St. James Way: the journey of a mobile church

The St James Way has been one of the world’s important Christian pilgrimage paths since medieval times and recently has attracted a growing number of modern pilgrims from around the globe. One report claims that in 1985 only 120 people did the St. James Way; this year they are expecting 69,000!

St. James Way marker

Beginning anywhere in Europe pilgrims sometimes walk for weeks or months to visit the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela where the apostle Saint James the Great is said to be laid to rest. One may snigger at young people trekking to gain a glimpse of a piece of the “true cross” of Christ (found in the "Chapel of the Reliquary" of the cahedral), but their quest demonstrates a deep disillusionment with the barrenness of secularism and materialism, and shows, literally, how far Europeans will go in search of the transcendent.

The Cathedral — Santiago de Compostela

Sixteen people walked 91 miles in 7 days on an evangelistic pilgrimage, living as a “mobile church” demonstrating “Christian community in how we got along, inviting people we met to eat with us, and the like.”

The community

One of these pilgrims, Sam Schwartz, shared:

“Some of the ‘pilgrims’ on the trail didn’t wish to talk with us, but those that did would often walk with us for long distances talking openly about God. When we stopped and camped each night, we found great success in inviting people to dinner as extra food was always prepared just for this purpose. Dozens of people heard the entire Gospel, and many others didn’t get the whole verbal message, but knew we were God worshippers and could see the love that we had for them and others.”

Twinky (left) sharing a cup of cold water and more with fellow pilgrims

A hope of this St. James Way team was to pray, get to know Christ better, spend time with people, show them the love of Christ, share some good news and possibly connect them with an established European church or one of the emerging churches teams in Dublin, London, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Lisbon and of course Madrid.

Sam, Tracey and fellow pilgrims

Rick Satterthwaite relates a conversation he had with two Spanish women while journeying on St. James Way:

“[They] were walking a bit slowly and… drifted back to where I was. We talked and they were very glad to speak to me about our group, since they had slowly met about half of us. They were curious about our spiritual bent, and I was able to spend about three hours talking with them as we walked, rested and walked some more. It was perfectly natural to share the Gospel with them in this context – and was pretty clear they understood it. One of them said, ‘So, what was it that pushed you over the edge to commit yourself to Christ?’ And of course I was very happy to tell them. They were not at all scared off by all this God-talk, despite their very typically anti-church attitudes.”

One is never too old to be a pilgrim

“One of the ladies said to me, ‘There is a couple that has moved into my small town and I think they are starting a group like you guys'…. She is now more open than ever to take the risk to check this group out (American church planting missionaries) in part because she got an ‘inside view’ of who we are and what we are about without having to step into a church meeting. Very cool."

Pilgrims traveling together on the St. James Way

“A Canadian merged with our group for a couple of days and was accompanied by a… believer…. They ate with us, talked with everyone and hung about in the evenings. After the second night… she had committed her life to Christ.”

Larry and friends

In spite of sore feet and aching legs, Rick shares:

“Each evening we learned a new lesson about being… a Christian pilgrim. The participation was very high and we all learned a ton, because we were living this pilgrim thing in the flesh and in the spirit at the same time. What a life lesson!!! …No one missed the opportunity to learn something:

• the Christian pilgrim follows Christ,
• pilgrims use maps,
• pilgrims don't settle down in the towns along the way,
• pilgrims soon discover it is easier to travel light,
• pilgrims avoid traveling alone,
• pilgrims appreciate rest and know it is part of ‘getting there’ and
• pilgrims traveling together sometimes must part ways, temporarily.”

Prayer time

“How beautiful are the (sore) feet of those who bring good news!”

Sam concludes, “If this sounds like a trip that interests you, let us know as a trip is already being thought about for next year.”

The Lyon GBC: abundant fruit and vision

The average Sunday attendance of a French evangelical church is 45 people. So what is going on in Lyon, France where the Grace Brethren Church averages 250?!

A Lyon GBC Sunday celebration

Due to growth, church leadership decided to do something unheard of in evangelical France… hold two Sunday services! When I was there in January, the first service (mostly families with young children) was about 3/4 full. The second was brimming with young people and college students. The first Sunday in July, when the church went back to one service for the summer, it was standing room only!

