Please help to ignite the Great Re-Awakening in Europe

[Pioneer3mm]

Good words of encouragement.. ( Post # 180 )
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I have some contacts with ministries in Southern Europe.
- They are going through challenges..in the midst of Covid 19.
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It is global crisis.

 

[BradRodney]

Thanks to all of you who've contributed to this forum, I've been informally following a lot of the European ministries through a friend who's been active building churches in Sweden and it's great to see a central place here to further the discussion! My wife and I ourselves are preparing to make the move with our three kids from Florida within the next couple, with an eye towards building a new church and promoting ministries especially in some of Europe's smaller towns that don't get much attention. And we're interested in bringing the whole population together, from local Europeans to emigrating Americans (joined with the Canadians and Aussies involved in this) and some of the Syrian and North African refugees who have been coming to the Church in record numbers. I put this up in another thread and it looks like a few posters have been talking it about it here already, but this truly is a historic movement. Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and North Africa have been set apart from their Christian history for almost 1,500 years, and for social and political reasons we in the West really can't minister there. But we absolutely can minister in Europe and convert the Muslim refugees there in record numbers from the region, and since most of them are obliged to return to the Middle East and North Africa after their temporary asylum expires, we effectively have an army of vigorous new Church members with the energy and desire to build new churches in their homelands. I've heard of entire towns in Syria being brought back over to the Gospels for the first time in many cases since the 8th century A.D., all thanks to these brave and devout recent converts!

For this reason my family is looking to move to France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands or Italy, all of which have been helping Syrian and Turkish refugees who are having to leave to go back home soon, so we are working to move as soon as possible to help bring them into the flock. I should also provide a little word of advice to those looking to make the move, on a practical level these countries all recruit and provide visas for skilled work and education, but the most straightforward way is to use your ancestry to your advantage to obtain a visa! Remember that thanks to the freedom of movement principle in the European Union, you need a passport in only one EU country and then you can move to the rest of him. We were at a missionary education conference and a lot of potential European ministers from the US and Canada were getting needlessly discouraged about this. A common lament was, "I want to minister in France (or the Netherlands), but my family history of Polish (or Italian, German, or Irish." Well the great news is, once you apply to the consulate from that country where you have ancestry, your passport can take you elsewhere too! So if you family heritage is Irish or Polish, go to the consulate there and get documents together, get your Polish or Irish passport, and then you effectively have a passport to the whole EU, and can move to start up your new church in France or wherever you want to go. We are Catholic but we work arm-in-arm with our Protestant brothers and sisters in church-building, and a major contribution to the effort is education our brethren about the ways to make the move. Between my wife and me we have Slovak, Polish, German, Czech, Greek and Irish ancestry, and we've been able to confirm we can get two different passports before moving to our eventual area of focus likely in France or Belgium (we're already taking intensive French classes). So don't despair at the details and logistics, when spreading the Word of the Lord and the Good News, have faith and keep your eyes and mind open. Because you will then see the path open to you, your family and your congregation!

 

[Belpine]

My wife, 3 kids and I have been preparing to move permanently to France for our ministries, and were originally headed off to join some of the American and Canadian groups active up in Normandy, several including architects skilled in refurbishing old churches and constructing naves for new ones. But lately it sounds like they have that covered, so were looking more at south France, esp. around Mèze and the Hérault department. Our understanding is there's a group of Argentines and Aussies as well as a few Brazilians active in the general region, working also in conversion of north African populations there. Has anyone ministered in this city or in the department in general? I'm a builder by trade myself and was interested particularly in church restoration, refurbishing or new building undertakings there.

 

[KathyKat]

My wife, 3 kids and I have been preparing to move permanently to France for our ministries, and were originally headed off to join some of the American and Canadian groups active up in Normandy, several including architects skilled in refurbishing old churches and constructing naves for new ones. But lately it sounds like they have that covered, so were looking more at south France, esp. around Mèze and the Hérault department. Our understanding is there's a group of Argentines and Aussies as well as a few Brazilians active in the general region, working also in conversion of north African populations there. Has anyone ministered in this city or in the department in general? I'm a builder by trade myself and was interested particularly in church restoration, refurbishing or new building undertakings there.

