Arlin & Pamela HENDRIX
15 B chemin Sapinière
69330 Meyzieu, FRANCE
Telephone & fax: +33 478.04.13.06
E-mail: hendrixap@gmail.com

Sponsor Information
White Station Church of Christ
Attn: Hendrix Mission
1106 Colonial Road
Memphis, TN 38117

Contact: Jack Boyd
Phone 901-550-1585
jbond2202@comcast.net

Missions elder: Richie Lynn
Phone 901-606-5999
RBALynn@gmail.com

France: The Challenge

(by Yann Opsitch)

In his book God in the Wasteland, (Eerdmans) David Wells makes a statement which applies to our task in France: ?If in the Middle Ages Catholicism was the center of the culture, posing an overwhelming challenge to the Reformers, modernity is in the center of our culture, and the challenge it poses is even more serious.?

The fact is that without the Word of God, without faith in the God revealed in the writings of the Old and New Testaments, no man is equipped to face the challenge of any secular society.

This gives us a tremendous opportunity in France. Why? So many Catholic priests and leaders have told me that they feel [ill-equipped] to deal with the attitudes and questions Catholics have today.

When the last book by the Pope came out, it was the best-selling book in France for several months. Why? Because Catholics and non-believers in France are looking for answers to their questions in a secular society (a society for which faith in God or His Word has no validity and usefulness). Many who have read the book written by the Pope were disappointed. Why? Because the Pope tried to answer deep moral and spiritual questions with religious tradition, instead of going to God's Word.

The Catholics and unbelievers in France are not preoccupied with what used to be the big issues with Roman Catholicism (original sin, the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the worship of Mary, the role of Peter, etc.)... They are wanting answers that go back to the roots of Christianity and of the Christian faith.

This is an opportunity to present the beauty and the greatness of God's Word and of New Testament Christianity in its original simplicity.