Christmas across Europe

Thought you might enjoy these Christmas sights from across Europe:

Frohe Weihnachten from Germany !

(Grenzach-Wyhlen)

(the Aalen GBC)

(the Berlin International Baptist Church)

VESELÉ VÁNOCE from Prague, Czech Republic!

Nollaig faoi mhaise duit from Dublin, Ireland !

(the Beckers and the Sunday night Matthew study group)

Feliz Natal from Portugal !

(the Community of Grace and Riverside International churches of Porto)

Feliz Navidad from Madrid, Spain !

(the Sanchez family)

(the Satterthwaites)

(the DeArmey's and their bible reading group)

Merry Christmas from England!

(Birmingham)

(London)

(the Barlows)

Joyeux Noël from France!

(Lyon)

(Montceau-les-Mines)

(the Montceau GBC)

(the Dijon GBC)

(Dijon)

On behalf of the entire GBIM Europe team, I wish you, one and all, a very Feliz Natal—Feliz Navidad—Nollaig faoi mhaise duit—Frohe Weihnachten—Veselé VÁnoce—Joyeux Noël !

Oh yeah, all of that means MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

SRO in Dijon for Noël !

The Creator cares so much that He sent His Son to reconnect with the very people who disconnected with Him. Jesus was born. He forgives. He loves. Emmanuel is with us! declared the musical duo Den-Isa.

Den-Isa in Dijon, France (December 3, 2005)

Everyone knows the French are indifferent about the religious, right? Right, if you mean people sensing the need to belong to a religious institution. Wrong, if you mean indifference concerning spirituality. We have found Noël to be an especially propitious time to share Jesus, to connect the dots for people who have not made the link between Tannenbaums and candles, gifts of perfume and scarves, escargots and Yule logs, family, friends and… Christ’s birth.

It was standing room only for the Christmas concert in Dijon

Religious and irreligious French people attended the standing room only (SRO) performance on Sunday at the Protestant Evangelical / Grace Brethren church of East-Dijon. Only a minority was from the church (Sunday attendance averages around 55); I did not recognize most of the people. Church members extended almost 2000 invitations-many personal, others in mailboxes-which resulted in tripling, possibly quadrupling, their numbers for a family celebration of Christ’s birth.

Here's a quick panorama of the festivities:

A young woman who came to Christ through our campus group brought her mom. (At the woman’s wedding I had met the mother who was unabashedly hostile to her daughter’s faith.) I chatted with a young man, not a Christian, whom I had met while helping a friend move. He and his wife were thrilled and their three-year-old loved the event.

During the concert I had a flashback-oh, fifteen years or so ago-to a Christmas celebration that we organized with Dijon church; there were about fifteen present. As I looked at the SRO crowd, tears filled my eyes and joy welled up in my heart at what God has done here. People have bowed the knee to Christ. Believers are now reaching out to families, friends and community. The Prince of Peace has his rightful place of honor.

Joyeux Noël !

A transitional time

The France and Established Churches Teams Conference

Prayer for the transition of churches to European leadership, worship, sharing, teaching on developing church leadership in postmodern Europe, discussion about transitioning established churches to European leadership, airplane rides, volleyball, talent night, a Rubik's Cube expert, a scavenger hunt, a group game of "chutes 'n ladders," great food and friends, long discussions, presentation of the new Château chapel and more!

Rather than attempt to summarize all that transpired at the France Family and Established Churches Team Conference at the Château of Saint Albain (Oct.25-28), I thought a pictorial of our time together might speak best.

On one exceptionally clear day, we began the session about 20 minutes late so that our speaker could go up in the Château tower from where one could see the Mont Blanc.

David Brown was our speaker (he also gave a conference for the French fellowship of Grace Brethren churches leadership—the Saturday prior to our retreat). David is a three-time church planter, General Secretary for InterVarsity France, author, and one of France's foremost ecclesiologist/missiologists.

Though David is quite the engaging speaker, no conference would be complete without break time.

John Pappas (center) and Rob Saunders (right). Rob is the most recent addition to the Château team (I think he was hovering around the coffee pot hoping the fumes would stave off his jet lag!).

Pam and Steffi (Steffi is from the Aalen GBC)—"veteran" members of the new Château team.

Pastor Florent Varak graciously offered MKs flights in a ULM
(Philip S in the cockpit).

TALENT NIGHT !

Carol

Helen and Susie

Elise and Philip S (excerpts from "Napoleon Dynamite")

I'm thinking of using this as a recruitment poster for Charis Associates ;-)

Melody (center), also one of our new Château staff, led an MK youth group during the week and helped them prepare this "speaking choir".

One of our main discussions focused on the transition of the established GBCs, where missionaries are still leading the works, to European leadership. We read and discussed Tom Steffen's book, "Passing the Baton," to stimulate our thinking and now they are working on writing plans.

The elements I have requested for this transition plan are: a demonstration of faith (Mt. 17:20-21), the priority of prayer (Mt. 7:7-8; 9:37-38), the envisaged type of leadership (team of elders or pastor or full-time regional worker or…), their next role and place of service, concrete transitional steps, and a projected time frame.

Transition is a vital yet extremely precarious process in church planting, so we would appreciate your prayers for faith, wisdom, boldness, and for the missionary Spirit of God to accomplish this through his people.