Hi there Belpine, some of our brother and sister churches in Nevada and Utah have been heavily active in south France so we've had a number of expats from our congregations plant roots and start their ministries and families there. Many of our members have French Huguenot roots, some pastors with work experience and familiarity with French so we sort of got plugged into the mission efforts in that region. We've traveled there a couple times in preparation for making our own move and we did notice a lot of Canadians and Aussies, we didn't encounter Argentines or Chileans around our particular ministries (a lot of them in Spain and Italy as we recall) but there were a lot of Brazilian-origin missionaries in the south France missions and churches. Most were Catholic as you might expect, but the French authorities have been surprisingly receptive to a variety of denominations.

If you're worried about the practical challenges of bringing young kids to France, "ne t'inquiete pas" as they would say over there. We have 4 kids ourselves, the oldest in high school and the youngest in early elementary school, and we're all preparing to get set up in the Burgundy region without much issue. There are a lot of international schools there but also in the south of France that can help your kids make the adjustment, and if you opt to get your kids into the local schools, they'll adjust fast--you'd be surprised at how nimble kids are at adapting to local cultures! So fear not and God Bless, there's lots of us making this leap with you!

 

[Victor in Christ]

not only Europe, North Africa also. I believe Solomon sent his ships there to collect spices etc.

God bless to everyone who is called to such missionary work. May the Lord guide your steps and you run the Christian race with patience and endurance.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Belpine,
Our association of several churches has indeed had a large contingent active in southern France, in (re-)building a number of churches and converting the Algerian and other North African populations. The Berber population, which constitutes the majority among the North African immigrants, does not see itself as "Arab" or "Muslim" at heart and has been quite receptive to us, and has returned in large numbers to convert their brethren back in their home countries. Our members had largely been most active around Marseilles and Toulouse, but we lately have had a couple move to Mèze to pursue their efforts there.

And I will agree with Kathy, you need not worry much about logistical barriers, you will of course want to learn as much French as you can but most Americans who go to minister there will gain fluency only after at least a year or two in the country. In our case it's been esp. helpful (for the Americans and Australians at least) to have a Canadian as part of the small "squadron" taking on a particular church-building or other effort, as they have French language classes as a basic part of education. And yes, you need not worry about challenges in taking kids to France, it's one of the most child-friendly countries in the world!

One of our members is a couple from Texas with 6 kids, ranging from preschool to a high school junior, and no French ancestry (Irish, German and Italian largely). But they were able to move to France and bring their kids over with little difficulty. There are international schools to help, but also a large American and Canadian community to help North American expats tackle the logistics. If you can get documents for ancestry in a given European country (can go back many generations), make use of it--it doesn't have to be France, remember that thanks to EU free movement principles, you can go anywhere in the Union once you have a passport to any one country, and your family history can make that easy. Otherwise leverage whatever skills you have to seek a work or student visa. Once the countries have some handle on the COVID19 pandemic, you should have options open up, and there are always slots open for masons and engineers (and others involved in building churches or repairs).

 

[Inhocsigno]

A great thanks to the ministers who've been heavily involved in the Skanderbeg Movement, helping to bring the Albanian populations in Kosovo, Albania and their diaspora in Europe back to the Gospel. We've received the blessed news lately that in the past year and a half alone, almost a dozen towns and villages in the Balkans have seen the majority of their residents return to the flock, with dozens of new churches or small ministries built, and these countries are now well on the way to becoming majority Christian again for the first time in centuries! We've also had great success with our conversion efforts for the Albanian population particularly in Austria, Germany and France, but also in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy. A great thanks to all of you who've worked so hard to translate, produce and distribute Bibles and Gospel literature out in the Albanian language, and equally important, those who've recorded and produced full sermons in the language and its various dialects. This has been critically important for winning the hearts of the Albanian population, and helping them to re-connect to their Christian roots. Even more extraordinary considering how many of you have accomplished this despite the pressures and limitations of the global pandemic. Well done!

 

[Galworth]

A great thanks to the ministers who've been heavily involved in the Skanderbeg Movement, helping to bring the Albanian populations in Kosovo, Albania and their diaspora in Europe back to the Gospel. We've received the blessed news lately that in the past year and a half alone, almost a dozen towns and villages in the Balkans have seen the majority of their residents return to the flock, with dozens of new churches or small ministries built, and these countries are now well on the way to becoming majority Christian again for the first time in centuries! We've also had great success with our conversion efforts for the Albanian population particularly in Austria, Germany and France, but also in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy. A great thanks to all of you who've worked so hard to translate, produce and distribute Bibles and Gospel literature out in the Albanian language, and equally important, those who've recorded and produced full sermons in the language and its various dialects. This has been critically important for winning the hearts of the Albanian population, and helping them to re-connect to their Christian roots. Even more extraordinary considering how many of you have accomplished this despite the pressures and limitations of the global pandemic. Well done!

