Please help to ignite the Great Re-Awakening in Europe

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Bricksandmortar,

Mastering and integrating into the culture of one's congregation has been a primary concern of missions ever since the earliest churches, and you are right to bring up the issue. There are naturally some special circumstances for the European ministries, but the guiding principle is the same, that touching the hearts of your flock, increasing attendance and building new ministries from the ground up all require a close connection to the people and communities in which you are ministering. Hence the need to become a member of that very community.

In your case, you have taken the blessed initiative to spread the Gospel in Sweden, and as you yourself have recognized, part of the integration process involves learning enough Swedish and German to function broadly and to minister to the people. German began as something of a common language for these efforts due to the initial focus on central Europe, but I suspect it is now as much of a practical matter. Effective ministry, after all, requires many years of preparation and eventual settlement in your adopted country with your family, and you'll need the proper settlement permits, work visas and other formal approvals to help the integration process. As German is at the continent's economic hub, mastering it is valuable for the visas and long-term settlement even outside of central Europe.

Most people I've talked to have said that they learned the community languages mostly after moving to their adopted countries, often in major part through attending church services there. That way the languages are learned in context, and you'll become familiar with the colloquial nuances that are needed for good ministry. Most also take at least some basic courses or listen to tapes before they set off, everyone learns differently and if you're motivated in your mission, your mind and spirit will be guided to learn it faster whatever method you use. Don't worry if you feel a little anxious about the challenges, that's been the case for such missions for thousands of years. But your commitment, prayers and desire to spread the Gospel will help you to find the answers to any challenge that confronts you, and I wish you all the best in your effort.

 

[Benavez]

This is probably a simple-sounding question as I've yet to start my first missions personally, but do churches in say a country like Holland open themselves to outsiders into the congregation, the informal way that many US churches do, or do most people put down roots in a community first and then get referred by a friend or neighbor? I know European churches tend to be more established and i've been interested in teaming up with other missionaries to start a new one, but it's probably a good idea to attend services first in a church already there. I don't yet speak Dutch but I'll be working for a couple years in South Africa and learning Afrikaans, which is like Dutch, and already speak a sprinkling of Italian and German that I could build on, so I could probably get a feel for the sermons once I move to Holland in a few years with enough other languages to get a foothold once there. Just curious about the cultural norms as far as new member church attendance is concerned.

 

[Stanlester]

Haven't seen much on here yet about Baltic ministries and wanted to chip in on our experiences so far. We and our four wonderful kids will be off in a month to Lithuania, where we'll be helping with some seminal new ministry efforts already under way. The Baltic countries include Latvia and Estonia as well as Lithuania and they specially are thirsting for these ministry efforts to help revive their churches, following on the physical and cultural damage that their religious communities have endured from the turbulent events of the last century in that region. Whether your coming in from America or Australia, you may be pleasantly surprised that the visa process isn't as difficult as you might expect. My wife for example hails from the large Baltic/Polish community that settled mainly in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and with the help of some distant relatives in Lithuania and advice from the community in America, we were able to manage our transition without much of fuss, and help both of us and our older kids to pick up some basic Lithuanian prior to the move. Lithuania like else where in east Europe also uses a lot of German as a common business and cultural language so we learned some of that also, while plying my trade to help get us all set up and working in one of the more rural regions of the country.
If any of you interested in Baltic missions and ministry, don't be intimidated by the seeming exoticness of the region, the people are the friendliest you'll meet almost any where and the cultural integration is much easier than you'd probably expect, and you'll be helping the people greatly by focussing a ministry here where there's little attention compared to many other places. Don't even bother to wait before becoming acquainted with the countries- start out by arranging a prolonged stay for a couple months, autumn is majestic here for example, and do it a couple more times to get familiar with the cities, rural areas and the churches and forms of worship. Then dive right in, you'll have plenty of company.

 

[PurdueBoilermaker]

Bom dia Benavez, we'll be heading to Portugal too in a few months. We picked up our Portuguese doing an earlier ministry in East Timor which is a different version from both Portugal and Brazil but hopefully the adjustment won't be too tough. Glad to see the missions are moving in that direction.

