news around the world Free Will Baptist International Missions serves churches, pastors, and people by helping them fulfill their role in establishing churches beyond North America so unreached peoples can know the joy of a relationship with the living God. To find out more about the ministry of Free Will Baptist International Missions, visit www.fwbgo.com.

TALK ABOUT JESUS

Nantes, France Around 50 people participated in this year’s annual JCrois (translation: “I believe it”) youth event. Christian teens from St. Nazaire, Nantes, St. Sebastíen, Vendee, and many other suburbs and local small towns attended the weekend event hosted by the Nantes FWB Church August 24–26.

Michel Rivier, an evangelist from Lyon, emphasized the theme, “Oser parler de Jesus aux gens qui nous entourent” (Dare to talk about Jesus to those around you). Workshops on “How to Know and Use Your Spiritual Gifts,” “How to Discern the Will of God,” and “How to Start a D iscussion” led teens to deepen their personal commitment to Christ, spiritual growth, and witnessing. A worship band, comprised almost entirely of young people, led singing and worship each day.

A small group of college-age students traveled downtown Saturday afternoon to strike up conversations with people. One young lady conversed with a high-school girl for almost an hour.
Encouraged by the response they received, the group is eager to repeat the exercise at future JCrois events.

Several of the students invited their unsaved friends to Saturday’s game night. The atmosphere and the friendliness of Christians impressed these young people. According to Cristina Price, “Most of these students entered a church building for the first time and discovered real, live Christians who really weren’t so weird after all!”

One teenage girl from St. Nazaire indicated she felt God leading her to work with young people, and to help organize things like JCrois. She wants to share with others what she has been given.
Missionaries and French Christians worked together to make this year’s JCrois successful.

CELEBRATING THREE YEARS

Colmenar Viejo, Spain The Colmenar Viejo church, led by Cuban pastor Juan Carlos Cabreras and his wife María del Carmen, celebrated its third anniversary on Sunday, September 9. The service was filled with praise for God’s blessings on the small congregation. Spanish pastor José Manuel Parrón of the Esperanza Church in Alcalá brought the anniversary message. The evening concluded with a fellowship time and refreshments for the 40 people in attendance.

FWB CHURCH BORN IN BULGARIA

Svishtov, Bulgaria Eight people participated in the first worship service of the first Free Will Baptist church in Bulgaria on June 10, 2007. Missionary Tim Awtrey credits contacts made during his and Lydia’s earlier ministries in Svishtov with the ability to begin so quickly with a core group of people.

“After many years of dreaming, hoping, and praying, it is great to finally get up on a Sunday morning and have the opportunity to worship in a Free Will Baptist church in Bulgaria!”
Tim enthused.

“It is still a little baby of a church, but we have great expectations that in time it will grow.”
Missionaries often work years to be able to get a small, core group of people together. Tim recently wrote, “We feel particularly grateful to God that the contacts we established years ago helped us to kick off the new church service.”

REMEMBER THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

Antioch, TN The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) is slated for November 11, 2007. Since 1996 the second Sunday in November has been set aside for global intercession for Christians worldwide who are suffering for their faith. Persecution of Christians ranges from withholding educational and employment opportunities to imprisonment, torture, and murder. Each year Open Doors International publishes a list of the top 50 countries which persecute Christians for actively living their faith.

North Korea remains as the top of the list for the fifth year in a row. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, and Maldives round out the top five. Vietnam (ranked 8), Uzbekistan (11), China (10), Turkmenistan (14), Cuba (24), India (29), Tajikistan (34), Nepal (34), and Mexico (49, southern state of Chiapas), all have FWB workers or churches or affiliates.

IM encourages your participation in IDOP. Packets of information can be ordered from various organizations including Bible League (bibleleague.org/persecuted), The Voice of the Martyrs (persecution.com), and the official website (persecutedchurch.org).