My monthly or so email news updates on the life of the Marseille church and Christians on Mission (CEM) spiritual training school. Be sure to visit the photo page.
News Updates
January 2010
Dauner News Update, January 2010
THE FRENCH DIS-CONNECTION
In 498 A.D., with the conversion of the Frankish king Clovis, France won the title of the “eldest daughter of the Church”. A recent survey shows just how much French Catholicism has declined. Among the findings:
• 81% of the French described themselves as Catholics in 1965. In 2009, the number is less than 64%.
• Whereas 27% of French Catholics attended mass once a week in 1965, in 2009, no more than 4.5% of French Catholics do so.
• 63% of practicing Catholics in France believe that all religions are the same.
Observers are saying that while none of this is new, the results are even more dramatic than was expected. But all is not lost for the Christian faith. One glimmer of hope is that the demise of “sociological Catholicism” has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the number of adult converts (in the Catholic church): almost 9000 for the year 2009, many of whom were baptized by immersion. It is heartening to report these green shoots of faith sprouting in the crevices of this ancient Christian nation; they make our own work of evangelism that much easier.
THE SCOTTISH CONNECTION
At the invitation of local evangelist Alastair Ferrie, Prisca and I enjoyed attending the congregational spiritual retreat of the Dundee Church of Christ in Scotland, January 29-31. We were virtually bathed in Christian love and fellowship during the whole weekend. The theme of the retreat—discipleship—provided me the opportunity to present publicly for the first time three sessions (out of eight) of the Purpose of God in its English version.
The leadership of the Dundee church is well aware of the challenge faced by the church in its mission to the post christian culture of the Western world. In fact, Alastair has published a very readable and practical book entitled Evangelism in a Post Christian Culture that I am sure you would find useful. Google it.
THE CHURCH CONNECTION:
OUR LOCAL CONGREGATION HOSTS PRAYER MEETING FOR UNITY
You cannot pray together and expect to come away unscathed. You cannot enter into God’s presence humbly asking Him to change you and come out of it exactly the same. That was the hope of the 120 people who packed into our chapel on January 20 for an evening of prayer, Scripture reading and singing in the context of the worldwide Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The service was centered around the reading of Luke 24 and the Master’s call for His people to be witnesses with one voice to God’s purpose for the world.
This is the third year that the Fuveau Chapel Church has helped organize a prayer meeting jointly with neighboring Catholic parishes and Protestant churches. It would be hard to exaggerate the positive impact that these meetings have had not only on our relations with other believers but also on the receptivity to the Gospel by the unchurched or unbelieving visitors in attendance! Probably no other single event has been such a boost to our evangelistic efforts in the local community.
THE GYM CLASS CONNECTION
For the Marseilles mission church, everything is an opportunity for mission. The youngest member of the congregation, Esther Young, a high school gymnast, has organized a gym and exercise class for about a dozen younger neighborhood girls. Since most of the parents stay during the hour, we decided to invite them to follow the Purpose of God. That is the origin of this first class. So far, one class member has been baptized, and two more people have insisted on joining the series half way through rather than wait for the beginning of a new one.
Now the class includes: a Muslim mother of three whose husband is a Christian, an extremely devoted practicing Catholic mother of five, a Muslim father of four whose wife is a Christian, and a school psychologist.
THE WEB CONNECTION
Those of you who have followed our mission over the years are familiar with our ongoing “core” ministries that continue to function month after month but that are not always featured in my updates. My son Philippe has prepared a newsletter overview of the progress of these ministries during the year 2009. You can download the file from the DOWNLOADS page of this site.
May God bless you in the coming year and grant that you love the Lord Jesus Christ more each day.
Max and Prisca Dauner
December 2009
Dauner News Update, December 2009
December 2009 more or less passed me by, as I was laid low for over three weeks with the H1N1 flu that turned into pneumonia. Although managing a few sorties for an occasional sermon or study, I missed out on the big event of the holiday season : our yearly gospel concert and musical play. More young people were involved than ever, the chapel was packed to the brim, but my place in the chorus was empty.
The one thing about which I can give you a first-person account is the initial success of the new multimedia version of the Purpose of God series. The first group has reached about mid-way in the eight-part series, and one member, Pierre Carracrulio, has asked to be baptized. Pierre, father of three young children (two are Club Coolers, that is members of our primary school youth group), has been studying regularly with Philippe. We have rarely met anyone who is so movingly and effusively thankful to the church for bringing him the gospel. Among the others who are following the class are a Muslim lady and a devout Catholic lady who is organizing a second class for two of her neighbors.
Philippe has also begun a session for another Club Cooler mother. You would be amazed at how these young children of primary school age are falling in love with God—they soak up Bible things like sponges—and how they in turn influence their parents to seek Him.
In April and May, we will offer The Purpose of God series to the general public as a part of our Sunday Bible class program. (The background picture above is from the poster.) My translation of the last three lessons into English is completed (for a spiritual retreat in Scotland this month), and I hope to translate the whole series before my trip to North America this summer.
One last note. The rent on the property occupied by the Marseille church went up a little over 10%, ostensibly as a result of the 2009 financial crisis. We have scheduled a general meeting on January 17 to decide how to meet the challenge.
We already have a good start on 2010, with lots of hopes and plans for the year, all the while suspecting that God will surprise us with the unexpected. But the telling of these will have to wait for a future newsletter.
Max and Prisca Dauner
November 2009
Dauner News Update, November 2009
Please excuse my update being a few days late. I have been laid up for the past week or so with a bad flu.
FACING THE GIANTS
November is traditionally the time for our yearly church retreat weekend. This year’s theme, Facing the Giants, was particularly appropriate because our small church will soon be confronted with an oversized challenge.
The church year has actually gone better than I expected. In spite of losing half of our staff, we have not eliminated or even downsized any of our major outreach ministries. Sunday morning attendance is steady, with a good number of new and enthusiastic visitors. Two converts from last year whom we thought had left for good were convinced to rejoin the community. A new evangelistic class using the Purpose of God presentations is off to a good start. The two-apartment house the church rented (giving us the use of the whole property where the chapel is located) is now occupied by two of our CEM students and a family from the church.
