PROVENCE EN FAMILLE

by Mark Howe

This was the sixth year of organising summer outreaches, but I still experience that feeling of anticipation mixed with a hint of panic on the day the team is due to arrive. In the event about forty adults and teenagers and eight children converged on Cavaillon by car, coach, train and plane from Britain, France, Switzerland and the USA.

In the mornings we met together under an improvised shelter on the campsite to sing, pray and study God's word together. The team was drawn from many different backgrounds, but we soon learned to work with each other and the local church.

The team conformed to French stereotypes of the British by talking continuously about the weather. In our defence, it was rather hot: typically 35^oC (95^oF). We therefore decided to begin our evangelistic programme at 5pm, when the temperatures began to drop and the locals were back on the streets.

Most of the town was covered by a door to door distribution of information about the church and the outreach in the first two days. Some team members who spoke little French decided to tackle the outlying areas during the rest of the campaign. On one occasion they met an English-speaking woman, who had just lost her husband through an accident and was very keen to speak to Christians.

A small group visited people in their homes, offering them a Gospel. Each pair had at least one good contact per day.

The children's team ran two three day clubs in different parts of the town. Both areas had a large Arab population, and some of the children told us that they could not join the club because, "the God of the French is not our God." Despite this a total of about 35 children attended the two clubs regularly, and many of them memorised the Bible verses and remembered the stories.

In contrast to Britain, many French people seem to enjoy taking part in surveys: about 300 questionnaires were completed during the outreach. Even those with limited French were able to use the questionnaires, and a good percentage of those contacted requested some form of follow-up (the results will be included in the next edition of Borderlines).

Due to the heat, we decided to leave open-airs until around 9pm. Using fluorescent paint and an ultra-violet lamp we were able to continue working until late into the evening.

We set up in one of the main squares in the town. Julian Wiggin's saxophone solos always attracted a crowd, after which we used a sketchboard or an escapology routine to preach the Gospel. The open-airs attracted a regular following, and people were often ready to talk: sometimes it was hard to get the team back into the cars to take them back to the campsite!

We organised three meetings in a municipal hall close to the open-air site. The drama group, film and variety night each attracted between six and twelve outsiders, despite the sauna-like temperatures inside the hall.

We also showed the film on the campsite. We wondered if we would have to cancel the screening due to an impending thunderstorm. Throughout the evening we were aware of peals of thunder and flashes of lightning all around us, but the first drops of rain did not begin to fall until we had put the last of the equipment away - God is good!

Life in the South of France tends to shut down during August and early September, so it will be some time before we are able to follow up all those who have asked for a visit. In the meantime, please pray for all those who heard the Gospel through Provence en Famille. Three people stuck in my mind:

Jamel, a moslem who used to listen to a Christian radio station when he lived in Corsica, but had never met any evangelical Christians before. He made a decision to follow Christ on the streets, but we have not seen him since;

Suzie, a woman who came to almost all our open-airs and two of the meetings in the hall. She also brought along her friends and family. She would very much like to study the Bible with us in the autumn.

Audrey, a young girl who asked one of the team how she could become a Christian.

With Provence en Famille behind us, we are beginning to make plans for 1995: maybe you will join us next year!