Barlows & Weavers (GBIM London team) safe

You have by now seen the news: terrorist attacks in the heart of London.

I spoke with Mary Ann Barlow this morning (Thursday). The Barlows and Weavers are safe (Tom and Megane Barlow are in the States).

Mary Ann heard helicopters right outside of her window, turned on the news and learned of the explosions. The security troops were focusing on Scotland for the beginning of the G8 summit, but the attack came in London. The French news reported that cell phone networks have been shut down either to hinder terrorist transmissions or to allow better rescue communication (consult the BBC web page for further information).
The Weaver and Barlow children were all at school and are now safe at home. Brian Weaver was on the other side of the city. Rhonda just wrote, "Just got a call from Brian, who is in Kingston (another part of London), and is fine....He doesn't know how he will get back home as all zone 1 public transport is shut down."

Thank you for your prayers for the Barlows and Weavers, for safety, for comfort and for opportunities to show Jesus' loving touch in the midst of suffering.

Three steps forward in Le Creusot, France

The church in Le Creusot, France took three steps forward this year; Lawrence, Jacqueline and Jean-Pierre all gave their lives to Jesus!

Lawrence in Le Creusot, France: your new sister in Christ!

Some members of the Le Creusot church family

Dave and Susan Griffith have been among the Europe team's best evangelists over the years, consistently praying, sharing the gospel and bearing conversion fruit. They are part of the "established churches" squad of the GBIM Europe team. The established churches team's short-term mandate is to see the European churches in which they serve transition to national leadership.

The Le Creusot church was so-o-o close to achieving that objective, when it took two steps backward. This year, both of the French elders resigned due to internal church problems. As Paul Hiebert says, "We assume that if we do things right we will succeed, whether this be running a company… or planting a church" (Anthropological Reflections: 1994, 139). But this past year in Le Creusot reminds us that church planting is messy, less like a business and more like a battle.

Marc, Didier, Grif and Cèdric

So now I would like to ask those of you who are part of the Griffith's support team to renew your commitment to do battle on your knees for them as they begin another round of elder, deaconess and deacon training. Pray especially for Didier, Andrée and Cèdric who are currently in training to help lead the church with deacon Marc Lagarde. Pray for protection, progress and fruitfulness. Pray that Jesus would give a decisive victory, a fully French led Le Creusot church. Merci!

Grace Brethren or Christian? (response to Dean)

Thanks Dean for your observations in response to my report from the teachers/shepherds' workshop (see June 30 blog comments).

You are right, it is amazing how quickly one can lose sight of Jesus when on mission for him (see Rev. 2:2-4 for an example of a theologically orthodox/activist church that fell into that trap)!

The GBIM Europe team strives to be characterized by hot hearts, sharp minds and skilled hands, but we fall short. So we periodically get together to seek Jesus through the Word, prayer and dialogue.

I agree with you Dean, my desire is to continually align myself, our Europe team and churches with "being Christian." (I think I will pick up on the "results" part of your comment next week.) And that is how Dr. Ron Manahan describes what it meant historically to be Grace Brethren. He writes:
"In fact our roots go back to Germany in 1708. The issue for these ancestors of ours was concern that right doctrine be matched by the right practice of life. Orthodoxy included faith and practice. They wanted to see the biblical message lived out to the fullest" (Grace College and Its Pietistic Heritage: Our Commitment, August 22, 1989:2).