Then a new Goliath appeared on the horizon. The real estate agency that manages the property we occupy warned us that in February our rent would “shoot up.” (Yes, it would be to our advantage to own the property, but the present owner has consistently refused to sell). Financially, the church and the Marseilles team are already stretched to the limit; we are presently not capable of paying a significant increase in rent.
Of course, we would be loath to leave this location; it has taken us over twelve years to build up trust and be accepted in the neighborhood. But we trust God implicitly to carry out his will in this matter, and we will adapt our work to his decision. Please join us in putting this threat before the Father’s throne and in asking that we have the clarity of vision and the faith to act in the best interests of his kingdom.
ENGLISH VERSION OF THE PURPOSE OF GOD SERIES IN THE WORKS
An invitation to hold a retreat for the Dundee, Scotland church in January has motivated me to create English-language versions of the last three lessons of the Purpose of God series. Once these are completed, I plan to go back and translate the first five lessons.
I am not sure what would be the best format in which to distribute the series in English. The present French version exists only as a Keynote presentation (a PowerPoint-like application for Mac OSX), with no audio track. That format is perfect for small group studies, but requires an Apple computer. If you have any thoughts or ideas on this, please let me know.
May God bless you all and grant you peace as this year comes to a close. I shudder to think where we would all be had He not come down to our planet.
Max and Prisca
October 2009
Dauner News Update, October 2009
Fall Seminars
Three seminars are on my schedule this fall. All three deal in different ways with the same issue that our churches feel more and more acutely and that has become the major theme of my public teaching: the increasingly heavy antichristian pressure coming from a monolithically secularized French society.
We do not face a strident “throw them to the lions”, violent type of persecution, but a pervasive, grind-them-down, intellectual and cultural effort to marginalize religious belief (especially the faith of Christians who actually believe their faith is true) into oblivion. Christians are tolerated only if they accept to live, talk and think as if God did not really exist.
A robust intellectual counterattack is long overdue, and if the positive reaction to my fall seminars is any indication, will be welcomed by believers. Most Christians feel the pressure but do not know how to pinpoint the basic worldview or philosophical presuppositions that underpin secular thought. Many are trying to paste a Christian lifestyle and Christian religious practice onto a secularist worldview they have unconsciously absorbed from the surrounding culture, and it just does not work. It is like building a castle on sand.
Those of you who struggle to hold up the name of Christ in the West (Europe and North America) no doubt understand what I am talking about. Each country has its own specific history and culture, but the opposing forces on the spiritual battlefield are essentially the same.
New CEM Dorm
For a long time, we have been eyeing the two-storied house that is the last part of the church “compound” we have rented for ten years. It finally became available for us to rent on October 1. We negotiated a deal with the owner to undertake ourselves the extensive renovation needed to make the two appartments livable: everything from repairing the roof to completely redoing the electricity.
So, for the last month, several of us have been putting in 35-40 extra hours per week to finish the renovation as soon as possible. Members and friends of the church have pitched in, providing manpower and professional skills we do not have. The job is nearly completed. Our two tenants — a church family with three small children on the botton floor and two CEM students on the upper appartment — will soon be able to move in.
Family News
Justin was hired this week by a company named (of all things) ETIC, which is pronounced the same way as the French word for ethics. He was truly thankful to find employment in the current economic situation. The job should give him the ressources to finish his master’s degree in theology and perhaps a doctorate.
Grace and peace to you all,
Max and Prisca Dauner
September 2009
Dauner News Update, September 2009
New Granddaughter
We are happy to announce the birth, on September 26, of Aurélia Dana to our son Philippe and his wife Dolores. Both mother and baby are home and doing well. Prisca, especially, is overjoyed at the arrival of a girl in this household overrun by boys.
Christians on Mission Class of 2010
The CEM class of 2010 comprises two young women and two young men, all fresh out of high school: Emily Young, Derek Twiss, Constantine Tertov and Maylis Blasco. The diversity of their backgrounds and their eagerness to learn promise to make this a good year.
The value of our modest program cannot be mesured simply in numbers. Every year, as I see our intern-students (“cemists”) use their experience at CEM as a springboard for active discipleship and church service, I give thanks to God for his grace in letting me participate in this ministry and for you whose love and support give me the means.
Longtime Coworker Returns Home
Denise Heroux, CEM class of 1998 and our coworker for eleven years, announced that she will be returning definitively to the United States in November. She has been such a vital part of the team—in both what she does and who she is— that we don’t know what we will do without her.
Evangelistic Thrust
One of the evangelistic projects for the coming church year will a renewed effort to multiply small study groups of catechumens (people who follow a program of instruction with a view to baptism). We hope in this way to exploit the conjunction of two recent developments: (1) a number of unchurched parents whose children participate in our youth groups have expressed an interest in being instructed in the Christian faith ; (2) in August, I completed a major revision of the (multimedia) version of the Purpose of God, which is now ready to be used for small group classes.
We hope that this tool—a succinct overview of the Christian faith—will help us to recenter on personal evangelism, which tends sometimes to be crowded out of our daily schedule by the demands of other ministries.
Lyons Seminar
The last weekend of September, Prisca and I visited the church in Lyons where I held a brief seminar, using my DVD presentation, on the book of Revelation. Sunday morning Bible class became an opportunity to show one lesson of the Purpose of God (the one on Christian virtues). People seem to respond well to the multimedia format, which is no surprise in our image-oriented culture.
Every September marks for us the beginning of a new “campaign”: new struggles to be engaged or continued, new victories and new defeats, new joys and new disappointments. But every new year brings us that much closer to our Father and to our true home. May he grant us all the grace to finish the course with honor and faithfulness.
Max and Prisca Dauner
June 2009
Dauner News Update, June 2009
Here is a brief pictoral chronicle that evokes the two major events of the month. (See pictures on photo page.)
Bonnefoi Retreat Center Work Week
The work week was a mission project organized in conjunction with Dan Cooper of the Pitman, New Jersey Church of Christ. The American mission team numbered thirty-three (see above) and included several construction industry professionals.
The most ambitious goal of the project was the transformation of the above storage annex into four bedrooms and a large classroom. A good start was made toward this goal.
I was in charge of the Paint Team, which worked in the main buildings. For the first time since we purchased the center in 2003, all of the paintable surfaces are painted.