I just wanted to highlight this part, this is really one of the linch-pins to making broad conversion and baptism efforts work anywhere, especially in Europe. Remember as it's stated in Isaiah 50:4, "The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to [him who is] weary: he waketh morning by morning, he waketh mine ear to hear as the learned." When we deliver the Word of our Lord in our ministries, we must make sure that our flock can understand us in full, not only intellectually but also feel its significance in their hearts. For this, it's a must to provide the Word of the Lord in the primary language of the flock, the language of the heart, soul and history. This is why many of our ministries in Ireland and Scotland provide ministry in Gaelic, as a classical and rich language of the Celtic peoples there, it touches their soul in a special way, and we've won many converts amongst the once secular populations there.

With the Albanian populations, we haven't worked with them all that much specifically as we've been more focused on the Iraqi and Syrian refugees, and on the North Africans in south France. But in one of our planning sessions, we learned that a major reason for previous difficulty in bringing Kosovo and Albania back fully into our flock has been the sheer difficulty of the Albanian language. It's apparently very unusual, and even the most determined missionary efforts often lacked essential literature, hymnals and of course, Scripture in the language. You seem to have broken through this barrier, and this is the key to bring the Albanian peoples back to the church.

Our native language Arabic (and Turkish) ministries have been at the heart of our successes in winning so many conversion and performing so many baptisms among the Syrians, Iraqis, Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians in Europe, and among the Turkish and Kurdish populations who have become a new focus. And as has been a topic of discussion here before, these converts often become our most fervent ministers back in their home countries, communicating in a way we never could. The founders of our faith knew the essential role of language and communication thousands of years ago, and it's just as true today. Successful ministry has many facets to it, but above all it means communicating the Good Word in the language of those whose hearts we are reaching.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Galworth,
Thank you much for sharing about your successes. Agreed, it's of utmost and unquestionable importance to make sure that all textual and informational resources for the ministry, written and oral, be available in the native tongues of the flock. If you read the Gospels with care and the early epistles from Paul and the other Church Fathers, you'll see them emphasize again and again the deep importance of communicating to the people in their own languages, and how much effort they put into translation. With our often globalized world, it's not uncommon to encounter individuals who may be fluent in international languages like French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or Russian. But it's a dreadful mistake to attempt ministry in anything but the native tongue of one's new congregation. Even if they're fluent enough for their mind to process the literal sentences of those preaching the Good News of the Lord (which, in truth, is a level of fluency that relatively few reach, even professionals working in a foreign country), it simply won't touch the people's hearts. They need to hear the Gospel in the language they first heard from their mother, father and other caregivers as children when their minds were first grasping the concept of language itself. This is what connects to them at the heart. Always glad to hear from ministers bringing us updates on making this practical, as it indeed can be challenging to product and provide accurate translations of Scripture and especially of hymnals.

On a separate note, for those who have been messaging our group on this topic, for those settling in Europe particularly from the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Argentina, we've been anecdotally finding that the most effective practical route to obtain your visas and, eventually passports to settle down in the EU is through the jus sanguinis approach. There are also work visas and student visas of course, but this process has become more difficult with the COVID restrictions. Jus sanguinis as contrast, getting citizenship based on ancestry, is still quite smooth and fast processing by comparison. One of the online subreddit discussion boards has apparently been providing a lot of useful general pointers on this, with one post in particular providing suggestions on how to get jus sanguinis granted even for descent from a European ancestor many generations back. This is the link we were provided. https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/8yo4m2/update_to_previous_post_regarding_german/

I will try to provide more additional specific updates soon, as we know this can be a challenging topic especially with the hindrances the pandemic has been presenting.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Also as a reminder for some preparing for European ministries and preparing Scripture and hymnal materials in the local languages (which we've been talking a lot about lately)-- thanks to Galworth and others for a reminder on this but in reaching out to achieve conversion of immigrants coming from Turkey, keep in mind that many do not speak Turkish, at least not as a first language. Turkey is something of a melting pot country in its own right, and many who come from Turkey are Kurds who speak Kurdish, or ex. Armenians who speak Armenian. Each of these is a quite different language so you'll want to make sure procure native language support for each in providing solid translations of both the major texts and weekly material. Turkish and Kurdish both (mainly) use the Roman Latin alphabet, but Turkish is from the Turkic language group while Kurdish is actually an Indo European language, not unlike Persian. Armenian is also Indo European but uses its own distinct script.

