Numbers: They don't overwhelm God
I've been trying to wrap my mind around some numbers lately. As most of you know, numbers aren't exactly my strong suit, but work with me here.
In France, there is currently 1 evangelical church for every 30,000 people.
This means that there are entire cities about the size of Williamsport, PA that do not have a single evangelical church.
Recently I was thinking about our time at Penn State, a campus with ~ 40,000 undergraduate students. How many churches were present on campus alone? I can think of at least 5 fairly large campus ministries without even trying.
The ratio of churches to people is greater on Penn State's campus than it is in the country of France.
The CNEF (National Evangelical Council of France) has a goal of having 1 church for every 10,000 people in this country. According to their website, in order to make this happen, we need to plant an additional 4,200 churches across this nation, which is nearly the same size as Texas. And let's be real; 1 church for every 10,000 residents is still not enough.
A few weeks ago I humbly came to you and asked you to consider financially supporting our teammate Bruno, and I asked you to consider financially supporting our church building project.
Aix-les-Bains has a population of about 30,000 people with another 20,000 - 30,000 people in the surrounding villages. There is one other evangelical church.
With our church, Le Rivage, this makes 2 evangelical churches for roughly 60,000 people.
Our church desires to make disciples who make disciples. We desire to be the church, not go to a church building. Yet we recognize that having a permanent space, known in the city by the people of the city, that is adapted to our needs as a community, will be a great tool and asset for spreading the Gospel in this place.
Would you please join us in praying? Tomorrow morning Jordan will go to the bank to request a loan from the bank. Pray that we'd find favor with the bank(s). Pray that they'd be generous in their loan and that we'd be wise with the finances we already have. Pray that if this building is God's will, He'd provide the [seemingly enormous amounts of] money. In order to move forward in the purchase of this building, we need: 120,000€ from the bank, 50,000€ in donations by the end of October, and another 30,000€ by the end of the year. (Jordan has spent hours working on the budget.)
As I said in the beginning of this post, I've been trying to wrap my mind around some numbers. The number of people in France who have never heard the Gospel, the number of churches in this country, the number of churches needed, the number of buildings we've looked at in Aix-les-Bains, the number of euros that we need to raise. The numbers are overwhelming! But we truly believe that God is doing something great in this nation of France, and we also believe that He is able to provide immeasurable more than we can even ask or imagine.
So please, join us in praying. Pray for the nation of France, that the people would know and follow Jesus. Pray for the people of Aix-les-Bains, that they would be drawn to the Kingdom of God through our church community, Le Rivage. Pray for finances, and if you feel so inclined, participate financially with a one-time gift for the building project of our little church in Aix-les-Bains. By receiving donations now, as our church and budget grow in the future, we will then be able pay off the building more quickly and give to others, launching other churches across France and the world.
In France, there is currently 1 evangelical church for every 30,000 people.
 |
| "Number of local Churches per department" |
This means that there are entire cities about the size of Williamsport, PA that do not have a single evangelical church.
Recently I was thinking about our time at Penn State, a campus with ~ 40,000 undergraduate students. How many churches were present on campus alone? I can think of at least 5 fairly large campus ministries without even trying.
The ratio of churches to people is greater on Penn State's campus than it is in the country of France.
The CNEF (National Evangelical Council of France) has a goal of having 1 church for every 10,000 people in this country. According to their website, in order to make this happen, we need to plant an additional 4,200 churches across this nation, which is nearly the same size as Texas. And let's be real; 1 church for every 10,000 residents is still not enough.
A few weeks ago I humbly came to you and asked you to consider financially supporting our teammate Bruno, and I asked you to consider financially supporting our church building project.
Aix-les-Bains has a population of about 30,000 people with another 20,000 - 30,000 people in the surrounding villages. There is one other evangelical church.
With our church, Le Rivage, this makes 2 evangelical churches for roughly 60,000 people.
 |
| Churches offering at least 3 church service per month in the region |
Our church desires to make disciples who make disciples. We desire to be the church, not go to a church building. Yet we recognize that having a permanent space, known in the city by the people of the city, that is adapted to our needs as a community, will be a great tool and asset for spreading the Gospel in this place.
Would you please join us in praying? Tomorrow morning Jordan will go to the bank to request a loan from the bank. Pray that we'd find favor with the bank(s). Pray that they'd be generous in their loan and that we'd be wise with the finances we already have. Pray that if this building is God's will, He'd provide the [seemingly enormous amounts of] money. In order to move forward in the purchase of this building, we need: 120,000€ from the bank, 50,000€ in donations by the end of October, and another 30,000€ by the end of the year. (Jordan has spent hours working on the budget.)
As I said in the beginning of this post, I've been trying to wrap my mind around some numbers. The number of people in France who have never heard the Gospel, the number of churches in this country, the number of churches needed, the number of buildings we've looked at in Aix-les-Bains, the number of euros that we need to raise. The numbers are overwhelming! But we truly believe that God is doing something great in this nation of France, and we also believe that He is able to provide immeasurable more than we can even ask or imagine.
So please, join us in praying. Pray for the nation of France, that the people would know and follow Jesus. Pray for the people of Aix-les-Bains, that they would be drawn to the Kingdom of God through our church community, Le Rivage. Pray for finances, and if you feel so inclined, participate financially with a one-time gift for the building project of our little church in Aix-les-Bains. By receiving donations now, as our church and budget grow in the future, we will then be able pay off the building more quickly and give to others, launching other churches across France and the world.
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