 

[OHiggins]

Think someone brought this up earlier, how are the ministries going in Ireland? My fiance and I have both been to Ireland and I speak some Irish, we were involved in a Christian Gaelic band a couple years ago and i definitely recommend y'all catch some good Gaelic music if you can! We have some savings and some skills working the land from down home on the farm so we were thinking about ministry in the agriculture areas around Cork. Figured most of the ministry has been around Dublin but would be great if the small towns and farming villages are getting some help too!

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings troiluscresside,

Wonderful to hear of your efforts and success. Several in my own flock have also reported success in bringing the Good Word to the Turkish and Albanian populations in the Benelux, Germany and France, many of whom have also become quite involved in the ministry and taken on Christian names for themselves and their children. I had not heard as much about ministry and conversion efforts for other immigrant populations, particularly in France and Spain.

So it pleases me to read of your success there. Please be sure to keep us updated.

 

[relate4ever]

Amen for all the people living in Europe to hear the Gospel

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Ellenikas,

It gives me joy to hear of your ministry in Greece.

Based on our own informal observations, we ourselves have become a bit concerned that news headlines and hand wringing may be discouraging some of the European ministries from Mediterranean countries associated with the crisis.

However several of us have been in Greece, Portugal and the associated countries, and there is no reason for such concern, as they are addressing their problems as needed while the people, overall, remain open and hungry for the peace of mind of the Gospel. Several in our flock have moved there as you have, and found work and raised their families while beginning their ministry.

It takes effort, but missions have dealt with far more adverse conditions than those present in Greece and flourished the same. This may be one of the most important times if anything, for people in those countries to know that they are being kept in mind. I applaud your efforts.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings to all of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to you and family.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Edward,

It brings us joy to hear of your success. Thank you for again bringing attention to the importance of music and hymnals to missionary efforts. Music moves the heart as well as the mind, and there is no better way to inspire devotion than through music. It is wonderful to read that you have been successful in translating the hymnals to so many languages, such a challenging task I can imagine but your persistence has undoubtedly brought great joy to a great multitude of people.

 

[John Iqles]

Hello to everyone, my congregation and I have been involved in this effort for more than 2 decades now, and I thought I'd share some important observations since this is perhaps the most important Ministry effort in our modern church. The entire evangelical map of Western continental Europe is being re-drawn as we speak, in a way that will probably last for centuries, so it is imperative that all who wish to participate in this great undertaking are able to contribute to their fullest.

Other participants have given valuable information on other topics, so I will focus on two critical ingredients for success in bringing the Gospel to the ears of a European continent in the midst of a great Christian revival already:

1. Do not wait to get started. As I said, the denominational map of Europe is being re-drawn now for perhaps the next century or more. In Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Italy and Sweden where my group has long been active, churches are rapidly being revived and sprouting up anew, ministering not only to the Turkish, Kurdish, Moroccan, Algerian, Bosnian and Albanian immigrant population (who are converting in massive numbers from Islam) but also millions among the established European populations, re-connecting to their nations’ long-suppressed Christian roots. As these regions are also economic and cultural centers for the globe, their evangelical character will in turn supply the template for many other lands. So if you want your church and denomination to be represented in this sweeping, historic evangelical revolution on the European continent, you simply cannot afford to hesitate in your ministry here, or others will fill the need instead.

It's obviously critical that you eventually learn German and the relevant local languages as very many others have written here, as all in my congregation have done. But that will come with experience and simple time in the country where you are doing your ministry, and there are ample support networks among the overseas ministries to help with language training, job placement, visas and the other basics. Don’t be deterred by such minor obstacles, our missionary ancestors faced vastly more difficult circumstances before! It's wise to start immediately setting down roots, getting a feel for the culture and geography, getting to meet the local church leaders and communities, often with a simple trip to one of these European countries on a tourist visa. Or, alternatively, through an organized mission trip to help local European church efforts, while you make subsequent plans to work and move to your country more permanently.

