I am Moving to Marsielle!
thank you,
This has been in the works for nearly three years, and I’m so excited to finally share it with you. Before I say more, I want to sincerely thank each of you for staying connected and engaged in what God has been doing in France over the past several years. So many of you have faithfully given your time in prayer and made financial sacrifices to support His work. Your generosity has sown seeds into lives across this country, reaching the lost, the searching, and those growing in their faith.
This will be the last update I send through Mailchimp. If you'd like to continue following the ministry and the work God is doing in Marseille, I would love for you to subscribe to my new newsletter. If you choose not to subscribe and this is the final update you receive from me, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, support, and for being part of this journey. Your partnership has meant so much to me, and I am truly grateful for the role you have played in this ministry.
Whether our paths stay connected through future updates or not, thank you for being part of the story God is writing.
As I reflect on my time in Grenoble, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all that God has done. I wanted to take a moment to look back and share some of the ways your prayers, generosity, and encouragement have helped make these past four years possible.
What follows is only a small glimpse of this journey. There are countless stories I could tell, but these are a few that stand out as reminders of God's faithfulness and the privilege of serving Him together.
Thank you for faithfully reading my updates, praying, giving, and staying connected along the way. I am deeply grateful for your partnership in the Gospel.
Wherever you are today, I hope you are reminded that God sees you, He is with you, and He loves you more than you can imagine.
Refuge
Refuge is an international church I had the privilege of serving with for nearly four years. In that time, we witnessed not only growth in numbers, but a deep and beautiful growth in faith. I, along with so many others, was profoundly shaped in my walk with the Lord.
We saw baptisms, Bible studies, shared meals, honest conversations, and powerful moments of discovery, with so many people saying yes to Jesus.
These are the very things you invested in.
You invested in the lives of hundreds who walked through Refuge’s doors, each on their own journey of discovering more of our Father. Your impact here in Grenoble reaches further than you may ever fully see this side of eternity. But I truly believe that one day, in the presence of God, I will be able to introduce you to brothers and sisters whose lives were changed in part because of you.
Thank you for investing in people I deeply love, their stories, their journeys, and their yes to Jesus. The people of Refuge are incredibly special, and they matter deeply to God.
There is so much ahead for Refuge. If you would like to stay connected, I encourage you to follow along on Instagram or reach out. I would be glad to connect you with the long-term missionaries serving there.
As I look back, my heart is full of gratitude. Refuge is unlike any church community I have ever known, so warm, so genuine, and so full of life. I will deeply miss this place, but I am filled with excitement for what is ahead and all that God has in store for this church.
The National Church
This year, I felt the Lord inviting me to step into serving the national church in a more full-time capacity. So when the opportunity opened to serve in La Tour-du-Pin and assist with the church plant through kids ministry, it felt like an obvious yes.
This season has been stretching, but I am incredibly grateful. The people in La Tour-du-Pin have welcomed me with open arms. Everyone knows my name and cares for me so genuinely. Being fully immersed in the language has been challenging, but I have learned and grown so much through serving alongside the pastors there. Their hearts for their country and their people are so deep and so beautiful, and I have learned so much from them.
I love attending the different church events, serving with the children, and participating in the women’s meals. The church in La Tour-du-Pin is also growing, and it is truly a beautiful thing to witness. People are curious about Jesus and eager to learn more, and it is incredibly special to watch them grow in their faith and learn to trust their Creator. I will truly treasure this season and every person I have had the opportunity to know. I have never felt so loved and embraced by so many people who have shown such kindness and patience toward me. It has not been easy immersing myself in French culture in this way, but I am so grateful for this experience.
God has His hand on the surrounding villages in France and cares deeply for them. The church in La Tour-du-Pin is one of the only churches in a city of 40,000 people. That is one church for 40,000 people. There is a great need for a stronger Christian presence, so please continue to pray for more French people to be called into full-time ministry and to be a witness to those who do not yet know Him.
Remix
Remix has been the student ministry I had the opportunity not only to serve in but also to lead for a season. Through English classes, Café Franglais, bike repair workshops, picnics, and countless informal gatherings, we created spaces for students to find community and friendship.
You have invested in the campus and in the lives of students who were searching for belonging. Conversations about life and friendship often transitioned naturally into conversations about God and faith.
So many students in Europe do not know Christ. Many students I have spoken with did not even recognize the name of Jesus. Some heard for the first time about the sacrifice He made for them. Others had never experienced genuine friendship until they walked through our doors.
Thank you for investing in student ministry here in Grenoble. Through your support, many experienced the love and friendship that can only be found among believers. Working among secular students takes time. Often it takes years before someone crosses the threshold of saying yes to Christ. Some students began attending Refuge. Some are still seeking. For others, seeds were planted.
God is not finished with their stories. It was an honor to walk with them for the season we shared. I will never take for granted the trust they placed in me or the friendships we built. I will treasure those relationships forever, and I know Jesus loves and treasures them even more than I ever could.
the community center
The community centers hold a particularly special place in my heart because of the people there. These spaces operate under laïcité, meaning they are fully secular, yet they are still places where I can bring the presence of God through kindness, consistency, and genuine care for those around me. What began as a once-a-week English class eventually grew into teaching multiple times a week. Over time this also expanded into shared meals, community gatherings, and many meaningful relationships.
