Topics for prayer
New stand-alone prayer guide
FM supporter Shirley Dobson has produced a Prayer Guide that allows
people to pray for various broad aspects of God's work in Franceover the course of a month. You can download it by clicking here.
Villers-lès-Nancy
Please pray for the church council in the week beginning 6 May as they seek God's guidance on the best project for increasing the size of their building from 65 m2 to 160 m2. Here's one of the options to help visualize things.
Monthly prayer bulletins
You asked for a more responsive prayer network -- so we're now launching one!
This new idea is designed to provide you with more timely prayer points and with improved feedback on answers to prayer. We don’t want to overwhelm you with information, just provide concise, targeted prayers to help you feel more connected with the missionaries you read about in the pages of the magazine.
If you supply us with your contact details, we'll take it from there. This is a free service and is due to start in May 2012. Ideally, we'd like to do things via email to keep our costs to a minimum -- but, if you don't have email and would still like to pray, we can also send the bulletins out by surface mail.
Thank you for praying!
Prayer requests from FM's churches
Edited
prayer
highlights from the latest issue of the French-language Action Missionnaire (April-June
2012). For fuller details, click
here to subscribe to the magazine.
To find out more about any of the churches below, please click here.
Auvergne Region
Montluçon:
Church members are inviting contacts to their Easter service. Please pray that those seeking the Lord will respond both to the invitation and to the Easter message.
Burgundy Region
Auxerre:
The
area where the church is located is undergoing
major
development, with new houses being built as well as the Social Centre,
Nursery, Leisure Centre and a Centre for Local Charities being brought
together in a building 50m from the church. Please pray that the church
will find the best ways of reaching out to the community.
Avallon:
This
is a small church who would welcome the arrival
of a committed
Christian family to help with the work. Please pray for this and for
results from tract distribution in the town.
Cosne-sur-Loire:
A
group of Swiss young people will come to help with
local outreach
over the Easter weekend. Please pray for practical details, protection
whilst travelling, and the impact of the Gospel in and around Cosnes.
La Charité-sur-Loire:
Give thanks for joint prayer evenings with other local churches that belong to the CNEF (National Council of French Evangelicals). The church has recently been engaged in tract distribution and has also been involved with the local Food Bank. Please pray that both of these activities will bring glory to God.
Brittany Region
Brest:
Several
new people have joined the church recently,
with three
asking to be baptised. The church is still looking for a full-time
pastor and asks for your prayers in relation to this, as well as for
the Lord’s guidance in relation to other organizational matters
(including building renovations).
Lannion:
Things
have got off to a good start in 2012 and the
church is
looking forward to a teaching weekend in May with Pastor Alain Monclair
from Quimper. Please pray for the impact of God’s Word through this
event.
Pontivy:
The
church is very aware of the Lord’s presence, but
asks for wisdom
in knowing how best to respond to various requests. Please also pray
that the church will persevere with the proclamation of the gospel.
Rennes-Sud:
Please
pray for the church’s evangelistic outreach
activities around
Easter and also for internal refurbishment works in the church’s new
building (as well as finance for this project).
Saint-Brieuc:
Work
continues on renovation of the new building. In
the meantime, a
local Catholic parish has provided the church with meeting rooms.
Several people are preparing for a baptismal service in May, but other
church members are suffering due to ill health or unemployment. Please
pray for them.
Lamballe:
Please
pray for the church’s continued efforts at
sharing the gospel
via literature stands at local markets and via personal contacts.
Vannes:
A
new church council has been appointed, but the
pastor (Marc Jouan)
will be stepping down in June 2012, so the church asks for prayer for a
replacement and also for wisdom as the new members of the council get
used to their responsibilities.
Vitré:
The church has recently gained about 10 new members (including two by conversion). Please pray for the church’s Easter concert and for an evangelistic event with the French equivalent of Christians in Sport later in the year.
Central Region
Blois:
Praise
God that the church was recently able to
celebrate its
official opening following building work. Please pray that a Brazilian
couple (Michel and Sara Pinto) due to come and lead the church will
soon receive their visas.