Essentials of ekklesia

The emerging churches teams gathered in Porto, Portugal (Sept.28-Oct.2) to discuss the essentials of ekklesia (Jesus' idea of "church").

Charis Associates and GBIM Europe teammates from Madrid, Lisbon, Porto, Dublin, London, Paris, Dijon and Berlin gathered to cheer Julie Hawkins on during her 42k marathon!

We began our encounter with a day of listening to God. We were challenged to put everything on God's altar (personal and corporate strategies, methods and approaches, theological systems and constructs, possessions, spouses, children and self), allowing ourselves to cling only to “the whole Bible and the holy Trinity.”

Don't know about you, but mountains and surf help me listen

The crux of the encounter focused on the essentials of ekklesia (or as Tom Julien would say, the essence of the church).** We began listing essentials from the Word that Jesus’ local church should embody and practice.

Prof Mike gives a refresher course on "centered set" thinking
(see previous entry for more on bounded / centered sets)

A non-exhaustive list of essentials of ekklesia

We then compared our list with biblical metaphors for the church.

Some Scriptural metaphors that Jesus wants His church to embody

It did not seem possible or necessary to focus on all of the essentials of ekklesia right now, but they provide a clear idea of what the Grace Brethren churches we are planting in Europe should ultimately do and be.

Now each teammate will determine which crucial elements to focus on, and develop concrete steps to pursue those in the coming months.

Lots to think about

** Stuart Murray’s book, “Church After Christendom” and Paul Hiebert’s “bounded/centered” set theory "pulled the roof off" of our ecclesiology, allowing us to “think different.”

Am I bound, fuzzy or centered?

For those who might be interested in such things as bounded and centered sets…
Bounded sets “are defined by a clear boundary…. Most of the effort in defining the category is spent defining and maintaining the boundary…. The central question,… is whether an object is inside or outside the category. Objects within a bounded set are uniform… they constitute a homogeneous group.… There is no variation…. [They] are essentially static sets….”
Bounded sets deal with ontology, with what something/someone intrinsically is, what the set-member really is in its essence. Bounded sets “have to do with the ultimate, changeless structure of reality.” God perceives things this way, as they truly are. He alone can accurately perceive reality. Yet Western culture uses bounded sets, derived from Greek philosophy, developing uniform categories in order to circumvent chaos.
E.g. Go to the “font color” indicator of your Word program and select the “more colors” option. Click on the “crayon box.” There one can choose from “liquorish,” “lavender,” “mocha,” and the other yummy, colors that Bill Gates has personally pre-selected for your use. An “either-or” choice is presented; the color is either "blueberry" or "salmon," but not both. This is a bounded set.
E.g. One does not equal two. Bounded set is dichotomous, black and white thinking.
E.g. “Do you think that Jill is truly a Christian?” “Well yes. She prayed the sinner’s prayer in the locker room at 11:43 A.M. on Saturday, June 12th, 2003.” Bounded set.
But can you or I, based upon Jill's words in the locker room, unequivocally know that she is regenerate? No. But Jesus can. And He counsels us, “You will know them by their fruit.” "But," we Westerners rejoin, "is she a Macintosh, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, or… a bad apple?!"
We evangelicals use bounded sets in order to avoid slipping into fuzzy thinking.
Fuzzy sets are what evangelicals fear. There are two kinds of fuzzy sets, extrinsic and intrinsic. “Extrinsic fuzzy” says that truth might exist, but we cannot know it (early liberalism). “Intrinsic fuzzy” says that truth does not exist (postmodernism).
E.g. “Crayon box? Don’t use it; I’m color blind.”
E.g. One might equal two, it just depends!
E.g. I had shared with a member of my extended family how I came to know Jesus. He, a theology professor in a liberal institution, proceeded to tell me that my experience was actually psychological, but was certainly not spiritual. Very fuzzy!
Unfortunately, evangelicals often equate fuzzy sets with centered sets.
Centered sets are descriptive and relational. They describe how things “relate to other things, not what they are in and of themselves.” One defines the center, and describes relationships of things or people to that core. “Greater emphasis is placed on the center and relationships than on maintaining a boundary.”
We focus on Christ. He is the center; and all people (Christian or not) are either moving away from or toward Him. Instead of boundaries, there are signposts indicating the direction that the person is moving in relation to Jesus. Signposts can be someone employing language like, “the Lord,” as opposed to, "this Jesus;" “I have never attended communion, but could I?” “I would like to be baptized.”
E.g. Instead of going to your Word crayon box, go to the “color wheel.” Where does blue stop and green start? Is that yellow or red? The colors are real, but there are hues flowing in and out of each other. Centered set thinking allows for nuance.
E.g. One still does not equal two, but centered set thinking can deal with very real numbers like 1.2 (closer to one) and 1.7 (closer to two). Very real-worldish.
E.g. My friend, Claudel’s conversion was real and instantaneous, but God alone knows when and where the Holy Spirit brought about regeneration. I see that Claudel’s attitudes and actions have changed. He was baptized at the Château de St. Albain. He is bearing fruit and sharing his faith in Christ. All indicators show that he is truly moving toward the center of all, Christ.
Quotes taken from, Paul G. Hiebert (professor at Trinity—Deerfield, Il), Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues, ch.6 “The Category Christian in the Mission Task," pp. 107-146.

Birmingham baby

This past Sunday, a baby worship celebration was born in the Birmingham suburb of Franckley-Rubery.

