Junior Allied Health major Jason Aviles was born in France. He’s an American through and through, but his missionary family has French roots, and he’s learned French in school for years. He even lived in the country of Chad when he was younger, another French-speaking nation.
Cedarville University offers a robust selection of overseas mission trips and opportunities in its Study Abroad program. This semester, they’re sending two students to Strasbourg, France, a city beside the border of France and Germany. Aviles is one of them.
“I’d considered [going to France] since high school, but kind of forgot about it,” Aviles said. “Sometime last year, a friend suggested we go together, so I thought about it and committed in August or September.”
His friend’s classes started earlier, so Jason traveled alone. He took an eight-hour flight last Monday at 5 p.m. and arrived on the outskirts of Paris at 8 a.m. there. Then, he had seven hours before a three-hour train ride to Strasbourg.
Strasbourg is a historical and important modern city. It features the European Parliament, as well as a few other European Union (EU) organizations; the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg, a 1200s-era cathedral; numerous other large non-EU organizations, and a multifaceted economy. The close German influence has intermingled with the French to create a unique culture – the name itself is German.
Aviles will be going to study French at Université de Strasbourg. He has a host family lined up to provide lodging, and there’s a Protestant church he’ll be attending. Strasbourg sits along the Rhine – a major river in Europe – which has been integrated into the city. Aviles will reside in Petite France, a small island cordoned off by canals in the middle of the city.
He’s also going to take an online class, medical terminology, through Cedarville to keep up with his major.
“I’m going to be taking a test to see what certain French level they put me in, and then I get to pick my classes,” Aviles said. “I’m going to be taking classes with other international students, and if I wanted to, I could take one class at the actual French university with real French students.”
He’s looking forward to intramurals, volleyball, and the church.
“There may or may not be a Bible study that happens Tuesday nights,” Aviles said. “I’m hoping to get involved there somehow.”
France is considered an unreached nation, with churches aging and closing and secular attitudes increasing – well, that is until the past year, where now an evangelical church opens every ten days, as reported in October by France 24, an international French news organization.
Aviles is confident that God has him going to France for a reason. It’ll be the first time he’s lived somewhere without a strong Christian presence.
“I don’t know if there are any ministries out there I can get involved in, but I want to do that because there’s a reason that I’m going to France, and I don’t really know what it is, but I know France is unreached,” Aviles said. “There could be something there.”
He also wants to try local food, like the tarte flambee (or flammekueche). He was born in the city of Marseille, though he doubts he’ll be able to go there, as it’s several hours south.
As the weeks and months go by, we will cover Jason’s Study Abroad experiences in this series, Jason’s Journey in France. Stay tuned for his first experiences this coming week. Balen Allain is a junior Broadcasting, Digital Media and Journalism major focusing on Journalism and Audio Production. He enjoys gaming, writing fiction and making music, and is working on a book.
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