Chinon:
Please
pray that recent conversions and growing
spiritual fervour
among the church’s youngsters will encourage more mature members to
rediscover their “first love” and to commit fully to serving the Lord.
The church continues to pray for a new, committed Christian family to
come and live in the town.
Montreuil-Bellay:
Please
pray for wisdom as the church seeks God’s
will in relation to the best outreach activities in their locality.
Tours-Nord:
Praise
God for the joy of recent baptisms and for
the fact that
seekers feel at ease in the church. Please pray that the Lord will
guide the church as they continue to look for a suitable building of
their own.
Vendôme:
Thank the Lord for a number of new visitors who have been attending the church’s Christianity Explored-type course. Please pray that recent theological tensions (over the State of Israel) will not prove too disruptive. The church would also like to welcome a couple from Quebec to come and work among them; please pray that the Lord’s will might be done in relation to this.
Lorraine and Picardy Regions
Abbeville:
Give
thanks for the church’s new multimedia library
which has opened
in the town centre and has around 60 members. It provides an excellent
“shop-window” for the church and its activities. Please pray for the
Gospel Group who hope to perform outside the church as part of the
national Music Festival on 21 June. Thank God for the church’s
commitment to prayer and fellowship.
Amiens:
Thank
God that church numbers have been replenished
following the
setting-up of the church-plant in Albert. Ask God to bless the church’s
various groups (especially those working among children, young people
and students).
Albert:
Together
with Abbeville and Amiens, this is the
third church
pastored by Fabien Llinares and his wife, Emmanuelle. Please pray for
them as they work to see the Kingdom of God extended in this part of
France.
Amnéville:
The
church is successfully using Dave Brown’s
Passerelles material
as part of its outreach. An Easter concert (6 April) and an evening
with a Christian author (25 May) are also planned for the next couple
of months. Plans for a new building are advancing well – please pray
for all those involved in these various activities.
Beauvais:
The
new building is providing the church with good
opportunities.
Please pray for the official opening over the weekend of 16-17 June and
also for the church’s third children’s weekend in May.
Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy:
The
period from March to June is always the busiest
in the church’s
calendar. Please pray for new members of the church council, for Easter
outreach, for the church weekend, and for street concerts organized
with Youth for Christ in June.
Villers-lès-Nancy:
The church (which also hosts a Chinese-speaking congregation) has been busy with outreach in the first months of 2012. Please pray for the church’s planned expansion (from 63 to 160 square metres), especially in terms of a solution to the problem over parking spaces. Please also pray that new members can be found for the church council.
Paris and Île-de-France Region
Asnières:
The
church’s leaders, Peter and Suzanne Brown, will
be leaving for
Canada in the summer of 2012. A new couple, Nicol and Marie-José
Lesaint, are preparing to take over from them. Please pray for the
transition. The church needs to reflect on whether or not now would be
a good time to plant a daughter church. Please pray for wisdom as
various options are considered.
Chartres:
The
church is still looking for a successor to their
current pastor.
Please pray for this as well as for many members who are ill. Give
thanks that the church now owns the building where they’ve been meeting
for the past 20 years.
Ecclésia:
Various
outreach activities (such as English
conversation classes
and praise evenings) have brought new people into contact with the
church. Please pray that these friends will turn to the Lord and be
saved.
Église de la Brie:
The
growth of the church’s various groups (and the
time involved in
setting everything up and dismantling it afterwards) means that church
members are very keen to buy their own premises. The ideal place has
been found, but financing the project will require significant
investment. Please pray that donors will come forward and that
solutions will be found.
Le Pré Saint-Gervais:
Give
thanks for those attending the church’s Alpha
groups and pray
that will come to know the Lord for themselves. Please also continue to
pray for Jonathan Vaughan as he settles into his role as the church’s
probationary pastor and for Rachel as she supports him in this role as
well as looking after their four young daughters.
Paris-Daumesnil:
Give
thanks for a spiritual thirst within the church
and pray that the Lord will enable the congregation to grow.
Paris-Télégraphe:
Give
thanks for new people have joined the church
and pray for
wisdom as the church considers possible works to create more space.
Give thanks too for various visitors from the locality and pray that
the new “John 3:16 meetings” (similar to the Alpha Course) will result
in people coming to faith.
