As was pointed out in the previous newsletter, there is a burden to raise up shining lampstands and strengthen existing churches throughout French-speaking Europe. From May to September, many thousands will gather throughout France to attend the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. During this time, teams of saints from 36 different countries will join with local saints to preach the gospel in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. From May 6 to July 17, saints will preach the gospel in the French cities of Marseille, Montpellier, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Caen, Rennes, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, and Paris, as well as Brussels, Belgium. From July 21 to September 9, saints will preach the gospel in the French cities of Paris, Lille, Rouen, Lyon, Strasbourg, and Toulouse, as well as Geneva, Switzerland, and Mertzig, Luxembourg.

For the saints’ encouragement and for their prayer, we present two brief reports from a gospel trip of FTTA-XB trainees with their prayer burdens. We hope to share more reports of upcoming gospel trips as the saints continue to labor in the French-speaking countries of Europe. May the Lord gain all that is on His heart.

From the FTTA-XB trainees (1):

Twenty-one trainees from the Boston Extension of the Full-time Training in Anaheim flew to Paris, France, arriving safely on May the 3rd. That evening, the 2024 International Blending Conference began in Paris. This conference was a respeaking of the 2024 International Chinese-Speaking Conference. This conference was a sweet opportunity for three hundred saints from twenty-one countries to blend together.

After the conference ended, we all went to the new meeting hall in Paris on the 5th, where we had fellowship with the brothers regarding the Lord’s move in France and the burden behind these gospel trips.

On the 6th, we travelled from Paris to Marseille, the second largest city in France, to begin the first gospel trip. We had an orientation meeting with all the saints who would participate and prayed for our time there, especially that the Lord would raise up families as a solid foundation for His testimony in Marseille.

From May 7 to 9, we distributed 713 Bibles, exchanged personal contacts with eighty-six people, led five to pray to receive the Lord, and had five appointments. Marseille was very busy because of the torch relay, and we contacted a mix of both locals and tourists. There were many who were open. Several people even came back the next day to bring their families and friends to receive Bibles.

Throughout the week, we also visited three families in Southern France who are open to the saints in the recovery. We had time with one family on at least four occasions this week.

On the evening of the 9th, we had a harvest meeting with seven new ones in attendance, including some members of a family that we visited and three young students. We ate, sang together, and had some fellowship on the Bible being a divine romance. The new ones enjoyed this time of being together with the saints. One sister shared that she was encouraged to find lovers of the Lord to pursue Him with.

We thank the Lord that He has given us a strong beginning here in Marseille, a city with great strategic importance in southern France.

Prayer burdens:

1. That the Lord would give us wisdom in following up with all the new ones that we have contacted.
2. Even more, that the Lord would raise up solid families in Marseille whose homes could contain so many seeking ones. There is a desperation that something stable could be established here.
3. That the new ones continue to attend gatherings with the local saints.

From the FTTA-XB trainees (2):

On May the 10th, our last evening in Marseille, we had a meeting with dinner, singing, and a message on the mystery of human life. There were nine new ones who attended (including one who had attended our meeting the previous night), as well as a sister who had not been meeting since she moved to Marseille.

We traveled to Montpellier on the 11th, where we would be until the morning of the 15th. On the Lord’s Day, the 12th, we began by setting up a distribution table. We passed out 133 Bibles, received twenty-six personal contacts, had three appointments, and led one person to pray to receive the Lord.

Montpellier has a thriving university culture, and we encountered more young people here than in Marseille. It was relatively quiet in town today, but we still had many significant conversations with those who came to our table. Many of the ones who stopped at our table were very open. Despite not passing out as many Bibles, we still made a significant number of personal contacts, many of whom were happy to have a second contact. We feel that the Lord has been pouring out His blessing in an unprecedented way.

We met a law student who is a new believer. She was very open and had lunch with the sisters immediately. She then met with a group of saints in the evening at one of the saint’s Airbnb for dinner, singing, pray-reading, and fellowship. She was impressed that we need to eat the Lord--we just need to "taste and see." She will get coffee with the sisters tomorrow.

Two people came to the table who had just asked the Lord if they could receive a free Bible today. One woman asked the Lord while she was on the tram, and then saw our table as soon as she got off. They were both very touched and are planning to come to our harvest meeting on Tuesday.

We met another student who had just lost her Bible and needed a new one. Three of the saints had dinner with her tonight, and she shared her testimony with us. She is a Christian who had set God aside since moving there; eventually, the Lord touched her that she had forgotten about Him even though He had not forgotten about her. Overall, she was very seeking and wants to come on Tuesday.

Prayer Burdens:

1. That we would have a second opportunity to spend time with the twenty-six new ones that we received today and that they would attend the harvest meeting on Tuesday.
2. That the Lord would continue to bless our distribution table tomorrow and Tuesday. The Olympic torch will arrive in Montpellier tomorrow, so we expect that there will be many more people in the streets.
3. That the Lord would take a step this week in raising up a solid testimony in Montpellier.

Editors’ note: We realize that many of the prayer burdens are dated; nevertheless, we have included them so that those who are burdened to pray would have a sense of what to pray for, knowing that these gospel trips will continue through September 9th.