The nascent Franckley Grace Church gathers here at "Youthworcs"

David and Becky Schwan report: "We had a great turnout.... This group represents a lot of hours of relationship building and the answers to many of your prayers. We are very thankful for the help that we received from the Shirley Grace Church....” The second church is now on its way!

The first official Sunday celebration of the Franckley, England Grace Church

Please pray for protection for the fledgling Franckley church as the group is still very fragile, for conversion growth and for English leadership (the Greys, Shepherds and others).

Birmingham: relational bridges

It was a couple of years back. I got off the train from London, hot 'n sweaty in traveling grubbies. Bill picked me up at the station and whisked me off straightaway to a church Valentine’s dinner held in a posh restaurant! I snuck into the men’s room to scrub up as much as I could and went out to face the sport coated attendees. This was how I first met the brothers and sisters of the beautiful Shirley church (who graciously did not bat an eye at my disheveled state). And I also met a lot of other people who were not from the church, friends from Bill Kiddoo’s speakers’ club and from David Schwan’s guitar club.

The guitar club "live"

In spite of my less than British gentleman’s attire, I asked the young man next to me if he was from the guitar club. He replied, “No, I’m the friend of one of the blokes from the guitar club.” I attempted to hide my astonishment and continued the discussion. My mind, however, was processing the information just received. Here was a church that did not just have unbelievers present, but unbelievers who were inviting their friends to the church’s activities!

It was therefore no surprise when, about two years ago, this mission-oriented church sent off a team to begin a daughter work in the nearby working class suburb of Frankley. But that story has been told elsewhere (see Significant Times: Dec. 03, Aug. 04).

In its 20+ year history, the Grace Church of Shirley, England imploded twice. Yet thanks to the grace of God and the tenacity of Bill and Beckie Kiddoo, it became the first European GBC in recent years to begin a daughter church. As an earlier Europe director said, “The Kiddoos have lived through some horrendous years in Birmingham, and yet he (Bill) has hung in there and made something that was a mess into a very beautiful thing.”

Sunday morning at the Grace Church of Shirley - March 2005

Today the Grace Church of Shirley has an outreach intensive persona and is incarnating the gospel in their community. Beckie Kiddoo volunteers as a counselor and administrator for the Family Support Centre and Family Equip which gives her ample opportunity to meet people, showing and sharing the love of Christ. Bill serves with Chaplaincy Plus and leads a Speakers Club that puts him in touch with professionals from all over Birmingham. The church members too have adopted this type of evangelistic lifestyle and are involved in multifarious relational bridges.

Beckie and Bill Kiddoo - British Isles Team Talks '03

Bill is equipping three men to assume full leadership of the church while guiding the members to pursue youth outreach in two other sectors of the city. All of this is in pursuit of the church’s mission statement: to help turn totally irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Christ… and plant other vibrant spiritual communities.

Becky Schwan, intern Matt Carter, Bill and Jim (part of the Shirley church) - Evangelists' Workshop March '04

David and Becky Schwan had prayed for English teammates to begin a new church in a particular working class suburb. John came to Christ through the guitar club, then his wife Dot trusted Jesus as well. Archie first came in contact with David through the guitar club and gave his life to the Lord. He shared with his children and wife, Sam, who decided to follow Jesus as well. The miracle is that both John and Archie are from Frankley, the very suburb to which the Schwans wanted to go! The three couples—Schwans, Sheppards and Greys—now form the church planting team sent out from the Shirley church.

Archie, Sam, John, Dot, David and Becky

The first time I attended a guitar club, I taught the group of 20-30 guitarists a set of finger exercises and showed off a few blues and modal riffs in a song inspired from Ecclesiastes. That night Archie, who has a fantastic Motown voice, strummed on the guitar and sang a song of faith that flowed out of his perpetual smile.

The Frankley Guitar Club

John (in red), David (in white) and Archie (back row in blue)

Becky Schwan, in addition to outreach through counseling, youth work, and gospel reading groups, has a new relational bridge. She is getting the wives of guitar clubbers together to sing in a sort of “guitar club widows” choir ;-)

David, Becky, John, Dot, Archie and Sam love to share the gospel and have seen people entrust their lives to Christ. They have now brought together twenty-some people and will begin weekly Sunday meetings in October.

The fledgling Frankley church

John and Dot Sheppherd

Paul, John and Dot

HOW YOU CAN PRAY FOR THE BIRMINGHAM TEAMS:
For the English-American Frankley team (S-W Birmingham) as they share Christ through: Alpha courses, evangelistic celebrations and Bible studies, choir, guitar clubs, concerts, and mentoring/counseling in the local high school.

For Archie (Frankley church planting teammate) who was recently laid off from work, for provision for his family’s needs and for guidance as he pursues studies for a change of career.

Sam, Archie and their girls

For abundant conversion fruit from the Grace Church of Shirley (S-E Birmingham) evangelistic activities.

For the English leaders of the Grace Church of Shirley to assume full responsibility for the church.

For wisdom as the Shirley church’s leadership develops a plan for future church planting.

Prague: sowing broadly

In everyone there is some longing for humanity’s rightful dignity, for moral integrity, for free expression of being and sense of transcendence over the world of existence.
Vaclav Havel

Overlooking Prague in the Czech Republic

“God had done so much in the past year. People accepting Christ, Bible studies, Jesus video distributions, baptisms…,” wrote George Swain in his last annual report. The GBIM team in Prague is pointing Czech people to the Transcendent One in whose image they are created.

