Eventually, the Schaeffers' L'Abri became similar to a second generation China Inland Mission.  But God added the new element of making L'Abri into a spiritual orphanage for wandering young people and adults from all over the world. 

With some modifications, God made L'Abri into a combination of the work of Hudson Taylor and George Müller (the founder of Müller Homes for Children in Bristol, England). 1.  Should the Lord tarry, He may raise up a third and fourth generation of fellowships and societies similar to the Schaeffers' L'Abri, but with differences that are vital for meeting the needs of each generation.

At the beginning, Dr. George H. Seville became their home secretary, and his wife mailed out Edith's family letter about their work to all who were interested.  The Sevilles prayed for the Lord to meet all L'Abri's needs, just as they had done in the China Inland Mission.  They prayed for the Lord to send the people of His choice to the work, people with questions as well as workers, helpers, and students.

Dr. Schaeffer maintained a busy schedule by traveling to the University of Lausanne where he met existentialists, humanists, Roman Catholics, liberal Protestants, and many others with a wide variety of philosophical and theological ideas.  Two years after they founded L'Abri, Fran began teaching medical and university students in Basel, and so many came to Huémoz that they needed to rent Chalet Beau Site to provide a home for the students.

L'Abri never had too much money to help the hundreds who came, and by December of 1957 they desperately needed $2,000.00 to meet their household expenses.  In answer to fervent prayer, they received $2,000.35.  God usually brought in little amounts day by day to show each visitor and worker that He was providing for them.  God showed believers and unbelievers alike that He answered prayer, that He provided their home, that He gave them both physical and spiritual food, and they praised Him.  God knew who was coming and how to care for each one.  God knew which prayers to answer and when to answer them in order to have the greatest positive effect on the greatest number of people--that some might come to saving faith and others have their faith renewed.

In 1958, the Schaeffers began a work in London that later became English L'Abri.  And during Christmas break of 1958, students came to Swiss L'Abri from Cambridge, Oxford, and St. Andrews Universities.  One of those who came was Ranald Macaulay, who later married their daughter Susan.  He became one of the first students at Farel House.  He and Susan have now spent more than thirty years of ministry in English L'Abri.  An accomplished author, Susan has written books from her father and mother's perspectives; including Something Beautiful from God, How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig, and For the Children's Sake.

About the same time the Schaeffers founded L'Abri in Switzerland, a vegetarian Hindu cult was using nearby Chalet les Sapins.  Those in L'Abri prayed about the situation and for the people who were being misled by the ideas taught there.  They witnessed to the owner several times, and tried to show her in practical ways that the true God loved her.  Finally, the owner of Chalet les Sapins died.  She had stubbornly turned from all the Light all around her, so she died with great fears and insecurity.  Later, in the 1960's, Chalet les Sapins became a part of L'Abri.

In the early '60's, Fran began speaking all over the world.  He spoke at all the major universities and colleges throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the United States.  Having debated in college, Fran thought and gave answers quickly.  His confidence and courage only improved with constant practice.  He presented the case for Christianity reasonably and forcefully.

At Cambridge, he publicly debated a humanist in the midst of a humanist crowd.  The crowd thought Fran had won the debate so handily that the humanist was embarrassed.  After this "win," Dr. Schaeffer decided never to debate again.  He would rather have discussions and try to win the person than have debates and try to win the argument.  In speaking of the debate many years later, he said, "Everyone knows that taking the Affirmative Side in a debate, and to speak first, is to take the weakest place.  Before the debate, the humanist asked me what side I wanted, and I said, 'Oh, it doesn't matter, you choose.'  The humanist decided that I should speak first and take the Affirmative Side.  I hated to do it to him, but I simply got up and said briefly, 'I don't have enough faith to believe as the humanist, that everything just came from chance,' and then I sat down.  The humanist then spent the rest of the time trying to get out of the box he was in, and he was actually booed by the humanist crowd.  I had told all of the Christians to stay away, so the humanists were the ones who did the booing."

Instead of a debate, Dr. Schaeffer participated in a public discussion with the late Bishop James Pike.  Bishop Pike taught, with some other liberal theologians, that "God is Dead."  Fran tried to show him the love of God as he spoke  After the discussion, Pike wanted to visit with him again.  In that later visit, Bishop Pike told him that after he became a Christian he went to seminary (a prominent liberal seminary in New York City), and there they robbed him of his faith and left him with only "a handful of pebbles."  Pike never became a Bible-believing Christian, but Dr. Schaeffer had learned how to discuss and not lose the person, even though the person might still refuse to be won to Christ.  The Schaeffers never expected to convert anyone by prayer alone or truth alone.  They prayed for unbelievers, but always so they or someone else could teach the truth to them in ways they would accept.  The Holy Spirit uses the truth of God and Christians as the means for saving sinners; so, God teaches us to pray for the Holy Spirit to do His work in His way in us and others.  And when we open our lives to the Holy Spirit's leading, He teaches us whom to pray for, and how to pray for and share the truth with them.

