EP outreach in the French-speaking world
2006 marked 20 years of Europresse (the French arm of Evangelical Press’ missionary outreach through literature, correspondence courses, radio broadcasts and conferences work), and 2007 the 15th year of Europresse’s quarterly newspaper Les Échos de la Vérité. It has been a joy to see God’s Word change lives and ministries over these years.
In August 2006 I preached at two Bible camps at the invitation of Grace churches in Bohicon, Bénin and Atakpamé, Togo.
Just over 300 attended the Bohicon camp and several local preachers shared in the camp’s ministry. Rooted in the Scriptures, their messages challenged hearers to come to Christ and live Christ-centred lives. The interaction among attendees from several countries demonstrated clearly how the gospel breaks down all barriers.The camp in Togo lasted half the week and about 100 people came. Atakpamé is in a mountainous area, spread along a valley. There are two Grace churches there. They unite in a number of initiatives such as this camp and a live radio programme on Saturday mornings.Both camps had well-furnished book tables and many books were sold; this in Togo despite economic difficulties. It is such an encouragement to see the spread of the gospel message in all circumstances.In December the Lord opened the way for me to go to Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti. Only 90 minutes from the USA, this small Caribbean country is very unstable and one of the poorest in the world. Kidnappings and murders are daily news.Postal communications with Haiti have been difficult and until very recently we have been unable to supply EP books because of this. However, many Haitian preachers have enrolled in the EP preachers’ correspondence course.I preached in some Haitian churches and was asked to lecture at a local Bible Institute on ‘Predestination from Romans 9’. This was quite an experience – for me and them!Before going to Haiti, I visited Philadelphia for a convention of Haitian church leaders living in the US. Although I had only a few minutes to give a presentation, there was much interest.The weather was hot and sultry in Douala, Cameroon, but 17 men from Cameroon, Central African Republic and Tchad attended the EP conference there in February 2007, including Europresse workers Julien Naka (Bénin) and Paul N’Goran (Ivory Coast). It took the men from Central African Republic 3-4 days travelling each way with many difficulties, but they were very thankful to be there. The ministry was well received and generated many questions.Jean Katla in Cameroon continues to visit the main cities in Cameroon selling books and preaching, but he is getting on in years. We need to find someone to work alongside him.We then moved on to Bénin for the other conference there and Robert Strivens from England joined us. About 45 men attended this and we were blessed with high quality preaching and teaching. The main theme, ‘The pastor and preacher’, was dealt with from different angles.Julien Naka spoke on ‘Preaching – the preparation of the man’; Paul N’Goran dealt with ‘The pastor – who he is and what his charge is’, and Robert Strivens ‘Preaching according to Paul’.With such a God as our God, we can move forward confidently into the future, knowing that his purposes of grace will come to pass without failing.
Jean-Claude Souillot