Christians on Mission Summer Session 2009
The CEM Summer Session saw a record attendance, with participants from Belgium, Holland, Croatia, Switzerland, the United States. Also present in larger numbers were unchurched adults and young people from our various outreach programs in Marseilles.
The highlight of the week was the evening of religious songs and skits at our chapel. The place was packed to the full, and people kept asking for more, in spite of the sweltering heat. Many new faces were among the crowd, some of whom came as a result of a local distribution of invitations.
The week climaxed with the 2009 Christians on Mission graduation ceremony on July 5. Once again, the chapel was full of church members, visitors and well-wishers, including two neighborhood families who just walked in off the street and who immediately enquired about being enrolled in our activities.
Next on the agenda is the 2009 Harmony Bible Camp. Prisca will act as counselor and Bible teacher for the 10-12 year olds and as camp nurse. This year I will be on the kitchen staff and, as usual, teach a teen Bible class.
We thank God for all of you and wish for you his richest blessings.
Max and Prisca Dauner
May 2009
Dauner News Update, May 2009
I am writing from the waiting room of the court of appeals where we are involved in another hearing over the custody of Alexandre Dudar. Many have asked about him and his older brother Constantin whom we took into our home in January, 2008.
Both are doing well. Constantin is taking the final exams to obtain his high school diploma. He is enrolled in our CEM program for next year and plans to continue his university studies afterwards in Marseille. Alexandre has made constant progress in his school work and is near the top of his class; he will enter middle school next fall.
A few highlights of the month
In May, our son Justin and I flew to Los Angeles for the Pepperdine Bible Lectures. It was the first time either of us had attended such a gathering (huge, over 5000 people) outside of Europe. Both of us presented classes and spoke at the World Radio dinner. On the last day my alma mater surprised me with a certificate of distinguished Christian service for my forty years of ministry in France.
The lectureship was a real blessing for Justin and me, and we owe a debt of gratitude to Maurice Hall (with the Sierra Madre church) and to Jerry Rushford (with Pepperdine) for making it possible for us to attend. We made numerous new Christian friends, and it was a special privilege to spend time with my former Bible professor at Pepperdine, Carl Mitchell.
Our presence in North America allowed us to spend three days with my Dad, who just turned 93, in Topeka, Kansas, and to have a great but short visit with the Central church in that city.
My time since our return has largely been dedicated to two tasks: (1) getting ready for the musical play performed by our young people on May 30; (3) preparing an audio-visual class for the teens at Harmony Bible Camp.
The musical play, entitled More Than Conqueror, recounts the life of the Apostle Paul. The story was more complex than previous productions and involved as actors a record 40 teens and children. Once again our young people did wonders, aided by the direction of Katie Young, the scenario of Philippe and the lyrics of Prisca. The crowd of visitors—about 140— filled our chapel and overflowed out onto the sidewalk.
The teen class for Bible camp furnished the occasion for me to undertake a major project that has been in the back of my mind for several years: give a much-needed revision and update of my basic teaching series The Purpose of God. This new version will take the form of a series of Keynote presentations (like PowerPoint only more elegant).
Upcoming events for your prayers
1. The work week at Bonnefoi Retreat Center, June 22-27, with 33 volunteers from the Pitman Church of Christ in New Jersey.
2. CEM Summer Session, June 28-July 5.
3. Harmony Bible Camp, July 13-27.
When you get weary serving God and resisting the world—its hostility or temptations—, you may want to reflect on this contrast made in Revelation 14:
“There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image.”
“Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”
NO REST !? May God keep us all from such a fate.
Max and Prisca Dauner
April 2009
Dauner News Update, April 2009
Justin and I leave tomorrow for the Pepperdine Bible Lectures and hope to see some of you there, or later during our visit to Topeka, Kansas. In the meantime, I will dash off this quick update.
The enclosed pictures give you a taste of our spring Chorale Harmonie concert tour. This year we sang 13 times in 8 days covering 3 countries (France, Germany, Switzlerland). Our venues included our own churches, Protestant and Catholic churches, rest homes, an ice cream parlor and a French high school in Lyon, France.
The high school audience was the most unique of the whole tour: about 300 juniors and seniors whose religious knowledge and culture was probably close to zero. The teachers told us that they had never seen these students listen so intently in the assembly and that many of them were visibly moved by our message. One girl came up and asked us, “Are you, like, believing believers?”
Each selection was introduced by a brief message from one of the choristers, beginning with songs about Old Testament characters (Abraham, Moses, David), on to the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and ending with songs of praise and calls to come to Christ. The general theme was Give Me Jesus.
Another trip was made the week before to Bonnefoi Center in order to begin repairs caused by our extremely severe winter, the worst since the 1940’s. There was still about 3 or 4 feet of snow on the ground.
Please keep our three big projects for the summer in your prayers:
1. A work week at Bonnefoi Center involving over 50 volonteers from America and France.
2. Christians on Mission Summer Session.
3. Harmony Bible Camp.
We realize more and more than only one thing keeps us going: love for the Christ and for the Father who sent him to save our race. As Prisca’s French version of Give Me Jesus says: You can take away all the rest, but not Jesus.
May God make that a reality in our lives.
Max and Prisca
March 2009
Dauner News Update March 2009
Local church life slowed down this month because of absences due to school vacations, mission trips, foreign lectureships, spiritual retreats and sickness.
Our CEM students, with their accompanying staff members, were on the road for over three weeks: first, for the annual Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS) at the church camp facilities in Gemunden, Germany; and then a two-week mission trip to Mauritius Island (near Madagascar).
The mission trip included a full schedule of outreach activities with two congregations in the French-speaking Indian Ocean island country. The local preachers of both these churches have a close and long-time connection with the Marseilles work: Dr. Tony Leuteritz and CEM graduate Canden Subarayadu. Plans to help with the construction of a church orphanage in Madagascar were thwarted by the recent political unrest in that country, which shut down air traffic. The group did get to spend some time, however, with orphan children in Soweto, South Africa.
On the local front, the ladies of the congregation launched a new initiative for the mothers of the neighborhood and their young children: a Wednesday morning breakfast at the church. The breakfast involves several women whose children are in our youth programs.
