Many villages in post-modern France remain without any evangelical witness. Of the 36,685 towns that make up France, nearly 27,400 have fewer than 1,000 believers. So, as National Director Pierre Clément says, “The summer months are certainly the most conducive to discovering these areas.” For the second year, EHC renewed its “Operation Villages” campaign in France under the Summer Advance umbrella with a leaflet called “Finding Hope.” The campaign called on Christians to visit these isolated villages and deposit the Good News in every home!
Thanks to Operation Villages, leaflets have now been distributed in rural areas where the Gospel might never have penetrated. At the border of French-speaking Belgium, 36 villages were visited. The smallest village, Etalle, had just 90 inhabitants in 38 homes. Now that these regions have been reached through the Summer Advance, churches plan to develop evangelistic activity in every area throughout the year!
In Burgundy, the team made up of 60 pioneer missionaries and volunteers embarked on a journey for 15 days, visiting one home after another, reaching a total of 7,300 families in seven counties. The report said, “We praise the Lord that these people had the opportunity to receive a living Christian witness, and many expressed an interest in the Gospel.” Eighty-eight people contacted EHC directly as a result of this effort.
Still, reaching France is a challenge. Frank Alexander, an EHC ministry partner working with Global Vision, says, “There are many closed doors in France. There is a great need to find real bridges of trust to reach out to others.” Pray for the EHC work, that the hope of Christ would be real to each villager, in each community, in each city in the entire nation.