Serving in this environment has pushed me far outside of my comfort zone, yet it has also been one of the places where I have grown the most. It has become a space where I have learned to lead with confidence and trust that God equips us for what He calls us to do.
Many of the people who come to the community centers have little to no context for who Jesus is or how deeply He loves them. Because of French laws, I must be careful about how openly I speak about Christ in these settings. Even so, I can still be present with joy, kindness, and hope. Often the most meaningful moments happen in simple conversations before or after class, while sharing a meal, or while getting to know someone’s story.
Over time, relationships with other teachers and students have grown deeper. There have been moments where people have shared their struggles, their grief, and the places in their lives where they feel lost or uncertain about the future. In those moments, I have been able to share honestly about my own life as well and about the hope that sustains me even in difficult seasons.
The community centers are places where many people are searching for friendship, belonging, and love. They are spaces filled with people who are often vulnerable and longing for connection. I have been incredibly grateful to serve in these environments and to grow as a believer while living and working among people who may have never encountered the gospel before.
Out of my four years in Grenoble, this has been one of the greatest privileges I have experienced. The people, the conversations, and the opportunity to simply be present in their lives have meant more to me than I can express. I will always be grateful for the chance to have been part of this community. I shared this briefly in my last newsletter, but I recently had the opportunity to share the story of Jesus during Easter. While the response I received was, “I’m not interested right now, but maybe in the future I will be,” I walked away from that conversation deeply encouraged.
France is often described as a country that has largely rejected the Gospel, but nothing can stop God from moving in people’s lives. Through simple acts of obedience and serving the community with no strings attached, I truly believe people encountered the heart of Jesus. He is a Savior who loves us freely, without expectation or condition. His love is not something we earn, but something we are given.
I hope this encourages you. Even in places where you may not be able to openly speak about Jesus, you can still reflect Him in the way you live and love those around you. People notice when something is different, when there is a genuine, selfless love present.
And to those who feel called to ministry, there is something deeply fulfilling about serving others without expecting anything in return. Giving my best to the community center with no agenda or requirement felt, in many ways, like embodying the heart of Jesus.
Thank you for sowing into this work. Through your support, seeds of God’s love are being planted in these spaces. I will never forget the names and faces of the people who have walked into my classes and become part of this journey. I truly love them, and I know that God loves them as well.
friendships
The friendships that I have made here in Grenoble have deeply transformed me. Some friends I only had the opportunity to do life with was between three months and for five years. Heck some people who wandered into Pilgrim Coffee House I only got to know for a few hours.
I don’t know how I never not known these people. My whole life feels so transformed because of the people that I had the opportunity to know and do life with and now I can’t picture these friends not being part of my life moving forward. These friends and colleagues of mine healed some of the most broken parts of me.
I truly love every single person I had the opportunity to know and it’s been the highest honor to be a presence in their life. Presence is the deepest, highest gift I can offer to those who are lost. What we can do is often limited, but simply being with someone carries something lasting, something eternal. It is in shared presence that hope quietly takes root, even in the midst of brokenness.
“Among people, in their beauty and their pain, we begin to glimpse the hope of glory, Christ revealed in and through us” (Colossians 1:27).
Thank you for investing in my friends. Thank you praying for them, loving them, and caring so deeply. No matter how long I’ve known each person, they are incredibly important to me and deeply cherished by God. I’m truly grateful for the way you invested in me so I could invest in them and I am praying and believing that God isn’t finished with their stories.
It’s been the highest honor to love people here in Grenoble no matter how long it may have been and my heart is permanently marked by each person.
Prayer Walking
During my first two years in Grenoble, our team regularly spent time prayer walking throughout different parts of the city. We prayed on campus, in local parks, around middle and high schools, in the historic center, and in some of the less developed neighborhoods.
Long before I arrived, missionaries had already been prayer walking here for over ten years. Because of the prayers that have been sown into these streets over time, I truly believe doors are beginning to open in many neighborhoods.
Prayer walking and committing time to prayer in general is not always easy. It certainly wasn’t for me when I first arrived. But looking back now, I can clearly see its value and importance.
When you lead with prayer, it becomes the foundation for everything you do.
I’m especially grateful now when I look back at photos I took while prayer walking. At the time, I had no idea that one day I would actually be serving in those same neighborhoods. Since then, my teammate has opened a café, churches and ministries have found places to gather, conversations about Christ have taken place, and people working in nearby restaurants and shops have stepped into church.
God truly does hear our prayers. Wherever you pray, you are sowing seeds.
I think about the Christians in the 1500s who prayed for this city. It’s powerful to realize that, hundreds of years ago, people were already praying for churches and believers to come to Grenoble. Now, all these years later, we are continuing those same prayers.
