THOMAS' TRAVELS - JULY 2010
MARSEILLE, FRANCE
Did you know that the gypsy communities are made up of several people groups? They include Roms, Manouch (with several sub-groups), Catalan and Spanish. Each of these has its own language. I spent June 14 - 20 ministering among the Spanish gypsies. Most of them originate from Andalusia (Southern Spain). It took me a few minutes to get used to their way of speaking. Since some members of the congregation are French-speaking people, I had to use both languages during the entire week. Most of the time, I was in the neighborhood of Saint Joseph. It is a very poor area with its share of thievery and drug-trafficking. Just three weeks before I arrived, there had been a shoot-out among drug-traffickers, and seven people were killed. This took place within a seven-minute walk of where we held the meetings.
The church where I ministered has some 60 members, and very limited meeting facilities. The first night, we met indoors and were full to overflowing. We had planned to meet outside, but were prevented by the heavy rains. The people were very fervent in their worship, and what they lacked in talent, they made up for in decibels. There was no space to have people come forward for prayer, so I just had them to stand up. The following evening, we had clear blue skies, and held the meetings outside in the church courtyard. About a hundred people showed up, and again the singing was most impressive. A 12-year old lad named Diego did a terrific job in singing; I was told that he had started singing at the age of seven.
Originally I was to have four meetings, but the pastor, Edouard Santiago, kept adding more, so I ended up having seven meetings, including a teaching session for young people in the course of which two of the young people prayed to receive Christ.
One evening I preached in a church in the town of VITROLLES, about 25 kilometers from Marseille. It was a larger church with some 80 members, and every seat was taken. The pastor, Juan Fernandez, and his colleagues are inviting me back for a three-day weekend mission in October. He plans to involve ten or fifteen other churches and hold the meetings in a large hall that seats 1,000. I shared with Pastor Fernandez my deep concern for counseling and follow-up. This is one of the big weaknesses in the gypsy community. Another problem is the lack of spiritual unity among the churches.
Pastor Santiago and I attended a meeting with an Armenian pastor and an Algerian pastor. We discussed plans for a mini-festival type of outreach in an area of Marseille next April or May. This would be in the context of the Luis Palau festival which is scheduled for July 1, 2, and 3, 2011.
In addition to the ministry in the churches, I had an interesting time in personal witnessing. I witnessed to a man named José whose doctor had given him two months to live, but in spite of all of our conversations with him, he refused to surrender totally to Christ. I spoke with another person, a young man named Diego, who had just been suspended from his work for some misdeed, and I talked earnestly with him about his need for Christ. Later on he told me that in his room he surrendered his heart to Christ. So I said to Diego, "That's good, but tonight it's important to make a public stand for Christ." So he did so.
Two of the church members and the pastor drove me to the train station in Marseille. As we stood in the station, there occurred one of those 'divine appointments'. A young lady named Stephanie came over to where we were talking, and joined in our conversation. It was obvious to me that she had some personal problems that she wanted to share with somebody. In the course of the conversation, I asked her if she was a believer in Christ, and she said 'Yes.' It happened that in my pocket I had a Gospel of Luke that had some addresses of Pentecostal churches in Marseille in it, so I gave it to her. Then I asked her if we could pray for her. So we had a little prayer meeting in the train station.
FURTHER TRAVEL:
July 9 - 14, I will be in London, England, at the Manor Park Christian Center.
July 23 - August 3, I will be in Kampala, Uganda, helping the churches prepare for the September festival with Andrew Palau.
I covet your prayers and support during this season, and I want to sincerely thank each of you who pray for me and give so sacrificially during these tough times.
May God bless you and yours, and provide for your own needs.
Bill preaching in St Joseph
Diego singing at the outdoor meeting
Bill preaching in St Joseph