Florent Varak is one of evangelical France's most highly sought speakers


Florent mobilizes people for ministry, has authored numerous books, is a professor of homiletics and a truly spiritual leader with vision

The Lyon GBC is a fruitful church that typifies the spiritual reproduction that we would like to see in all of our European churches. Pastor Florent Varak has multiplied himself over and over again. Here is some proof:

• The church has four lay elders, plus a new crop of elders in training.
• Franck Segonne, pastor of the Dijon church, is from the Lyon GBC.
• Fred and Marie Sanchez, Charis Associates serving in Madrid, are from the Lyon GBC.
• Zac and his wife, Charis Associates serving in Marseille, are from the Lyon GBC.

Charis Associates being commissioned and sent out from the Lyon GBC

The Lyon GBC is a church with vision. The plan is: 100, 4, 3, 2, 1. GBIM missionary, Patty Morris conveys, "We are asking God to give our church:

100 additional people,
In the next 4 years,
With 3 points of light to the north and/or the west,
With 2 elders in place,
To begin 1 daughter church."

This is mother/daughter church planting, a proven model in France. The baby is already in gestation and will have the same DNA as the mother.

The church currently has eight points of light scattered throughout the greater Lyon area. Florent has issued the challenge to the leaders of those home groups that the point of light showing the most growth will be the prime candidate for the new church plant. The goal is then to send a group of 80–100 people from the mother church to that point of light thus birthing the daughter. From its inception the new church will be fully functional.

Prayerfully, some of these people will be part of the new daughter church

GBIM missionaries Mark and Joy Sims are involved in two of those points of light: Francheville and St. Andéol. Just recently the local boulanger (baker) and his wife began to study the Bible with Mark and Joy. Joy has developed a wide outreach network through her quilting groups which has led her to open a quilting store in the Lyon area next month. Mark has numerous evangelistic bridges (archery, English conversation, scuba), is involved in leadership training and oversees the Biblical Counseling Foundation (BCF) training in the Lyon church.

Mark and Joy just outside of St. Andéol (west of Lyon)

Patty Morris, my administrative assistant, is involved in another of these points of light east of Lyon. Though being Europe administrator is a full-time job (she is responsible for the France team administration and coordinates a team of six administrators scattered across Europe), Patty does accounting and consulting for Charis Associates, is active in promoting missions in the church, extends hospitality, is sharing the gospel with neighbors and discipling/encouraging several women in the church.

Patty (upper right) is quite active in home group ministry and discipleship

How can you pray for the Lyon GBC?
Please pray for:

- conversions in St. Andéol (where the Sims live) and new contacts through Joy’s quilting business and other outreach activities.

- adequate resources. The reason the church went to two services is because the purchase of a new building fell through. They are now deciding whether to refurbish the present facility or to tear it down and rebuild on the same property, but need $240 - $480k to do the work.

- spiritual protection for the Varaks, the elders and their families. There has been fierce opposition to the vision presented by the elders.

- the unity of the church and each person's participation in the 100 – 4 – 3 –2 –1 initiative.

Jerry and Jon on mission - a parable

Jerry and Jon both had hearts for mission and wanted as many people as possible to know God. So they decided to divide and conquer. Jerry stayed in his home country to preach the Word of God to a people who had once professed faith in Him, but were now lamentably lapsed. Jon, the more flamboyant of the two, chose to go to the dreaded Watubi. “They need to turn from their idols!” he proclaimed.

Of course, both Jerry and Jon needed to raise support. Pastor Hale and his church committed to praying for both, but had only enough resources to contribute financially to one. Which should it be?

The church council decided to invite both Jerry and Jon to present their prospective ministries. In that way, the church members could pray more knowledgeably and decide to which one’s ministry they would contribute.

Jerry moved people’s hearts. They could relate to his in-country ministry because the people he wanted to reach seemed so-o-o much like their neighbors! Well, urban versions of their neighbors anyway, caught up in a whirlwind of expensive, superficial activity. The believing assemblies had almost all moved out of the city of Metropolis where Jerry was going; eastern beliefs were multiplying like a computer virus. “Those Metropolites obviously need you, God. Please draw them to Yourself,” prayed a church member.

Jon wowed people with quips and video clips about the Watubi and their need for the Word of God where it had never before been preached. And, two years of his support totaled to only one year of Jerry’s in-country Metropolis ministry cost. A tough choice for the church remained. It was obvious that both ministries were valid and needed.

What was the church’s decision? They would indeed pray for both, but would wait five years before committing themselves financially. In that way, they could see which was the better investment, Jerry or Jon, based upon their results.