2. You must reside permanently in the country where you are performing your ministry. This is the single most important factor for your ministry to take hold and set down generational roots. This is not a short-term ministry for which you can simply stay for a few years and return home. Whether you are moving to Belgium or Norway or Sweden, or France or Germany as many in my congregation have, this must be the place that you identify as your home, as much as any of the natives there. This must be the place where you work, raise your family, speak the local language and integrate fully into the local culture. Its history and customs must become your own, and your children must grow up in that country as the only one they know of as their home.

My congregation and others with whom we have partnered originally come from many places, mostly from the US and Canada (a large contingent from the Sun Belt churches of Texas through Arizona that have been especially active here), but also large numbers from South Africa, Australia, India, Argentina, Chile, even China and Korea. And as has been commonly discussed we have all mastered German out of practical necessity while becoming especially fluent in the local languages used in the church services. But from this background, we have become fully integrated into our host countries, and whatever visits we make to friends and family across the Atlantic or Indian Oceans, we are permanently committed to our new European homes. Our children have grown up here and know of these places as their only home, and they attend the local schools (not the international schools which would separate them from the local cultures). Wherever we may have started our efforts, a family ministering in Liege will have children growing up Belgian, one in Bergen will have children growing up Norwegian, those in Malmo will have children growing up Swedish, those in Utrecht will be Dutch, in Nimes they will be French. And it is there that they will stay.

Our experience has provided a powerful and consistent lesson on this. We began our ministry in the early 1990’s in our respective countries, and there were many fellow participants from many different denominations who were also active here. Many of my closest friends in particular were Mormons, who were involved in their own ministry efforts in many of the same localities as we were. By all accounts they were wonderful people, deeply committed and involved in ministry, built many temples and charities and won many adherents in the local populations. But the Mormons, by and large, left the country after 5 years or sometimes less, and returned to North America or Australia. As a result, their ministry efforts in the European communities that we shared largely fell apart, and their adherents did not stay with the new faith. Nearly 25% of the local converts in my own group had in fact formerly joined a Mormon congregation, but left when the ministers left the Continent to go back to North America!

The local people in these European countries have to see that you are fully committed to your ministry for the long haul, and above all that you are sharing the joys and difficulties that they too are encountering. Only then will they stay with the new faith that you have ministered to them, and pass it on to their own children. This is especially true of the Turkish, Moroccan, Albanian and Bosnian converts, who are migrants themselves and want to be assured that you are willing to brave their new countries by their side. But it’s also true of the native European population, who want to see that you truly identify with their culture enough to become a part of it, and see your ministry as the seedling of a church that will continue to sprout as a permanent part of that nation. There are no shortcuts around this, so make sure that you are committed enough to your Ministry to follow through. It is no sacrifice to do this if your heart truly is drawn to plant the seeds of the Gospel once again in the heart of Europe!

[FONT=&quot]Good luck and God Bless you in all of your efforts![/FONT]

 

[RevPulas]

Thank you for this information, John. I am blazing a similar path, and after much preparation, we will be off to Norway for good next year.

To add to what you have said, getting a head-start in this ministry is doubly important since this not only helps to reinforce the Christian character in the country itself, but also in other countries where members of the young ministry have connections.

As example, an old friend of mine in a church one town over had been involved in a broad effort to provide ministry in Austria and Germany, and a significant number of the new members of the church there where ethnic Turks who took up the faith. They were specially enthusiastic, with many doing what other folks have reported here. For example assuming European Christian, in this case usually German names and surnames for themselves and their children. It was part of how they came to identify fully with their new home and faith.

But also of equal importance, going back to Turkey themselves where they had family, and starting up ministries there which converted a number of the local people. It was amazing to hear this since these people were taking on some risk in doing so, due to the community resistance still present in some of the Turkish cities. But their dedication was strong and they largely persisted, and so the activities of the original ministries in Austria and Germany had a ripple affect, not only in those countries but by extension in Turkey also.

 

[Stevethecardinal]

Hi John I., our gratitude and appreciation for detailling so much information here not to mention answering some nagging questions many of us have had for awhile! We're involved in Christian interdenominational ministries focussed chiefly in west and south France and some portions of Belgium and western Germany. We performed a series of inquiries some years back to gather information from our participants on their successes and to get a sense of the retention of new church members. And you're right, it's all about integrating with the host country and staying there for good.


