The challenge in Europe
Europe is a unique challenge in missions.
When I became AG World Missions executive director in 1997,
the first major change I felt led by the Lord to make involved the Europe
region. At that time, Europe was part of the Eurasia region — a part of
the world where opportunities were growing considerably, especially since the
breakup of the former Soviet Union. With so many strategic areas in one region,
the time seemed right to make Europe a separate entity for greater focus and
oversight.
One of the great challenges of this new region has always
been helping the American church understand that Europe is as spiritually needy
as anywhere else in the world. In many European countries, less than 1 percent
of the population are born-again Christians.
The hardened spiritual climate of this region was made clear
to me in the early 1980s during a major missions strategy conference in Europe.
Convention leaders mobilized all those in attendance to do street evangelism.
They prepared beautifully printed tracts for us to distribute, and we took to
the streets.
My assignment was in Amsterdam, Netherlands. As my
colleagues and I handed the literature to the people, most of them did not even
wait for us to get out of their sight before they threw it to the ground. Only
a few kept it to read. My experience was only a small representation of the
challenge of missions in Europe. Most Europeans are spiritually complacent at
best. Many are hostile to religion in general, and especially to Christianity.
AG World Missions has 478 missionaries serving in 36
countries in Europe. They desperately need our prayers and support. Thankfully,
the spiritual climate is changing in the Netherlands, and great breakthroughs
in evangelism and church planting are taking place. Significant growth is being
seen in other countries as well, including Switzerland, Bulgaria and Italy. But
while great progress is taking place in certain parts of Europe, most of the
region is still very gospel-resistant.
As missions opportunities in Europe increase, our
missionaries face another looming challenge. The weak dollar against the strong
euro has put them under severe financial pressure. Many are making great
personal sacrifices just to continue serving where the Lord of the harvest has
called them.
Randy Hurst’s cover story concerning unreached, post-modern
Europe and his conversation with regional director Greg Mundis describe both
the opportunities and needs of the region in greater detail. Let these articles
speak to your heart and provoke you to pray regularly for the lost of Europe.
We are called by our Lord to proclaim the gospel wherever people are
spiritually lost. That includes Europe as much as anywhere else.
Europe desperately needs a new spiritual reformation. If our
ears and hearts are tuned to our Master’s Great Commission, we cannot neglect
this region. Instead, let us cry out for its people, 98 percent of whom walk
the streets, spiritually lost and headed for eternity without Christ.
L. JOHN BUENO is executive director of AG World Missions.
E-mail your comments to tpe@ag.org.
