Drawn Back to a Place of Peace and Hope

Year after year, Linda* brought her four children to kids’ clubs and annual carnivals at Beacon Community Center in France. As an Algerian Muslim in community where Muslims vastly outnumber evangelical Christians, she had few opportunities to hear the gospel presented in a culturally relevant way. But each time she took her children to this ministry center or participated in women’s activities there, she and her family were exposed to the message of Christ.

Since it was founded by Christar workers in 2003, Beacon Community Center has served as a hub for outreach and discipleship among least-reached people in France, a country that’s home to nearly six million Muslims. Through creative outreaches ranging from language classes to ladies’ folk dance nights to carnivals for children, a team of workers and local believers seeks to build cultural bridges with immigrants and share good news.

As she participated in activities like craft and cooking classes and care fairs (days of pampering for women), Linda was part of many conversations about spiritual matters. Once, when Christ worker Nora asked her and several other Muslim women what they believed about heaven, their answers revealed their confusion about life after death. Finally, one of them inquired about Nora’s beliefs, and Nora praised God for an open door to share the message of salvation. She and her teammates faithfully asked the Lord to work in Linda’s heart.

Four years ago, Linda moved away, and Nora and her team didn’t see or hear from their Algerian friend. But, Linda hadn’t forgotten about the sense of hope she’d tasted at Beacon Community Center or the love she’d experienced.

When Linda moved again—this time closer to Beacon Community Center—those memories drew her. Recently she showed up at the ministry center to tell Nora that she was back and hoping to reconnect. She explained that she was eager to begin attending activities there once again as she knew that Christians loved “her people,” and that Beacon Community Center was a place of peace and hope with a “good feeling.”

Nora shares, “We want Linda and her whole family to personally know the Author of that peace and hope and realize that it is His presence in our lives that gives us that ‘good feeling.’ Pray she will understand that energy as the presence of Jesus and will choose to follow Him.”

Nora and her teammates have a long list of North African friends they’re committing to the Lord in prayer, trusting Him to work in each one’s heart. They ask God to give courage to Sally, a woman who’s been on the fence between Islam and Christianity for many years, praying that she and her two daughters will fully trust in Jesus soon. They pray that the Lord will draw an agnostic French man to faith as he attends church with his believing Kenyan wife and experiences Christian community. And, they ask their Heavenly Father to continue to bring least-reached people “randomly” to Beacon Community Center—people who may have never heard of God’s love for them.

They choose to trust the Lord even when they don’t see Him work right away. “God is continually working and will bring about eternal results,” says Nora. “Nothing eternal is ever accomplished apart from prayer. … God works when His people call on His name.”

Participate by Praying:

• Praise God for continuing to bring least-reached people with open hearts to activities at Beacon Community Center.
• Pray that those who come to this ministry center will be drawn to the Lord as they hear the truth and interact with believers.
• Ask God to encourage workers at Beacon Community Center as they wait for God to bring forth fruit from their efforts.
• Ask God to provide the funds needed to completely cover the monthly operating costs of this ministry center.