During the four centuries between the close of the Old Testament and the beginning of the new there was a dramatic transformation of that part of the world we call Bible lands. So important were these transformations that God revealed them to the prophet Daniel, centuries before they happened. The closing chapters of Daniel tell of Alexander’s conquest of all of that part of the world, followed by the division of his empire into three parts after his death, the ravages made by Antiochus Epiphanes, followed by the Roman conquest of all that territory. God even revealed to Daniel the timeline for this to happen.
Why were these things so important that God revealed them long before they happened? Because they prepared the way for the coming of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah and for the rapid spread of the gospel. The most notable effect of Alexander’s conquest was to make Greek the common means of communication through all the conquered lands. Even the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament, was translated into Greek, since few people spoke Hebrew anymore. The Roman conquest established law and order and led to the building of a road system that facilitated travel. One more thing completed the preparation: the development of synagogues. There are no instructions to be found anywhere in the Old or New Testaments about the establishment and functions of a synagogue. Nevertheless, when we turn the page from the Old to the New Testament, we see synagogues everywhere. The word is Greek and means the same thing as congregation does in English.
Now the scene was set. When believers were scattered after Pentecost they could preach the gospel in any of the neighbouring countries without having to learn a new language. Travel was relatively easy and safe. And when they began to gather groups of new believers they had a pattern in the synagogue for how to conduct weekly worship meetings.
The apostle Paul was the foremost evangelist of the early church, establishing churches in many places, writing letters to teach and encourage the new believers. But there is no record that he ever preached or wrote in a language other than Greek. Other languages eventually came into play as the gospel spread further and further from those first centres.
Now here I want to speak as a member of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite. Is it possible that we are losing focus in wanting to present the gospel in as many languages as possible? It is great to have Gospel tracts in something like 100 different languages. But do we have the resources (translators, writers, funds) to provide the amount of other books in all those languages that would be needed to support believers? We are doing well in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, can we do the same in 90 more languages?
I don’t believe we can. I don’t believe we have to. Let me make a plug here for French. The number of French-speaking people in the world is growing rapidly, close to 400 million by the most recent survey. For only one quarter of those people is it their mother tongue, the others will know at least one other language. French is an official language of 29 countries, is spoken by at least a few people in practically every country of the world. There are substantial numbers of French-speaking people in many countries, Romania, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Cambodia, Viet Nam and Laos would be just a few examples.
My point is that in thinking of mission outreach many countries of the world where languages unfamiliar to us are spoken, but there is a substantial minority of French-speaking people, why not begin with that minority? French-speaking converts would then have access to the growing body of French books produced by the church, Sunday School books, Bible study books, doctrinal books, and much more, and could share the things they learn with others where such material does not exist in their own language.
Has God been preparing the terrain for the spread of the gospel in large areas of the world today, by means of the French language, in a way somewhat similar to the time of the first century of the Christian era?
Flatlander Faith 
I agree. Let’s focus on what is realistic. But at the same time, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of someone whom God is calling to go serve in a Bengali, Nepali, or Zulu field, and who would spend their energy learning that language. It is always a witness to the people when you make the effort to speak their mother tongue. It really depends on the case.
Doctor Jules Bofoya was our family doctor for several years. He is now the head physician at a large walk-in clinic in Saskatoon. He was born in D.R. Congo and got his medical training in Kinshasa, in French. He told me that his mother tongue was Swahili and he also spoke Kikongo, Lingala and Tshiluba. He learned English and practiced medicine in South Africa, where he also learned Zulu. I admire people with that kind of language learning ability, I don’t have it. Of all the languages that Dr. Bofoya had learned, only English and French were useful once he came to Canada.
I agree that I wouldn’t want to hinder anyone from learning another language if he has a conviction to do so. But one should bear in mind that many languages are only useful in one specific place, whereas French could be useful almost anywhere.
I fully agree. In school, especially in Canada, we should put the emphasis on learning French (and English, of course), since regardless of where we end up in life, this skill could be very useful. I’m glad we have a good program in Portuguese and Spanish. Sometimes I wish we had a bit more in Mandarin (Chinese) Russian or Arabic, also languages with a large population, but more geographically confined. The Arab nations have mostly been dominated by either Britain or France at some point, so I guess that can already serve as a bridge. This can hardly be said of Mandarin and Russian, languages of strong empires, whose subjects have rarely needed to speak other languages.