Grenoble: Meeting Place of the World

We are blessed to be in such a strategic city in Europe.  Call it what you may - Silicon Valley of France,  Science Research Mecca, University City, Cradle of the French Revolution, Olympic City, or Capital of the French Alps - Grenoble attracts people from all nations, languages and cultures. We are believing for a spiritual revolution to take place among international students, immigrants, and all seekers of the spiritual reality found in Jesus Christ.

Europe is the only continent in the world where the church is in spiritual decline. And France leads the pack in terms of spiritual need. Less than 1 percent are evangelical Christians.  And yet France has the highest number of least-reached people groups in the EU, numbering 34.  God has sent  people here from the remotest parts of the most unreached nations on earth. The ends of the earth are literally on our doorstep.  On the campus of Grenoble University alone there are 110 nations represented. This is a key opportunity that we must seize and not ignore.

God has placed on our hearts a special burden for the Maghrebi community of France.  Our focus  is the university campus, as we pioneer a contextualized ministry to Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians here. We hope to plant a model that can be reproduced in other European cities who also struggle with issues relating to immigration, cultural integration, and religious tolerance.   We are trying to reach key future  leaders of the Arab world as they come to study in Europe, extending the impact of the gospel potentially beyond today’s campus to the corporations, palaces and parliaments of tomorrow’s North Africa, Middle East, and beyond.  We are also demonstrating the love and compassion of Christ in the least favored quarters of the city through tangible expressions of God’s love and compassion that touches real felt needs.

Through small and large group gatherings we are reaching and discipling students.  We are close to locating a student ministry center near the campus of Grenoble University which will house a large room for student worship gatherings, concerts and events. We also envision food and clothing distribution, a 24-hour prayer room, small meeting rooms for English classes, and a coffee bar where students can hang out. This Spring we will be holding several outreach events. France is in such need of spiritual life and power that is absent of all religious formalism.  Students represent one of the most promising harvest fields in the world. Pray for us as we touch the future leaders, innovaters, and policy makers of tomorrow.