25th Anniversary of France Pioneering, by Dr Marc Choi

On May 17, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of France pioneering. It was held in a private conservatory, very close to our center. It was well located, so that after the ceremony all participants were able to travel to the center for a buffet-style dinner. Most people stayed around and talked until 8 or 9p.m.

Each of our French ministries co-worked very well during the ceremony. About 70 people total participated, including many servants of God from abroad: Pastor Abraham Lee and Sara Lee from Köln, Dr Peter Chang and Stephan Park from Bonn, Daniel Park from Dusseldorf, Paul Lee from Greece, David Suk from England, Moses Yoon from Korea, and all coworkers from Belgium. I gave a message on John 14, “Jesus, The Way,” and many accepted Jesus as the way through this message. We covered several scenarios that can cause people to lose their way, both for Christians and non-Christians, but I urged us to find our true way in Jesus.

A young student from Nantes named François participated in the ceremony and received much grace. Missionary Christine Aussant testified as a witness of God’s work in France. Sh Thierry and brother Anthony presented their testimonies, representing both older and newer generations in the ministry. Nine young leaders led singspiration and special music. There was also a folkloric French dance which was very inspiring, and Sh. Sara shared a special poem with other Paris coworkers. Sh. Eric and Bruno prepared a slideshow on the history of French gospel work. And delicious food was served by the Nantes and Decartes ministries.

Through our ceremony, I learned that God is always faithful, despite man’s weakness. The number 25 is the number of years Abraham waited for Isaac. So following God’s way of working, we believe God spent the past 25 years founding the ministry slowly, but solidly. We believe that God will work in power through each coworker personally, from now on. I believe in 25 years there will be about 500 members among us. But other servants believed that vision was too small; it will be not 500, but 1000! Either way, I am certain God will bless His work in France very abundantly.