BGMC: France

The first Sunday of each month, we focus on our missions emphasis, BGMC, in Kids Church. Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge (BGMC) is the Assemblies of God missions emphasis for kids. BGMC equips kids to know, to care, to pray, to give, and to reach the lost. BGMC has a two-fold purpose:

• To reach the children of the world
• To create a heart of compassion in kids.

All funds raised through BGMC go to meet critical needs around the world such as feeding programs, water wells, Bible schools, curriculum, and whatever else a missionary needs in their part of the world. Each month, we focus on a different country and what BGMC is doing to help spread the Gospel there. This month, FRANCE!

A few interesting things we learned about life as a kid in France.

• School starts in September and ends in July
• School starts at 8am and goes until 4pm, with two hours off for lunch.
• There's no school on Wednesdays or Sundays, but there is school on Saturday morning.
• Kids play games like we play: le loup ("the wolf"), like tag, and cache-cache; hide and seek).
• On January 6, French people celebrate Epiphany, the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.  On this day, the Wise Men figurines are added to the nativity scenes in homes and churches.  Up until this date, the Wise Men figures are either hidden or placed a distance away and moved gradually closer to the stable.

French People Need Jesus.  More than 100 years ago, in the city of LeHavre, a lady named Helene Biolley began to tell people about Jesus.  She opened her home where missionaries could stay while they studied French.  In 1927, an Englishman named Douglas Scott came to study.  As he preached, people were healed of many problems.  Many were baptized in the Holy Spirit.  The Scotts started churches in many cities.  In 1932, the Pentecostal pastors met to create the French Assemblies of God.

Today, 17 US Assemblies of God missionaries work in France.  More than 360,000 people worship in about 625 Assemblies of God churches.  There are about 1,200 pastors, and 2 Bible schools are training about 270 more.

Snack: French Fries!

As one of our kids pointed out, these aren't actually French, per se.  There's an ongoing dispute on whether they actually originated in France or Belgium.  Thomas Jefferson had "potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House dinner in 1802.  The expression "French Fried Potatoes" first occurs in print in English in the 1856 work, Cookery for Maids of All Work by E Warren: "French Fried Potatoes. – Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, and a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown colour; drain."  In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used in the sense of "deep-fried", for other foods such as onion rings or chicken.

Wherever they came from, we eat a lot of them!  The average American consumes 29 pounds of French fries per year!  Next time you do, may you remember to pray for the French!

Let's Pray....

• for our missionaries and for the pastors in the French Assemblies of God.
• for people who are looking for hope, that the Holy Spirit will help them to find Jesus instead of turning to fortune tellers and witches for answers to their problems.
• for the kids and young people of France, that they will find Jesus when they are young and tell others!
• for those from other nations.