All articles in category Western Europe
October 2018
Articles > World Mission > Europe > Western Europe > France
Reaching Carcassonne, France
‘Reaching Carcassonne’ 2018 took place from 21-28 August, in partnership with ‘La Voix des Prophètes’ and United Beach Missions (UBM), and with the support of ‘La Maison de la Bible’. The team of 29 was made up of 10 ladies and 19 men, aged between 17 and 67, including students, professionals, civil servants and retired people from such different places as France, England, Germany, Northern Ireland and Belgium. It was an encouragement to see several from our church, recently converted, participating in the outreach. The team was encouraged by the daily Bible times on the theme of ‘The mouth speaks what the heart is full...
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October 2018
Articles > World Mission > Europe > Western Europe > France > News > Events > Persecution
Carcassonne terrorist attack: a Christian response
Terrorism has hit again! Since Friday 23rd March, France has been in shock. The attack in Carcassonne and Trèbes left four people dead and many injured physically and psychologically. The French are sad, angry and indignant. As Christians, how should we react? What thoughts should guide us?  Today we want to weep with those who weep (Rom 12.15). We want to pray for those who suffer the loss of a loved one. We want to pray for them to find their consolation in God.  “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all”(Romans 12:17). While...
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By Paul Wells
February 2017
France
Evangelicalism in France
Protestantism is a very marginal minority in France, numerically less than 2 per cent of the total population. France Mission estimates there are 1,700,000 Protestants in France and 600,000 evangelicals. The first figure seems generous. People can say they are Protestants just because they are not Catholics. They sympathise with the Protestant minority because they take them to stand for freedom of conscience and tolerance. In the second half of the 20th century, the Roman Catholic Church ‘lost’ France, with religious practice and christenings plummeting. In spite of that, Catholicism is still a cultural heavyweight in society, and, if you say you are ‘Christian’, that...
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February 2017
Articles > World Mission > Europe > Western Europe > France
France
In the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire. His subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, and was one of the Allied Powers in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War. The Fifth Republic, led...
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By Peter Winch
February 2016
Germany
Encouragement in Berlin
Liberal Christianity, National Socialism, Communism: the turbulent developments of modern German history have seemingly attacked the true church from every angle, and this is the case in Germany’s capital city, Berlin. Berlin has a population of 3.5 million and is at the centre of one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies. It is also playing a significant role in the European refugee crisis, welcoming thousands of migrants every month. Spiritual desert However, a mere 0.5 per cent of those living in this strategic city attend an evangelical church and 60 per cent would self-identify as atheistic. Against this backdrop, it has been all the more encouraging, therefore,...
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By Ben Franks
August 2015
Germany
Berlin church plant
It is apparent that Western Europe is still a mission field in 2015. Nations that would have once boasted full churches and many believers have drifted far from the truth of the gospel. Aware of this need, the church planting committee of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales (EPCEW) was in much discussion, during late 2011 and into 2012, concerning the needs and opportunities in Europe. In God’s providence, there were several German Christians known by one of EPCEW’s ministers and after several on-the-ground meetings in Germany, it became clear that a potential church planting nucleus was developing in Berlin. So, in September...
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October 2013
France
What can be done?
Fiona Steward, a missionary with UFM Worldwide and Grace Baptist Mission, has been reaching out to students in Bordeaux, France, for the last 8 years. She shared her inmost motivations in a recent prayer letter. What can be done without God? An obvious question, but one that our sinful, self-reliant, self-glorifying hearts need to grasp more. It is a deep consolation to be reminded that no one can stop the Lord accomplishing all that he has purposed. Everything is through and for Christ. The glory can only ever go to him. What can be done without the cross? I love what was said of Spurgeon’s...
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