Reach the world

We live in an area of the world that is the cross-roads of a multitude of cultures.  It’s not uncommon to hear 3 or 4 different languages spoken each day by the people who live in our town.  And we don’t live in some big city like New York.  We live in a smaller (about 4000 people big) town but that tells you the extent by which Europe is a melting pot with people from everywhere converging onto the one of the smallest continents.

But that’s what’s exciting about ministering here – there’s an opportunity to reach not only the Germans, French, and other traditional European populations but you can easily walk along side people from the Far East, Middle East, Russia, South America and Africa as they are on their spiritual journeys.  The reality is that those away from their home cultures are usually more open to discussing spiritual matters.  Now is the time to engage with them.

All the nations – in one location.  Come with us and reach the world.  – Greater Europe Mission

What does it take to worship God?

I received a link to an interesting article entitled “If Muslim’s asked Europe for ‘empty’ churches” (you can find it here) and it’s an interesting development happening in Europe.  Europe’s history is with Christianity but the indigenous population has in majority left their faith however major immigration from North Africa and the Middle East has brought Islam to their foot steps.  So much so that on Fridays, the traditional day of worship for Muslims, mosques don’t have enough space to contain everyone and their worshippers are overflowing out into the streets causing traffic to be backed up or rerouted.  This is normal practice for where they come from but to many Europeans, its disruptive and illegal.  So the solution that’s being raised – let the muslims use the ‘empty’ churches to get them out of the streets.

Now I know there are many churches in North America and especially in South America, Africa and parts of Asia that do have these problems of running out of capacity but there’s very few in Europe.  While many towns have a church, not a whole lot goes on there and no where near where it will fill up except for the occasional musical performance (because of the acoustics) or wedding or funeral.  So what does it take for people to want to worship God so much that they’ll pour into the streets to do it? My thinking on Islam is that for most muslims, its just engrained into their culture, community identity, and social structure that they are compelled to participate in worship & prayer but in a way, do so under duress. Christianity has been like that too (and in many ways, still is) as we have seen in the last 2000 years and for Europe we see its remnants in the empty churches scattered throughout the land now being converted into museums, concert halls, dance clubs and now possibly mosques.  But is worship & prayer to God to be a cultural thing?  Are we to go through the week marking off our to-do list :  grocery shopping – check, picked up Tommy from football – check, went to the worship center & did something required – check, ….?

In my wrestling with this (and I’m in no way an authority here), I have to think that to really worship God (creator of the universe and all) it has to be something more from the inside (that He put there; created there) that erupts out in an outward expression.  It can’t be something that comes from the outside (i.e. culture, expectations, etc) that moves us but a deep down movement within us that explodes out in the form of worship and prayer.  Otherwise it’s just an act and doesn’t reflect our true core being.

What’s your thought of worship?

How do computers bring Hope to the inner city?

Recently Jim and I were able to spend time installing an Internet Cafe as a part of The Anchorage Project in the inner city of Dublin, Ireland. The director there is an Irishman named Joseph Donnelly who grew up in this part of Dublin and can tell stories of what its like to live in this area. He knows it; he lived it. He knows there’s a loss of hope in his town now more apparent than ever as the recession is taking a nasty toll on the economics of Ireland.

Several years ago, the board of directors of an old mission house approached Joe and asked if he and his wife could do anything with the old mission house to change the neighborhood. This is the same mission house that Joe as a teenager vandalized and threw rocks at before having his life transformed by God. The Donnelly’s idea was to use the mission house to now bring hope into the neighborhood. Their mission was that hope is comprised of four aspects: beauty, children, community, & justice. This old mission house is now called The Anchorage Project.

Beauty is being lived out through the use of plants and birds that are sold through the Anchorage Project. They train people on how to take care of these plants and birds, and while it can seem strange, all sorts of people from little old ladies to tattooed young men come to the center waiting for their flowers.

Children are cared for through the Anchorage during the children’s morning programs and special events that happen in the neighborhood. Parents see the joy that the kids have and the sense of play that is inspired at the Anchorage. Through their children’s eyes, they have a sense that things will be alright.

Community is beginning encouraged as the Anchorage Project starts a cafe which includes the Internet Cafe. This is a safe place for people to gather. They can come in and have something to eat and drink, sit around and chat with friends, get on the Internet, socialize or just talk with one of the people working there. Those who serve in the café aren’t there for a job but are wanting to care for people living and working in the neighborhood.

