A summer well spent ☀️
It was an honor to be back in Europe serving cross cultural workers and young adults from all over the world. We had 74 young adults join us for the Ten2 Project. We got to join small teams all over Europe and serve their local ministries with the effort to present the gospel. We lead teams all over Europe. I led worship dozens and dozens of times and places. People met Jesus for the first time and some committed their lives to Him. Amen.
This summer was a miracle in our lives. Here are some incredible lessons Lynna and I learned together.
Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.
Travel creates emotional stress. More travel creates more emotional stress and everyone has their limit of how much stress they can handle.
It’s okay to be honest about the struggles of marriage and its okay to ask for help.
Evangelism is not about saving people, but rather plating the seed of the gospel in someones heart.
There is no such thing as common knowledge.
Obedience fights spiritual warfare.
God will use a willing vessel. He is not asking for a perfect one.
We spent time in multiple countries this summer. All of them are less than 3% Christian, but that number is growing. Let’s clarify this stat again.
For example, America is a “Christian” nation right? The stats say around 20%-30% actually follow Christ and share their faith. According to Joshua Project, Operation world, IMB, etc. Europe is in a similar situation. Much like America is “deconstructing” from the evangelical church, much of Europe has already done so from the orthodox church , and roughly 97% might associate with religion, but most have no need or use for it.
Where we went…
Our time in Rome taught us that prayer is the non-negotiable discipline if we want to see change happen on the earth. Unfortunately, many Christians just are not praying and reading their bibles.
Our time in Slovakia taught us that communism tried to kill, destroy, and persecute religion, yet churches were thriving. When the wall fell in the 90s, thats when the decline of religion really started to take place. I talk about it more in this episode of the Why Europe Podcast.
Our time in the UK showed us that God is moving. And it’s not just the cliche term “revival”. This is an awakening. It took decades of prayer, work, and serving the community to see insane change like this happening. Praise God for His faithful followers in the UK. We just get to be a part of this story. We heard a story of 14 young adults giving their life to Jesus in one night. 14!!
Germany taught us that there is power in community. Like true power. We were made for community.
Spain taught us that evangelism is more about God that it is about us. I will write an entire blog about this. Sharing our faith is an honor and it does not have to be full of the pressure that many teachers want to place on believers.
Now, I launch into the fall which means recruiting. I am traveling on average about 3 weeks each month until November. Pray for us. Pray for this next wave of global workers for God’s Kingdom. Pray for new opportunities for growth. Pray for our marriage. Pray for new salvations. Pray for Americans to share the gospel with their neighbors. Pray for Europeans to awaken to the beauty of the gospel. Join us in prayer!
Want to support our work? Here is what’s happening…
We are building the next generation of missionaries. GEM has sent over 100 (and counting) new long term (3+ years) workers to the field in the last two years.
Recruiting, sending, and equipping churches for mission.
Building awareness for mission in Europe through the “Why Europe? Podcast”
Helping local churches in Europe to write and record their own songs in their heart languages.