One of the most important things I share when people ask about missions is this: I am not the first Christian here, and I will not be the last. God has been at work in Grenoble for many years, and He will continue to move in the years to come. I am simply joining what He is already doing in both sowing seeds and stepping into a harvest that others prayed for long before me.
Because of your financial support, you are sowing seeds too. You are part of the prayers being lifted up over neighborhoods that do not yet have a local church, over restaurants and shops filled with people who do not know Christ, and over the university campus where many students may not know Jesus or even another believer. You are also part of prayers for vulnerable men and women in the prostitution industry, and for many others throughout the city.
Thank you for investing in Grenoble in this way. Your partnership truly matters and is helping make this work possible.
Pilgrim
Pilgrim is the café my colleagues opened, a space where anyone can come for coffee and conversation. People who attend Refuge gather there, but so do many who may never step foot in a church. The heart behind Pilgrim is simple, to love people and meet them exactly where they are.
With a warm conversation and a cup of coffee, someone has the opportunity to encounter a Christian who is kind, present, and trustworthy. I have had the privilege of praying in that space, participating in Bible studies, working shifts behind the counter, serving in youth ministry, taking French classes, leading language exchanges, helping with social media, and building relationships with locals who walk through the doors.
Thank you for investing in this space. For many who enter, we may be the only Christian they will ever encounter. They are also stepping into a place that has been built on and covered in thousands of prayers.
Before my colleagues acquired the space next door, Pilgrim hosted our 24/1 prayer events and weekly prayer gatherings. We prayed for our world, for France, for political leaders, for friends, for churches, and for hundreds of needs.
People often say, “There is something different about Pilgrim,” or, “There is not another space like this in France.”
I truly believe that is because the Spirit of God rests there. Many are encountering His presence for the first time, whether they recognize it or not.
So thank you. You are part of Pilgrim’s story and I believe this is only the beginning for many who do not yet know Jesus, and I look forward to the day when we can celebrate together all that God has done. Your prayers matter. Your generosity matters. Your partnership matters.
And eternity will reveal just how much.
24-7 Prayer
I’ve had the honor and privilege of partnering with an organization called 24-7 Prayer. For over two decades, 24-7 Prayer has been helping people encounter God and engage with the needs of the world through prayer. Today, there are more than 25,000 prayer rooms worldwide, representing 25 years of continuous, non-stop prayer.
I’ve had the joy of serving with 24-7 Prayer here in Grenoble. In the heart of the city, we host a small prayer room where people can come during the week, as well as during our monthly 24-1 prayer gatherings. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to step into prayer ministry and help create spaces where people can encounter God in a real and personal way.
At 24-7 Prayer, we often say that mission is not just something we do, it’s a way of life. When we connect with God in prayer, we are sent out into the world, filled with a desire to see transformation and to live differently. Prayer becomes the birthplace of mission: a calling to live as followers of Christ in our everyday lives, carrying His light beyond the prayer room.
Through prayer, I’ve seen how all things are possible. It has been a privilege to intercede for different needs each Thursday and to give my nights in prayer for our city during our 24-1 weekends. In the process, I’ve also experienced deep personal healing. This ministry has been a powerful part of my journey through grief after losing my dad, and it has shaped a deep desire in me to help others grow in a life of meaningful and intentional intercession.
I’m excited to continue partnering with 24-7 Prayer, creating spaces where people can encounter Christ and be transformed.
Marseille!
I am so thrilled to share that I’m moving to Marseille! This is something I have been praying about for nearly three years, and now the time has finally come. I never imagined that I would return to France to serve Jesus, let alone Marseille, but I truly believe this is where God is calling me to serve full-time.
When I first moved to Grenoble, I was simply saying “yes” to God when He asked if I would return to France. Within my organization, Grenoble is a place of training, a city where people are equipped and then sent out to serve elsewhere in Europe. After four years of training, it became increasingly clear that God was calling me back to Marseille to finish what He had started there.
I am filled with joy and excitement to finally share this with you. God is moving in Marseille in incredible ways, and I’m so expectant to join other believers in the work He is already doing there. Many of you have been following this journey since I first moved to Marseille in 2016 and I’ll be sending out a letter sharing more about how God led me back to Marseille and what I’ll be doing there! But, for now, I want to share that I will be moving home in September to begin fundraising for this next step. I’m truly excited for the opportunity to partner with churches and individuals whose hearts also break for those who are lost across Europe.
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, and I feel ready to step into this calling, to be a laborer for Jesus and a faithful friend to those who are searching for Him. If you feel led to partner with me, I would love to connect.I am currently seeking additional financial support to make this next season possible, so please don’t hesitate to reach out.
I’m also excited about the next steps in ministry. If you know any pastors or people who have a heart for missions or for France specifically, I would be so grateful if you shared my newsletters with them so they can learn more about what God is doing here. Until then, I know my time back in the States will be really special, and I’m so looking forward to reconnecting with many of you soon.
Thank you for taking the time to read my updates, for staying in touch, and for being part of this story as I serve Jesus. I’m so grateful for you.
I pray that you continue to feel the nearness of Jesus in your own life, wherever He leads you!!
à bientôt!!
Amanda