In practice because Turkey's population is so varied, even many ethnic Turks retain some kind of ancestral memory of their origins as Greek, Armenian, Georgian or other Christian populations, and we've found this helpful in winning their hearts for conversion and church attendance. However you'll still want to make sure to provide Bibles, hymnals, prayer guides and other materials in the language they're most comfortable, which is usually their native language and the one they use (at least partly) at home.

 

[Ceciledemarseilles]

Thanks, so much thanks to everyone who's posted here, so much great practical information and inspiration for those of us interested in taking the plunge to ministry! I know lot of you have been talking about using the jus sanguinis principle to get visas and citizenship in the European countries of ancestors, a really great way to get set up fast in where we want to go and begin ministering. But my husband and I were still a little unclear about the specifics. We're from the central European "Catholic belt" of the USA that stretches from rural New Jersey and western Pennsylvania through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, up to Michigan and Wisconsin and down to Kansas, Missouri and Iowa-- millions of us with roots in Poland, Austria, south Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Czechia and Slovakia. My husband and I have been interested in bringing our 2 young kids into our countries of ancestry and raising them there, he could ply his trade almost anywhere and then once settled, to join ministries already active or help start our own! We've been hearing about the Catholic reviival in these countries and are excited to do our part to help more!

Not only that, we've been excited about pitching in to other countries nearby where we don't have ancestors specifically, but could still do a lot to help with the Catholic revival work underway. I love France, and love that so many French are returning to the country's roots in the Church, and want to help. How do we go about it exactly? Do we go to the embassies, or consulates? Do we need to dig up old documents from the attic from our grandparents and great--great-grandparents when they first came to America? How long does it normally take? Is it easy to bring in our children right away? We were high school sweethearts and got married right after graduation so we want to take the smoothest path possible over there. And once we are there, I'm presuming we would start in our ancestral country first, but then can we move to France once we get our citizenship in Europe? Is there an EU office that helps with that? Thanks, in advance to anyone with ideas, and sorry if we're asking the same things been asked before, just want to make sure we do the process right!

 

[TheNorwegian]

The rules for getting a citizenship varies from one country to the next. So, you need to check the rules specific to whichever country you think you can get a citizenship in. Be aware that in some countries - like Germany - you will have to renounce your US citizenship in order to become a German citizen. Again, this varies from one country to the next. If you do get a European citizenship (inside EU/EEA) then you are free to move any other EU/EEA country and bring your kids with you

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Cecile,
As TheNorwegian concisely and accurately put it, the exact procedures for citizenship will vary from one country to another, and this has for obvious reasons occupied a good deal of logistical attention bringing (mostly) Americans and Canadians into our ministries in Europe. We've ultimately had a fair amount of success in helping our ministers get the passports they need, mostly thanks to arrangements through jus sanguinis (getting citizenship through ancestry in Europe), but it has taken some research, customized to each country. Although it may sound obvious, it's easy esp. for North Americans and Australians to forget that "Europe" is not a country, it's a vast continent with heterogeneous administrative and cultural regions, each with their own sets of rules. Although the EU does provide some points of administration and common agreement, in practice the European Union devolves authority in most critical areas to each member state, and that's especially so with the "jus sanguinis" policies they use to invite in their diaspora from the Americas and Oceania and expedite their path to becoming citizens.

For example our ministries have mostly recruited from Texas, Florida and the US Southwest (though we've fanned out to other member churches more recently), with an emphasis on citizenship to make it easier for our ministers to focus on mission work and raise their children in their adopted nations in Europe. In practice most of our members have ancestry from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, England, Scotland, Poland, France and Hungary, so there's some overlap with your general region. Nevertheless, the countries in Europe vary considerably in how easy they make it for diaspora in North America to re-settle in Europe based on ancestry. It's very easy for Italy for example which allows you to cite an ancestor going many many generations back, a bit harder for Germany but also multi-generational--we've had several members produce documents for a German great-great-great-grandfather or grandmother, which in some cases has provided what was needed to move to Germany. Although there are a lot of specific conditions you'll need to demonstrate like whether they had kids before naturalizing, served in a war with the US army or other things like that.

