The missionary team has been strengthened and renewed

What event takes place in August each year and is attended by up to 120 people? It’s the annual retreat of France for Christ. This year it was marked by several innovations.

In previous years the retreat ran from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon. This year we started on the afternoon of Friday 25^th August and finished on Wednesday 30^th August. By including a weekend we enabled nearly all the associated workers to be present, as they are often busy during the week.

Six new young people on the Pass FPC program were also part of the 2023 vintage. Two will begin the year at Reims and four girls will be serving in Lens. The four young people who had completed their year were given their diplomas and a send off.

François-Régis and Evelyne Mougel have been in active retirement since last April. Up to now we had not had the chance to thank them for their faithful service for over 30 years or to celebrate this new stage in their career, but we did it with an aperitif in their honor on the Sunday evening. Several people, colleagues, friends and family related anecdotes about them and testified how they had been examples of faith, love and dedication for many of us.

We also were privileged to be able to listen to Erwan Cloarec, president of the CNEF (National Council of Franch Evangelicals), expounding the first three and the final chapter of the Epistle of James, illustrated by numerous personal examples drawn from life. We also deliberated on a text published by the CNEF on the subject of “Enthusiasm for Missions.” A digest of these very practical inputs will appear in the next edition of FPCInfos. I was particularly struck by the fact that “trial” and “temptation” are the same word in Greek, the context deciding which translation is appropriate. Trials start off an upward process leading to life, attachment to the Lord, perseverance, maturity in faith and a joy derived from future victory which is visible right through to eternity. On the other hand temptation leads to a revolt against God, to the satisfaction of selfish desires and finally to spiritual death.

Our prayer is that the difficulties in our life may prove to be trials rather than temptations!

These five days together make a considerable contribution to the unity of the missionary team and to developing a common identity fostered by many informal contacts to discuss, pray together and share news, and times of relaxation.

After an intensive and tiring, but blessed, time together we wish everyone a good start to the term under God’s benevolent care.

Sandrine Laporte

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