May 1 – The Local Church

La Brie Church

Location: “La Brie” (Melun, South-East of Paris)

Represented by Jeannie Brosseau

Current Context

La Brie Church was born out of a desire to reach out to native French people who hate organized religion and churches in general, which is a common attitude to encounter in modern France. Our mission is inspired by Acts 15:19: ”We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” We’re constantly thinking about ways to remove the barriers that prevent our friends from hearing the Gospel message. We create fun and accessible activities that are relevant to those we are reaching. In France, churches are often perceived as outdated and incomprehensible. Our desire is to be a loving and open community so that anyone who visits can begin to experience God’s love, meet Him and love the church anew.

Actions taken and results achieved in 2024

Families and youth are at the heart of our project. Since Covid-19, we have seen many 15-25 year olds come to church, serve one another and grow with God. They love the church, and are proud to talk about it to those around them, and boldly invite their friends. This is quite unheard of in a French context! Here are a few stories from 2024:

• Xabi grew up in the church because his grandparents prepared and baptized him. It’s a generational reproduction of faith which God calls us to. 
• For the first time, our group of middle-school students is led by a 22-year-old named Lucie. Her entire team is made up of young people aged 16-20, who have themselves come to faith via our church. We see God calling to Himself the next generation of leaders to take care of the future ones.
• During our summer camps, 14-year-old Noa gave her life to God and asked to be baptized. Her parents are atheists, but her older brother Roman, who converted a few years ago, opened the way for faith in this family! Today, Roman facilitates our high schoolers’ program and brings his girlfriend to our celebrations. God touches those around us!

A difficult event at the end of 2024 was the sudden departure of the senior pastor and his wife. Staff members have not been discouraged and continue to love and serve the community and host events. We see God at work. It’s his Church and He’s not letting it down. He’s constantly regenerating it for His glory, because He has a heart for the French, even though they are so far from Him!

Projects in 2025

2025 is a pivotal year for our church, with many challenges ahead as the founding couple will also be leaving us. We don’t want to be destabilized and are aware of our magnificent mission opportunity here in the Paris region! We will continue to strengthen our community and invest in the next generation of leaders. We need help, finances, wisdom and new team members!

Prayer topics

1. Pray for this transition: may God lead us and meet our needs!

2. Pray for the community, the new generation of leaders and believers.

Further information

1. La Brie church on the Impact France website: impactfrance.org/eglisedelabrie

2. The Brie church website: eglisedelabrie.com

Lyon SOS Church

Location: Lyon 

Represented by Jeannie Brosseau

Current Context

Planted in 2019 by Matt and Sarah Marvane, the Lyon SOS Church is a church for those who don’t go to church. Everything is designed to enable as many people as possible to simply hear the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus. Using the Book of Acts as our model, today, around 400 people come together every Sunday! 

Our main actions enable : 

• Welcoming those who don’t go to church; we now have 2 worship gatherings each week to welcome as many people as possible.
• Walking alongside newcomers to the faith: over 110 people have been baptized since the early days of the church and have benefited from individual follow-ups after baptism.
• Discipleship- we host open Bible studies every Thursday evening as well as weekly life groups. 

Irvin, who came from an atheist family, gave his life to Jesus in the early days of the church. Today, together with his wife and their 2 children, they are pillars of the church, following new paths of faith, and passionately serving the Lord. 

Actions taken and results achieved in 2024

In 2024 we saw God at work like never before through : 

• Welcoming 1,000 people to our 4 Christmas services where many souls accepted the true message of Christmas!
• Multiplication: establishing a second service, adding 65 people to our service team, creating 6 new life groups, and training 5 new people to walk shepherd new believers.
• A new structure for the church with the establishment of elders, deacons and ministry leaders to ensure a healthy local body of believers. 
• Church unity in prayer and worship: monthly prayer meetings are a must, and the whole church is eager to take part. All of our battles are fought on our knees in prayer and with our eyes fixed on Jesus with faith. 

Projects in 2025

We want to be a church ready to welcome the multitude! Our vision is to welcome 1,000 people by 2030! We believe that God wants to entrust many souls to our care, not because we are worthy, but because He is able. We trust that His heart is for all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, will be fulfilled here in Lyon. (1 Timothy 2:4) 

Prayer request

Pray that our local church can acquire its own space to establish itself in the community and welcome the multitudes. After an exceptional fund-raising campaign to purchase and renovate a building, a refusal from the local authorities pushed us in a new direction.

Further information

1. The Lyon SOS church on the Impact France website: impactfrance.org/soslyon

2. The Lyon SOS church website: eglisesoslyon.com