How Friendship Led One Woman to Explore the Bible in Northern France
Laura liked to live her life on the edge. She considered herself an anarchist and a communist, priding herself on rejecting any form of privilege or luxury. Holding these strong beliefs didn’t make Laura unapproachable—far from it. The slim, dark-haired Frenchwoman with the lovely smile was warm and friendly, eager to help, and she readily agreed to tutor GEM worker Kim and her husband in French.
The couple found Laura easy to talk to. She was curious and enthusiastic, and conversation flowed naturally. As the three got to know each other, Kim and her husband began to speak to Laura about Jesus, sharing their testimonies as their language skills improved.
Laura listened politely before explaining to them that she was agnostic and uninterested in spiritual things.
Perhaps also out of politeness, Laura agreed to attend a few Bible-based events with the couple. While there, she was exposed to Scripture, but she assured them she remained firmly in unbelief.
In fact, the highly educated woman was so intelligent and intellectual that she could argue circles around Kim, listing all the philosophical reasons to reject faith. Laura was never combative; she was just firm in her resistance to Jesus.
Eventually, Kim lost touch with Laura. Not because there was a rupture in the relationship, but merely because life took them in different directions. Over a decade passed.
Then one day, Kim ran into Laura at the public library. They went out for coffee together and reconnected. And, as they slowly rebuilt their friendship, the GEM couple began mentioning Jesus again. Curious to see if anything had changed, Kim tested the waters by asking Laura, “Would you be interested in reading the Bible together and discussing it?”
To her surprise, Laura replied, “Yes, but not with just you and your husband. It would be too intimidating for me, because you both know so much about the Bible, and I know so little. Can we do it in a group?”
That sounded good to Kim. Yet, when she tried to find a group of people willing and available to meet for discussion, she struck out.
“It broke our hearts,” recalls Kim, “because Laura was ready! Yet the people we had in mind were too busy or not interested.”
In the meantime, Laura, in her capacity as a language tutor, had met a young GEM intern, Devin, and had formed a friendship with her. When she mentioned to Kim how much she enjoyed spending time with Devin, Kim replied, “Devin is also reading the Bible and learning more about it, so why not form a group with her and us to discuss faith and Scripture?”
Laura said yes! As they began to meet, she explained, “The Bible is an important historical document, so I want to understand it better, but I want you to know that I still don’t believe.”
In Kim’s living room, around a homemade cake and coffee, the little group met consistently for a few months before Devin’s time in France was up. They looked at Scripture and also used Bible Project videos as springboards for discussion. Laura responded well to the videos, and the floodgates of her curiosity opened.
She asked questions, pushed back, and wanted to discuss more deeply everything she was reading and hearing.
Gradually, Laura began saying each week, “This is amazing! Sublime! Everyone should be required to read this. I really want to believe … but I don’t.”
Over time, her questions started changing: “We were never taught this growing up. Why didn’t anyone teach me this?”
Laura began counting the cost of belief, putting the pieces together. “If I were to move forward in this … if I were to believe, it would change my life. I would have to give up certain things.”
Sometimes, she referred to her son, who was a medical student, saying, “I was talking to Julian about this; I showed him the video we watched last week, and he really liked it. I also showed it to one of his friends, and to a woman I know.”
Laura, the agnostic intellectual who still could not quite believe, was sharing Scripture with others by showing them Bible Project videos and telling them what she was learning!
“Laura has not yet come to a place where she is committed to following Jesus,” says Kim. “But she wants to keep reading and discussing the Bible with us, and we will continue to proclaim the gospel to her.”
In their northern city of France, Kim and her husband seek to be catalysts to a church-planting movement by focusing on making disciples and forming house churches and small Bible study groups.
Along with their team members, they use their individual giftings and interests to be involved in the lives of those who are far from God. Some people, like Laura, are interested in exploring spiritual things. Many aren’t, but that’s okay. The GEM workers in France are looking for those in whose hearts God is already doing something.
Many people are under the impression that they already know what the Bible says. But when they read it, they discover they actually had no idea. Kim and her team invite them into a discovery Bible study to see for themselves what Scripture says, asking, “How can you reject something when you don’t even know what it is?”
“It’s not our work,” says Kim. “It’s the Holy Spirit’s work. We invite, and when people are ready, they can respond.”
If you are interested in knowing more about disciple-making in France, contact [email protected].
Author: Jenny Garrity is a Storyteller with Greater Europe Mission. Jenny and her husband Kim joined GEM in 1984. They have served in Germany, Belgium, and most recently, Greece in response to the refugee crisis.