For the past few weeks, the church has greatly benefited from the part-time volunteer work done by Patricia Hézard. Patricia is an employee of the French Tax Office, and near the end of last year was pushed down a stairway during a robbery in her building. (The perpetrator got away with over $1,200,000 — in tax checks he will never be able to cash). As a result of the attack, she was granted professional leave for a couple of months and is donating much of her free time to the church.
This winter has been particularly severe in France, especially in the region of the Bonnefoi Retreat Center, which was covered by ten feet of snow. A couple of expeditions have been organized to assess the damages caused by ice and flooding, but access to the Center is still difficult (by snowshoe only). With the spring thaw, we will no doubt be looking at some lengthy and costly repairs.
We are thankful for each of you – for your support, your friendship, and your prayer. May God return to you all the good that you have done for us.
Max and Prisca Dauner
January 2009
Dauner News Update January 2009
2009 Prayer Meeting for Unity
For the second consecutive year, the Marseilles church organized, jointly with the leaders of several neighborhood catholic parishes, an evening of prayer, Scripture reading and singing in the context of the worldwide Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme, They Will be One in Your Hand, was taken from the vision of The Two Sticks in Ezekiel 37. Once again we had a good attendance, representing around ten catholic parishes and Protestant groups. The hosting parish church is located just two blocks from where Prisca and I live.
This year the organizing committee decided to include a sermon, which they asked me to present. It was a great opportunity to reach an audience that we normally do not have access to, especially since it included some twenty priests and nuns.
As a result of this meeting, a family of five from the neighborhood visited our Sunday services yesterday. They seemed enthusiastic about the welcome they received and about the various Bible classes and activities for the three children. Another lady at the meeting asked to inscribe her children in our Bible Camp.
Dauners to Speak at Pepperdine Bible Lectures
Justin and I have been invited to present classes and a luncheon speech at the Pepperdine University 66th Annual Bible Lectures, May 5-8. Here is the schedule of our talks:
Wednesday, May 6
12:00 p.m. Luncheon Program
World Christian Broadcasting
Hahn Fireside Room
2:00 p. m.
Multiplying Loaves and Walking on Water
(A European Reading of Two Messianic Signs in the Wilderness) — Max
CAC 204
Friday, May 8
2:00 p.m.
Since God Knows Everything, Why Pray?
(A Reminder of Our Calling to Pray Without Ceasing) — Justin
AC 244
We are also scheduled to teach on Sunday, May 3 at the Sierra Madre Church of Christ, which has graciously accepted to cover our airfare to Los Angeles.
Church News
• One of our members of North African origin is presently in his home country (accompanying a native missionary from a para-church organization) on an evangelistic tour. This is a dangerous activity, since it is illegal to distribute Bibles and proselytize in that part of the world. The official crackdown on evangelistic activity, however, has not stopped the rapid growth of the Christian faith.
• A five-member family from the neighborhood has been attending our mid-week Bible class/prayer meeting since the beginning of the year. The children are active in Club Cool, and the father has requested to receive teaching with a view to receiving baptism.
• Marseilles is a very cosmopolitan town, a port city with large communities from all over the Mediterranean world. Fuveau Chapel reflects that ethnic and cultural diversity and draws strength from it. That does not mean there are no tensions or no attitudes to be corrected. (See the difficulties that the early church encountered in its effort to incorporate Jew and gentile into the same body.) As we have seen lately, patience and forgiveness are important weapons in the arsenal of peace; there are still long-held prejudices to be overcome here and there. Integrating a good-size minority of North Africans into a French congregation succeeds only rarely, and we can thank God for the harmony that reigns in the Marseilles church family.
A long-time friend of ours, Jerry Myers, never tires of encouraging people with the words, “Do not grow weary in well-doing!” Perhaps that is the biggest trial of all: holding on to the very end. I have been often strengthened in my resolve by Jerry’s words and can think of no better grace, no better blessing to close this letter. May God grant that you not grow weary in well-doing!
Max and Prisca Dauner
December 2008
Dauner News Update December 2008
Evangelistic Musical Play
Noel in Provence is our own unabashedly evangelistic version of an old Christmas tradition in the south of France: the “crèche vivante” or living nativity scene. The full-length musical play tells the story of Jesus’s birth as if the events recorded in the Gospels had taken place in nineteenth-century Provence. It drives home the message that “Jesus was born in your country in order to be born in your heart”.
This year’s production featured 38 young performers, ages 3 to 19, each of whom is involved in one or another of our various youth groups. The chapel was once again filled to the brim. A good many of those who came were returnees from previous concerts, but for most of the audience, it was their first visit to the church.
For us, the highlight of the evening was the message presented by Raphaël Enderlé, 19, a recent convert and graduate of CEM. “Three years ago, I was sitting on a pew just like you are tonight. [With spiked hair and leather coat.] I had come only to see my sister in the play. I had no interest at all in religion. But then I got caught up in the story of Jesus and let myself be persuaded by its truth. It is because of Him I am here before you today and urge you also to let yourself be persuaded by the truth of Christ.”
A second performance of Noel in Provence is scheduled for January 17 in a nearby catholic parish church.
Long-awaited Baptism
It is with great joy that we announce the long-awaited baptism, on December 19, of Khaled Hassani, a Berber from Algeria whom we met some eight years ago and who has been attending church services and receiving Christian teaching for several years. During this time, Khaled had become a beloved friend of the Marseille church members. Although strongly attracted to the Christ, he always hesitated at the threshold of conversion, until he finally concluded that even the Koran points to Jesus as God’s Son.
One turning point was a visit to his native village this fall and his first-hand experience of the Christian Gospel explosion among ethnic Berber Muslims. Khaled is a good exemple of the need for patience in evangelism. He confided that if we had, in the past, pressed him to be baptized, he would have accepted just to make us happy, but that he can now act out of full conviction.
Khaled’s wife Djédjiga, an ethnic Berber with French citizenship, and their three small children all regularly attend our program of Bible classes.
Looking Back…
In some respects, the year 2008 has been a hard one for Prisca and me. The Marseille church was tossed and shaken by various storms, the least of which was not the departure of our beloved coworkers Garth and Diana Hutchinson. In addition, we took on the added responsability of two foster sons.
