Why France?
Our Story. Our Vision.
The Calling of God
For Godโs gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]
โ Romans 11:29 AMPC
Letโs Start at the Beginning
When David was nine years old, he was sitting with his grandfather reading the Wall Street Journal newspaper. As they read together, David suddenly asked him:
โGrandpa, are you investing internationally with your money?โ
His grandfather looked at him puzzled and replied, โNo, I do not invest internationally.โ
David quietly walked away and headed down the hallway of his grandfatherโs house. Halfway down the hall, standing there all alone, he stopped and said out loud to himself:
โWhat does the word international mean?โ
At nine years old, he did not even know what the word meant.
Yet somehow, that word would mark his life.
Years later, David would travel around the world as a United States and World Champion BMX Freestyle Rider. From there, he entered the world of international fashion modeling and was preparing to move to Milan, Italy to represent one of the top menโs modeling agencies in the world.
But on his journey toward fame and success, everything changed.
David encountered Jesus Christ.
After giving his life to Jesus, his direction, purpose, and future were transformed forever. The international path continued โ but now with a different mission.
As David began following Christ, he developed a deep burden to pray for nations around the world. What once seemed like a simple childhood moment became a thread woven throughout his entire life.
You could say David has a middle name: โInternational.โ
The Call to France
In 1985, David stepped off a plane at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. It was his very first trip overseas as a BMX United States and World Champion.
He was traveling to central France to appear on a live national television program where he would perform BMX freestyle tricks before a French audience watching across the country.
As David walked down the long gangway into the terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport, something happened that he would never forget.
The glass doors opened.
He stepped into France for the very first time.
And suddenly, something supernatural happened.
At that moment, David remembers feeling as though a heavy coin had been placed deep within his heart. He stood there speechless, overwhelmed by something he could not explain or understand.
He did not yet realize it, but that moment would mark his life forever.
From that day forward, David fell in love with France and the French people. There was something about the nation that stayed with him long after he returned home. The experience never left him.
Years later, in 1990, David gave his life completely to Jesus Christ. As he began growing in his relationship with God, the memory of France continually resurfaced in his heart. What once seemed mysterious suddenly began to make sense.
David realized God had placed France within him for a reason.
He knew he had been entrusted with a mission โ to pray, believe God, and help see a move of the Holy Spirit touch the people and nation of France.
For years, David and Carol Joy faithfully prayed for France together. Through seasons of ministry, travel, church leadership, and life, the call to France remained alive in their hearts.
Then, after many years of prayer and preparation, David and Carol Joy moved to France in 2024, knowing it was time to take the next step of faith and begin building what God had placed in their hearts for the French people.
France needs Jesus!
1% of the population of France does not know Jesus,
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!
France is a country of over 77 million people. Recent studies in France show that Christianity has been in steady decline since the 1980s. In 2021, a French poll showed that over 50% of French citizens do not believe there is a God or that He exists. Those who identify as Catholic have dropped from 81% in 1986 to 47% in 2020. Those who say they have been born again are only 1%. This is a huge challenge.
What Do We See In France?
We see Life City locations throughout France โ modern ministry spaces filled with people of all ages, cultures, languages, and backgrounds encountering Jesus and growing in the Word of God.
We see Spirit-filled churches connected together across the nation, each with Bible training, leadership development, and a passion to move with the Holy Spirit in this generation and generations to come.
We see France becoming a place that not only receives the Gospel, but sends missionaries, leaders, and revival to the nations of the world.
This is more than a church vision.
It is a vision for transformed lives, transformed cities, and a transformed nation.
Prophecies from the Holy Spirit
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This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
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โThings are changing suddenly for the two of you. Even in the things you use to do I do see. And as I looked this morning, I did see. A going did I see. A going did I see. A going did I see. Do you understand me. Good. And so all the particulars, and parts, and pieces. My God has made available to you, all that is necessary and favor too. Thereโs a tarrying in the side of you. Inside you. But God so makes the way for you. And I do see nations written on you. Is that true? And so it shall be. And you will go. And all and more that you need. Cause God has called it to be so.โ
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โIt's a different kind of anointing, a different kind of anointing. It will lift you up so fast, so fast and so high that your head will spin!โ
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To David - "A tent-preaching anointing on this man. A fiery tent-preaching anointing. I'm not saying you'll have a tent, but a tent preaching the anointing... whew...โ
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To Carol Joy - โThe anointing of R.W. Schambach (evangelist), the anointing of preaching Schambach (evangelist), the anointing to preach upon you Carol Joy... whoo...โ
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โWhen the time comes, says the Spirit of God, there is a place and a people, and it will be a strong word, it will be a strong work, and it will remain, because there is a stability that I have put in you...โ
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โI asked God what kind of man you were. He said you were a PIONEER.โ
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โSooner than you think. It's going to happen sooner than you think. Yes, what's burning like a forest fire inside, it's going to happen sooner than you think. And it's not going to happen the way you think. It's going to be better."
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โNow in Antioch there were prophets and teachers, beginning with Barnabas and Saul, while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, โSeparate for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.โ And it is also tonight, as I speak to you by the Spirit, that it is time to go out into what I have prepared for you and called you to do... so now is the time for you to hurry into this or move forward into what I have prepared for you. The work, the work I have prepared for you... Hallelujah, for the gifts and the callings of God are irrevocable, what God says and what God gives, He never changes His mind, He does not change His mind, He has not changed His mind about you, He has not changed His mind about what He has said, He has not changed, He has not taken it back, so what He has told you, what you know in your heart, is what He wants you to do, He wants you to act, and you know it, and you know it, and when you do it, the anointing increases and comes, Hallelujah, Thank you Lord for that, Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen, Amen, Hallelujah, Thank you Jesusโ.
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โThank you, Jesus. Man, what was that, Lord? There was something He wanted me to say. Praise God. I know it's for David and Carol, and I want to say it like I heard Him say it at the first part of the service. I should have just stopped and done it then. It will be different this time. I don't even know what that means. But I've learned, I don't try to figure out, it will be different this time. Completely a different platform, a different way, a different avenue that's more joyful. It's one thing to bulldoze, which it's fine if you've got a bulldozer, but we've all had to, in the ministry, bulldoze with a shovel. If you're going to make some inroads, you need some equipment. And man, we've been trying to do it. The Lord's saying with the equipment that we've all had, we've been trying to do stuff. He's going to give you so much different equipment that it won't be such labor. Amen. And God will send people to help you, and you'll go, how in the world did I get these people to do this? And the money will come into their lives, it'll come into your lives. You won't even think about money. You'll go, dear God, we can buy whatever we need for harvest. It's not long, because we're about to leave the planet, so the Lord's got to kind of speed it up. But He wanted me to tell you, that's what it's going to be. The devil's a liar, pants on fire. Amen. Thank you, guys.โ