Hope on Campus: How God is Changing Lives in Lille

I believed in God. No…I hated God. I saw Him the way I saw my father: cold, distant…and when He showed up, it was to punish.

I looked at the world—the suffering of my loved ones, of my family, of people everywhere—I asked Him the question many have already asked themselves: ‘Why do You let all this happen? Why do You let people suffer?’

And little by little, I fell into anger. That anger became hatred, and that hatred found a place within me. It settled in my body, in my mind, in my habits. And it fed on everything that was destroying me.

In northern France, the vibrant city of Lille is home to thousands of university students. Seeing an open door of opportunity in a country with few believers, Greater Europe Mission worker Emily Rezek joined a Christian ministry building relationships with and serving university students.

“The student ministry includes ‘French Corner’, where 10–20 international students gather each week to practice French,” Emily starts. “We also host a weekly Bible study with about 20–30 attendees. Our biggest event is Sunday night cultural soirées, in which students prepare a meal from their country/region/culture and teach us something about it. Typically, around 40-80 students come, but sometimes there’s as many as 100!”

These events are advertised by flyers placed throughout the university grounds, social media, and, of course, by word of mouth.

One evening, I’d had enough. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was drowning. And I cried out: ‘If anyone can hear me…please…save me from myself.’ The next morning, I went down to my mailbox as usual. And there, I found a flyer from the student ministry. I contacted them on Instagram. And I began a study.

The team of 5–10 volunteers serving in the university ministry is truly doing the Lord’s work. By making themselves available during such a formative season in students’ lives, they create meaningful opportunities to share God’s love. The time, prayer, and effort they invest into building an effective ministry make it especially encouraging to see and hear testimonies of how deeply students are being impacted.

For instance, a quiet, hard-to-read woman who cautiously began attending the ministry now attends regularly.

Emily recalls, “We were in the middle of a Bible series when she started coming, and she was really curious, but she never really said anything—it was hard to know what she was thinking or feeling. Eventually, we got to know each other well enough that I invited her to church and then to tea.

She shared that she grew up regularly going to, and loving, church with her dad—her mom never went. She grew to believe in God but didn’t really have a chance to learn much more about Him. She said that at some point her dad stopped going to church, so she stopped, too.

She had been here in Lille for quite a while before learning about our ministry, so when she started coming, she was excited to finally find a place where she could explore these questions that she had about faith. I think she feels like she has to make up for lost time—she’s been coming to every activity that we have,” Emily laughs.

Little by little, the Lord is cleansing my spirit. And I’m starting to feel that it’s truly grace. It’s not just a vague emotion. It’s liberation. Purification. Peace, even when everything around me is falling apart.

As you read this, the ministry in Lille continues to bring hope and understanding to students. Perhaps today, a seed is being planted in a student who has never heard the name Jesus before, or a veil is being removed from the eyes of a skeptic. There is no limit to how God will move through those who are obedient to do His will!

Would you join us in keeping these workers in your prayers? There is much to be done!

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Author:  

Leanne Monge Barrera serves in the Greater Europe Mission Canada Office as a Storyteller and Marketing Coordinator.

Brandon is a student at the University of Lille. The sub-story shared throughout this post is a snippet of his publicly shared testimony.