Called to serve the Lord? Who, me?

At the Charenton Centre in Paris on the 27^th and 28^th November 2023 the administrative leaders represented France Pour Christ at the Evangelical Centre (CEIA), an important gathering for publicizing the mission.

Many of the participants were not familiar with the Mission France Pour Christ. We encountered curiosity, encouraged young people to get involved in a Pass and had good times of sharing with people at a crossroads in their service for God or asking themselves what is the next step in their lives. We were also able to discuss the terms of a partnership with another organisation and sketch possible areas of collaboration.

Our presence at the CEIA also meant opportunities to meet other exhibitors, to build relationships, pick up new ideas and to be stimulated and encouraged ourselves. The theme for this gathering was “Calling, Crises and Chances.”

Jérémie, what did you take away from this meeting?

Primarily the importance of the theme for the evangelical world of today and tomorrow. Several thigns struck me:

First of all, we are above all called to serve God in this world as citizens of the city of God. This is how we can show our gratitude for the fact that our heavenly destiny is assured.

Secondly, it is a genuine joy to serve the Lord. We often give a negative impression of the ministry and that does not encourage other people. We are wrong to do this. We need to display the real joy there is in serving according to the call God has addressed to us. That involves finding ways of making the ministries more attractive, at least more encouraging.

What puts a brake on our responding to God’s call is the unwillingness to deny self and the desire to attain our personal aspirations or find self-fulfilment in the ministry. In fact self-denial is the obverse of the genuine joy of service following Jesus’ example. In a way self-denial enables one to accomplish things, which is a source of joy.

Finally I became aware that we need to re-think ministries of today and tomorrow: there needs to be more mutuality, double vocations, recognition of specialized ministries, financial innovation, anticipating future developments so as not simply to be responding to pressing needs.

We ought not to forget it is God who calls us to serve. We need to have a clear vision of the ministry. We also need to accompany people who desire to serve the Lord.

The FPC administrative leaders, Régis, Daniel and Jérémie

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