One of those people is Blanka. Cindy Swain had the joy of reading the gospel with her, seeing her trust Christ, be baptized and become a participant in the nascent Grace Brethren church in Prague! Cindy says, “She came to us and asked to be baptized. We rented a swimming pool in the center of Prague and baptized two folks, Blanka and Jonas.”

Cindy and George Swain (right)

The Swains met Blanka and many others through English camps and the Jesus video. The GBIM team embarked on a colossal endeavor through the Jesus video distribution as they pursued their vision of seeing “every person in the Czech Republic have the opportunity to hear the Gospel though our ministry." By 2003, essentially every household (over 550,000 — similar in size to Columbus, Ohio) had received an invitation. And the offers continue to spread throughout the region.

Plotting routes for a Jesus video distribution

Alena had received the Jesus video. Larry and Silvia Totzke, who were on a ten-week assignment in Prague, accompanied George to meet with her; they shared about the need to begin reading the Bible. Alena subsequently followed correspondence courses for 16 months, began attending Sunday morning bible studies and meeting with Cindy to discuss questions pertaining to salvation. She claimed to have seen Satan himself, but has now trusted Jesus!

English clubs have also been an evangelistic key in Prague and many, many GO (short term) teams have participated. Petr, doing PhD work in Prague, attended one of these clubs, came to Christ, was baptized and is in a discipleship—Life change—group with George. This summer three GO teams went to Prague for three English camps. As a result, 45 families have requested the Jesus video.

GO team 2004. Kirk (left) and Kay (back row right) return to Prague in September

Fortunately the 2005 Ashland GBC GO team didn't go to Prague just to enjoy the weather!

An English club at the Swains

These clubs have been an effective evangelistic bridge because many Czechs want to learn and improve their English. They study books, like Chuck Swindoll’s “David,” and C.S. Lewis’, “The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe.” During the English camps they live a bit of community together which allows much time for sharing their lives and testimony.

Preparation for an English club

Frank and Marion Plate from the Aalen, Germany GBC are serving in a different part of Prague. Their outreach involves children’s clubs, German language learning and camps. John Pappas took the Aalen youth to Prague to help with one of these camps and the Plates have led a group of Czechs on a cultural exchange trip to Aalen, where the church people welcomed them into their homes.

Marion and Frank from the Aalen, Germany GBC

All told, about 80 people are meeting in various places and times as a result from these evangelistic initiatives. There is a Thursday evening Bible study in Horovice (about 35 miles out of Prague), a Sunday morning study/worship time, a Sunday afternoon women’s study in English and a Wednesday evening bible study, in addition to discipleship and gospel reading groups.

Worship in the Swains' home

How you can pray for Prague:
Give thanks for the people who have come to Christ. George reports that there have been hundreds!

George loves to share the Word!

Pray for these new believers to become disciples, lovingly obedient to Jesus' teaching, and for more to receive Jesus.

Pray for Kirk and Kay who are going to Prague this month (September) to investigate employment opportunities in order to be part of what God is doing in the city.

Kirk and Kay from the Calvert GBC

Men of leadership caliber are the critical need for the budding Prague church. George is now focusing on university men by means of English conversation in order to find such men, read the gospel with them and train them for leadership. George requests prayer for at least ten men. Please pray for Martin, Lukach, Michael, Karl, Petr, Pavle, Quang and others.

Linda (from the Wooster GBC) and Pavels

Historic and contextual tidbits:
John Hus (1372-1415), a catalyst of the Reformation, preached the centrality of Christ and the priesthood of believers in Prague; he was martyred in Constance, Germany.

John, Paul and George

Nikolaus von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) catalyzed a missionary movement that swept east from Czechoslovakia through the United States. The Moravians’ spirituality was so compelling that John Wesley yielded his life to Christ.

On August 21st, 1968, Soviet tanks rolled through Prague. Communism proved effective at squelching Christianity; today, only 0.25% of the Bohemian Czech people are evangelical.

Vaclav Havel wrote:
[Communist rule resulted in] “tens of thousands of lives devastated by prison, sacrificed on the altar of a scientific Utopia about brighter tomorrows.… The fault is not one of science as such but of the arrogance of man in the age of science. Man simply is not God, and playing God has cruel consequences.”

“Totalitarian systems warn of something far more serious than Western rationalism is willing to admit. They are, most of all, a convex mirror of the inevitable consequences of rationalism, a grotesquely magnified image of its own deep tendencies, an extremist offshoot of its own development and an ominous product of its own expansion. They are a deeply informative reflection of its own crisis.” (Living in Truth, 141-142, 146).

George Bush, Sr. and Vaclav Havel (1999)

In 1989, the Czechs became a self-governing people thanks to the sacrifice of dissidents like Havel. In an essay on Havel’s Letters to Olga, Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll underscores a difficulty that the Prague team faces even among those Czech people who seek the transcendent. He writes,

“What we are possibly dealing with here is the manifestation of a new form of religiousness, which out of courtesy no longer addresses God with the name which has been trampled underfoot by politicians.” (Heinrich Böll, “Courtesy towards God.”)

