by Chris Collins
Six students of the JCA French II class will be travelling to Paris, France next week to study French culture and share the Gospel. While there, they will have the opportunity to see some of the world's most famous monuments and practice the language that they have been learning for two years.
Every two years, students in French II raise money to travel to a french-speaking area of the world and practice the skills that they learn in the classroom. The first such trip was planned for Quebec, Canada to visit Kim Zegelien who was attending language school, preparing for mission work in Ivory Coast. Now Ms. Zegelien teaches at JCA and will be travelling with this year's class as a chaperone. "Who knows, we may be taking six future missionaries on their first trip to a huge new mission field!"
Preparations for the trip began nearly two years ago when missionary Sean Warren visited JCA and shared his vision for reaching the large Muslim population in France. Sean and his wife, Jill, had agreed to lead a group of missionary couples to Paris in order to establish a church that would especially target Muslim immigrants. The French class began making plans to travel to Paris and work with the "M-Team". Since that time, however, Sean and his team have decided to focus their efforts on the southern French city of Marseilles.
Despite this change of plans, the French II students decided to make the trip and began raising money. After spaghetti lunches, French dinners, a basketball tournament, and numerous other fundraising efforts, the students have now raised over $4,600. The class has set a goal to raise at least $6,000. That amount will pay for round-trip tickets for 8 from Raleigh to Paris, 10 days in a hotel, transportation within the greater Paris area, and entrance fees to all of the sites that will be visited. In fact, the only money that the students are required to bring is $200 for food, plus whatever money they wish to bring to purchase souvenirs.
In addition to visiting such famous monuments as the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe, this year's class will have a unique opportunity to share their faith. They will be teaming up with students from the American University of Paris (AUP)to reach potentially hundreds of people with the Gospel. Each year, around Easter, "Christian Union" sponsors a special event called "God Night," where students and locals who have religious questions can come and receive information. The event is well-advertised and is usually well-attended. An invitation is given at the end of the program, and students are available to pray with those who wish to be saved. Students in the French II class have been practicing (in both English and French) how to share their faith with strangers. Pray that the Lord's Spirit will soften the hearts of those who will be in attendance and draw them to Him.
Below is a tentative itinerary of the places the class plans to visit. While on the trip, the students will upload pictures and a brief account of the day's events to the website. In order to access this information, follow the link for that day by clicking on the date that corresponds with the day you wish to see. Dates in blue are those which have been activated. Those in black have not yet been filled out. Please remember to pray for these students while they are gone that God will grant them boldness, wisdom, and safety of travel.
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