But after only one year Pastor Hale’s church decided to contribute to Jon’s Watubi ministry. Here’s what happened…

Just a few months after the ministry presentations, it no longer made sense to people why Jerry’s Metropolis ministry should cost so much and why he stayed in-country in the first place. After all, “This is a Christian country!” After five years Jerry had succulent, but not abundant fruit to show for his faithful travail: two people reading the gospel with him, a discipleship group of three brand new believers and a home group of eleven—the new believers, Jerry, his unbelieving friends, a few others who gravitated around the group, and Jerry’s wife, Betty. (Now Betty was growing weary from worry about their finances and urban stress, wondering how her kids would turn out from not having Christian friends like she did when she was their age).

Back at Pastor Hale’s church, the council was meeting. One of the agenda items was Jerry and Jon’s progress. One councilman queried, “What in the world is Jerry doing? Is he doing anything?”

An elder replied, “Leave him alone. He’s well intentioned.” Then after a moment he added, “Maybe he’s just not gifted for church planting!”

Another member of the council, the owner of a local business stated, “Instead of supporting Jerry, we should send him the evangelism training materials we use in our adult Sunday School class. But this Watubi Jon, on the other hand… well, these are impressive results!”

Jon had gone to the largest city Watubi-land and, with his customary gusto, just went to work. He wrote out a simple “repent or burn” message and had it translated into Watubi and recorded. He had a portable, battery operated sound system (there was an excellent sale at Wal-Mart just before he left home), and hired a boy to haul him around the city on a cart as he blared the message: “Repent or burn! Repent or burn!” (which came out something like “Ingjeey nai fusrot! Ingjeey nai fusrot!”). Within a year Jon organized seven believing assemblies, wrote a book on his method for reaching the Watubi, and had moved to the next city.

The End

(If interested, please see the following explanation of the parable)

The "Jerry and Jon" parable explained

What spiritual lessons flow from the “Jerry and Jon on mission” parable? Here are some missiological considerations:

Pastor Hale’s church members decided to support Jonah; they had qualms about Jeremiah.

Jon is Jonah. He was God’s instrument to bring about a citywide movement among the Watubi. Jon wrote his book supposing that his method was the contextualized key to the Watubis’ response, when in fact, it was a sovereign work of the Spirit.

Jerry is Jeremiah who after decades of faithful ministry saw his “stiff necked people” judged and sent into exile. Their rejection of his message was not because he was poor at his craft (his book shows cultural sensitivity, missional creativity and spiritual boldness), but because the people hardened their hearts toward God. Their refusal contributed to the fulfillment of God’s sovereign plans for the nations.

Missionaries must be faithful, God gives the growth
Theologically we know that it is the evangelist/church planter’s responsibility to be faithful in sowing the gospel (1 Cor. 4:2) and equipping spiritual leaders (2 Ti. 2:2), yet God alone calls people to Himself and gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7). In light of these truths, I, as regional director, track and stimulate the faithfulness of our church planters in everything from prayer for unbelievers to discipleship groups, from equipping spiritual leaders to catalyzing new church plants (Heb. 10:24).

Pastor Hale’s church decided to support Jon and his Watubi work. This was a good decision. Jon catalyzed a true movement of God! Thanks to the prayers and giving of Pastor Hale’s church he could continue to serve among those idol worshipping Watubi who so desperately needed the truth. The church council members, however, did not understand many of the spiritual-historical-cultural dynamics of the two ministries. How could they?

But might there not be other churches that would pray for and give toward Jerry’s ministry as well? The people of Metropolis, though they are cultured and their sin is sophisticated (so much like Europeans), are as ignorant about the true gospel as the Watubi and need to encounter Christ, even though the cost is high.

Why is the high cost of mission in Europe so high?
To sum it up, some people feel that mission in Europe costs too much and produces too little (see Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Jan. 2005 article, “Should We Send Missionaries to France?” Anonymous). Church planting in Western Europe is expensive.

But let me try to explain it this way. Could you imagine how you would feel if gas prices rose from their current $2.50/gallon to $5 in the next few years?! How would it affect you, your family vacation and your church’s ministries? That is what exactly happened to my family in Dijon, and to our team in Europe. In just 18 months’ time gas prices almost doubled; the price of one gallon of diesel went from $2.84 to $5.12, and unleaded is even more expensive!

