Prophecy News Watch – November 9 , 2008 - The Bridge Calvary ...

oth from Michigan -- have spent the past five years in Paris working to plant churchesamong the city's 100-plus unreached people groups.Lynn said one of the biggest obstacles to the Gospel is a hallowed tradition of secularhumanism that the French call "laicite." Rooted in the French Revolution byphilosophers like Rousseau and Voltaire, it has evolved into a cultural mindset thattolerates any religion so long as it remains hidden behind the veil of an individual'sprivate life.This pluralistic dynamic negates the importance of religion while simultaneously makingspirituality an open topic for debate. That, Lynn said, creates a carte blancheopportunity to talk about Christ."Conversation and intelligent dialogues are a type of art in Paris," he said. "Once arapport is established, people will discuss most anything."But laicite's influence also has created a kind of identity crisis among youngergenerations of Muslim immigrants because they are raised in Muslim homes yet areexposed to a secular humanist environment, said Gracie Couloir,* a Southern Baptistmissionary from Virginia who has served in France for the past 17 years.Volunteers KeyLynn believes new, innovative approaches are needed to combat these kinds of crossculturaldisconnects and effectively share Christ among both immigrants and Frenchnationals. He said Southern Baptist volunteers are key to making that happen.Helping meet the need are churches like Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., whichsent a volunteer team to Paris to share Christ's love with Muslim women through aministry known as the Esther Project."We did manicures, facials and makeup on women in a predominantly Muslim area,"Claire Hill, a member of Warren's volunteer team, said. "The women seemed tothoroughly enjoy the girly things we did as well as our company. Although we didn'tknow them ... they were women just like us and there was much we had in common."Couloir said, "All we have to do as Southern Baptists is give them the Gospel in a waythat they can understand it, and we can change the Muslim world."I think we really do have fields that are ready for the harvest here. We just don't havethe harvesters."