St. James Way: the journey of a mobile church

The St James Way has been one of the world’s important Christian pilgrimage paths since medieval times and recently has attracted a growing number of modern pilgrims from around the globe. One report claims that in 1985 only 120 people did the St. James Way; this year they are expecting 69,000!

St. James Way marker

Beginning anywhere in Europe pilgrims sometimes walk for weeks or months to visit the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela where the apostle Saint James the Great is said to be laid to rest. One may snigger at young people trekking to gain a glimpse of a piece of the “true cross” of Christ (found in the "Chapel of the Reliquary" of the cahedral), but their quest demonstrates a deep disillusionment with the barrenness of secularism and materialism, and shows, literally, how far Europeans will go in search of the transcendent.

The Cathedral — Santiago de Compostela

Sixteen people walked 91 miles in 7 days on an evangelistic pilgrimage, living as a “mobile church” demonstrating “Christian community in how we got along, inviting people we met to eat with us, and the like.”

The community

One of these pilgrims, Sam Schwartz, shared:

“Some of the ‘pilgrims’ on the trail didn’t wish to talk with us, but those that did would often walk with us for long distances talking openly about God. When we stopped and camped each night, we found great success in inviting people to dinner as extra food was always prepared just for this purpose. Dozens of people heard the entire Gospel, and many others didn’t get the whole verbal message, but knew we were God worshippers and could see the love that we had for them and others.”

Twinky (left) sharing a cup of cold water and more with fellow pilgrims

A hope of this St. James Way team was to pray, get to know Christ better, spend time with people, show them the love of Christ, share some good news and possibly connect them with an established European church or one of the emerging churches teams in Dublin, London, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Lisbon and of course Madrid.

Sam, Tracey and fellow pilgrims

Rick Satterthwaite relates a conversation he had with two Spanish women while journeying on St. James Way:

“[They] were walking a bit slowly and… drifted back to where I was. We talked and they were very glad to speak to me about our group, since they had slowly met about half of us. They were curious about our spiritual bent, and I was able to spend about three hours talking with them as we walked, rested and walked some more. It was perfectly natural to share the Gospel with them in this context – and was pretty clear they understood it. One of them said, ‘So, what was it that pushed you over the edge to commit yourself to Christ?’ And of course I was very happy to tell them. They were not at all scared off by all this God-talk, despite their very typically anti-church attitudes.”

One is never too old to be a pilgrim

“One of the ladies said to me, ‘There is a couple that has moved into my small town and I think they are starting a group like you guys'…. She is now more open than ever to take the risk to check this group out (American church planting missionaries) in part because she got an ‘inside view’ of who we are and what we are about without having to step into a church meeting. Very cool."

Pilgrims traveling together on the St. James Way

“A Canadian merged with our group for a couple of days and was accompanied by a… believer…. They ate with us, talked with everyone and hung about in the evenings. After the second night… she had committed her life to Christ.”

Larry and friends

In spite of sore feet and aching legs, Rick shares:

“Each evening we learned a new lesson about being… a Christian pilgrim. The participation was very high and we all learned a ton, because we were living this pilgrim thing in the flesh and in the spirit at the same time. What a life lesson!!! …No one missed the opportunity to learn something:

• the Christian pilgrim follows Christ,
• pilgrims use maps,
• pilgrims don't settle down in the towns along the way,
• pilgrims soon discover it is easier to travel light,
• pilgrims avoid traveling alone,
• pilgrims appreciate rest and know it is part of ‘getting there’ and
• pilgrims traveling together sometimes must part ways, temporarily.”

Prayer time

“How beautiful are the (sore) feet of those who bring good news!”

Sam concludes, “If this sounds like a trip that interests you, let us know as a trip is already being thought about for next year.”

The Lyon GBC: abundant fruit and vision

The average Sunday attendance of a French evangelical church is 45 people. So what is going on in Lyon, France where the Grace Brethren Church averages 250?!

A Lyon GBC Sunday celebration

Due to growth, church leadership decided to do something unheard of in evangelical France… hold two Sunday services! When I was there in January, the first service (mostly families with young children) was about 3/4 full. The second was brimming with young people and college students. The first Sunday in July, when the church went back to one service for the summer, it was standing room only!

Florent Varak is one of evangelical France's most highly sought speakers


Florent mobilizes people for ministry, has authored numerous books, is a professor of homiletics and a truly spiritual leader with vision

The Lyon GBC is a fruitful church that typifies the spiritual reproduction that we would like to see in all of our European churches. Pastor Florent Varak has multiplied himself over and over again. Here is some proof:

• The church has four lay elders, plus a new crop of elders in training.
• Franck Segonne, pastor of the Dijon church, is from the Lyon GBC.
• Fred and Marie Sanchez, Charis Associates serving in Madrid, are from the Lyon GBC.
• Zac and his wife, Charis Associates serving in Marseille, are from the Lyon GBC.

Charis Associates being commissioned and sent out from the Lyon GBC

The Lyon GBC is a church with vision. The plan is: 100, 4, 3, 2, 1. GBIM missionary, Patty Morris conveys, "We are asking God to give our church:

100 additional people,
In the next 4 years,
With 3 points of light to the north and/or the west,
With 2 elders in place,
To begin 1 daughter church."

This is mother/daughter church planting, a proven model in France. The baby is already in gestation and will have the same DNA as the mother.

