Born in Lons-le-Saunier, France in 1963, Payan was the eighth child of Spanish republican militants.[2][3] He was a member of the Mouvement Jeunes Communistes de France and worked for L'Humanité before converting to Christianity and read the New Testament; his baptism was seen as a "betrayal" to his family.[4] He became an assistant pastor at an evangelical church and joined the Institut biblique décentralisé.[2] He was inspired by Emiliano Tardif and joined the Embrase nos cœurs organization, where he met several Catholic and Protestant personalities.[4] In 2003, he moved to Paris and founded his own organization, Paris tout est possible, where he organized prayers and healings.[2] He was praised as a "speaker appreciated for his humor, his simplicity and his slightly provocative side"[2] and an "artist before being a healer".[4] In 2017, he prayed alongside Pope Francis alongside over 100 other evangelical pastors.[2]
Payan died of a heart attack on 12 October 2024.[5]
