Charis Partners in Madrid: Report (part 2)

In giving this report, I would like to thank publicly those who made possible the Charis Partners’ encounter in Madrid by means of a GBIM Leadership Development Ministry Grant. Please know that without your generosity I do not believe it would have taken place. Danke! O Brigado! Graçias! Merci!

Sincere heart-felt THANKS!

Part 1 of my report answered the question, “What were the discussion topics at the Charis Madrid gathering?” Part 2 will address direction, “What conclusions did you reach and what do you plan to do about it?”

Patty faithfully noted the content of our discussions — just 20 pages!

“In order to see their numbers dramatically increase we will seek to broaden ‘European Charis Partners’ horizontally and vertically.”
Officially, European Charis Partners were defined as remunerated church planters working outside of their country of origin. Their purpose was to begin new churches.

We decided, however, that the critical need is simply for more workers of all kinds. We, therefore, decided to expand the definition of what it means to be a Charis Partner. Vertically we want to include people from three life situations:
People on mission for Christ in 1) full-time secular employment, 2) full-time Christian ministry, 3) some percentage of both

Horizontally we want to include not just cross-cultural church planters (apostles), but also prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers (Eph. 4:11). Those who could receive remuneration would be catalysts for the creation of new ministries. Together we will pray, live and serve toward birthing a disciple multiplication movement.

We discussed the great needs of Europeans today. For example:

• people are lonely, devalued and lack hope
• families are falling apart due to time, financial and other pressures
• injustice is rampant throughout the West and the world…

We then distilled from the gospels, values to live by that would demonstrate how the message of Jesus is pertinent to real life, how it is truly Good News for Europeans.

“In order to see them dramatically increase their numbers Charis Partners will seek to become holistic people.” Being a Charis person means developing, adopting and living a Charis mentality and lifestyle.
Charis values, therefore, challenge us to:

1. live community
2. live sustainable family lives
3. share material resources
4. do good in Jesus’ name
5. pray and live by faith in hope.

What we plan to do in light of these conclusions:

1. Have people in all three life situations experiment with the Charis mentality and lifestyle over the next year, then come back together in one year to compare notes and pray. We are especially interested in seeing how this lifestyle impacts our witness.
2. Gather a handful of representatives from European Grace churches, Charis Partners and Grace Brethren International Missions to develop a vision and strategy. These will need to be understandable to unbelievers, to European believers and others around the world.
3. Develop adequate systems to promote the overall well-being of Charis Partners.
4. Provide a brief monthly communiqué to stimulate awareness and prayer.

Well, there was plenty more, but that is the abridged version of our discussions, decisions and direction. And in it all, we realize that we need to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers from his European harvest into his European field. Thanks to those of you who are joining us in imploring him to do just that.

Next year in Stuttgart!

Evangelicals under investigation by French "FBI"

The title was simply, "Urgent." I suspected it was spam...

But the e-mail came directly from Stéphane Lauzet, General Secretary of the French Evangelical Alliance, with an attached letter from Jean-Arnold de Clermont, the president of the Protestant Federation of France. Pastor de Clermont wrote,

"Dear friends,

I was informed yesterday of the launch of an national investigation by the Bureau of General Information (Renseignements Généraux) for a 'census of the evangelical milieu' with particular attention paid to the 'incidents' linked to worship service practices. I am perplexed by this decision.…"

Is this some sort of intimidation? What are these mysterious "incidents"? It sounded so strange that I didn't fully believe it until I received the same information from the General Secretary of the Evangelical Federation of France (FEF) of which our Grace Brethren Churches are members. Clément Diedrichs wrote,

"The FEF's viewpoint is the following. The fact that the Bureau of General Information (Renseignements Généraux) investigate our churches is nothing new. Of course we make sure that the State does not interfere in the life of our churches, but at the same time we understand that it cannot ignore Religion. Further, it is the State's responsibility to guarantee the freedom of worship and so we prefer that the government has accurate information."

Presidential hopeful, Nicolas Sarkozy addresses the annual general assembly of the Evangelical Federation of France (January 31, 2004)

Now I've been to the see the French FBI three times; they ask lots of questions. Only once were they asking questions about other evangelical pastors in Dijon, but when I walked out I felt like I had been manipulated and a bit "dirty." That was the first time, so live and learn. The second two times all went well; the agents (one was a Bruce Willis look-alike!) were quite polite and even helpful by answering my questions as well.

So please keep this in prayer as evangelical leaders work toward helping the French government understand the value of true religious plurality and liberty through wise speech and behavior that adorns the Word and honors Jesus. Thanks!