Justice is the final aspect of bringing hope and all the other parts play into it. Almost every part of beauty, children and community has a small fee, such as the flowers are sold or time purchased on the Internet Cafe computers. They are priced to be inexpensive to the community but they do create a revenue source so that every year the neighborhood, via the Anchorage Project, is able to give  help to in places like Africa, Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe. Hope is found in the realization that even though they don’t have much, they are still able, as a neighborhood, to help others.

So how do computers help bring hope to the inner city? By being a part of an overall plan, computers and technology can further the vision and mission of ministries. The vision of a computer center, as part of the café, continues to build a sense of community by getting people out of their homes and together. It also meets a real need by tapping into an opportunity for people to have access to the internet, for everything from research to communication. A way for this poorer neighborhood to have a greater variety of tools to make their lives better. And this is all done in the name of Christ and for the purpose of exposing others to HIS Kingdom.

We were delighted to share in a small part of what The Anchorage Project is doing to impact their community and the world.

What For? (Only Mr. God Knows)

Since moving to Europe, I’ve become a fan of a yearly event called EuroVision where each country in Europe sends a singer/band to represent them and then there’s a live vote.  Kinda like American Idol or Pop Idol or Deutschland Sucht Ein Superstar or whatever Idol  is playing in your country however this has been going on for decades.  Remember the group ABBA : this was their break way back when.  Anyway, I’m hooked on this event every year and I’ll stay up until 2 AM to watch it all as there’s pre-show shows and post-show shows and everything.  Its kinda become my SuperBowl.  So being a little sick today I’ve decided to do something brain dead and started to watch the videos of all the entries to start selecting who I’m going to root for in the actual contest.  That’s when I came across Latvia’s entry – What For? (Only Mr. God Knows).  Here’s an excerpt of the lyrics (click here for all the lyrics):

What for are we living?
What for are we crying?
What for are we dying?
Only Mr God knows why
What for are we living?
What for are we dreaming?
What for are we losing?
Only Mr God knows why
But his phone today is out of range

People in Europe are wondering what their purpose is and believe that God is not around any more to answer the questions.  This is why we are here.

[Not seeing the video above - go here to view it on Youtube.com]

Pray For Poland

[This is an email from our GEM president asking for prayers for Poland during this time - please join us]

On Saturday April 10, 2010, the people of Poland awoke to the devastating news that the presidential jet had crashed. The President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, was killed, along with his wife Maria. In addition, the crash claimed the lives of senior government figures, senators and representatives of Poland’s parliament, senior members of Poland’s military, and various religious leaders. The loss to Poland’s government and culture is incalculable.

The plane was on the way to a commemoration service for those killed in the forests of Katyń in early 1940. At that time, members of the Soviet Security Service murdered over 20,000 of Poland’s military leadership and intelligentsia. That event has long been a contentious issue in Polish-Russian relations. This present tragedy is now forever linked with the tragedy of 1940.

Greater Europe Mission asks you to join us as we pray and extend our hearts to the people of Poland in their time of grief and loss.

• Pray that Prime Minister Donald Tusk and acting President Bronisław Komorowski would rely on God’s wisdom in reconstructing the government.
• Ask God to fill the governmental positions with qualified and competent people who desire to do His will.
• Ask God to draw the Polish people to Himself through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Pray that this event would not aggravate the already fragile Polish-Russian relationship.

Thank you for joining with us in prayer for Poland – a vital and influential country in Europe. We share with you the confidence that God desires the best for Poland and its healing as a nation. Psalm 91.

Best Regards,

Henry Deneen
President
Greater Europe Mission

PrayEurope 40-40-40 — Comes to a close

Wow, the last 40 something days of praying through the countries of Europe was eye opening for me and I hope for those of you that joined me on this journey.  Not only did I learn more about some of the countries that I’m in and around but I learned more about prayer and what God can do through it.  I got a follow up email from those that worked so hard on the PrayEurope.com website and I’d like to share that with those of you who didn’t sign up for the daily prayer reminder:

PrayEurope 40-40-40 has come to a close and what a blessing it has been! Many of you have told us how much you enjoyed being a part of this initiative. You loved praying and you loved learning more about the countries for which you were praying. We have had more than 28,000 prayers registered on the site since February 17, for a total of 43,000 since we launched the site in August 2008 (and those are just the people who clicked “I prayed”).

Many joined us in prayer by way of email notification without visiting the actual site. Some prayed using Facebook and Twitter only. We know quite a few people who used our prayer initiative in their small groups.

