OAC Publications
Borderlines
April 1998

TOGETHER - WITH THE CHURCH

by Colin Hadkiss

There is no evangelical church in Lauris, where MEPA is based, or in Cadenet, where I live. When I arrived in 1995, I tried several churches, including Centre Vie Chrétienne in Pertuis. The style of worship was not my cup of tea, and my initial reaction was not to return. However, their warm welcome encouraged me to go a second time, and I was received more like a returning friend than a visitor. By my third visit I was hooked!

At that time the church was made up of about twenty adults and twelve children. Half the adults have left over the last two years, sometimes in disappointing circumstances. These departures have placed a financial burden on those remaining, as we had just moved to larger premises.

It is easy to become discouraged when we are so few. However, the fluctuating size of this church mirrors my experience in London in the '70s and '80s. Remembering how things finally improved there gives me hope, and enables me to make some useful contributions based on what I learned over those years.

In fact, the church members remain positive and committed. The church cannot pay the pastor, Jean-Philippe Giacopelli. He was unemployed when I arrived. Now he has a good job, which is an answer to prayer for him and his family, but this reduces his availability to the church. Any negative impact of this is mitigated, however, by the willingness of others to get on with the job whether he is around or not.

In particular, there is a strong desire to reach out, with an evangelistic event being organised at the church every month, as well as a fortnightly afternoon house group aimed at non-Christian contacts. I have myself taken on the running of a meeting for ten to sixteen year-olds; this is mainly aimed at youngsters from the church families, but some outsiders have been coming along. Also, MEPA has been working with some of the church members, using its evangelistic questionnaire to contact people in the streets. So a witness is being maintained, and we pray for church growth through genuine conversions.