The church currently has eight points of light scattered throughout the greater Lyon area. Florent has issued the challenge to the leaders of those home groups that the point of light showing the most growth will be the prime candidate for the new church plant. The goal is then to send a group of 80–100 people from the mother church to that point of light thus birthing the daughter. From its inception the new church will be fully functional.

Prayerfully, some of these people will be part of the new daughter church

GBIM missionaries Mark and Joy Sims are involved in two of those points of light: Francheville and St. Andéol. Just recently the local boulanger (baker) and his wife began to study the Bible with Mark and Joy. Joy has developed a wide outreach network through her quilting groups which has led her to open a quilting store in the Lyon area next month. Mark has numerous evangelistic bridges (archery, English conversation, scuba), is involved in leadership training and oversees the Biblical Counseling Foundation (BCF) training in the Lyon church.

Mark and Joy just outside of St. Andéol (west of Lyon)

Patty Morris, my administrative assistant, is involved in another of these points of light east of Lyon. Though being Europe administrator is a full-time job (she is responsible for the France team administration and coordinates a team of six administrators scattered across Europe), Patty does accounting and consulting for Charis Associates, is active in promoting missions in the church, extends hospitality, is sharing the gospel with neighbors and discipling/encouraging several women in the church.

Patty (upper right) is quite active in home group ministry and discipleship

How can you pray for the Lyon GBC?
Please pray for:

- conversions in St. Andéol (where the Sims live) and new contacts through Joy’s quilting business and other outreach activities.

- adequate resources. The reason the church went to two services is because the purchase of a new building fell through. They are now deciding whether to refurbish the present facility or to tear it down and rebuild on the same property, but need $240 - $480k to do the work.

- spiritual protection for the Varaks, the elders and their families. There has been fierce opposition to the vision presented by the elders.

- the unity of the church and each person's participation in the 100 – 4 – 3 –2 –1 initiative.

Jerry and Jon on mission - a parable

Jerry and Jon both had hearts for mission and wanted as many people as possible to know God. So they decided to divide and conquer. Jerry stayed in his home country to preach the Word of God to a people who had once professed faith in Him, but were now lamentably lapsed. Jon, the more flamboyant of the two, chose to go to the dreaded Watubi. “They need to turn from their idols!” he proclaimed.

Of course, both Jerry and Jon needed to raise support. Pastor Hale and his church committed to praying for both, but had only enough resources to contribute financially to one. Which should it be?

The church council decided to invite both Jerry and Jon to present their prospective ministries. In that way, the church members could pray more knowledgeably and decide to which one’s ministry they would contribute.

Jerry moved people’s hearts. They could relate to his in-country ministry because the people he wanted to reach seemed so-o-o much like their neighbors! Well, urban versions of their neighbors anyway, caught up in a whirlwind of expensive, superficial activity. The believing assemblies had almost all moved out of the city of Metropolis where Jerry was going; eastern beliefs were multiplying like a computer virus. “Those Metropolites obviously need you, God. Please draw them to Yourself,” prayed a church member.

Jon wowed people with quips and video clips about the Watubi and their need for the Word of God where it had never before been preached. And, two years of his support totaled to only one year of Jerry’s in-country Metropolis ministry cost. A tough choice for the church remained. It was obvious that both ministries were valid and needed.

What was the church’s decision? They would indeed pray for both, but would wait five years before committing themselves financially. In that way, they could see which was the better investment, Jerry or Jon, based upon their results.

But after only one year Pastor Hale’s church decided to contribute to Jon’s Watubi ministry. Here’s what happened…

Just a few months after the ministry presentations, it no longer made sense to people why Jerry’s Metropolis ministry should cost so much and why he stayed in-country in the first place. After all, “This is a Christian country!” After five years Jerry had succulent, but not abundant fruit to show for his faithful travail: two people reading the gospel with him, a discipleship group of three brand new believers and a home group of eleven—the new believers, Jerry, his unbelieving friends, a few others who gravitated around the group, and Jerry’s wife, Betty. (Now Betty was growing weary from worry about their finances and urban stress, wondering how her kids would turn out from not having Christian friends like she did when she was their age).

Back at Pastor Hale’s church, the council was meeting. One of the agenda items was Jerry and Jon’s progress. One councilman queried, “What in the world is Jerry doing? Is he doing anything?”

An elder replied, “Leave him alone. He’s well intentioned.” Then after a moment he added, “Maybe he’s just not gifted for church planting!”

Another member of the council, the owner of a local business stated, “Instead of supporting Jerry, we should send him the evangelism training materials we use in our adult Sunday School class. But this Watubi Jon, on the other hand… well, these are impressive results!”

Jon had gone to the largest city Watubi-land and, with his customary gusto, just went to work. He wrote out a simple “repent or burn” message and had it translated into Watubi and recorded. He had a portable, battery operated sound system (there was an excellent sale at Wal-Mart just before he left home), and hired a boy to haul him around the city on a cart as he blared the message: “Repent or burn! Repent or burn!” (which came out something like “Ingjeey nai fusrot! Ingjeey nai fusrot!”). Within a year Jon organized seven believing assemblies, wrote a book on his method for reaching the Watubi, and had moved to the next city.

The End

(If interested, please see the following explanation of the parable)

The "Jerry and Jon" parable explained

What spiritual lessons flow from the “Jerry and Jon on mission” parable? Here are some missiological considerations:

Pastor Hale’s church members decided to support Jonah; they had qualms about Jeremiah.

