Divine Voyagers

Last night, we were offically invited to join the French Basque team and we very joyfully accepted. This has been a very long journey for of us, both as individuals and as a couple. For the past 8 years, we have been journeying towards mission work and the Lord has led us to where He wants us to go.

So, where exactly are we going and what is the plan when we arrive?

French Basque country is located at the south western tip of France, right along the Spanish border. A very proud people, the Basque do not identify as either French or Spanish but have their own cultural identity. They have their own language, their own music, their own style of architecture, and, of course, their own cuisine.
(Fun fact: Euskera, their native language, is the oldest living language in Europe.)

The Basque also have their own religion. They have pagan traditions dating back to long before the Catholic church arrived in the region. There is a whole pantheon of Basque witches, warlords, animal figures and mythical creatures. And while a lot of Basque people do not necessarily believe in these gods, often they still participate in the cultural rituals and traditions associated with their worship, mixed in with nominal Catholicism.

When it comes to evangelical Christianity – believing in Jesus, not as a tradition or to-do list but having a real living faith and understanding what that means for the day to day – the Basque are an unreached people group (UPG). There is not a single evangelical or protestant church that functions in Euskera. In the map above, the three green pins are the protestant churches in all of French Basque. We attended one called Mission Compassion, which took an hour to get to, and we met someone who was driving all the way from Mauléon-Licharre, an hour and a half away! While there are many Catholic churches in the area, they are almost empty and rarely preach the Gospel. And so, it is our hope and dream, along with that of the team already in the Basque, to plant a Christian church in Saint-Palais and introduce locals to a new way of seeing faith.

While the Basque does look picturesque, there is a lot more than meets the eye. Just take this photo for example. On the left, there is a blue sign with a shell on it. This is the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James), a pilgrimage that spans most of Western Europe but then funnels down through St-Jean-Pied-de-Port at the Spanish border. In 2023, approximately 460,000 people did this pilgrimage. These pilgrims are searching for some sort of spiritual experience, which could be a potential ministry oppurtunity.

So what will we do? As I mentioned earlier, our heart is to church plant amongst the Basque. It is the hope and dream of our team to establish not only a church in Saint Palais but in other villages as well. This is definitely a long term goal, not something that we can achieve at the drop of a hat. And so, as we seek to do that, we plan to be involved in other ministry activites as well.

For Patty, there is a small, independent Christian school (a rare occurance in France) along the coast that is in need of teachers. She had the oppurtinity to visit while we were overseas and fit right in. The vast number of the students do not come from Christian families but attend because of the English teaching and small class size, as well as encouragement to think independently while most French public schools rely on rote learning. Already the school has said that they have had many chances to share the gospel with the students.

As for myself, one of the local ministers that we had coffee with is involved in prison chaplaincy in Bayonne. He is seeking to have someone else come alongside him and join him in that space. In fact, two of the prisonners that he ministered to had come to faith and were at church when we visited!

Other than these specific ministries, there is just day to day life done amongst the Basque. Our teammates were telling us that nearly none of the people they interact with each day know a Christian that seeks to follow Jesus. We so often take this for granted and yet it’s not what you would expect in a country such as France.

So, what’s our plan from here?
Well, with the Lord’s provision, we are aiming to leave Australia in late December 2025. In order for us to do this, we need to raise support, both in prayer and also financially. If you would like to keep up to date with how to pray for us, you can start by subscribing to this blog – if you see something that piques your interest, you can also reach out either through the blog or by messaging us. We also now officially have a page on the Pioneers website where you can donate – this money won’t be accessed until we head off, and we will put up a post soon about where it goes and what it’s for. You can access that page ***here***.

Prayer
Give thanks to God that He has shown us where He wants us to serve Him. Please be praying for our teammates as they continue to serve amongst the Basque and share the Gospel. Please be praying for us as we seek to raise the support we need.