We had found results that really threw us for a loop at first as we had no adequate means to explain them. Can't tell whether they apply in general or just to our small group, but intrigued us just the same. We found that of the groups that had come from the USA and Canada to minister where we were focussed, a variety of evangelical groups and the Baptists, Lutherans and Methodists had by far the highest retention rates, over 90% especially of Turk converts like you all have been giving attention to. While the Mormon groups had by far the highest attrition rates, their churches easily losing 80-90% of their membership or more and going to the other denominations after a few years, especially to the Baptists, Lutherans and other evangelicals, in other words the opposite of the evangelical groups.


We were troubled by these results because despite our noted differences on matters of theology and prayer, we had also come to befriend many of the Mormons, respect their work ethic, sincerity and what they gave to the community. We'd never speak ill of any of them. They'd had alot of success at first and we couldn't come to grips with why their efforts didn't stick and why most of their members soon joined the other churches. But your explanation now makes sense, because that was the one major difference between the Mormon groups and the evangelical groups that enjoyed so much success.


It was above all that the Mormon groups and others with high attrition rates, overwhelmingly returned to the United States or Canada after several years and often didn't learn the European languages or integrate well, disappointing their new members and breaking the bonds that had been built. Whereas the Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists and the other evangelicals set down permanent roots in the new country, integrated totally into society with no plans to return back to the USA. They mastered the languages and prohibited their kids from speaking any English at home, so that they'd grow up to totally identify with the new land. They came in large numbers also, many thousands and tens of thousands of them in the towns and villes where they set up their churches, so they were able to stay together as a community and stay cohesive, sharing ideas and making their endeavors more effective. And then they worked hard to build up their churches. To spread the Word of the Lord. Yo connect with the people and reach out spiritually. While also starting local shops and businesses that employed the locals, in the process becoming respected members of their communities and staying there. They connected with their communities in every way.


The lesson is something that we've since made clear to our members going to those lands, it's not enough to have a 50% commitment, or 60 or even 90% commitment. It has to be a 100% commitment to their new land. It is the only way to touch the hearts of the local people and make them feel comfortable in their new congregation.

 

[AThomasWithoutDoubt]

wow good to see so much involvment in this, my close friends and missionaries have been involved in Europe ministry for a few years now and it's good to see were not alone!

I think it's useful also to mention here, as practical matter for getting the settlement visa you'll need to work and carry on your ministry in Europe, remember you can get that in any one of the EU countries and the move to where you want to minister. We're mostly Sweden based, and it's not easy to get visas for Sweden though also not so hard as I used to hear. Still it was much easier for us to get visas to go to the countries dealing with economic troubles, like Italy or Greece especially if as in my case I have an Italian ancestor from Ellis Island years ago. These countries are happy to have for example Americans or Australians or Canadians move there, so it's often not hard to get a visa, which then opens you up to all over Europe due to EU law.

So some in our group did stay in Greece and Italy which is good becuase they sure need ministry there too! But others' could manage to use our initial visas and in some cases acquired citizenship, to then move to Sweden, or Belgium to set up there. Norway isn't EU but they still open up more if you have an EU pass from other places. So don't get frustrated by the visa restrictions if you want to do ministry here, there are so many EU countreis that if your determined you can get a permit and one of them, from there you can go anywhere to pursue your ministry projects.

 

[Ededmills]

A great reminder that Thomas has given here, it's worth repeating. My ministry group confronted some similar challenges years ago with getting work and settlement permits in Oslo and the surrounding towns in Norway, which we needed to begin our ministry and help build the two new small churches that have since attracted dozens of new members.

To our surprise, the process was much easier when we instead immigrated first to other countries in Europe like Italy, Greece, France, Ireland, Germany, Holland and Belgium and then used our EU affiliations in those countries with freedom of movement provisions to then reunite in Norway, which is in fact not technically in the EU but still open to migrants from elsewhere in Europe.

