France
In secular France, Christians work to bring new life to old monastery
MARSEILLE, FRANCE — At the northern edge of this seaside port…
Love in many languages
Diverse Christians connect in Mediterranean melting pot.
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MARSEILLE, FRANCE — God and Google can bring people together in any language.
Melanie van der Vorst, a social worker from the Netherlands, speaks Dutch, English and a bit of German.
But not French.
Faith in France: Read all the stories in the special series
That language barrier presented a slight challenge as van der Vorst, a Christian, looked for a place to worship during a trip to this Western European nation.
The challenge was one, though, that she overcame.
A little internet searching and a phone call preceded van der Vorst’s visit to the Chapelle de Fuveau Church of Christ, the Marseille congregation where I met her on a recent Sunday morning.
Melanie van der Vorst from the Netherlands visited a French-speaking congregation in Marseille, France, on a recent Sunday.
“I work with children with severe behavioral problems and trauma,” she told me, explaining the circumstances that brought her to France. “And one client, she is cycling up a mountain with a team, and I wanted to come to support her.”
Van der Vorst stayed in Mollans-sur-Ouvèze, a village about 90 miles north of Marseille, a seaside port that is France’s second-largest city.
“While being here, I thought, ‘Let’s explore the south of France,’ and I wanted to go to church,” van der Vorst said as we talked at a fellowship meal after worship.
A member of the Eindhoven Church of Christ at home — nearly 700 miles north of Marseille — she was pleased to find a sister congregation in this Mediterranean melting pot.
She called before visiting to see if an English interpretation of the Sunday service might be offered.
Dolores Dauner, wife of Chapelle de Fuveau minister Philippe Dauner, answered the call.
Dolores Dauner grew up in Belgium. Flemish, a dialect of Dutch, is her native language. She also speaks French and English.
“I already saw a video on their website of their singing,” van der Vorst said. “I mean, just as a small church, their singing ability was amazing. Like, it was so well harmonized, and I really appreciate that.”
In the phone call, Dolores Dauner and van der Vorst were able to communicate in Dutch.
Dauner explained that the congregation provides earphones that allow English-speaking guests to follow the Scripture reading, singing, sermon and communion thoughts.
Members and guests visit outside the Chapelle de Fuveau Church of Christ in Marseille, France, before a Sunday morning worship assembly.
“And she knows some people from my church and my region,” van der Vorst said of the immediate connection. “So that was like, yeah, it’s a small world.”
I had the same feeling when meeting van der Vorst.
We, too, know some of the same people — mutual friends in Churches of Christ.
Among them: Paul and Carol Brazle, missionaries in Antwerp, Belgium, with whom I stayed during a 2009 reporting trip.
So van der Vorst got up before sunrise and made the two-hour drive. She arrived early enough to use her drone to snap beautiful photos of Marseille.
I was excited when she shared the images with me.
“Melanie is a lovely young woman,” Carol Brazle told me, “and I am not a bit surprised that she went out of her way to meet with Christians.”
A drone image captured by Melanie van der Vorst shows the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica in Marseille, France.
Trilingual, bilingual or … American?
I traveled to Marseille to report on the Chapelle de Fuveau church’s work to transform an abandoned monastery — one of thousands of decaying religious structures in France — into a Christian outreach center.
Despite three years of high school Spanish, I speak only one language fluently: English.
I’m reminded of this old joke: What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. One language? American.
But time and time again in France, I found myself impressed by those who — unlike me — master multiple languages.
Rafael Reis would like to learn Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic to understand the Bible’s original languages better.
Portuguese is the native language of Rafael Reis, a 26-year-old Brazilian who just started a yearlong mission training internship with the Chapelle de Fuveau church.
In addition, Reis speaks English and a bit of Spanish. He’s working to learn French.
“I love this intercultural (connection) and the language stuff and all. I always like that,” he told me. “One day, I want to learn Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to understand the Bible better.”
One woman I met, Mila Nataliya Govorukha, is a philologist who actually studies the history of languages.
A Ukrainian refugee and Chapelle de Fuveau member, Govorukha left Kharkiv — close to the Russian border — a few weeks before the war started in 2022.
“My first language is Russian,” Govorukha said. “At some point I had to learn Ukrainian, of course, because I’m Ukrainian, and English because I did missionary work.
“Most of the (missionary) projects were international,” she added. “And I was six years in Bosnia, so I speak Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian. … And now I’m learning French.”
Khaled and Djedjiga Hassani, ethnic Berbers who immigrated to France from Algeria, spoke Kabyle growing up.
The former Muslims, who converted to Christianity in Marseille, can converse in various dialects of Arabic and learned French after moving here.
Khaled understands quite a bit of English, too, but lamented to me that his mastery of my language wasn’t better.
“Your English is much better than my French,” I assured him.
Khaled and Djedjiga Hassani serve as caretakers for the former Betheline monastery, which is being renovated as a Christian outreach center.
A hug and a promise
An American mission team came to help with the monastery renovation project and wanted to show its appreciation to its French-speaking hosts.
So the team enlisted the help of Esther House — the French-born daughter of American missionaries Craig and Katie Young — to learn the French version of the hymn “I Love You With the Love of the Lord.”
The Americans sang it as a thank you on the group’s final work day in Marseille.
American mission team members, from left, Kathy Ashton, Krista Jacoby, Lois Gerst and Dan Cooper practice singing “I Love You with the Love of the Lord” in French
Like me, Krista Jacoby — one of the mission team members — enjoyed meeting Melanie van der Vorst.
Jacoby, who attends the Glen Rock Church of Christ in Pennsylvania, flew 4,000 miles to help with the monastery project.
“I love it,” Jacoby said of the diverse group of people she met in Marseille. “We do tend to think everything’s in English in the world, and everybody should speak that. But it’s fun to come here and see how God’s love pours out in different languages.”
Jacoby, who is learning French, hugged van der Vorst as they said goodbye after the fellowship meal.
The two expect to see each other again, in heaven if not sooner.
“It’s very encouraging to meet Christians from all over the world,” Jacoby told van der Vorst, “and someday we’ll all be together.”
BOBBY ROSS JR. is Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Chronicle. He traveled to France to report this special series. Reach him at [email protected].