But even the storms, great or small, are in Christ’s hands. Out of the turmoil, He brought about a grace that I was despairing of ever seeing: an unprecedented solidarity among our members and an unprecedented level of their active participation in the work of the church. For this we bless God and hope that it will be an encouragement for all of you who have so faithfully and generously supported our mission in France.
Max and Prisca Dauner
November 2008
Dauner News Update November 2008
Two Church Weddings
2008 has been the year of weddings for members of the Marseilles church and CEM alumni. After four in the spring, two more were celebrated this past month at the Fuveau Chapel.
The first wedding, performed by Philippe, joined two young ethnic Berber converts from Islam: Jacob and Sabrina. Since the families and many of the friends of the bride and groom were of North African origin, the wedding had a multicultural flavor, with hymns in French, Berber and Arabic (complete with ululation).
A good number of the guests who packed into the chapel were Muslims; it was the first time they had ever set foot inside a Christian place of worship. It was a special opportunity for the new couple to bear witness to their faith in the Christ. The Muslim guests said they were very impressed by the Christian love and fellowship enjoyed by the different ethnic groups in the church.
The second marriage ceremony, which I performed, was a smaller affair. The bride and groom, Maya and Alain, are of my generation and have been believers for some time. Many members of their families, however, are not Christians and their attendance at the wedding was a good introduction to the church.
Choral Mission to Poland
During the fall trimester break, a dozen members of Chorale Harmonie took advantage of budget-priced flights to make a four-day mission trip to Warsaw, Poland, where they performed gospel concerts in two different local churches and on the street. One of our avowed missions for the Marseilles church and CEM is to promote a European-wide vision of church fellowship and evangelism. Previous mission tours have put us in Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Romania and Turkey.
Local Church Weekend Retreat
Our traditional “church family” retreat will center this year on the theme “Witnessing and Prayer”. This retreat has always been a time to assess the spiritual condition of the congregation and to help define any course changes we need to make in the church’s life.
The emphasis on evangelism, while always timely, is a response to the fact that our net membership has not progressed much in the past three years. The number of departures (mostly moves out of town, with a few deaths and falling aways) has about equaled the number of conversions during this time. So, we will be seeking together, in God‘s presence, how we can, as a church, cast our nets into deeper waters.
We are encouraged by some positive things as we prepare at this retreat to look to the future:
• Justin will work this year as a preacher in training with the Marseilles church, in conjunction with the Bible seminary where he is finishing up his Master’s degree in theology.
• Raphaël Enderlé, while not the scholarly type, has a heart for God and desire to serve the church. He is presently seeking a situation (part-time job, shared apartment) that will allow him to follow, in extension of his CEM studies last year, a part-time on-the-job training with the leaders of the Marseilles church.
• The committee of servants, inaugurated earlier this year, is having a ripple effect. Our people, already involved in many good works and noble pursuits on a personal level, are learning more how to also serve in the collective efforts of the church.
Which leads me to the following reflection by way of conclusion:
There are no doubt different stages in the Christian’s journey from sin to sainthood, from conversion to consecration, from being a “nice” but self-centered church-goer to becoming a selfless lover of God. But I think the main milestone to pass is when we stop seeing God as a part of our story (a more or less important part, having more or less priority) and start seeing ourselves as a part of His story. When we see God as the Author and ourselves as a character. When God is no longer a moving blip on our radar screen with ourselves as the unmoving center, but when we become a blip on His screen, with Him as the unmoving center.
This Copernican revolution of perspective will progressively set our priorities straight, simplify our overly complicated lives, strip down our superfluous ambitions and free us to serve God and his purposes. It will also give us joy.
Most of us are somewhere along the road that passes by this milestone. We can take heart at the distance already covered, look behind us in fear to avoid sliding back and look ahead in hope to see where we are heading. Live for God, live for heaven. I promise that you will not have wasted your time here on earth.
Max and Prisca Dauner
October 2008
Dauner News Update October 2008
The month of September, the starting point of our church calendar, always has the hopeful taste of new beginnings mixed with a hint of anxiety. Will our outreach ministries be effective? Can the Marseilles church gear up for another year of counter-cultural spiritual survival? How will the new CEM students rise to the challenge of intense mission activity?
Here is a rundown, in the form of pluses and minuses, of how things came out this year.
Club Cool Starts Out With a Bang
++ Many were wondering if our outreach ministry to elementary school children could survive the departure of former Club Cool directors Diana and Garth Hutchinson. Philippe, Dolores and Kathy, seconded by a whole team of assistants from the congregation, stepped into the breach to ensure that this weekday Bible class would continue to serve the children of the neighborhood. Newcomers more than made up for the graduation of the older Club Coolers to the next age group. A very respectable attendance of 26 kids for the first week increased to 32 by week two. This does not include the half dozen parents who stay to listen to the lessons.
– Diana and Garth are still irreplaceable.
Senior Retreat
+ This three day retreat for seniors at Bonnefoi Retreat Center does immense good for the older members of our churches. The spiritual uplift is immediately visible and carries lasting dividends.
– The attendance remains low from churches other than Marseilles. I really don’t know how to get more people to come. If they only knew what they were missing…
CEM Students Jump In Head First
++ Our four 18-year-old CEM students — Sarah, Kathleen, Anne and Jania — seem to have foregone the three months that it usually takes to adapt. From Day One of CEM, they plunged into a strenuous schedule of Bible classes, church ministries and community service. They show exceptional initiative and are willing to tackle just about any task that comes their way.
+++ Sarah Hutchinson received Christian baptism during a Sunday afternoon ceremony in the Mediterranean just a week before CEM began.
– No young men enrolled in CEM this year.
Bible Camp Sunday
+ A special program was organized on Sunday, October 5, for the parents of the young people of Marseilles who attended Bible camp in July: potluck dinner, camp games and quizzes, a video of the Harmony Bible Camp 2008. A dozen kids were at Sunday services for the first time.
– Not many unchurched parents were in attendance. We will try something else next year!
Committee of servants
+ Earlier this year, the Marseilles church chose twelve mature members to take responsibility for various aspects of church life. Since then, the group has bonded quite well and is becoming more and more involved in the everyday running of church life, especially mutual aid and support. A real encouragement.