The nation of Israel was composed of tribes that had Yahweh and His Law in common. Yet the individual tribes had specific character traits that developed due to geography, genealogy and other factors. I am "American," but also from the "house of Klawitter." For me, being "Grace Brethren" is like that; it recognizes a spiritual heritage, being part of a Christian "tribe" of people, with a particular spiritual lineage, who want to live the biblical message out to the fullest. So at the teachers/shepherds' workshop we went back to Scripture, praying for God to help us realign our lives and ministries.
It is interesting to note that Nicholas von Zinzendorf, who founded one of the great missionary movements of modern times, who was intensely evangelically ecumenical, said, "The Saviour has a hand in the fact that there are so many [Denominations]" because "each (one) is generally possessed of some Jewel (a clearness of Truth…) peculiar to itself," (A. J. Lewis: 1962, 102). These "jewels" of the multifaceted grace of God, entrusted to denominations, would probably be lost in a "vanilla" or "melting pot" Christianity. The danger is focusing on the jewel and missing the Jeweler. The danger is the uniformity of insisting that all believers must wear the same kind of jewelry.
Being on mission in intensely postmodern, pluralist Europe, the Spirit has impressed on me that unity in diversity is key (1 Cor. 12). Observable love for all born again believers is key (John 17—regardless of whether I agree with them or whether they value jewels precious to me). I have found missioners of other "tribes" with whom I am of one heart and common vision, more than with some Grace Brethren people. We are part of a very large "holy nation." And regardless of tribe, church planting approach, ecclesiology, doctrinal conviction, together we "declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light" (I Pt. 2:9-10).

Declaring the praises of God to kids in Dijon
(most of these children are from unbelieving families)

To guide us in our church planting, I have presented to the GBIM Europe team four tribal traits of a Grace Brethren church. We want to plant churches composed of disciples who:

Love Jesus, each other, and the lost
As Jesus stressed, love is the mark of the Christian (Mt. 22:37-40; Jn. 3:16; 13:33-34-35; 14:23; 1 Jn. 4:19-23).

Are culturally progressive (see link: Dijon music festival for an example)
Henry Holsinger (you'll find him in the Grace Brethren genealogy of the late 1800s) saw the difference between form and essence. He distinguished between that which was cultural and that which was biblical (1 Cor. 9:19-23).

Are theologically conservative
Alva McClain (a key figure in the GB genealogy during the mid-1900s), at a time when many were saying that the Bible was no more authoritative than the works of Freud, Nietzsche, Marx or Mohammed, strove to give us the heritage that Scripture is the Word of God (2 Ti. 3:14-17).

Are on mission
Jacob Cassel (early 1900s), rather than getting sidetracked on which hymnal should become the standard, mobilized those of like heart and common vision to pray, give and go to make disciples of the nations (Mt. 28:19-20) and see churches planted.

The Dijon GBC family loved this breakfast and they palpably love each other

For me, these values are the essence of what it means to be Grace Brethren. My conviction is that this is very Christian. I feel privileged to have predecessors who blazed these trails. My desire is to continue to multiply disciples who will incarnate these values, who in turn will start churches full of people who will do likewise.
That is a tall order which is why the GBIM Europe team needs your prayers. Would you pray now for a member of the GBIM Europe team whom you know personally? Pray that s/he would have a hot heart, sharp mind and skilled hands as s/he participates in Jesus' mission here on the Old Continent.

What in the world is God doing in Europe?

Sean, Rebekah, Meghan and Scott Becker

Did you know that within the last few weeks:

• one of Rebekah and Scott Becker's friends in Dublin bowed the knee to Christ?
• four people were baptized in the Dijon, France GBC?
• the London team celebrated its first baptism?
• Gert and Matthias from the Aalen, Germany GBC presented the church's love-in-action ministry (computers and aid for Africa) in French GBCs, soliciting their prayers and help?
  Aalen GBC leaders (Gert, 2nd left / Matthias, 2nd right)

Possibly there are other aspects of GBIM Europe's ministry that you would like to know more about, questions you've been dying to ask, but did not know where to go for answers? Maybe you felt uncomfortable posing the hard question to a missionary? Perhaps you simply ran out of time to ask when they visited your church?

Now is your chance to ask Dr. Klaw (GBIM Europe Regional Director) any and all questions about the E.T. (GBIM Europe Team). The sky is the limit! Want to know about church planting in Europe, the GBIM missionary team, strategies, progress, cost, support, how to pray?

You may write me, Paul Klawitter, directly at: paulklaw@gbim.org or post a comment and I will be glad to get back to you!

The GBIM Europe Team families and friends from Ashland and Penn Valley GBCs