5) Rouen
From the beginning of the first Olympic trip, the Lord’s move in Rouen has been a move of the Body, involving saints from many different countries – United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, and Ecuador, as well as local saints from Dieppe and Paris. On returning home after their gospel trips, overseas saints endeavored to continue to remotely shepherd the contacts they had made by using WhatsApp or Zoom. A month after the last Olympic trip, a couple who had been in Rouen for all five Olympic trips returned from the US to begin the post-Olympic shepherding trips. Since then there has been a steady flow of saints from the United Kingdom, the United States, Korea, Australia, and Taiwan coming for shepherding trips ranging from a weekend to a whole month. Each month we have had some core saints (usually a couple, but sometimes others) staying in a “Shepherd’s Tent.” These Airbnb apartments have been a base for the work, where visiting saints can stay, and small group meetings have been taking place every Saturday since October 19. Also on Saturdays two groups of saints from around the world that attended the Rouen gospel trips faithfully meet online to pray every week. This surely has been a source of blessing.
This weekend will be our seventh group meeting in Rouen. It has been wonderful blending together, with saints from many different countries and cities laboring together for the Lord’s interest in Rouen. This gathering regularly has around six new ones. In addition to the saints staying here, brothers and sisters from Paris, saints meeting in the church life in Dieppe, and other visiting saints (often from the United Kingdom) have been joining this time. The saints started to get into the matters of basic life principles, such as praying, reading the Bible, and praying over the Word. Two weeks ago, they started reading “The Basic Elements of the Christian Life.” Over many weeks, the meeting has increased in mutuality, and the new ones have enjoyed staying for up to three or four hours, lingering to fellowship afterward in Farsi, Russian, French, and English in the home with the saints long after the “meeting” has ended. Saints from Dieppe and Paris have supported this time, providing translation as well as food.
Two gospel new ones were baptized at a recent Saturday small group meeting in Rouen. The two teenage children of one of the baptized also prayed to receive salvation that same day. Saints from OL4 and OL5 as well as saints from the church in Dieppe have been regularly shepherding this family and other gospel new ones on a weekly basis. This family has attended the Lord’s Day meeting in Dieppe the past four Lord’s Days. During the past six months of shepherding from various OL saints, this family has been very open to receive fellowship and ask probing questions about becoming Christians. The mother researched online about the meaning of baptism and expressed a desire to be baptized. When the shepherding sister told her that baptism is a serious matter, she said that the saints are her real family.
Initially, the children asked their mother to wait to be baptized because they were afraid. However, through the saints’ prayers their fears were removed, and their mother also spoke to both of them about baptism. The shepherding sister sent the mother some verses on baptism during the week and also asked her to bring extra clothing for baptism on Saturday, if she wanted to be baptized. After the mother spoke to her children, her daughter said, “Mum, the world is coming to an end, just do it [get baptized]”. After being baptized, the mother sensed the freedom and joy in the Lord.
That evening, the sister told the newly baptized mother that her children need to pray and receive the Lord. The mother agreed and with the sister spoke to her children about the mystery of human life. The children asked a lot of questions. After their questions were answered, the sister asked the daughter to pray in her native language the prayer in the “Mystery of Human Life” to receive the Lord. After answering some more questions from the son, he also prayed the same prayer in his native language to receive the Lord.
The mother shared that everything was under God's sovereignty and expressed her thankfulness for the challenging circumstances that led them to find the “church.”
Another gospel contact, a university masters student, who was contacted by US saints, also attended the same Saturday meeting for the first time. After watching the baptism, he decided that he also wanted to be baptized. After the sister filled up the second bathtub upstairs, he was baptized. In the new man there is no race, language, or background; we are simply one flock under our one Shepherd!
The saints are also in contact with an additional 10 - 15 others. We are praying that these ones will: (1) join the Saturday gathering and (2) be open to personal visitation on other days of the week. There is also some feeling to continue more gospel outreach so the Lord can continue to gain locals for His testimony. A couple from the United Kingdom arrived on December 1 to be the “core couple” in the shepherd’s tent for the following two months. Nine saints are scheduled to visit at various times throughout this two-month period to co-labor with this couple. Although the saints have been staying at various Airbnb's throughout Rouen during this time, the feeling is that it would be better to have a more permanent location that does not keep moving around the city. We hope to be able to find such an apartment early in 2025.
A couple from the United States is in the process of moving to Rouen in early 2025. We feel their move will be a strengthening and encouragement and a great help to the labor in Rouen. Furthermore, a sister was recently accepted into a one-year French language program in Rouen. She will start her course in January 2025. In addition to these saints, we feel there is a need for at least two couples or families to move to Rouen to be a base of the Lord’s move and provide consistency to these new ones. As Dieppe is less than an hour away, the saints from there will be very involved in the local church life that the Lord is raising up as His testimony in Rouen.
Sharing from the Shepherding saints:
We met a Christian couple who are the host family for one of the sisters we are shepherding. They were immediately elated to meet us as they are believers dedicated to evangelizing and shepherding young believers. They do not belong to a denomination. They have smuggled Bibles into anti-Christian countries and have read some of Watchman Nee. We feel this was a sovereign arrangement, and they have been open to visits from the saints.
A new sister and her two teenage children were invited to a harvest meeting in Rouen during the gospel trips. I spoke with them in Farsi by using Google Translate. Over the following month my wife and I had several times with them and have become friends. When we left after OL5 we stayed in touch. We went back to Rouen a few weeks later and met several times. They went to Dieppe several times on the Lord's Day to attend meetings. They were very open to receive fellowship, and they began to ask probing questions about becoming Christians.
My wife and I experienced mutual shepherding from the new ones in Rouen. One new one who was left in France by human traffickers instead of being taken on to the UK told us that she now realizes that if she had not been abandoned in France, she probably would not have met the saints from the recovery. Another one told us that we visiting saints are ordinary people, and yet our speaking is very high. He said that for him this is a sign of the end of the age. These little comments were a great encouragement and supply to us and a confirmation that God wants us to continue to play a part in the shepherding of the new ones in Rouen.
During the 3-week shepherding trip, I had the opportunity to again meet a sister from the church in Dieppe and her two children, whom I first met during OL4. Although we do not share a common language, simply eating together, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, and enjoying hymns was enough to wash and encourage each other. Once again, we experienced that we are both shepherds and sheep to one another. In the new man there is no race, language, or background; we are simply one flock under our one Shepherd!
When I met again a family of political refugees from Iran, I was able to hear more in detail about their difficult situation. Despite their challenges, the sister shared that everything was under God's sovereignty and expressed her thankfulness for the circumstances that led them to find the “church.” Her testimony once again deepened my appreciation for the church. Their teenage children also showed their love by always greeting the saints with hugs and asking how they were doing. One of them even took the initiative to reach out to me and my gospel companion, creating an opportunity for us to connect. While I initially thought of them as the subjects of our shepherding, I realized they were also shepherding me with love. Truly, the Body builds itself up in love!
