Founded in 1957, France Mission is an evangelical movement with 50 years on experience sharing the message of the Bible in France, and tracing its roots back to the earliest days of French Protestantism.
Facts;
60 churches in 9 regions across France.
140 missionaries of all nationalities including 12 from the UK
The evangelical church in France is one tenth the size of that in the UK.
Peter and Rachel are working with a committed core of French Christians to plant a church which will bring the light of Jesus to St-Etienne South. The main focus of their work is evangelism and discipleship; teaching God's Word so that unbelievers can turn to Christ and believers can be built up and equipped for service.
The church started in October 2006, in a local hotel. Since January 2009 they have been renovating a building which we hope will become a base for witness and practical service. The church is not far from the university, in an area in need of urban renewal. Most of the small congregation are in their 20s and 30's. Several members of the congregation are involved in outreach to the Roma community. We are currently seeking God to know exactly how he wants us to serve those in need. St-Etienne has about 250,000 people and has experienced significant de-industrialisation and job losses over recent decades. It's people are known for their warmth and down to earth attitude to life. The university has a strong art department, and the city is trying to develop itself as a centre for art and design. There are several churches in the city, but the vast majority have no meaningful contact with Christians and are living and dying in urgent need of Christ.
As a church we are seeking to reach out through friendships, involvement in local voluntary groups, organising concerts and discussion evenings, and through the Alpha Course. We meet on a Sunday evening for Bible Teaching and worship and seek to make this meeting as accessible as possible. Our midweek discipleship groups focus more on in depth prayer and teaching.
