Yes, those monuments are all there, all a part of the city. But the suburbs of Paris are what caught my attention a lot more than the locations that attract tourists.

My idea, incredibly misconstrued, of what France entailed, was radically shifted and enlightened during the four days during Spring break that I walked and prayed with the M’s through these suburbs. In the district where we were, there are people from every country in the world except for three countries. It’s truly where the nations gather.

Walking through the market place, I found myself surrounded by North Africans from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt. Most of the North Africans don’t have jobs, except for the occasional man who maintains a janitorial position cleaning up after the markets end. The few Muslim women that I saw were almost completely covered, some showing on their eyes, a few more leaving their faces uncovered. I met South African women, with dark skin and painted faces, clothed in the bright colors of their traditional African dress. Occasionally I’d pass a Hindi woman, identified by the red dot on her forehead.

On Friday afternoon, at a few minutes past one o-clock, I saw four hundred men fill the streets of a particular suburb to listen to an imam teach and then corporately and simultaneously lift their voices and bend their backs to pray to a false God.

That’s the Paris I saw. That’s what I witnessed.

But I also met a handful of Egyptian Christ-followers who were clearly unveiled to the gospel, glowing from the reflection of Christ in their lives. I saw these families sharing the gospel in the varying Arabic dialects with some of their own people on the streets of these suburbs.

God’s work is ancient and existent in these suburbs of Paris, France. And I’m excited that some of our students are being allowed the opportunity to join God at work there and pray through the streets where people have heard about Jesus, but don’t know the truth about him.

Please join us in praying for God’s fame to continue to spread, especially in Paris, France.