Italy and Ireland are specially very easy to immigrate to, even a distant Italian or Irish ancestor can often get you expedited citizenship, Ireland welcomes you even if you learn to speak a lick of Gaelic Irish language, and Germany and Greece have likewise provisions. The Dutch, Belgians and French also do in some cases.

As the European rules work, it doesn't matter where you start out, you're free to go wherever you want afterward so long as you know enough about the relevant language and country. We had all learned at least some Norwegian as well as many of us with German and French between us, so the migration was smooth.

Although Norway isn't technically isn't in the European Union, it is in something called the Schengen Area and this means there's free movement between Norway and other Schengen countries like Italy.

We're mostly from America and Canada but have ancestors from several European countries, so we were able to start out and migrate first to the countries in Europe that were easiest to go to specially if we had family history, then once there we were able to use the Schengen Area and EU free movement rules to help come together in Norway and start our ministry there. It's been well worth it and we've already had been able to make a difference!

 

[suomisidney]

A Happy New Year to all of you from the winter wonderland of Finland! We've been visiting friends and family and of course our church back in the States, and we're happy that so many great folks are inclined to take the same leap to European ministry. We've had a mobile ministry of sorts, ever since we and our 3 children moved to France over a decade ago. From there it was off to Holland and a brief stint in Belgium, then to Norway and now in Finland where we've settled. So take heart all of you with restless wanderlust, it's one of the best ways to fine-tune your ministry while learning the local languages and refining your message. All of you with interest are welcome to join in, the ministries here are always welcome to new members!

 

[Edmond89]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I really have decided that I will be a Christian Catholic Preacher for Europe, the European Continent and I will start to preach the Gospel in Germany and then I may go also to England as well.

yes as I'm an Arab Christian, a Catholic a very much religious and a Devout Christian that is standing against Islam and the Islamic Invasion to Europe, Christianity shall defeat Islam by conversion of Muslims to Christianity.

May Lord Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour pour his love and grace on all the Muslims for conversion to him, therefore as I'm will be a Doctoral Candidate in Germany or in Britain I may doing my job as a Palestinian Christian, Catholic Missionary preacher in various foreign languages that I know including: German, French, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and English.

yes I really do volunteer for the Great RE-Awakening of Europe for receiving a request from our Brother Michael for the European Christian Re-Awakening.

Therefore, I have finally decided to emigrate to Europe and not to America because I have a misssionary of Evangelism and preaching the Gospel, Ministry, love and the Christian Education.

yes Europe needs the love of Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ is very sad for this.

Yours,
Edwar Makhoul
a PhD Candidate
Berlin

 

[Edmond89]

yes so finally I decided to emigrate from Israel to Europe and not America- USA or Canada

yes finally I knew the right way is not to Emigrate to USA but to Europe, I have to choose between Britain or Germany but I do prefer Germany and then I will be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the Roman Catholic Church of Germany in order to evangelize Europe through Bible study, delivering the Bible in the European languages and encouraging church attendance.

I'm very proud that I'm gifted by the Holy Spirit to speak all the languages that I need to learn and to study.

 

[Edmond89]

I'm very happy that Brother Michael posted this important post for the Re-Evangelization of Europe as far as I do study all the time a new foreign language and it's my hobby to study all the time in a new foreign language and concentrate on them and to become a Native Speaker and a Fluent speaker

yes I can study every language of the world that I want and that I'm interested in.

so I really thank Brother Michael for this post because I really would like to volunteer and to become a Christian Roman Catholic clergyman in Germany and then to all of the European Continent.

I also would like to marry abroad in Europe, in Germany with a German Catholic girl.

 

[Galworth]

Thank you for posting your kind and thoughtful words here Edmond89, an acquaintance of mine at my old childhood church informed me of your heartfelt plans and the inspiration they were giving to the church, and I can happily say they've inspired me too! My wife and I have started taking German classes and will probably be following in your footsteps to Germany or one of the German speaking communities in east Europe, where this movement seems to be strongest and most successful. We are expecting our first child soon and this way, we will hopefully learn enough so that when all of us make our move to the other side of the ocean, we will know enough German to speak to our child in it as we build our own church. Every day we look forward to it. Thanks and great Blessings to you and we wish you the best!