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A Spanish Weekend in France

By Frank and Marlea Pfeifer

Seventy persons came out to eat our giant paella
and then stayed for the service that followed.

The city of Beziers in Southern France is just two hours from the Spanish border. During periods of persecution, large numbers of Spanish people fled to France, and many of those settled in Languedoc, the region around Beziers, a city of over 70,000 souls with only one Baptist church, L’Eglise Evangélique Baptiste de Béziers. Several of our charter members were of Spanish origin. Even the early church records are written in Spanish! The church holds a yearly weekend outreach event to honor those of Spanish origins and the Spanish culture. We eat a well known Spanish dish, paella, made with rice, seafood, chicken, and fresh vegetables. We sing some Spanish songs along with our French ones and invite a Spanish speaker to preach three messages throughout the weekend.

In 2002, we made a giant paella that normally feeds 35 to 40 people, so it took our small group two days to eat it! This year, we made two giant paellas and finished them off Saturday evening in one sitting. Our chef who cooked the paella, Charles Orri, and his wife, Henriette, came from Spain as young people. Henriette was one of the early members of our church, and we have been praying for Charles’ salvation for years. He usually drops his wife off to church Sunday mornings and goes back home, so you can imagine how thrilled we were that he stayed for the service Saturday night and then returned again for the service Sunday morning. We continue to pray for his salvation.

Over seventy people came to the meal and/or the service that followed. Our guest speaker, Samuel Boada, though Spanish, has been pastoring and preaching in France for many years. He presented three excellent messages throughout the weekend. Quite a few among those attending were clearly hearing the gospel for the first time.

The service that followed our Saturday
evening meal.

There were activities for the children during the preaching services, and again, it was the first time for some to attend a Baptist church. One mother and little boy expressed interest in our weekly children’s club, while another little boy came to Sunday school the next morning with his mom and expressed a desire to have a Bible. His mom agreed, and we were thrilled to give him one!

L’Eglise Evangélique Baptiste de Béziers is a struggling work of 19 members. Frank and Marlea Pfeifer, ABWE missionaries to France, began attending while completing language school at Paul Valery University about an hour away in Montpellier. They moved to the Beziers area in 2004, and have been assisting the French missionary pastor since that time. The church has grown from a weekly attendance of 12 to 15 persons in 2001, to an attendance of between 40 and 50 persons in 2006. The goal is to see the church strengthened and grown, and a missionary spirit inculcated to the point where other evangelical Baptist works could be sponsored in this rapidly growing area of France.