The Bridge Paris University and Young Professionals Group, part of the Bridge International Church in Paris, France enjoys periodic weekend retreats in St. Maulvis, France, hosted by a mother and daughter in their summer home. This is a multi-national group; Sheila and her mom are originally from India, Suzanne Spolarich, AGWM Personnel, from the US, and the students come from various nations. This time the countries represented were China, Cameroon, the Congo, France, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. So many students from so many different nations meet at The Bridge and become brothers and sisters in Christ!
God is at work in these students’ lives: Rita was recently baptized, Emmanuelle has stepped up to leadership in the group, several after recent graduation are looking for full-time work. All of them are becoming disciples of Jesus, desiring to know him better and follow his plan for their lives.
The theme for the Spring 2015 Retreat was "Learning Christian Disciplines." Rachel shared about waiting on God; Sheila stressed the necessity of praising God; Emmanuelle emphasized that without prayer a relationship with the Lord is impossible; Guy challenged everyone to start reading and studying the Bible in order to go further in our relationships with Jesus; and Suzanne taught on the benefits of fasting hand in hand with prayer, especially when we seek to overcome an obstacle to our spiritual growth.
At our last meal together, Suzanne asked each participant to share the one thing that would be implemented as a Christian discipline in their lives. Of course, the answers were varied, some wanting to pursue “waiting on God,” others desiring to “read and study the Bible” more regularly, a few sensing the need to join fasting to prayer in order to move ahead in following Jesus.
There were rich times of praise and prayer together. Delicious meals were prepared by Rachel and Sheila. Fun times playing games and sharing at meal times drew the group closer together in friendship and all grew closer to Jesus.
The Bridge Paris University and Young Professionals Group, part of the Bridge International Church in Paris, France enjoys periodic weekend retreats in St. Maulvis, France, hosted by a mother and daughter in their summer home.
This is a multi-national group; Sheila and her mom are originally from India, Suzanne Spolarich, AGWM Personnel, from the US, and the students come from various nations. This time the countries represented were China, Cameroon, the Congo, France, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. So many students from so many different nations meet at The Bridge and become brothers and sisters in Christ!
God is at work in these students’ lives: Rita was recently baptized, Emmanuelle has stepped up to leadership in the group, several after recent graduation are looking for full-time work. All of them are becoming disciples of Jesus, desiring to know him better and follow his plan for their lives.
The theme for the Spring 2015 Retreat was "Learning Christian Disciplines." Rachel shared about waiting on God; Sheila stressed the necessity of praising God; Emmanuelle emphasized that without prayer a relationship with the Lord is impossible; Guy challenged everyone to start reading and studying the Bible in order to go further in our relationships with Jesus; and Suzanne taught on the benefits of fasting hand in hand with prayer, especially when we seek to overcome an obstacle to our spiritual growth.
At our last meal together, Suzanne asked each participant to share the one thing that would be implemented as a Christian discipline in their lives. Of course, the answers were varied, some wanting to pursue “waiting on God,” others desiring to “read and study the Bible” more regularly, a few sensing the need to join fasting to prayer in order to move ahead in following Jesus.
There were rich times of praise and prayer together. Delicious meals were prepared by Rachel and Sheila. Fun times playing games and sharing at meal times drew the group closer together in friendship and all grew closer to Jesus.
One of the most dynamic and powerful works of the Holy Spirit in our day certainly is the Pentecostal revival among the Gypsies Streams of this revival started in the decade of the 1950s. God began to pour out His Spirit upon the diverse ethnic groups of Gypsies in Europe and around the world. Because of prejudice and ill reputation, many leaders were skeptical about the conversion of Gypsies, but over time, these leaders recognized that God is no respecter of persons.
Spain has also experienced phenomenal growth as today there are over 200 000 baptized believers, some 600 Gypsy churches and 2500 preachers. The “Gitanos ” have evangelized Portugal and South America as well.
AGWM Personnel in France, Mark and Dalene Good tell of what is happening in their new church plant. “We’re experiencing some interesting ‘firsts’ in our non-traditional church plant, the Refuge. In mid-January, we challenged everyone in the church who would join us for the first time in starting the year in prayer and reflection with a 3 day corporate fast. Many were stretched in their faith and found a new dependence on God. Our leadership team also enjoyed personal ‘solo’ retreats during the corporate fast – traveling in two shifts to a nearby retreat center to spend 24 hours unplugged, alone and focused on soaking in His Presence. It’s amazing what just one day dedicated solely to Gad can benefit in realigning our hearts and gaining direction!
We also launched our first ministry teams, encouraging everyone in the church to serve and use their giftings on the prayer, hospitality, worship, communication and logistics teams. During worship last week, a high-pitched bark startled us all. Having someone bring their puppy into the service was a surprising ‘first’, but probably a natural result of reaching out to the unchurched French, who are unfamiliar with church ‘etiquette’ and who also bring dogs into most public spaces. We may have to deal with new challenges, but we are so happy for these new adventures of welcoming those who wouldn’t go to a ‘normal’ church.
About a year and a half ago, in a class to prepare candidates for baptism in the Creteil church in France, AGWM personnel, David Porter and another pastor prayed for these candidates. Suddenly something unusual happened. One of the ladies fell to the floor. As she lay there, suddenly her eyes opened wide and she looked like a zombie. She said, "I told you I wouldn't go out easily." David comments, “I was a bit surprised. I found out later that some of her family in Africa was into witchcraft. So we prayed for her. Another brother and I counseled with her a few days later and I wondered how the story would turn out.” 
“The other day, a young lady asked for counseling about a decision she had made. She was motivated and I learned that she had stood firm for the Lord during some hard times recently. Her ‘boyfriend’, the father of her children, couldn't stand the fact that she had taken a position for Jesus and he left her. But, she was radiant with the joy of the Lord. I admired her love and zeal.