Marylène Labourg-Boubouille’s life embodies one of her favorite verses, Ecclesiastes 9:10: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Her path has included a wide range of roles, including cleaning a church building, to pastoring a congregation, leading a nonprofit association, studying as a theology student, and working as secretary in a police dog training facility.
Born into a Christian family in Martinique, Marylène was inquisitive and would often ask her father and grandfather questions about faith. She remembers sensing a call to be a pastor at a young age even though it conflicted with her family’s views on the role of women in the church.
Marylène began attending the Church of the Nazarene after she moved to Paris. She quickly became active in church life and local outreach programs, where she found herself naturally stepping into a pastoral role by praying and offering guidance to those in need.
Encouraged by her pastor, she began taking theology courses through European Nazarene College. They were able to sharpen one another and share ideas as they were taking classes simultaneously. The Holy Spirit continued to affirm her calling to become a pastor.
In 2020, Marylène was appointed as lay pastor of her church. She remembers questioning God, “Why me?” God brought a lost memory to mind of when she was four years old listening to the pastor’s sermon knowing that one day she would do the same. “When God reminded me, I said, ‘Okay, I will do everything I can to be a pastor.’”
That same year, Marylène took on the role of president of a nonprofit association that runs a food distribution program in Paris and a secondhand store in the town of Champagne-Sur-Seine. The food distribution program collects nonperishable donations from grocery stores and distributes them to families in need. The secondhand shop operates through donations and volunteers, providing affordable furniture and home essentials for local families. “Even though it is not a religious association,” she says, “I see that God is using me there. We meet a lot of people that ask questions or want to know more, some dealing with depression, and I feel God working through me, maybe not through scripture but through encouragement.
Professionally, Marylène works for the Ministry of Interior as a secretary in a police dog training facility. Most of her colleagues are atheists, but she sees her pastoral role in this context as well. She confidently believes that “God gave me the gift of listening, and many come to me and I encourage them. I tell them, ‘You are looking for something and God is there.’”
During COVID, Marylène and three other women launched Action Solitude, a ministry to combat loneliness and depression during that isolating time. They continue to meet regularly for prayer and scripture, offering connection.
Today, Marylène continues to weave her pastoral calling into each one of her roles. Though she is taking courses towards ordination, she says it is not her ultimate goal. “I simply want to work for God,” she says, “to be useful, available, and to give others spiritual education.” With the heart of a servant, Maryène takes all that God has put in her hands and uses it with all her might.
-article by Erin Ketchum, Missionary serving in France