Even though we don’t know exactly how many people prayed, we do know that prayers came from 162 countries around the world. Almost the entire world joined in prayer – talk about unity in prayer! God heard all our prayers and is doing mighty things for His Glory in those countries.

Thank you all, dear prayer warriors, for partnering with us during this journey through Europe and Russia. Let us share with you some of the exciting things God is doing as a result of our united prayers:

• Belgium – “Yesterday evening we had our first evening to speak about a personal relationship with God through Jesus. 30 people attended the evening. Most of them were speechless because it was so new for them. They liked it very much. One man said he was really upside down. He needed time to think it all over. His heart was touched by the Lord.” This retired couple is also sharing Biblical faith each week on a Catholic radio broadcast in Brussels.
• Hungary – “Yesterday, I had the chance to speak in some Hungarian high school English classes. I accompanied a few of the members of our Budapest student ministry.” The speaker is a missionary living in Budapest. Several English teachers turned their class periods over and the group was able to make good connections with students which led to invitations to ministry events off campus.
• Italy – After years of ministry led by expatriate leaders, God has raised up an exceptional Italian couple to lead a large ministry in the country. They come highly recommended, exhibiting boldness for Christ and courageous decision-making skills.
• France – 32 mothers and daughters attended a very special event in the south of France: a seminar presenting sexual purity from a Biblical perspective. Very positive comments have come from follow-up conversations.
• A Miracle in Moldova – “We were shocked!” (the words of Moldovan New Life workers) “The movie is very good. I want to follow the Savior.” (Liubovi, a Transnistrian woman). The region of Transnistra in Moldova has been the most closed to the gospel. But two weeks ago the Magdalena film was shown on three days to overflow crowds. Well over 1,000 people came to the film and others had to be turned away. 80 people attended the first follow-up meeting.
• Latvia – “Despite praying for several years, as recently as two years ago we hadn’t seen any young people come to know Jesus. Through prayer, God brought some ideas to our minds; We needed to pray that an entire group of friends would come to Jesus, rather than one individual at a time.” Since then a small group did come to the Lord and today they are discipling 40 young people.
• Finland – A prayer movement that started in Switzerland (Christustag) and brought together representatives from all 2800 districts in the country in 2004 next made it’s way to Turku, Finland in Oct.2008 as again believers from every part of the country gathered to pray for God’s healing on their land. A continuation of this will take place on May 1. The main item for prayer will be to see the Great Commission fulfilled in this generation. The event is called Christ Day and will take place in a Hockey arena. The organizers are praying for Christian leaders across Europe to join them that day to unite for spiritual renewal, awakening and transformation across Europe.
• Spain – “We are so grateful because our great project XACOBEO’10 is functioning extremely well.” This summer, as Spain celebrates this huge cultural event, believers are coming together to meet the thousands of tourists and pilgrims who will be walking along the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James) and possibly staying at Ligonde (a Christian house/way station). “We have almost all the volunteers needed for the project of 22 weeks. They are absolutely needed because without them we couldn’t do the project. This will be a great opportunity because all of our staff will spend a week and may involve many of their disciples. We are also grateful for the funds that God has raised for this project.”

Please continue to pray for the peoples of Europe.  This has to continue.  Thank you.

PrayEurope – 40-40-40 — Ukraine — United Kingdom

Ukraine was the bread basket of the Soviet Union however it was never prosperous under communism.  Much of the resources of Ukraine were drawn from the area without much investment put back into the country.

Dear Father,

Please be with the people of Ukraine who are a hard working and gifted group of people.  Please provide the opportunities for them to shine and to realize the potential that is within the country without having to leave their homeland to find work.  Please be with those that are seeking You that they would come to find You and get to know You.  Be with those that have faith in You and show them ways to break out of their isolationist ways and share the life transformation that You have given them with others.  Amen.

To know more about Ukraine, please go to PrayEurope.com.

In the United Kingdom, church attendance is on the decline and Muslim minorities are asking for Sharia Law to be implemented in some areas of society.   Old churches are being converted into Mosques in the heart of London.

Dear God,

We pray for the people of the United Kingdom that they would see You for who You really are and come to a life changing knowledge of what it means to have faith in You.  Please protect the missionaries in the UK and the missionaries from the UK that are in other parts of the world that they may be effective in helping more and more people come to know You intimately.  Be with those that are immigrating to this country that they would open themselves up to understand the truth that is behind some of the traditions of this country and that in that exploration, they would meet You.  Amen.

To know more about how to pray for the United Kingdom, go to PrayEurope.com.