One of the most exciting things about Fran and Edith's work with students in answering their questions was seeing how people from all different walks of life were able to see the reality and the truth of the Bible's answers.  This is not to say that L'Abri was simply an intellectual discussion group.  Many hippies came with their drug problems; some came with their minds swimming in clouds of unreality brought on by false philosophies.  These people required special care, and many got their thinking cleared up again, accepting Christ as their personal Savior.  Some came from the Christian counter-culture and did not have a complete understanding of Christian teaching: these believed in Jesus, but their Jesus had no Biblical content, a dangerous form of self-delusion that characterizes some of the New Age movement.  Some came saying they had been saved by Jesus, and then went on to say, "but I don't believe in God."  They too needed the teaching of L'Abri and the Bible.  In every case, Fran and Edith aimed at speaking and demonstrating the truth by their lives, and at the same time they wanted to show forth the love of God for every person.

Dr. Schaeffer was not immediately successful with every student.  In the late 1950's, one student from an English university dismissed Dr. Schaeffer's concerns as "mere intellectualism."  Ten years later, after this student began serving on the mission field in Africa, he began struggling for answers to the questions he was being asked.  And then Dr. Schaeffer's first books came into his hands.  What he had dismissed as "intellectualism" ten years before became the solution to his dilemmas on the mission field of Africa.  Born from his work in the mission field of Switzerland, Dr. Schaeffer's work never became "ivory tower theology."  His books and ideas remained a practical guide for helping thinking people from all over the world become Christians and live a consistent Christian life.

Dr. Schaeffer kept himself open to the leading of God, and it became obvious to him and others that God wanted him to reach out beyond selected college campuses and the little village of Huémoz to include as many people as possible in gatherings for teaching and answering questions.  When asked to lecture or conduct a conference, Dr. Schaeffer did not speak and run; rather, he opened himself to the challenges of other minds--questioning, doubting, searching, and sometimes hostile minds.  Sometimes unbelievers attacked him personally and asked hostile questions about Christianity.  At other times the questions came from sympathetic listeners seeking understanding and a deeper faith.  Fran opened himself to the strict questioning of his ideas, because he believed this was the most compassionate, caring, and non-mechanical way of doing evangelism.  He also knew that the Bible and the God he represented could always stand up well in the public forum.

The Schaeffers held the first of many L'Abri conferences at the Ashburnham Conference grounds in England in the spring of 1968.  Here 450 people from all walks of life--clergy, students, professors, professionals, laborers, and laypeople--came together for fellowship and discussion.  With so many people needing to know L'Abri teachings, but with so many not being able to go to Swiss L'Abri; and with so many people wanting to bring "someone who really needs to hear this" to Dr. Schaeffer, they began holding conferences as the most loving thing they could do next under the leading of God.  These conferences also showed Fran that he needed to write more and make his ideas more widely available.  Publishers saw the need to publish Edith's L'Abri and other books.

This time was also one of major challenges, as the hippies who came to L'Abri had no concern or compassion for the tiny and very conservative village of Huémoz and the people who saw their way of life being destroyed.  After a number of problems, the people of the village and L'Abri came to a mutual recognition of the needs of the young people and the needs of the village.  When the Schaeffers moved to Chalet Chardonet in Chesieres, a thirty-minute hike up the hill from Huémoz, and after Fran began his extended speaking tours from their new home, fewer students seemed to inundate the village.  Those who came to L'Abri while Fran was away found they could learn from well-educated L'Abri Workers and discuss Fran's books and tapes with them.  God did not lead Fran away from home until he had prepared others to care for those who came to L'Abri in his absence.  L'Abri Workers also prayed for God to meet the needs of L'Abri, so the demonstration of God's presence continued whether or not Fran and Edith were there to pray with them.

To understand Schaeffer fully, we must realize that he never sat around "trying to think up 'new theories'" or "theologizing" or "arguing for the sake of arguing" or trying to find "possible answers to possible questions."  Instead, he received his training on the front lines of the spiritual battlefield, continuing to learn more beyond his college and seminary education.  He talked to real people with real problems and questions from all walks of life.  He discovered from his deep involvement with individual human lives (not just from study of the human race theoretically), that most people suffered from the same basic questions and the same basic problems.  For these reasons his books have an almost immediate appeal all over the world, with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds (and especially with non-christians who consider themselves real thinkers).

Dr. Schaeffer did not thrust himself forward or try to be in the forefront of anything.  If he found himself in the forefront, as an evangelist to intellectuals, or as a Protestant advocate of the pro-life cause, it was because God had "extruded him" (one of his favorite phrases when describing how people should look at their developing leadership roles) into that place of prominence at that time.  Fran and Edith tried to avoid "lighting their own sparks," and warned others against this too (see Isaiah 50:11).