Poland, Hungary, and places like the Balkans or Baltic countries are also quite diaspora-friendly from what our group has experienced. It's harder for French ancestry and almost impossible for British ancestry (the UK doesn't really recognize it and you gain very little immigration advantage if you can demonstrate it), while a lot of other countries like Ireland are somewhere in between, and you can immigrate if you can demonstrate Irish grandparents. However your basic grasp is right in that it isn't too important where specifically you start in the EU, since you can move anywhere there once you have a passport in any of the countries. As example we have many ministers now working in Sweden and France--mostly American, a few Canadians and Australians--but only 3 or 4 actually have Swedish or French ancestry! In most cases they instead had Irish, Italian, German or Polish ancestry (Croatian in one case), got expedited naturalization to that ancestral country, and then made the move once they were settled, so what you're thinking about is doable. But the specifics matter so you'll have to go into your own family genealogy, perhaps hire a professional to do some research and see where you would qualify. The key is document, document and then go document some more! The more documentation you can provide for the consulates, the easier they'll make a jus sanguinis application for you. There are of course other routes in, through for example work or student visas, but doing it through ancestry is by far the main straight shot in, and it'll allow you to focus more on your ministry--and on basic supportive activities with your career and raising your family--without having to get so bogged down in bureaucracy.

 

[CaryCrafts]

A hearty thanks to all the posters laying the practical groundwork for US-based ministers and missionaries on how to actually settle in Europe, but we were wondering about how to do it outside of the ancestry based route in a particular country. My husband and I together have English, Welsh and Scottish ancestry (some of it recent) with a bit of Irish and of Dutch going back almost two centuries, but for a number of reasons we don't want to settle in the British Isles and are more interested in ministering around Austria, France, Italy or Germany, which it sounds like most ministries here are focused on too. It seems like because of Brexit we couldn't use the route a lot of people are describing here, getting the citizenship through ancestry in one country in Europe and then moving to another through the EU movement. (And plus it sounds like it's almost impossible to get UK citizenship that way anyway.) So we're thinking about work or study as a route to qualify.

My husband is a skilled home builder, for my part I'm a teacher, now mostly part time to take care of our 4 kids, but also picking up some Web design skills for freelance kinds of things. What would be very neat, we were thinking my husband's skills are advanced enough he could adapt to the building codes in almost any country, maybe get sponsorship through that route and join or help start a new ministry engagement in wherever we go once settled. He could even contribute to church building or refurbishing, which would be a really neat way to get two birds with one stone! And we're very serious about learning well the language of wherever we go, we already speak some French and if for example we moved to France or Belgium, we'd make sure to get fluent and make sure our kids grow up speaking French at home too. Has anyone used this kind of path to do the Europe ministries?

 

[TheNorwegian]

It seems like because of Brexit we couldn't use the route a lot of people are describing here, getting the citizenship through ancestry in one country in Europe and then moving to another through the EU movement.

This option is still available. It is only the UK that is no longer part of it. But if you get a residence permit in one EU country, then you can still move freely to any EU/EEA country. It is just that the UK has disconnected themselves from this set-up. Most other countries in Europe still have this scheme (and it is used a lot). So, for instance a French (or German or Norwegian or ...) passport would allow you to settle almost anywhere in Europe

My husband is a skilled home builder, for my part I'm a teacher, now mostly part time to take care of our 4 kids, but also picking up some Web design skills for freelance kinds of things. What would be very neat, we were thinking my husband's skills are advanced enough he could adapt to the building codes in almost any country, maybe get sponsorship through that route and join or help start a new ministry engagement in wherever we go once settled.

It is very hard to get a work permit for this kind of work. You normally would need to have a Master's degree to obtain a visa to work in EU countries. There is a forum on Reddit (/r/IWantOut) that discusses this a lot (from a secular perspective). This could give you a better understanding of how this works.

Maybe the best option for you is to connect to a missions organization and be sent out by them

 

[CaryCrafts]

This option is still available. It is only the UK that is no longer part of it. But if you get a residence permit in one EU country, then you can still move freely to any EU/EEA country. It is just that the UK has disconnected themselves from this set-up. Most other countries in Europe still have this scheme (and it is used a lot). So, for instance a French (or German or Norwegian or ...) passport would allow you to settle almost anywhere in Europe



It is very hard to get a work permit for this kind of work. You normally would need to have a Master's degree to obtain a visa to work in EU countries. There is a forum on Reddit (/r/IWantOut) that discusses this a lot (from a secular perspective). This could give you a better understanding of how this works.

