France resists evangelicals

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MONTREUIL, France -- The faithful are swaying, the walls are sweating, and the choir is belting out praise to the Lord. It's Sunday morning, and hundreds of black evangelicals are meeting in exuberant prayer.

Cries of "Amen" rise from rows of neatly dressed adults and clapping children. Gospel singers lead the crowd in spelling the name "J-E-S-U-S." It's the kind of service that could be found in black churches anywhere in the United States.

But the sermon ends with "Dieu vous benisse" ("God bless you," in French). The final hymn is in Lingala, a language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On their way home, these families are likely to hear passersby speaking Arabic, Turkish or Wolof, a language of Senegal.

The buoyant spirit of African evangelicals is moving through the gritty suburbs of France's main cities, especially in the ring of rundown towns around eastern Paris, including Montreuil.

Hardly known 20 years ago, these fast-growing immigrant churches are slowly carving out a place in France's religious landscape. They face hurdles from local officials and complaints from neighbors, but some small, hopeful signs have appeared.

"There is prejudice against us," said Yvan Castanou, pastor of the Impact Christian Center in Ivry, a suburb south of Paris.

"It's against evangelical churches. Some officials see them as an invasion from the United States, associated with [President] George Bush and the conquering spirit," he said.

'When you're black'

"The second fact is that when you're black," he added, his voice trailing off before launching into complaints about life as an African immigrant in France.