If you travel to Huémoz, you will see that Dr. Schaeffer really did bury himself and his family in a tiny Swiss village.  If God intended this for him, Fran was willing to remain unknown in a small chalet, praying for the Lord to send the people of His choice for him to help, helping only a few people.  He really did not want to administer a large and growing work in Huémoz or in other branches, and that was not his final calling.  God gave Fran His own love and understanding for His people around the world, for people who could not go to that little chalet in Switzerland for help.  Then God enabled him to reach out to these people through books and tapes.  And all the while, God sent L'Abri new leaders who could do the administrative tasks, provide counseling, and teach.  His three daughters entered into (and continue) in the work of L'Abri with their husbands.  John and Priscilla Sandri still teach in Swiss L'Abri, and John bears heavy administrative burdens.  Ranald and Susan Macaulay work in Swiss L'Abri, teaching students and writing.  Udo and Debbie Middelmann direct and teach in the Francis Schaeffer Foundation in Switzerland. 2.  Some of Fran and Edith's grandchildren work in L'Abri or with other missionary groups.

Dr. Schaeffer's first books were published because reprints of his talks were soon demanded by those who heard him and wanted others to learn about his ideas.  His talks to American college students became The God Who Is There.  Other lectures became Escape From Reason, which was published about the same time.  These two books, along with He Is There and He Is Not Silent became the Schaeffer trilogy.  He compared these three books to the hub of a wheel.  And he said all of his other books came forth as spokes from that wheel.  If you picture a bicycle wheel, the Schaeffer trilogy is the middle hub, and books such as Death in the City come out as spokes from the wheel because they are a practical application of the three foundational books.  The trilogy became Schaeffer's foundation for showing how the Christian faith relates to every aspect of human life.  Fran received letters from everywhere about his first two books, even from the president of Senegal.

His radio talks began in December 1971 through the Trans-World Radio Station in Monte Carlo.  These broadcasts reached all over Europe, into Russia behind the Iron Curtain, and into the Near East and North Africa.  Recorded in a tiny office later used by John Sandri (the husband of Priscilla), the talks brought more people to L'Abri, and some of these talks became books.  The books enabled people to share his ideas in ways that could not have been possible otherwise.  Before and after his death, a group of twenty-five wives of U.S. Congressmen met every Friday morning to study systematically his books and Edith's.  His twenty-one books have sold in the millions, and they have been translated into at least twenty-four languages.  When the family moved to Rochester, Minnesota, they were amazed to pack at least 126 first editions of his books.

Dr. Schaeffer became actively involved in formal theological education by becoming a visiting lecturer at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis and at the Theological Academy in Basel, Switzerland.  These times of lecturing away from home gave people who could not study for a prolonged time at Farel House in Huémoz the opportunity to think deeply and discuss openly with him how they could apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole of life.

Dr. Schaeffer was welcomed not only at evangelical colleges, but also at most of the major Ivy League universities in America.  In 1968 he spoke at Harvard.  In 1972 he spoke at Princeton, and in 1973 he spoke at Yale.  In those days, it was unusual to have large crowds worship in the Princeton University Chapel on Sundays, but when Fran spoke the 2,500-seat sanctuary was packed.  Later, some of the university students went to the Princeton Seminary bookstore for books on apologetics (the rational defense of the Christian faith), but there were few to be found.  Fran's books and lectures were truly needed at this time.

In addition to these American universities, he lectured at Helsinki University, Lund University, the Chinese University, Hong Kong University, and the University of Malaya.  On June 12, 1971, Gordon College awarded Fran the honorary Doctor of Letters degree.  He also spoke to various groups in Washington, D.C. to White House workers in the Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations, to members of Congress and their families, and to other government workers.  For the last fifteen years of his ministry, he always had an open door for ministry among U.S. government leaders.

Fran had extensive influence in government and university circles for several reasons.  He took a Biblical, rational, practical, prayerful, and compassionate approach to the Christian faith.  The rational approach convinced those who lived on the cutting edge of human life to accept the Bible as true and Christ as Savior.  While he answered people's questions, he also prayed for those who needed answers for reality, who needed a foundation for making the right decisions--decisions that would affect millions of people in government, education, and business.  Dr. Schaeffer understood modern man and the foundations of his ideas and actions.  He did not appeal to people's selfishness or self-interest by telling them to accept Christ for all that He could do for them.  Rather, he knew that conversion to Christ involves turning from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness, to putting the claims of Jesus Christ first in one's life.  He presented Christianity as the only viable option that is true to reality and then he demanded that people live on the basis of Christian truth.

© Copyright L. G. Parkhurst, Jr. Revised Edition 2008
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