Maybe the best option for you is to connect to a missions organization and be sent out by them

Thank you TheNorwegian this is such helpful advice! We followed up on some of your suggestions and already getting some good ideas on the next few steps to make progress. That Reddit sub-forum was so helpful, we just lurked a bit but several people had similar enough backgrounds and goals that we got some idea of the application process.

And we took another look at our family tree and turns out the bit of German my husband has way back in his family's history that we were barely aware of, might just be good enough to qualify for the ancestry passport if we can get the paperwork together. But you're right it does look like there are missions that sponsor Americans for the work visas for just things like this, help us get the job placements in ways that can even be connected to the ministries and then work towards the citizenship. Undoubtedly they've been through all of these hoops for years helping Americans to settle in Europe both with the ancestry visas and work visas, so even from our brief initial contact with one connected to our church, it looks like they'll know just the right direction to point us. Thanks so much, we wouldn't have known even where to look without your helpful suggestions here!

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings CaryCrafts,
So glad we could be of help with our suggestions here! Just a reminder when it comes to making concrete plans for the move and settlement in Europe, ultimately your most valuable source on the road-map will be the consulate of whatever country or countries you are thinking of moving to. Even before COVID-19, there had been considerable fluidity in the policies and administrative steps involving migration for Americans to the EU, particularly those with documented ancestry, driven in part by these countries' interests in recruiting Americans with specific backgrounds (including, in some cases, for Church-related activities specifically). The pandemic naturally has amplified this pattern and made it more important to be aware of recent updates and administrative adjustments.

We are fortunate in that so many of our primary branch churches, with Americans moving to Europe for ministry and settlement, are based in Texas and Florida, which have a robust network of fully staffed consulates for congregants to find the information they need. You may have to improvise somewhat depending on where you are and the quality and staffing of the consulates there. Although you can make phone calls to consulates anywhere, ultimately it's best to make an in-person visit when you're drawing together documents and seeking to determine your specific step-by-step plan for gaining visas and potentially citizenship by ancestry, especially if you have children in tow. But overall our congregants have reported uniformly positive experiences in the process, even with all the bureaucracy and delays, with the reward being the chance to bring the Good News of the Lord to, in many cases, the land of your own ancestors whose people today are re-discovering and re-joining the flock themselves!

 

[Inhocsigno]

This question comes up periodically and we’re getting messaged about it again, so I wanted to clarify further as this is a matter that causes some confusion about our ministries in Europe with particular focus on converting migrants and refugees from ex. Kosovo, Bosnia, Syria, Iraq, Morocco and Algeria--

We do not, in any way, engage in “forced conversion” of Muslims and such claims (which appear to be coming out of mainly a few polemical US media outlets) are not accurate. As we’ve said many times, our missionary groups and other ministries of American immigrants to Europe work to bring the Gospel to all the peoples of Europe, and since refugees from countries like Syria, Algeria and Iraq are especially open to our efforts-- having fled religiously oppressive regimes and organizations like ISIS-- they are among the most receptive, and they then vigorously bring church rebuilding efforts back to their home countries to their brothers and sisters still there. But this is done entirely of their own volition, and we want our converts to come to the church freely and of their own free will regardless. Conversion is a deeply personal experience that must be felt within the heart of the individual. For our ministers going to Europe from our member churches in Texas and Florida especially, we have special sessions to emphasize this, devising language-specific brochures and discussions to provide information about the faith and our activities, both to native-born Europeans and to refugees in Europe. We do encourage them to find peace of mind and salvation in the Gospels, to explain to them the gifts that our Lord and Savior has brought to the world, and many do then feel the Love of Christ from those connections, and join our flock. But this all happens voluntarily.

