Dear Friends,

As France is about to fire the starting gun for the greatest show in 100 years, in Paris, the global Church is invited to stand with France by joining in with an overwhelming wave of prayer. But first, there is so much happening outside the stadiums! Here’s a quick snapshot… just 2 of the 500+ events taking place...

The Paris Praise Festival

Paris Praise Festival is... a week of musical, artistic and evangelistic events to share the Good News and praise the Lord during the 2024 Olympic Games!

From July 28 to August 4, Christian artists and volunteers from France, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States will gather to inspire people in several churches and public squares in Paris and its surrounding areas.

During the day there are activities - an art and calligraphy exhibition and a dance workshop with the youth ministry team from South Korea.

Many artists will be busking and inviting people on the streets to the evening Praise Concerts. A South Korean Olympic table tennis champion will be part of the team.

Here is the link to the website to find out more.

Grenoble Community Festival - Teams have formed to work together in at least seven cities across France to use the opportunity the Olympics provides.

In Grenoble in southeast France, at the foot of the French Alps, the churches have a long history of collaboration.

For the last 10 years, pastors have met to pray and support each other every two weeks. They have a strong desire to work towards a common goal.

In the lead up to the Olympics, the Grenoble churches came together to use a variety of sporting outreach events to reach the community. It culminated Saturday July 20, with a Community Festival reaching out to over 300 people, many of whom are from marginalised families. (This is one of many community Festivals have taken place right across France in the lead up to the Games.)

The day gave local Christians an opportunity to share God’s love in a practical way and to open the door to continuing those connections. Grenoble is demonstrating an amazing template of what can happen as churches work together in unity!

Love France is an international landing page for the worldwide Church. It aims to be a shop-window for all that is happening across the Church in France this Summer and to signpost people to ways that they can get involved, support and pray.

Love France was created by International Prayer Connect (IPC) in partnership with Ensemble 2024.

France 1 Million’s vision is to gift a million prayers from the worldwide Church, for France in this significant year.

A million prayers were mobilised for the Tokyo Games back in 2021 and the impact of this legacy continues across Japan. We are inviting you now to join us as we pray for France; the safety and success of the Games, for the Church and for the many outreaches taking place through the Summer.

Prayer isn’t really about numbers, but this gesture is already a huge encouragement to our friends in the French Church… in just a few days, we are up to 53,000 prayers, and many more promised.

It takes just 1 Prayer and 1 Click to be part of this incredible gift!

Sign Up at www.france1million.world

International Prayer Connect and Impact France have created the ‘Love France / F1M prayer guide’.  The guide provides daily themes focused on France and the Games with links to further resources and info. It runs for the duration of the main Games and Paralympic Games. It is available online in 33 languages, with several translations downloadable as pdfs.

And to help everyone keep praying, there will be online posts, videos and other resources at www.lovefrance.world including a lively blog.

Ensemble 2024 is an initiative born from the collaboration of associations, churches, clubs and individuals across France.

Its aim is to unite those who see the 2024 Games as a unique opportunity to significantly impact French society, tourists and fans. Its goal is to bring the Good News to everyone and to leave a lasting legacy for the French Church and community.

There are over 500 different events planned across the period of the Games and Para-Games. That involve thousands of organisers reaching out to and involving millions of participants.

International Prayer Connect (IPC) is a network of 5,000 prayer networks and many thousands of global intercessors.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

For more information, interviews, resources, please contact

Matthew Glock in Paris

matthewglock@gmail.com

+33  6 70 41 52 85

Information about the ‘organisations’:

Love France is run by International Prayer Connect and Ensemble 2024. Our aim is to create a window into all that is happening across France this Summer and to connect and inform the worldwide Church as it prays for and blesses and encourages France in this pivotal year!

The Love France campaign brings together an informal coalition of umbrella organizations, churches, ministries, community organizations, and prayer and mission ministries across France with the support and involvement of a number of worldwide partners.

International Prayer Connect is a network of 5,000+ worldwide prayer networks. It is comprised of intercessors, church groups, houses of prayer, ministries, organizations and prayer networks who share a common vision of:

Exalting Jesus, Catalysing united prayer across nations, denominations, movements, and generations for the fulfilment of the Great Commission.

Across each year, 100 million+ believers connect with us in prayer through the 110 Cities Global Days of Prayer, a Global Family 24-7 Prayer Room, World Prayer Assembly & Summits, regional gatherings and online initiatives.

Ensemble 2024 is an umbrella organisation that was set up for the duration of 2024 to support and publicise the projects, events and initiatives taking place within France. There are 76+ partner organisations from across the French Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Chinese and non-denominational churches.

Ensemble 2024 aims to support, promote collaboration and build partnerships across the Church communities.

Although Ensemble 2024 will cease after the games, their ongoing vision is to see an enduring legacy after the games - seeding transformation across communities, people, the Church and the nation!