Upcoming October Events
October 17
The wedding of recent converts Sabrina Timericht and Jacob Amghar. Both are ethnic Berbers and former Muslims.
October 23-28
Mission trip to Poland by the Harmonie Chorale and CEM students.
October 30-November 3
Teen Spiritual Retreat at Bonnefoi Center.
Prisca and I will never tire of thanking you for your solidarity with us in this ministry. The sacrifices you make are essentially “behind the scenes”; you make them for the love of God and his glory, with no regard for worldly recognition. Psalm 11 says that the Lord sees and loves righteous deeds. We see yours and they are an inspiration to us when we need to be inspired.
Max and Prisca Dauner
September 2008
Dauner News Update September 6, 2008
Max and Prisca at the Court of Appeals
We have postponed this news update in order to tell you the outcome of the September 5 custody hearing about Constantine Tertov (18) and Alexandre Dudar (11). (You will remember that Prisca and I accepted to take the two boys in as foster children when their mother, a member of the Marseilles church, passed away in February. Alexandre’s biological father appealed the children’s court’s decision granting us custody for one year. Yesterday’s proceeding actually concerned only Alexandre, since Constantine had in the meantime become legally an adult and free to live where he chooses.)
The hearing was long and emotionally intense, especially for the two boys. Alexandre was called to testify for twenty minutes before the panel of three judges in a cleared courtroom.
Although the announcement of the judges’ decision will be deferred till September 26, it was fairly clear that the court would not overturn the lower judge’s decision nor award custody to Mr. Dudar. That means we will be safe until January 2009, at which time the children’s court will decide to renew our guardianship or not. In the meantime, we will prepare with our lawyer a request for a longer and solider form of parental authority.
We thank all of you for your prayers and solidarity with us in this work of God. Without him, we would all be delivered defenseless into the hands of powers who have little heed for our welfare.
New Church Year
This month begins the first church year in Marseilles without our beloved coworkers Garth and Diana Hutchinson. It will be a year of transition and challenge, but at the same time exciting and full of opportunities to advance the gospel. Mission trips to Poland and Rumania are already in the works, as well as remixed if not new versions of various local outreach programs.
Let me mention for now two subjects that call for your intercessory prayer and active help.
Justin Named Minister-in-Training
The first is our youngest son Justin’s internship year as a minister for the Marseilles church. This is a ministry that Justin, 23, has been preparing for literally all his life, his formal education culminating in a Master’s Degree in theology due to be completed in October. This year will be crucial for him, allowing him to see how he can best serve the cause of Christ in the French world.
Since the Marseilles church is unable to provide all of his support for this year, Justin needs to seek help from other congregations. This will be one of the purposes of his trip to the United States from September 17 to October 15. The immediate occasion of the trip is to attend the Global Mission Summit & French World Missions Workshop (September 18-21) in Castle Rock, Colorado.
CEM Class of 2009
Please pray as well for our four new CEM students who have at least one thing in common: They are all girls! (A young male candidate from North Africa is to be interviewed shortly.) See their picture on the photo page.
July 2008
Dauner News Update July 31, 2008
The past six weeks, undoubtedly the most frenzied of our church year, were so packed with people and activities that they defy any detailed narration in a newsletter of this kind. Here is a brief summary of the four principal events that should require only a few minutes to read.
1. Work Week at Bonnefoi Retreat Center: June 22-27
Two dozen volunteers of all ages and from several different countries advanced the ongoing improvements on our retreat center in the Ardèche mountains. Besides preparing the buildings for the 2008 Bible camp, two new dormitory rooms were made habitable, the terrace was repaired, and the floor was laid in the outside corridor linking our two dining rooms.
Among the workers were nine members on mission from the Church of Christ in Littleton, Colorado: Frank and Alexander Aldrich; Rick & Jennifer and Jeff Mastalka; Scott & Candace, Preston and Monica McGinty.
2. CEM Summer Session 2008: June 29–July 6
A large contingent (42) of participants from outside of Marseilles made this year’s program especially dynamic. Seven countries were represented: France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, the USA, and Canada. The intensive week-long schedule was punctuated by three evangelistic concerts:
(1) at an outdoor theater during a gospel music festival in a suburb of Marseille;
(2) our musical play Break Down Our Walls: The Story of Joshua, performed at a neighborhood catholic parish church (The parish priest was overjoyed at the biblical content and evangelistic message of the play. He said, “I opened not only the doors of my church to you, but also the doors of my heart.”);
(3) a program of religious music and skits at our own chapel.
Two more couples from the Littleton church attended the session: Gus & Candy White, Kent & Jean Nofsinger. Both Gus and Kent appeared on the program and gave excellent talks on Christian ethics, and the presence of the Christ in the Old Testament.
3. CEM Ten-Year Alumni Reunion: July 12-14
Over half of the 50 alumni of our Christian on Mission spiritual internship (CEM) attended a week-end reunion held at the Bonnefoi Retreat Center. The program featured a talk by former CEM president Yann Opsitch, presently with Abilene Christian University.
4. Harmony Bible Camp: July 16-30
With 140 campers and 35 staff, this was, numerically, our biggest year ever. It would be hard to exaggerate the amount of work that goes into organizing and running the camp. It is a Herculean task. Plus, because of French laws regulating volunteer work, the staff has to pay their own room and board.
The theme of the camp centered on the missionary voyages of Paul. Each day, the campers made a virtual visit to one of the cities evangelized by the Apostle. My general impression is that the campers are increasingly spiritual in their attitude, even though a large number of them come from unchurched families. The main reason, probably, is the cumulative effect of the camp: Most of the kids have been attending for years, and Bible camp contributes to their spiritual maturation. This year, fifteen of the campers were foreigners from Italy, England and the USA. One of the older teenage girls from the south of France was baptized on the final Sunday of camp.
As for the staff, we will no doubt do what we do every year after camp: Sleep for two days!
Love in Christ,
Max and Prisca Dauner
May 2008
Dauner News Update May 27, 2008
Break Down Our Walls
Break Down Our Walls: The Story of Joshua is the title of the evangelistic musical comedy performed by our young people’s groups on Friday, May 23. The cast of thirty-four, ranging in age from tots to teens, reenacted the story of the fall of Jericho, flashing back to the call of Abraham and the giving of the Law. The message of the play directed by Diana Hutchinson and of the lyrics written by Prisca expressed the necessity of breaking down the walls of rebellion that separate us from God.