Jon is Jonah. He was God’s instrument to bring about a citywide movement among the Watubi. Jon wrote his book supposing that his method was the contextualized key to the Watubis’ response, when in fact, it was a sovereign work of the Spirit.

Jerry is Jeremiah who after decades of faithful ministry saw his “stiff necked people” judged and sent into exile. Their rejection of his message was not because he was poor at his craft (his book shows cultural sensitivity, missional creativity and spiritual boldness), but because the people hardened their hearts toward God. Their refusal contributed to the fulfillment of God’s sovereign plans for the nations.

Missionaries must be faithful, God gives the growth
Theologically we know that it is the evangelist/church planter’s responsibility to be faithful in sowing the gospel (1 Cor. 4:2) and equipping spiritual leaders (2 Ti. 2:2), yet God alone calls people to Himself and gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7). In light of these truths, I, as regional director, track and stimulate the faithfulness of our church planters in everything from prayer for unbelievers to discipleship groups, from equipping spiritual leaders to catalyzing new church plants (Heb. 10:24).

Pastor Hale’s church decided to support Jon and his Watubi work. This was a good decision. Jon catalyzed a true movement of God! Thanks to the prayers and giving of Pastor Hale’s church he could continue to serve among those idol worshipping Watubi who so desperately needed the truth. The church council members, however, did not understand many of the spiritual-historical-cultural dynamics of the two ministries. How could they?

But might there not be other churches that would pray for and give toward Jerry’s ministry as well? The people of Metropolis, though they are cultured and their sin is sophisticated (so much like Europeans), are as ignorant about the true gospel as the Watubi and need to encounter Christ, even though the cost is high.

Why is the high cost of mission in Europe so high?
To sum it up, some people feel that mission in Europe costs too much and produces too little (see Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Jan. 2005 article, “Should We Send Missionaries to France?” Anonymous). Church planting in Western Europe is expensive.

But let me try to explain it this way. Could you imagine how you would feel if gas prices rose from their current $2.50/gallon to $5 in the next few years?! How would it affect you, your family vacation and your church’s ministries? That is what exactly happened to my family in Dijon, and to our team in Europe. In just 18 months’ time gas prices almost doubled; the price of one gallon of diesel went from $2.84 to $5.12, and unleaded is even more expensive!

The dollar has plummeted in value compared to the euro. In June 2003, the GBIM single-missionary salary of approximately $20,000 had the buying power of 23,200 euros. In July 2005, the value of that same salary dropped to 16,600 euros. Because your Europe missionaries are supported in dollars, all costs of mission in Europe have risen. Could you imagine the repercussions for your business, church or home if all costs rose by 28% in just two years? This is what has happened to your missionaries in Europe and is why our support levels have increased so dramatically.

But the cost does not change the fact that Europeans need Christ.

But Western European countries are Christian; shouldn’t we send missionaries to people who have never heard the good news of Christ?
Let me state it bluntly. Yes, we must send missionaries where the gospel has never been preached! Please support those going to Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam…. But no, the vast majority of Western Europeans have neither trusted Christ, nor even heard of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.

I will use France as an extreme yet representative European example. One French sociologist summarized the dilemma saying, “France is a secular country with a Catholic culture.” Even the Vatican considers France a mission field!

In 1944, when American GIs entered what they supposed was the Christian country of France, they were shocked to see the great need for the gospel of grace. A wave of missionaries ensued in the 50s. By 1970 there were 769 evangelical churches in all of France (one evangelical church per 65,020 people). In 2004 the number of evangelical churches rose to 1852 (one evangelical church per 32,000 people). DAWN missiologists tell us that one church per 10,000 people is required to truly reach one’s own people.

To illustrate today’s pressing need for churches in Europe, could you imagine an American city like Fort Wayne, Indiana or St. Petersburg, Florida (about 250,000 inhabitants) with just 5 evangelical churches?! (Do a Google search for “Fort Wayne evangelical churches” or “St. Petersburg evangelical churches” for pages and pages of results.) But that is exactly the case of Dijon where I live—there is a charismatic Baptist, conservative Baptist, Assembly of God, Full Gospel and Grace Brethren church (about 850 believers total); one church for every 50,000 inhabitants.

The Joshua Project, a reference for reliable worldwide mission statistics (see www link at right), reports the following percentages of total evangelicals among the dominant people groups in the seven European countries in which GBIM missionaries currently minister (I have included the American people group in the United States as a benchmark):

• Irish = unknown (research currently being done)
• Czech = 0.25 %
• Spanish = 0.35 %
• French = 0.40 %
• German = 2.90 %
• Portuguese = 3.10 %
• English = 8.50 %
• American (USA) = 35.00 %

Lausanne missiologists claim that one needs an evangelical population of 5 - 10% in order to have broad impact in a country. England is the only European country in which GBIM is serving that enters this range, but the general population is moving in the wrong direction. About 1500 English people are leaving the institutional church every week! The deployment of our three GBIM couples is, therefore, strategic to Jesus' great mission in England at this critical juncture.

