Dear Family and Friends,
Happy New Year! I hope that you enjoyed the holiday season and are feeling refreshed and inspired at the beginning of 2026. I know I am! A highlight for me was skiing with my family. I couldn’t get enough of the fresh air and serenity of the world covered in white.
In Paris, students have returned to class. To kick off the new semester they’re engaging groups of non-Christians—Muslims, atheists, and Catholics—in a variety of ways. I’m excited to share how they are boldly opening up the conversation around faith and gently encouraging their friends to think about God and life’s big questions.
Connecting with Muslims
In addition to their usual “discussions around the Bible” students are engaging their Muslim friends by holding “discussions around the Bible and the Qur’an” as well. It’s a simple way to let them know they are welcome and their views are respected. Please pray for the participants to courageously seek the truth as they study these scriptures.
Connecting with Atheists
Another avenue for conversation is through Veritas Forums. At these events Christian and non-Christian speakers discuss their views on certain societal topics. The latest one was titled “God: Human Invention or Transcendent Reality?” A Christian philosopher and an atheist thinker spoke about faith’s relevance in our lives, which is so important in a culture that often disregards it.
Please pray for many more respectful, thoughtful, and ultimately God-centered conversations to come out of this session.
Connecting with Catholics
First and foremost Catholics are our brothers and sisters in Christ, but as Protestants, we are called to share with them the good news that Jesus’ death and resurrection did, in fact, grant them eternal life; they do not need to supplement that with good works. While Catholics and Protestants hold similar beliefs there are some major differences regarding the authority of the Bible, how to approach God, and, most importantly, how to be saved. It is essential to talk about them because Catholicism is France’s traditional religion.
My friend Mary, a GBU student, explained the situation like this: “What’s really hard in France is that Catholics are often open to go to Christian/Protestant events but don’t really see the difference [between them.] They think we just worship God in ways that are a bit different. They don’t want to question their beliefs about the saints and all that.” Mary is happy to report, though, that one of her Catholic friends has been starting to wrestle with her past beliefs and explore the Bible more deeply.
Please pray for Mary and her friend to keep this conversation going. Please pray also for an openness to rethink past beliefs and find complete freedom in Jesus’ sacrifice.
Thank you so much for reading and praying along with me! Please feel free to reach out with prayer requests and updates of your own as I’m praying for you as well.
Ministry Update
Thank you so much to all of you who have begun giving! Praise God, who has provided 80% of my budget!
As you know, my goal was to be fully funded this month, but I am not quite there yet. I need just $16,000 more to reach 100%. That could simply be 100 people committing $13 per month. Would you consider being one of those people? I am incredibly grateful for those of you who have already joined my team as a financial partner. To help me over this final hump, would you consider starting a pledge? Or, if you’ve given a one-time gift, would you think about making it a recurring donation?
Your faithful, consistent partnership is essential to bringing Jesus’ love to French university students—thank you!
How You Can Help
- Pray – please pray that God will help me meet others who will invest in this ministry. Pray for open doors and open hearts.
- Connect – If you have a friend or family member who would enjoy hearing about God’s work on campus, I’d love to connect with them! Please reach out to let me know.
- Give – If you haven’t set up a gift yet, I’d be honored if you could do so. As God leads, feel free to set up a recurring gift, increase your current gift or give an extra onetime gift. Just a note: While all gifts are very valuable, recurring ones are especially important in sustaining the ministry long term.
Thank you! May the Lord bless you today and everyday 🙂
With love and gratitude,
Kelsey