The dollar has plummeted in value compared to the euro. In June 2003, the GBIM single-missionary salary of approximately $20,000 had the buying power of 23,200 euros. In July 2005, the value of that same salary dropped to 16,600 euros. Because your Europe missionaries are supported in dollars, all costs of mission in Europe have risen. Could you imagine the repercussions for your business, church or home if all costs rose by 28% in just two years? This is what has happened to your missionaries in Europe and is why our support levels have increased so dramatically.

But the cost does not change the fact that Europeans need Christ.

But Western European countries are Christian; shouldn’t we send missionaries to people who have never heard the good news of Christ?
Let me state it bluntly. Yes, we must send missionaries where the gospel has never been preached! Please support those going to Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam…. But no, the vast majority of Western Europeans have neither trusted Christ, nor even heard of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.

I will use France as an extreme yet representative European example. One French sociologist summarized the dilemma saying, “France is a secular country with a Catholic culture.” Even the Vatican considers France a mission field!

In 1944, when American GIs entered what they supposed was the Christian country of France, they were shocked to see the great need for the gospel of grace. A wave of missionaries ensued in the 50s. By 1970 there were 769 evangelical churches in all of France (one evangelical church per 65,020 people). In 2004 the number of evangelical churches rose to 1852 (one evangelical church per 32,000 people). DAWN missiologists tell us that one church per 10,000 people is required to truly reach one’s own people.

To illustrate today’s pressing need for churches in Europe, could you imagine an American city like Fort Wayne, Indiana or St. Petersburg, Florida (about 250,000 inhabitants) with just 5 evangelical churches?! (Do a Google search for “Fort Wayne evangelical churches” or “St. Petersburg evangelical churches” for pages and pages of results.) But that is exactly the case of Dijon where I live—there is a charismatic Baptist, conservative Baptist, Assembly of God, Full Gospel and Grace Brethren church (about 850 believers total); one church for every 50,000 inhabitants.

The Joshua Project, a reference for reliable worldwide mission statistics (see www link at right), reports the following percentages of total evangelicals among the dominant people groups in the seven European countries in which GBIM missionaries currently minister (I have included the American people group in the United States as a benchmark):

• Irish = unknown (research currently being done)
• Czech = 0.25 %
• Spanish = 0.35 %
• French = 0.40 %
• German = 2.90 %
• Portuguese = 3.10 %
• English = 8.50 %
• American (USA) = 35.00 %

Lausanne missiologists claim that one needs an evangelical population of 5 - 10% in order to have broad impact in a country. England is the only European country in which GBIM is serving that enters this range, but the general population is moving in the wrong direction. About 1500 English people are leaving the institutional church every week! The deployment of our three GBIM couples is, therefore, strategic to Jesus' great mission in England at this critical juncture.

So in spite of the cost, God continues to call missionaries to Western Europe because of the dearth of evangelical churches and paucity of believers. And thanks to the work of our missionary God, much is happening in Europe through your missionaries (see preceding blogs). Tim Hawkins, for example, shared this highlight from Porto:

“We held a special Celebration Service at the request of my motorcycle club. The officers organized the whole thing and invited everyone. The end result was a gathering of 26 club members for the service. (As this is a national club, some drove over 3 hours to be there.) I had 1 hour and 30 minutes to share. My theme was, ‘Why I exist.’ I was able to present the gospel message beginning with Genesis and connecting with the gospel of John. [People] were really connected. I offered each couple a Bible, which they received with great enthusiasm. In fact they wanted Julie and me to sign them as a special gift. Several said they had no Bible in their house.

“We joined together for a dinner afterward and had about 10 more join us after they finished work. I was still able to offer them Bibles and explain the purpose of the gathering. This represents about a third of our club. Pray for what God is going to do next.… This was probably one of the best weekends of my ministry in Portugal. God is doing great things. All the news is on the falling dollar (which is a big concern to all of us), but God is working in great ways.”

Other highlights from across Europe…

Multiple professions of faith: Prague, Le Creusot, Montceau, Mâcon, Dijon, Stuttgart and elsewhere.

Madrid: “Diana and Laura have come to the Lord and are being discipled by Twinky.”

London: “Lee became a Christian!” “H… was baptized!”

Dublin: “I have been meeting with a young woman to read the Bible…. Teresa prayed to put her trust in God.”

Thank God for his saving grace! Thank you for your giving and prayers for both Jon and Jerry ;-) Thank you because your giving and prayers are sending the good news of Jesus around the world, that includes literally thousands of Europeans who have neither heard, nor understood the gospel of grace.