-year university student for lunch. I learned that he had prayed to receive the Lord. A brother and I started to talk with him about baptism and it's meaning, showing him verses. Then we asked him if he wanted to get baptized and he said yes, so we looked for a time. As he had to travel that night, I suggested why not immediately, and he said Ok! So, we called some brothers and organized to baptize him at our Airbnb. Glorious! He was so happy and agreed to have regular appointments with us. He also had brought an unbeliever friend for lunch, who asked many questions showed interest in learning more
We had an appointment with a 3rd year university student. He said that he didn't believe but wanted to learn. So, we preached the gospel to him and suggested that he try, if he was open. We asked him if he would pray with us and he did. That day was his physical birthday so now he has a double birthday, one in his spirit!
Two of us brothers met with a young French seeking Christian who studies in Toulouse. During lunch with him he asked us questions about prayer and we shared with him about its meaning. After our time of fellowship, he told us: " France needs more people like you. To spread the Word of Christ everywhere! " He joined both welcome meetings and even shared in the second one. He was very encouraged and even helped us to clean-up after the meetings, staying around until the very end.
We had an appointment with two young ones for lunch, one met us on the street and came with his friend. The one we met first was a believer who met the Lord by watching an online video. His friend was interested but said he doesn't believe in God. He asked us many questions and was happy to talk to us. Later we talked with the young brother about baptism and encouraged him to be baptized right away, there was no need to wait. To our surprise he accepted, and we took him to our Airbnb and baptized him! His friend also joined us and filmed the baptism. After we left them in the afternoon, they wrote us that it was an excellent time together and they are looking forward for the next time. The newly baptized brother wrote later to us that he will never forget this day.