Some of the US media outlets bringing up this topic also bring up the issue of deportations, for which we are obligated to assist if a migrant has broken international law , but this is a fully separate issue having to do with the need to abide by universally acknowledged laws on asylee and refugee arrivals, and the need to register and remain in the first safe country one arrives to (the Dublin convention and similar principles). The moment refugees cross a border from that safe country into another country, usually for reasons of economic preference, they are no longer refugees-- they are economic migrants breaking the laws of national integrity, and must be deported promptly. There is a very good reason that all nations of the world have agreed to this convention-- feeding, housing and assisting refugees imposes a high level of social and economic stress and financial costs upon the host nation and its people, and so this process must be reserved for a small and manageable number of people who are truly in desperate need, who have no other option and who are fleeing genuine persecution, not economic issues. Always remember the words Jesus used to respond to Pharisee questioners who were trying to trap Him with a false dichotomy or misrepresentations of His teachings, which some media outlets are trying to do now (as related in Matthew 22:15-22)-- “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

In the case of refugees from the Syrian Civil War in particular, from a quick glance at a map you can see that they had to pass through a safe country (Turkey and often others) to get to Europe, and this applies even more so to refugees from faraway Afghanistan. For Syrian Muslims with a genuine wish to convert to Christianity, they do have a justifiable reason in some cases (and again in limited numbers) to move on to Europe, since many do, in fact, also face severe religious persecution in Turkey as Christians. But this does not apply to Syrian Muslims who wish to remain Muslim-- by fundamental international law, they must remain in Turkey, Egypt or whatever country they first enter since it is a safe country for them, and then return to Syria when things have stabilized, or resettle in a third country (such as Saudi Arabia or Bahrain) if there is mutual agreement with their first country. It may not be their top preference for economic reasons but this is irrelevant, as refugees they do not have license to shop around for whatever country they want. They must register in Turkey or another safe country they arrive at first. This, again, is universal law and in this case, has been agreed upon for sound moral and practical reasons.

Therefore for those Syrian Muslims who smuggle into Europe, and do not wish to convert, yes we are obligated to report them and have them deported, since they have broken international law and did not remain in the first safe country they arrived at. They are not being forced to convert, and they may remain Muslims if they choose, but they cannot then claim asylum status or register as refugees in the EU since they crossed through a safe country (generally Turkey) and, unlike Syrian Christians, Yazidis or Muslims looking to safely convert and join the church, did not face religious persecution there. This extends to anyone who has smuggled in under similar circumstances, for example many African migrants crossing the Mediterranean are Christian, but we are also obligated to file a report and have them deported because they, too, have broken international law by failing to stop in the first safe country they arrive at. Again to make this clear, it may not be a pleasant country to be in but this is irrelevant-- the refugee and asylum conventions are kept very strict and narrowly constrained for very good reasons and specific circumstances, because if they are abused, then the populations in host countries will quickly become opposed and discontinue them for everyone. This can have especially tragic consequences for Middle Eastern Christians and ex. Syrian Muslims eager to convert, since their path would then be blocked for good, so we are obligated to report abusers of the asylum process to protect this option. And this, again, has nothing to do with the very personal and sincere process of conversion. We have had many fleeing Syrian and Iraqi Muslims (as well as Kurdish, Lebanese, Turkish, and Algerian Muslims in Europe for jobs) come to our European ministries with an interest in baptism and learning about the Gospels. We have never had a case of such conversions being insincere, and welcome them to our flock with open arms.

 

[DanielDF]

Thank you all here for bringing up the true essence of conversion, and above all how personal and sincere it is. We're from churches in the SW belt (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) active in the European church (re)building movement since 2014, and many of our newest congregants have indeed been converts from Islam among the refugee populations. Our group has built 3 new churches in Belgium, Germany and France with over 90% of the congregation consist of converted refugees! This isn't unusual, and our members attend services every week, consult and stay close with us, and express their sincerity and love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost in ways more numerous than we could ever express. It is a disappointment that some media sources, try to cast shade on such a beautiful story, both at the level of individuals and groups, particularly among converts from Syria, Iraq, Kurdish Turkey, Jordan and the Maghreb region of north African countries, whose people have fled such difficult circumstances and are indeed, carrying the word of the Lord back to their brethren back home. It is a joyful thing to behold.

 

[Helen C]

Thank you and blessings to all who've contributed such specific and valuable information for all us looking to do missions overseas! A fairly short question here and I apololize if it has been asked, has anyone here done ministries in the Baltics, esp. in Estonia but also in Latvia (the two main countries we're interested in?). I have Estonian and some Latvian ancestry and have been interested in getting a visa through descent, but not sure of specifics and even less sure about efforts already taking place, esp. in church rebuilding and refurbishing, though of course new church construction is also great interest for us. Would love to hear from anyone involved!