Greetings from France to our dear brothers and sisters at HeartCry.
We rejoice in the Lord and hope that this letter finds you all under Christ’s gracious care. The following is our report from the last few months.
It’s Baby Boy!
Our third child and first boy, Daniel Martin, was born on the 10th of August 2020. After the births of our daughters Beatriz (8) and Catarina (6), my wife Mayra was diagnosed with a heart condition that would put here life at risk if she attempted another pregnancy. Because of this, we waited five years until the doctors gave us the green light to try again. We were apprehensive as the time of birth drew near. We prayed for a quick delivery, but Mayra was in labor for more than 24 hours and ended up having a C-section. During the entire time, Mayra’s heart functioned almost perfectly and our first son was born (9.1 pounds and 21.26 inches). We pray that our Lord will grant our child the same faith and virtues as the men whose names he bears—the unbreakable prophet, Daniel, and our favorite “logic on fire” preacher, Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones.
Church News
After five months of online services, we joyfully resumed our in-person gatherings. We thank you for all your prayers because the Lord has blessed us with a new building that meets our present needs and is located near Paris. We were able to negotiate a rental fee that is half the usual price. The facility’s capacity is for more than 100 seats. It is located in the city of Boulogne that is directly connected to Paris. It is close enough to the center of Paris so it provides easy access by metro. Our members are very satisfied with this new location. Also, the neighborhood is more residential and gives us more opportunities to share the gospel with others. Here are some typical examples:
- In one conversation, we engaged an American mother who is married to a French man. She was very encouraged with our ministry. Please pray that the Lord will grant us opportunities to connect all the families in our neighborhood and beyond.
- At the end of a very pleasant conversation, I told a man that it was our family tradition to give a Bible to our new friends. He answered with a straightforward “no” and without explanation. It broke my heart.
- I was talking to a salesman, but everything changed for the worst when I told him that I was a protestant pastor. He could not even pretend to continue with the conversation, but stopped immediately with the words, “I do not even want to talk about your religion.”
I am often struck with wonder and sadness at the hardness of many people in France and their denial of our faith. It is a demonstration of the power of the humanistic doctrines that are taught in the secular schools. Please pray, not only for external opportunities to share, but mainly for the internal work of the Holy Spirit to break hearts of stone and make them new through the gospel.
The resuming of our church services has allowed us to reconnect with many visitors that were coming more regularly to our church before the confinement. We have put together a list of possible candidates for membership and we are doing our best to contact them. Please pray that the Lord will honor our efforts by calling these individuals to Himself and to the church. Please pray that He will give us wisdom to counsel these seekers so that they might be converted and join the family of faith. Pray also for those who are now waiting to be baptized.
The Masculine Mandate Discipleship
After dealing with some important pastoral cases, I discerned the need to directly address two long-standing challenges in the French culture. The first is the great confusion about gender roles that is the result of the sexual revolution in the 1960s. The second is the feminism that has become an idol of French culture. Because of these two things, there is a huge lack of interest for men to assume their roll as leaders in the home and in almost every other facet of society. I have been meeting online with about nine men, three times a week before work (from 6:30am to 8am) in order to study the Psalms (where I’m being helped by John Calvin and Charles Spurgeon’s commentaries). We are also reading and discussing the “Masculine Mandate” by Richard D. Phillips. The content of our meetings is challenging in many ways, but God’s grace has been working to build us up. The feedback has been very positive. Please pray for this initiative, so that God may build a powerful biblical counter-culture in our church. Here are some of the feedback from the men:
“Every day, whether going to work or caring for my home, I meditate on our discussions and it motivates me to recall the original order for the masculine mandate that God established. It allows me to discern the mistakes that society tries to indoctrinate us with – a society where the woman takes the role of the man, and the man that of the woman; a society where good is called evil, and evil is called good. We need to immerse ourselves in the wonders of the Word of God, which is perfect and useful for teaching, correcting and instructing for righteousness. Glory be to God.” – Mahery
“The morning meetings have been a precious time in my daily journey with the Lord, and for many different reasons. Being exposed to the glorious light of the Word of God even before the sunrise has been providing me extra strength for the challenges of the day. Similarly, the principle of personal discipline has helped me maintain my devotion with God during the week through prayer and Bible reading. I have been very blessed.” – Lucas
Annual Conference
Because of COVID-19, we were force to postpone our annual conference. This has led us to find a better way to help other pastors. Along with Daniel Henderson (the director of Publications Chrétiennes, a Christian Publishing ministry to the French-speaking world), we have been planning to gather French pastors for regular meetings under the teaching of brother Paul Washer through an online platform. Please pray for this project through which we hope to bring deeper and more robust influence to other French-speaking churches in France and Canada. Pray also for our conference next year, planned for April 9th and 10.th Everything depends on the opening of our borders so that the speakers may travel.
We thank you again for your prayers and interest in helping us to promote the gospel in France. May our Lord grant you safety and peace according to His perfect will. Blessings,
David, Mayra, Beatriz, Catarina and Daniel Romer
