Northland
International University’s Western Europe Team has returned after spending one
week in Luxembourg and four weeks in Scotland.
Q: What does a short term team do in Europe?
A: Share the Gospel!
Our Team Hit the Streets
Sharing
the Gospel is important to us; this proved to be a difficult task in Europe. At
the mention of a religious topic, the conversation was instantly halted. Our
team hit the streets, looking wherever they went—shops, parks, and restaurants—to
find people who would be willing to talk. As the conversations progressed, our
team members would bring up spiritual topics to discuss, hoping to be able to
share the Gospel with our new friends.
We
did have opportunities to share the Gospel with Scots, French, English,
Luxembourgers, and even some Muslims.
Proclaiming
the message of Jesus Christ is what drives our philosophy of ministry for GO
Mission Teams: How can we have
opportunities to share the Gospel in this culture? It’s an approach that
appropriately places a priority on Gospel witness; the main goal is sharing the
Gospel.
Q: Is there really a need to send missionaries (and short term teams) to Europe?
A: Absolutely!
Unreached People Groups in Europe
When
thinking of France, Germany, or England, Americans usually think of the Eiffel
Tower, The Black Forest, Big Ben, or some other famous piece of architecture or
national place of interest. We don’t think of unreached people groups. In fact,
most often the term “unreached people group” is closely linked with peoples in
the 10/40 window. (This is the part of the world that falls between 10
degrees and 40 degrees north of the equator and stretches from North Africa to
Asia; according to joshuaproject.net, nearly 4.44 billion people live in this
region of the world.) There is no doubt that the needs in the 10/40 window are immense.
(Later updates on other GO Teams will highlight work in the 10/40 window.)
However, given the familiarity we as Americans have with Europe, we have begun
to overlook the needs present there.
“European
Christianity seems to be terminally ill,” says Philip Jenkins (God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam, and
Europe’s Religious Crisis [Oxford Press, 2007], 26). He continues, “One
British poll found that over 40 percent of respondents could not say what event
was commemorated by Easter.” (ibid, 37). The
missionary with whom we worked in the United Kingdom attested to this fact, stating, “Europe is not
post-Christian; it is pre-Christian.” Meaning: there has been such a rejection
of Christianity in Europe that citizens are not aware of the basic tenets of
Christianity.
The
needs are great. Harsh rejection of Christianity is prevalent. Churches are few
and far between. However, our team had multiple opportunities to share the
message of forgiveness, mercy, and hope—found only in Jesus Christ—in this
needy place!