British Christians are called to love their French neighbours too, says author

La vie francais is just as appealing to Christians as it is to the rest of the British population but those Christians heading over there need to regard themselves less as tourists and more as missionaries, believes author and speaker Michele Guinness.

Guinness recently spent three months in France house hunting and attending a local evangelical church with her pastor husband, with a view to moving there permanently.

She said that Christians were among the many Brits settling down in France, one of the most popular British tourist destinations, without making any effort to learn the language.

Some Christians, she said, were guilty of making the move without first taking the time to find out if their new home was near a church, particularly important for evangelical Christians who are considered a sect in France.

She said that France was "arid" spiritually and told of her Christian neighbour who told her she had not met another Christian for seven years.

Most churches, Guinness said, did not even have worship leaders, and while some British migrants felt called to plant a church, they often did not have a sufficient grasp of the French language to preach a full sermon.

"Many Christians have the dream of going to live in France but do they bother to learn the language? No, they don't and they don't think to themselves 'I'm being sent by God to France, I'm there as a missionary'," she said.

Guinness said British Christians settling down or holidaying in France should have the attitude of wanting to give back rather than simply take.

She encouraged them to look up information about local churches on the internet or at the tourist information.

Joining their services and learning even a few sentences could be a great encouragement to them, she said.

Guinness concluded: "Where might God be calling you to bring peace? Love your neighbour across the Channel.

"It's the favourite British holiday destination and we have taken and taken and taken.

"It's time we gave back some of our spiritual treasures in exchange for some of the enjoyment we have taken from that wonderful country."