So in spite of the cost, God continues to call missionaries to Western Europe because of the dearth of evangelical churches and paucity of believers. And thanks to the work of our missionary God, much is happening in Europe through your missionaries (see preceding blogs). Tim Hawkins, for example, shared this highlight from Porto:

“We held a special Celebration Service at the request of my motorcycle club. The officers organized the whole thing and invited everyone. The end result was a gathering of 26 club members for the service. (As this is a national club, some drove over 3 hours to be there.) I had 1 hour and 30 minutes to share. My theme was, ‘Why I exist.’ I was able to present the gospel message beginning with Genesis and connecting with the gospel of John. [People] were really connected. I offered each couple a Bible, which they received with great enthusiasm. In fact they wanted Julie and me to sign them as a special gift. Several said they had no Bible in their house.

“We joined together for a dinner afterward and had about 10 more join us after they finished work. I was still able to offer them Bibles and explain the purpose of the gathering. This represents about a third of our club. Pray for what God is going to do next.… This was probably one of the best weekends of my ministry in Portugal. God is doing great things. All the news is on the falling dollar (which is a big concern to all of us), but God is working in great ways.”

Other highlights from across Europe…

Multiple professions of faith: Prague, Le Creusot, Montceau, Mâcon, Dijon, Stuttgart and elsewhere.

Madrid: “Diana and Laura have come to the Lord and are being discipled by Twinky.”

London: “Lee became a Christian!” “H… was baptized!”

Dublin: “I have been meeting with a young woman to read the Bible…. Teresa prayed to put her trust in God.”

Thank God for his saving grace! Thank you for your giving and prayers for both Jon and Jerry ;-) Thank you because your giving and prayers are sending the good news of Jesus around the world, that includes literally thousands of Europeans who have neither heard, nor understood the gospel of grace.

Dublin: GBIM's summer hotspot

GBIM Europe's summer hotspot for positive spiritual activity is Dublin!

River Liffey—Dublin, Ireland

Scott and Rebekah Becker just wrote saying:
"Just wanted to share some of the exciting things that are happening here in Dublin. Last week I shared with our small group that my hope was that we would:

1) have more guys
2) run out of food and plastic plates
3) have more people coming to know Christ

I wanted to share with you what happened tonight:

We had a full house! There were people on the floor and we ran out of room.

We ran out of food and plastic plates. Fortunately, two of the people who came for the second time brought pizza and garlic bread. We spent almost six hours hanging out, with food, games, some singing, prayer, and reading God's Word. This week we focused on Matthew 8 and 9. Miriam told me that here 19 year old daughter told her she is interested in the Bible too…."

Melanie professed Christ as Savior!

Maria and Paula: sisters, and now sisters in Christ!

A TEAM EFFORT
Roy and Holly Angle have been cultivating spiritual soil and sowing seeds through their relational bridges: "knitting night," a philosophical society, rock climbing, hiking and camping. One of Will and Cheryl's friends led her sister to Christ. Melanie, Joe and some others claim to have "given their lives to the Big Guy"!

Roy (center) and friends—Wicklow Way

In what phase of the church planting process is the team right now?
The soil analysis phase, begun in 2002, though in many respects a continual process, is complete. The team participated in data gathering with the Evangelical Alliance. Will and Cheryl have an especially strong tie to the Alliance, and Will has been asked to oversee a cultural engagement research project for them.

What are Dubliners really like?

Right now evangelism is the Dublin team's prime directive, Will and Cheryl focusing on the north side and the Angles and Beckers on the south side of Dublin. The two sub-teams are in the soil cultivation and seed sowing phases, praying specifically for over 100 of their unbelieving friends; the couples have twelve evangelistic/relational bridges and are sowing seeds of personal testimony and gospel reading. A very encouraging development is that the new believers are "sharing with family, friends, co-workers and neighbors."

Larry DeArmey and Paul discussing Ministering Cross-Culturally with the Dublin team

What does the emerging church look like?
The team envisions a network of house churches, interconnected with other evangelicals of like heart and vision.

The team is experimenting with two different approaches. One is to serve as leaven, permeating extant communities so that the gospel will spread through people and birth spiritual communities. The other is to reach individuals wherever they may be found and bring them together to form a new spiritual community.

On the south side of Dublin, for example, there are two discipleship groups that meet weekly for prayer, study and accountability. On Sundays there is what one attendee calls the "Matthew study church," with an attendance of 10-14 believers and unbelievers.

Rebekah describes the incipient south side church: "Hours disappear as we eat together, play games, talk and read God's Word…. We are seeing Christ lived out in our small groups and people keep asking questions."

"One friend is struggling to understand Christ's sacrifice and why there is punishment. In a world where everyone makes up their own truth Matthew 7 was a hard chapter to accept and read." Another asked, "Why does God make us choose Jesus? Why can't everyone go to heaven?" "We are seeing God working in peoples' lives as they wrestle with the truth of God's love and sacrifice for them."

How can you pray for Jesus' work in Dublin?
"MORE PLEASE DADDY…. This is often the prayer that leaves our lips as we pray to God. We are asking God to bless… and to add to our numbers daily, weekly, monthly," wrote Scott and Rebekah.

For leaders to emerge in the “Matthew study church” group, and for the Angles and Beckers as they share, mentor and encourage those believers, so as to have a strong testimony.
For good fruit to be borne from the twelve relational bridges, that people would agree to read the gospel together.
Pray for a major evangelistic breakthrough from both approaches—permeating existing communities with the gospel and from broadly sowing the gospel.
Pray for spiritual protection over the team and the new believers during this time of intensely positive spiritual activity in Dublin.