The 80-minute play was attended by a packed house at our local chapel, including a couple of dozen people who stood in the aisles and on the sidewalk. I would estimate that a full 50% of the audience was comprised of first-time visitors invited by members of the church. One sister brought 27 members of her extended family!
Highlights of Church Life during the Month of May
These are events that I usually do not feature in my E-mail newsletters. They will give you an idea of some of the “ordinary” activities of a typical month in the life of the Marseilles church.
• CEM Preaching Debut
Our two CEM young men, Justin Smith and Raphaël Enderlé, presented their first Sunday morning sermons at the Marseilles church. (It was Raphaël’s first public speaking ever before the entire community.) Both were outstanding. After completing the year at CEM, Justin plans to study Bible at Harding University in Arkansas.
• Long-prepared Baptism
Katia Gascon’s first contact with the Marseilles church dates from 1995, and she has been regularly attending services and a home Bible study for several years. Just when we were beginning to despair of her ever taking the decisive step of conversion, she announced her desire to receive Christian baptism. She was baptized in the presence of the whole church on Sunday, May 25.
• Wedding Explosion (NOT Ordinary)
This spring, wedding bells are ringing, ringing, ringing. Five couples with ties to the Marseilles church (either members, camp workers or former CEM students) are tying the knot during the months of May and June. Two more church members are planning their wedding in our chapel on October 4.
• Teen-Initiated Project
The teens organized an Italian Dinner at the church to raise money for children of the Naples, Italy church who will be attending Harmony Bible Camp in July. The funds (about $400) will help pay their transportation costs.
• Evangelism in Song
Chorale Harmonie’s outreach ministry this month: the musical play Break Down Our Walls, an evangelistic concert in the south part of town, a concert at a new retirement home in the neighborhood, singing at the wedding of a member of our young adults group.
• Neighborhood Bible Study Groups
Every Saturday afternoon, I teach one of two biweekly Bible study groups at two local catholic parishes. This is the first year that I have been entrusted with sole responsibility for these groups. There are three or four other small group studies led by Greg, Philippe or Guy during the week.
• Committee of “Servants” Meeting
This is a new feature in the life of the Marseilles church: a regular get-together of the twelve members chosen by the congregation to take responsibility for certain aspects of church life (children’s Bible classes, benevolence, maintenance, etc.).
Well, the list could go on because May is a particularly active month.
However, as busy as May is, it is simply a warm-up for the four major events of June-July:
• work week at Bonnefoi Retreat Center,
• Christian on Mission Summer Session,
• Ten-Year Reunion for CEM graduates,
• Harmony Bible Camp.
“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9.4.)
We bless God for not only revealing to us his Purpose for humanity and integrating us into it, but also for allowing us to collaborate with Him as He directs it toward its final consummation. May that day come soon and bring endless joy to those who love and serve Him.
Max and Prisca Dauner
April 2008
Dauner News Update May 6, 2008
Chorale Harmonie Spring Concert Tour: A Few Reflections
For the past ten years, the Chorale Harmonie has devoted spring break to concert tours in various European countries. The purpose of these trips has always been two-fold : fellowship and evangelism. On both accounts, the April concerts in Lyon (France), Leysin, Geneva and Zurich (Switzerland) and Bucharest (Romania) gave us good reason for satisfaction.
Perhaps more than any previous year, the inviting churches did a great job making our visits evangelistic events, organizing concerts in local church buildings, catholic parishes, public schools, concert halls and city parks. For many people who heard us, it was their first (and positive) contact with the church.
The only exception was a local church where we had never sung before. The reaction of the members was typical: “Had we known you sang so well, we would have invited outsiders. You will have to come back and sing in the great dowtown cathedral.”
The Romanian brethren want us to return to their country next year for the whole Spring tour and sing in five different cities. They even ask us, tongue in cheek, that Prisca learn Romanian so she can write lyrics for their hymns.
Football (Soccer) Evangelism
During the last weekend of April, the FCFC (Football Club of Fuveau Chapel) participated in the inter-church soccer tournament organized for the churches of Christ by the Zurich congregation in the small town of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Over 200 players in 18 teams representing over 20 churches from 6 European countries were involved. The two Marseilles teams (FCFC) finished second and fifth.
Neither our singing nor our sporting activities exist for themselves. Like everything we do in church, our purpose is to move closer to Christ ourselves and to help others discover Him. In an overwhelmingly secularized society, song and sport remain open doors (even if they are open backdoors) to the world of faith.
New Marseilles Church Website
http://web.mac.com/mission_marseille
And you may want to visit my personal website in English. I have uploaded some photos of our concert tour and football tournament as well as a study of John 2: Jesus Changes Water into Wine.
faxbymax.net
May God’s grace and peace abide with you always,
Max and Prisca Dauner
March 2008
Dauner News Update March 26, 2008
Easter Sunday at Fuveau Chapel
Sunday is my favorite day all year long, but some Lord’s Day assemblies bring particularly memorable spiritual refreshment. Easter Sunday, 2008, was one such experience.
We expected some visitors, not only because it was Easter but also because one of the girls of the youth group — Claire — had invited friends to attend her baptism on that day. (Baptisms are an important public event in France and represent a rare opportunity to welcome the unchurched to a Sunday morning service.) In fact, there were some 30 visitors, out of a total attendance of over 90. The special two-hour service featured, as is our custom in Marseilles, a sermon on the resurrection and the reading of the resurrection accounts from the Gospels.
The morning assembly ended with the announcement of the engagement of two of our young adults: Jacob and Sabrina, who are to be married in October.
A full chapel, a baptism, a wedding engagement and above all… a risen Christ!
Chorale Harmonie Concert Tour: April 5-11
The Harmony Choral’s traditional spring concert tour will take us this year from Marseilles to Lyon, France; Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland; and to Bucharest, Romania. The singers, all from the local church, are not professionals by a long shot, but thanks to a talented choral director (Kathy Young) and lyricist (Prisca) our concerts have proven to be an effective means of communicating the gospel. This will be our first foray into an Eastern European country.
