Join WEC's new team to reach out to the Jewish population in France. France is home to the largest Jewish community in Europe, with many Jewish schools as well as synagogues representing all segments of the Jewish community, from Orthodox to Liberal. Paris is home to around 350,000 Jewish people and Marseilles to 80,000.

An increase in anti-Semitic acts have caused many Jews to flee France to Israel, but many return after a few years, mostly for financial reasons. Jews have very diverse beliefs, some very religious, others practice just the main festivals, are staunch atheists or relate closer to Buddhism or Taoism. However most still feel connected to their people and history.

There are a few Messianic congregations in France, but few Jews attend these. Jews often feel uncomfortable in evangelical churches whose religious vocabulary they do not understand, and French Christians often have very little understanding of them.

You will enjoy being part of Bible studies and other gatherings in homes or a neutral location, where discipleship can be more relevant and effective.

Qualities & Gifts Sought

You sense a calling to work among the Jews in France. You speak French fluently, or are willing to dedicate a minimum of 18 months to intense language learning.

You love to share your personal testimony, and want to learn humbly from this community which has suffered so much prejudice and discrimination over centuries. You may have multimedia or other specialist skills which will be very welcome.

You need to have a solid knowledge of the Old Testament, including the Jewish festivals, and are able to point to Jesus in these. You would benefit from having lived in or visited Israel, and some knowledge of Hebrew would also be useful.

A visa is quite hard to obtain, so coming from an EU country would be advantageous. Our team is formed from both local believers and cross-cultural workers, so you need flexibility and openness to learn from each other.

Our ref: 320

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About France

France is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in western Europe, as well as several overseas regions and territories.  

The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean.  

The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.  

France has a population of approx. 65 million people and its capital is Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse and Bordeaux.  

France has long been a global centre of art, science, and philosophy. It hosts Europe's third-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site. France received 83 million foreign tourists in 2012, ranking it as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of the USA (67m) and China (58m).
 
France is a developed country with the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, and human development.    

[Source Wikipedia. Read more about France here].

France has 115 people groups and 32% of these are unreached with the good news of  the gospel.

63% profess to be Christian and of these 1% are Evangelical.

[Source: Joshua Project]

Pray with us for:
- unity among believers
- vision for outreach
- the nearly 50 million French people who have no real link to a church
- the Basques
- the French Jewish communities
- North Africans
- Berbers.
[Operation World, print edition 2010]  

You can also pray online for France using Operation World.
   
WEC's ministry in France is wide-ranging and involves both sending and receiving Christian workers. WEC partners with evangelical churches in France to send workers to minister cross-culturally all over the world, but France is also a country where many do not know what it means to have a living faith in Jesus Christ.

Church planting teams are working amongst indigenous French, Basque and immigrant communities across France.

Junior who serves among Basque people. Read his story.

Read in French about WEC France here.