More than 25,000 people marched on the streets of Paris as part of the March for Jesus in France. "If we want to touch the world, there is one condition: it is to love each other as Christ loved us," Pastor Jean Luc Trachsel said in a message near the Eiffel Tower.
The event, which took place on May 25th, reportedly broke record participation as attendees came together to "bear witness publicly and in unity" about their faith in Jesus Christ. According to CBN News, the event was organized by a coalition of ministries and took place in Paris and four other cities, including Lille, Nantes, Metz, and Strasbourg. The organizers told EvangelicalFocus.com that the event "allowed Christians of all denominations to raise the name of Jesus above their theological differences."
"We opened ourselves to the entire evangelical Protestant spectrum thanks to the participation of several churches such as MLK, Hillsong, ICC, but also Baptist, charismatic, and more traditional Protestant churches. This is my role, as coordinator, to keep unity and unite around Jesus," Gilbert Léonian, the pastor overseeing the Paris march told the French outlet, InfoChretienne.com.
According to the "March for Jesus France" website, the first march took place in 1991, and then in other cities later on. The attendance for the march broke records, with more than 25,000 participants in France and thousands in four other cities, according to French authorities.
"If we are here, it is not for a religion or to promote our church, but because there is someone who has touched us deeply - Jesus," Trachsel said.
Léonian told InfoChretienne.com that 15,000 believers gathered in Paris last year, and about 3,000 gathered in other cities. He had hoped that this year's attendance numbers would reach 20,000.
"We must put Christ at the center of everything, he is the only one who brings us together, through whom we can be saved and the response to the needs of the French," he told the outlet a few days before the event.
"I met Catholic, Pentecostal, charismatic brothers and sisters. I saw Baptists, I even saw Orthodox!" he said, referring to the different denominations that attended the march. "Thus, it is not 'a religion', nor even 'a church' that Christians have come to promote but a single name, that of Jesus," said Trachsel.
The march in Paris concluded with a concert by Hillsong FR and the Catholic group Glorious, and Trachsel noted many people were "saved, healed, and baptized in the Holy Spirit."
"If God does this in France, He can and will do it throughout Europe and in the nations of the world. It is harvest time and revival has begun," Trachsel said. "In the midst of chaos, wars, opposition, and even persecution, the Glory of God arises as we arise to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a demonstration of power."
Image Courtesy: ©YouTube/Jean-Luc Trachsel Ministries
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.