Philippe as “Unofficial” French Army Chaplain
Philippe’s ministry at the neighboring Army hospital has lead to his being asked to serve “unofficially” as an assistant chaplain at the neighborhood fire station. (Contrary to the rest of France, Marseilles’ fire department is directed and manned by the French army. Firemen are called marins pompiers: naval firemen.) His post will be unofficial because our church does not belong to the Federation of Protestant Churches. But that was not an insurmountable obstacle, as the officers in charge know Philippe and appreciate his work.
I have been immersed these past few weeks in John 6, a surprisingly deep text which ushers us directly into the presence and the mind of the Christ, the Bread of Life come down from Heaven. How could anybody not want this to be true?? Peter had it right: To whom else would we go? May God grant us to find in this Bread daily nourishment for our souls.
Max and Prisca
February 2008
Dauner News Update March 4, 2008
Revelation Premiere Fills Chapel
Eighty people attended the first public showing on February 28 of the multimedia presentation The Apocalypse of Saint John. Sixty of those present were visitors, including six priests, a retired professor of surgery from a French Catholic university and a number of lay leaders from neighboring catholic parishes.
Revelation contains too much raw divine truth to leave people indifferent. Most of the audience was completely awed by the story of Christ’s victory over the satanic forces arrayed against the early Church. Their enthusiastic reception augures well for future opportunities to show the DVD in the Marseilles diocese. A few visitors were in a state of shock. In their view, God is too nice to judge anybody at all and would never use violent means to oppose the unrepentant wicked.
Teen Mission Trip to Naples
My coworkers Craig and Kathy Young, along with Lausanne missionaries Brady and Stephanie Smith, led a group of young people (our CEM students, the Marseilles teen group and several teens from the Lille, Lausanne and Geneva churches) on a one-week mission trip to Naples, Italy, during the semester break in February. The southern Italian city is in the middle of a long-running garbage collectors’ strike, but that did not keep the zealous young ambassadors for Christ from carrying out their work: tract distribution, public concerts, visits to orphans’ homes and rest homes as well as various service projects. They were even allowed to present a program of song and skits in a public school.
Accomodations for the Franco-Swiss group were furnished by the members of the small Napolitan church, strengthening the ties that already unite the churches of these two large Mediterranean Sea ports.
Halyna Dudar Passes On
After a long and courageous struggle with cancer, our sister in the Marseilles church Halyna Dudar passed away on February 12. Funeral services were held by Philippe at our chapel on Tuesday, February 19. Halyna was survived by three sons : Oleg (who lives in Spain), Constantine (17) and Alexandre (10).
The very day of Halyna’s death, we received notice from the Childrens’ Court that we have been awarded custody of young Alexandre until January 2009. This judgment is subjet to review and renewal at that time. Alexandre’s biological father has said he will initiate a legal procedure to gain custody of his son. With his well-documented history of domestic violence, alcoholism and psychiatric disorders, it is unlikely that he will win his case. However, his resentment against the church (which protected his family from his violence) may incite the court to place Alexandre in a State institution or with a non-Christian family.
Hutchinson Family to Leave Marseilles
Garth and Diana Hutchinson, who helped found the Marseilles church and have worked tirelessly in France for 18 years, have officially announced their plans to move the the United States in August 2008. Their departure will leave a gaping hole in the mission team and in our lives; it would be hard to find closer friends and more trustworthy coworkers. Their decision was motivated by family responsibilities, which is all to their honor. Garth has already found employment with a Christian-owned construction company in New Jersey and has plans to also work part-time with a local church.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Max and Prisca
January 2008
Dauner News Update January 31, 2008
Marseilles Church Co-hosts Prayer Meeting for Unity
On January 25, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Chapel of Fuveau Church of Christ organized, in conjunction with a nearby catholic parish, an evening of prayer centered on Jesus’ own request : “I pray that all of them may be one.” The program including Scripture readings, hymns, silent and verbal prayers, and was presided over jointly by two local priests, Philippe and myself.
Over a hundred people attended the event, which took place in a 17th-century parish church located in a neighboring village. The initial reaction of the participants could hardly have been more positive; the beleagered state of the Christian faith in French society has impressed on believers the need to take more seriously the will of Jesus for his church. I fully trust that God will bless this first feeble effort and that it will bear fruit in new opportunities to announce the gospel in the neighborhood.
Multimedia Revelation Premiere Set for February 29
Leap Day comes around only once every four years. What is planned for Leap Day, 2008, is an event that will take place only once in the history of the Marseilles church : the public premiere of The Apocalypse of saint John. This 75-minute multimedia presentation — images, animation, narration and musical soundtrack — retraces all the visions of John’s revelation.
The purpose of this production is both evangelistic and pre-evangelistic. A video projection is easy to invite friends to, and the multimedia format corresponds to the way people learn nowadays, especially the younger generations.
Of course, a work on Revelation will appeal first of all to those who are already believers. But the general fascination with apocalyptic themes and with the long artistic tradition surrounding John’s visions will no doubt ensure that many unchurched people will let themselves be tempted to come.
French President Acknowledges Europe’s Christian Heritage
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out in support of recognizing “the Christian roots of Europe.” At a meeting of his political party, the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, Sarkozy said that leaders of the European Union were wrong to exclude an explicit reference to Christianity from the language of the proposed EU constitutional treaty. (The French voters rejected that treaty in a 2005 referendum.)
“We erred when we turned our back on the past, and in a certain sense turned our back on our roots, which are obvious,” Sarkozy said. The French leader stated that without a basis in Christian culture, the European Union will have no firm foundation.“If we reject our past, we are not ready for our future.”
Sarkozy has recently come under heavy criticism from the political establishment for his repeated remarks about the benefits of religious belief and practice for civil society. His endorsement of a policy that moderates the aggressively secularizing stance of the French state has earned him accusations of “wanting to reinstate the Inquisition”.
As I begin my 37th year of ministry in France, Prisca and I want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have stood behind and with us. Your interest, prayers, moral and financial support have warmed our hearts and held up our arms over the years. It is an honor for us to serve the Master with you.
May the Father bless you and grant you his everlasting peace.
Max and Prisca