Pastor's Visit to France Reveals 'Cultural Warfare' Going On

By Allie Martin
April 13, 2006

(AgapePress) - A northeast Mississippi pastor says tensions between Muslims and Christians in France are at an all-time high.

Rev. Terry Pierce, pastor of Tupelo Free Will Baptist Church, and two other area ministers from his denomination recently traveled to southern France to encourage and minister to missionaries working with Muslims in that area. Pierce says the missionaries face difficult situations as they work with Muslims who come to France looking for jobs, but oftentimes cannot find work.

The pastor, who hails from southern Illinois , encourages Christians in America to pray for missionaries who are trying to share the message of the gospel with the Muslims. "Pray for them to just be encouraged as they build relationships both in the French culture and in the Muslim community," he says.

Pierce explains the significance of the mission work in southern France . "We can't get missionaries into North Africa ," he points out, "but being at that port city, they are able to take the gospel into there." The pastor then re-emphasizes the importance of prayer for the missionaries' work. "We all know that the Word is more powerful than anything else -- and so as that Word goes into Algeria and other North African countries, we know that God will bless them."

During his week-long stay in France , Pierce and others in his group witnessed the aftermath of the recent riots carried out by Muslim youth in the area. He also recalls his encounter with another aspect of the "cultural warfare" he saw occurring between the French and the Muslims.

"They have these things called al-Salams," he says. "They'll be 30 stories tall, with their laundry literally hanging off the balconies -- and [the area] was so dangerous that I filmed a little bit of it when I went through and took some pictures." He says he believes terrorists are being recruited from that community.