Our last 4 Corners article, in 2015, was entitled “Persevering Ministry in Brittany”. Perseverance is still as important today. We recently posted a Bible and brochure to a man who also expressed an interest in speaking with someone. His request came via a reply slip from a tract we distributed around 8 years ago. Yet again, God has surprised us and shown that his work is not limited by time. His time is always the right time.
With 2017 being the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, this provides good opportunities for witness. As evangelical churches we are working together in our area with joint efforts of outreach. In Guingamp we are also working on a project for a Bible exhibition in the town.
We thank God for slow but steady growth at the church. We are usually between 25 and 30 in attendance on Sunday mornings. With new arrivals of Christians in recent years, Emmanuel can now ask other men to preach or lead the service from time to time.
The church is made up of people from different denominational and cultural backgrounds and unity is achieved by keeping God’s Word central
The renovation of the church premises has been a big challenge over the past few years, but God has provided for all our needs. Following the new roof in 2014 came UPVC doors and windows, replacing the rotting, wooden ones. Then in 2016 more work was carried out into comply with the new rules on disabled access and the premises were also redecorated throughout.
The church is made up of people from different denominational and cultural backgrounds and unity is achieved by keeping God’s Word central to church life and activities. Our daughter, Lydie, recently attended a youth weekend at Geneva Bible Institute and in giving a report to the church, she quoted the need to “think globally and act locally.” This is something we aim for as a church. There is a keen interest in missionary work and this year the church has widened its support from 2 to 4 missionaries. In the past year, the church has also “adopted” a Syrian refugee and her daughter who have settled in the town.
In our post-modern society, religion is seen as being of little or no value. One of our challenges is proving this idea to be wrong. The question posed by Ravi Zacharias is pertinent; “How do you reach a generation that listens with its eyes and thinks with its feelings?” A regional councillor present at the 50th anniversary of a nearby evangelical youth centre commented on the well-founded principles at the heart of the work and seen in the lives of the young people, which, as we know, is the result of lives transformed by the Gospel. What an encouragement to hear this testimony from a non-Christian. As always, our desire is to reach out to local people with the message of the Gospel and to seek the best means of doing this as a church, whilst continuing to encourage the personal witness of believers.
Some time ago, a pastor at another church in Brittany noticed that within his church the generation of Christians from the previous ministry were less solid in their faith than those of the generation before them. Without wishing to generalize, this can be a danger and we need to pray that numerical growth does not come alone, but is accompanied by increasing spiritual depth.
On a national level, there are encouragements and challenges:
- Real efforts are being made to teach and equip believers for service through flexible means of studying at Bible Institutes, by correspondence or through denominational or regional initiatives. This aims to compensate for the shortage of full-time pastors.
- It is encouraging to see new pastors taking up ministries, but we need many more. Sometimes, tensions build up when younger leaders try to change things too quickly. The older generation, who have persevered over the years, can feel hustled and overlooked.
- The church planting project continues that aims to establish 1 church for every 10,000 inhabitants. Many efforts have been made towards this goal with Christian singles/couples/families moving to other areas to support a church plant. At the same time, such projects can be more complicated than expected.
God’s Word provides us with the perfect balance. With the increasing means of facing the challenges (church plant projects, websites, literature, evangelistic tools, etc) there is the real need for an increasing depth of faith in believers. We must remember that real spiritual maturity is not so much a question of knowledge as of a deep love for God, for his people and for our lost world. (1 Corinthians 8:1)
– Emmanuel and Maria Hartiel