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Ranimer la flame (Fan Into Flame)

 “C'est pourquoi je t'exhorte à ranimer le don de Dieu que tu as reçu par l'imposition de mes mains.” (2Ti 1:6)

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (2Ti 1:6)

The 2011 Francophone SBC was held in Massabielle, France - about a half hour from Paris from August 4^th to 7^th, 2011. Representatives from Belgium, Canada, Germany, UK, France, and, Switzerland attended this conference (with special guests from Greece, and Brazil) with the goal to fan into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. When we repent and accept Christ into our hearts, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Through powerful messages, a workshop, a special lecture, and several heart-felt testimonies, we were all encouraged by what God has been doing in the midst of our nations. We prayed the Lord may fan into flame our spiritual desire to serve our respective mission fields with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

S. David Choi opened the conference on “The Burning Bush” (Ex 3). This is the OT account of the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. The power of the Spirit was manifested through a burning bush; however, the effect was the change in Moses’ heart as the spiritual fire in his soul was rekindled to become the deliverer of his people. In order to rekindle the fire of the Spirit, we need to accept once again the messages of Jesus’ death on the cross (by Eric Nicolle) and of his resurrection (Pierrine Liu). Accepting the gospel, is the spark that ignites the fire of the Spirit that is in our hearts. To fan into flame the Spirit within us, Sister Daylène Annonaye, gave the message on Romans 13:8-14: “A Victorious Christian Life” that while we obey Jesus’ words, it means we have the obligation to love one another and to steadfastly hold on to the word of God. S. David Jumeau gave the Sunday Message based on Matthew 24 on Christ’s return as King and Lord. We learned that while there are many incidents in the world, we should not worry, but we must hurry to preach the gospel. S. Angelo Nogara gave the closing message on 1Pe 2:9 that while we live as God’s people, we keep the fire of the Spirit alive in our hearts day by day.

Misn. Paul Lee of Switzerland gave a workshop on the work of the Holy Spirit. We learned that the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is founded on God’s promises in the word of God, and through an intense prayer struggle. Pastor Johan Lukasse from Belgium gave a special lecture on how we can rekindle the flame of God’s spirit in Europe. When we read John 20:21, we can see how the Risen Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to his disciples  the power to change our inner fear to that of joy, to change us from passivity to activity, and to change from silence to having spiritual authority. Through Pastor Johan’s life as a church planter, he experienced the highs and lows of serving God’s work. He shared many moving stories of how God worked in people’s lives. His testimony about his life of mission is proof that preaching the gospel in a secular world is possible. Pastor Johan is now retired, but he is a very active while visiting other ministries to encourage them to serve God. He observed that this post-modern time is very similar to the early Christian church. This time is a time of opportunity for us to preach the gospel and raise up disciples of Jesus.

We also heard mission reports from Canada (Becky Lee), France (Sarah Nicolle), UK (James Woods), Germany (Catherine W.) and a special report from Marc Choi Jr. about his mission trip to Nigeria.

We also received grace through the life testimonies of Somang C. (Canada), Mary C. (Canada), Timothy Y. (Paris), Livar L. (Paris), Ene L. (Paris), Marie-Sophie (Paris), Monique (Paris) as well as other one word sharers (Laura N. (Paris), Pierre C. [Paris], Thibaud [Paris]).

It’s been two years since I had attended my last Francophone conference, and I can only rejoice because of the spiritual progress and commitment by our students and the faith of our missionary co-workers. My heart was moved by Misn. Timothy and Estelle’s resurrection faith. I was also proud of our second gens who are maturing in their personal relationship with Christ and are becoming good co-workers with their parents in serving Francophone mission. I hope to return in another two years to see how God is working that I may keep the lamp of prayer for francophone nations.

One Word: Fan into Flame the gift of God.

Reported by Sh. David J.