Please help to ignite the Great Re-Awakening in Europe

Im going to Europe as a missionary this year, not sure where JUST YET... will know in a little while, but Ive decided already that Im going... Im very happy and I hope God will use me.

Sounds wonderful g85! Please keep us updated, in fact if you feel so inclined, maybe you could even keep a little journal when you're there, post highlights on this thread.

"not sure where JUST YET"

That's the hardest part, but I've always seen this as a happy dilemma, sort of like choosing between a banana split and chocolate mousse-- those countries are so rich in so many ways.

For me and my own friends, France and Belgium beckoned in large part because we could sort of "parler Francais" to a good enough degree so as to participate in missions especially in northeastern France where there's an especially receptive audience at least in our experience.

Though I have also heard very good things about Germany for those who've gone there, both as a land eager to hear the Gospel and as a wonderful place to preach and even move to for those so inclined.

If you stay in Germany or France and seek employment, you have to work hard and be productive during the day but the working conditions are IMHO much more humane than in the US-- you're not pushed into 7-day weeks as in so much of the USA these days, plus you get 6 weeks of vacation which you'd never get here, and the Euro is becoming such a valuable currency that what you earn goes farther than it does in the US. So you have more time to work on your mission efforts.

In my own extended stay in France, I got a part-time job helping to ship, park and maintain bicycles-- Europe really is a cyclist's paradise!-- and got surprisingly decent pay with vacation, and with the exchange rate shifts and the dollar decline, I was able to use some savings from this little stint to help pay for a later trip backpacking in the Andes!

(Although I'm partial to le francais, from what I've heard, German isn't all that tough a language to learn. Its reputation is needlessly intimidating and those who move there pick it up fast!)

I will do make a jounal while Im there... and ask you people for loads of prayers But Im not there JUST yet... Im leaving in July... and going for a year... (Im even considering in staying for longer... like 2 years... but I will see)

Thanks of the tips, appreciate it!

I am initially doing a short term trip to France--a little over three months--to see what role mission work plays in my future. I am SO excited.

I leave for Paris in 3 weeks. I just pray to begin developing a solid relationship with even one person while I am there, so I can continue that relationship through email, messenger, and so on. The internet is a blessing and provides such a great way to stay in touch.

God bless you!!!

__________________
"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created" Rev. 4:11
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"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" 1 John 5:3
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Hi,

I posted earlier, but I am looking for some hand -holding here...

I have no idea what the "ABC's" of missionary work entiail - but I know without a doubt that what you are describing (...the role of a missionary in Europe) is exactly the same thing God has been telling me about too. He also told me that the mission work will not be centralized, but will be a loose network of like minded individuals. Not "cells", as that has terrorist connotations, but that we would know of and support each other in the spirit of love, wisedom and obedience.

My own congregation does not support broad-based international missions.

When a friend of mine, who is much more prepared than I, asked to receive leadership regarding his calling to Indonesia, he was not given a straight answer. A humble, well liked and respected man in our congregation: he waited. But when the leadership showed no interest, he went and found an outside group to lend structure to his pursuit...when he asked if it would be OK to speak to our congregation about the necessity for supporting foreign missions work, or at least to do some presentations about his calling (during off church hours) to help with fundraising, he was told "no".

This was discouraging news to me. I am not looking for their money, but I am perplexed at why we have a call to do missions work (from our own pulpit no less) but run into a brick wall when we say "Here I am!"

I looked online at the national denomination website, and found that they have broad support for missions in Africa, Mexico (Latin America) and India, but nowhere near Europe. I emailed, hoping to find some information and start a diolouge, but after several tries have not received a response.

Am I doing something wrong here? It is hard for me to beleive that I am the first person to think of doing missions in Europe (sarcasm)... I can't tell if this is apathy I am running into, erasure, or - more likely- that I am barking up the wrong tree.

Please give me advice here. Conversation with a human being, email addresses, websites, names of people you think I could talk to, instruction on protocol ... any suggestions?

Regardless, God made it clear that I am going to Ireland, "prepared" or not.

I'm going through my church (Seventh Day Advenstist Church)... isnt your church a world wide organizasion? If it it... then you should try to contact people through the inet. See the listed position and apply.

I would tell you about how it works in the SDA church... but to go as a missionary through the SDA church you need to be a baptized member for like 2 years I think. If you want to look anyway at how our mission programs work you can look at this web site:

http://www.adventistvolunteers.org/

hope I could help a teeny bit at least,

God bless

__________________
"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created" Rev. 4:11
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"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" 1 John 5:3
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Thank you for the response!

I belong to the Evangelical Covenant, which technically does have an international standing, but I remain confused as to the organization of the higher administration...but you point me in a good direction.
I have been a member fo the Covenant since 1992. So, I think I have the credits in that regards...

Thank you for the link to your church. I will check it out. I expect that I can find more clues there

Jada, there are many mission organizations that are doing work in Europe. A search on google would probably bring up many. I am working with Greater Europe Mission--which as you can tell, is focused only on Europe. I went to orientation with a girl who is currently serving in Ireland, through GEM. I'd encourage you to check them out! Otherwise yes, there are many missionaries who serve through many different groups in Europe. GEM, and I'm sure others, has a short term program of 3 months - 1 year, if you were looking to just "get your feet wet."
http://www.gemission.org/

Thanks for the tip on GEM BlueRose, I checked out the site and this sounds like exactly what we need-- a well-organized and dedicated group with a solid focus on high-quality missionary work. And one which helps to coordinate the practical as well as missionary aspects for participants.

One of my old friends from school got involved in something similar in Austria, with a sponsoring organization that smoothed the path in every respect: Getting the visas to live and work in Austria for the needed time, coordinating the domestic and Austrian churches' efforts, securing funding, providing German language lessons and even procuring the flight tickets and working through the details of housing. It made things MUCH easier for everyone, since the church members could focus on mission work rather than being bogged down in the logistics. (In fact, a couple members of his church who joined in on that effort have decided to stay on and now live in the country, one in Graz and the other in Salzburg, Mozart's home.)

I've heard through the grapevine of analogous organizations elsewhere that help particularly with the funding, e.g. German missionary efforts supported by contributions from German-American Christian groups. Happily, this sort of thing is also self-sustaining, since many Americans on these trips who wind up moving to Europe, often then turn later to become sponsors of similar efforts later. (An American emigrant to Germany for example was one of the sponsors of missionary work in Germany in my friend's church.) My own work in France was assisted in part by a group in Maine consisting in part of French-American Christians who had themselves taken interest in such a revival in their ancestral land. So I sense there's a latent network of assistance here for this sort of effort.