Evangelism, Outreach, and Student Ministry in France (Meaghan McNeil)

When you think of France, what comes to mind? Romance, croissants, the Eiffel Tower? The France of our imagination is idyllic, but beneath the façade is a nation marked by spiritual darkness and hopelessness.

Despite its reputation as a Christian country, the Church and its influence have all but disappeared from French society. With a population of nearly 68 million, only around 1% of people living in France claim to know Jesus as Lord. Most people don’t know any Christians. They have nowhere to turn to find hope, the kind of hope that lasts, transforms, and brings salvation—hope found only in Jesus.

The young people of France suffer greatly. They are frustrated by generations of false promises and false hope, but they are hungry for revival. My French colleagues are seeing an unprecedented surge in young people seeking answers to spiritual questions—a topic that has long remained taboo in post-revolutionary France. God is working among these young people. He loves them, and He has not forgotten them, He is stirring their hearts, even as the Church has declined around them.

The small and under-resourced Church in France is desperate to reach these young seekers, but they can’t do it alone. They don’t have the workers or the funds to grow their outreach ministries. That’s where Greater Europe Mission (GEM) and missionaries like me come in to help fill the gap.

In partnership with a French-led outreach ministry, and while serving as a part of GEM’s team of over 300 missionaries in Europe, I will be working with university students in Lyon. I will help the team lead small groups, bible studies, and other ministries to engage the population of over 200,000 students living in the city.

I am excited that God has led me to this ministry, where I can use the experience I’ve gained while serving in campus ministry in Halifax, Nova Scotia. God has prepared me for this role and this opportunity to help the French Church reach a new generation of young people.

But this ministry won’t be possible without your support. The French Church does not have the resources to pursue this kind of ministry without support from missionaries and donors from North America. So please prayerfully consider partnering with my missionary ministry in France. Consider signing up to pray and learn more about France and French ministry through regular email updates. And please also consider committing to a monthly donation to cover my expenses while I work with the Church in France to reach young people with a message of hope and new life in Jesus.