Paris-Villiers:
Please
pray for the impact of the multimedia Bible
exhibition that
the church will be hosting in Holy Week. Pray too that the church’s use
of the Passerelles material
will enable seekers to find faith.
Taverny-Beauchamp:
Give thanks that this relatively new church is seeing healthy growth. An art exhibition and music concert are planned to raise its profile further in the local area. Please pray for this and for an evangelistic outreach team who are due to join the church over the summer.
Rhône-Alpes Region
Albertville:
Praise
God that youth and children’s activities are
flourishing and
that many young people are really growing in their faith. Give thanks
for the church’s scrapbooking activities that bring young and old
together. Please pray for wisdom in the search for a pastor to succeed
Christian Mary who retires in the spring of 2013.
Bourg Saint-Maurice:
Give
thanks that the church’s new internet site has
brought in some
visitors. Please pray for Élisabeth Coutrot, the pastor’s wife, as she
leads a Bible study group that has started as a follow-on from an Alpha
Course run by the local Catholic church.
Bourgneuf:
Give
thanks that the church’s Fairtrade exhibitions
are proving
increasingly popular. Please pray for the church as it goes through a
period of administrative and pastoral restructuring.
Brignoud:
Please
pray for the church as they organize a
follow-up to their
Alpha Course, focussing on the Gospel of John. Pray that seekers will
come to faith in Jesus. Give thanks that various church members have
been involved in short-term mission projects, notably in Nepal.
Pontcharra:
Give
thanks that Brignoud’s daughter-church has been
able to
organize monthly services in rooms loaned by the town council. Please
pray that Julien Revil, currently studying at the Geneva Bible
Institute, will be able to find work near Pontcharra so that he can
come and spend time as a trainee missionary with the church.
Champfleuri:
The
centre welcomes people from France and many
other countries for
training programmes and also for skiing holidays. Please pray that all
those who come to Champfleuri will be touched by the Lord’s love, grace
and peace.
Firminy:
Work
on the new building is entering its final
phase. Give thanks
for the 100 volunteers who’ve worked on the project for the past 18
months. In addition to a worship area seating up to 200, the annexe
provides an ideal space for the church’s Food Bank, for choir
rehearsals, and for youth work. Please pray that the space will
continue to be used wisely, especially as a venue for talking with
those who receive food parcels. Pray that the new building will soon be
filled on Sundays.
Saint-Étienne Sud:
Give
thanks for several church members who have
recently been
involved in overseas mission projects and pray that the church as a
whole will be conscious of its missionary role within the city. Please
pray in particular for outreach opportunities among Muslim friends and
neighbours.
Voiron:
After 20 years spent in their old building, the church has decided to move to the north of the town where they will meet in a barn belonging to one of the members. Please pray for the building work that remains to be done and for the transition period while members meet in each other’s homes. Thank God for very good relationships with other churches in the area around Grenoble.
Provence-Côte d’Azur Region
Marseille Saint-Just:
Praise
God for church growth and recent baptisms.
The church also
gets alongside many who struggle for personal or economic reasons:
please pray for healing and solutions. The church is hoping to appoint
a part-time youth pastor in 2013: please pray for the Lord to provide
the right person/couple. Pray too for the impact of special events
focussing on missionary work in Afghanistan (April) and on the occult
(May).
Marseille Saint-Louis/Point Bible:
Give
thanks that the church is in the process of
buying new premises
better adapted to its needs. Praise God for a committed core of
members, but please also pray that this group will grow in size.
Marseille Saint-Tronc:
Give
thanks for increased levels of commitment
within the church in
various areas of service. Thanks to the church’s location, it receives
quite a few visitors – please pray that follow-up discussions will
prove fruitful.
Saint-Maximin La-Sainte-Baume:
The church, which started in the pastor’s living room 20 years ago, is the most recent member of the France Mission family. Praise God for steady growth over the past couple of decades and pray for the church’s various outreach and fellowship-building activities. Please pray particularly for Gary and Janet Goodge, an American couple who have come to work in the church to support the pastor, Christian Lefèbvre, who has a full-time job in addition to his pastoral responsibilities.
Thank you for praying!
