Western Europe: Once the Center of Christian Missions
Western Europe was once the center of worldwide Christian missions. This region has been saturated with the message of Christianity and the influence of the church longer, and with more intensity, than any other region of the world. At the same time, no other region has abandoned the Christian faith and turned away from the institutional church as much as Europe. The landscape is spotted with beautiful cathedrals, but most are empty. Old chapels lay in ruins, monasteries have long since been deserted, and church buildings are often turned into cultural centers, shops, apartments, or even converted to mosques. Today, Western Europe has become the mission field, and many fear the U.S. is following in their footsteps.
Could Your Church Triple in 2 Years?
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.“
Ephesians 3:20
Most of us will never know, because we aren’t willing to try, or maybe it isn’t even on our radar. I recently led two Catalyst Communities in Ambilly and Marseille, France. France is currently 1.2% Evangelical Christian. In both cities, the church teams we worked with left with plans to triple the number of churches they represented and grow their groups and leaders even more! Catalyst Community 1 focuses on training church teams to develop leaders, but it’s greatest outcome, an activated faith! In Ambilly, France our leaders left with a community goal (the sum of individual team plans) to go from 11 churches to 33 in the next two years:
In Marseille, our leaders plan to grow from 19 churches to 57! Imagine what you could accomplish with an intentional plan to reproduce leaders, groups and churches over the next two years. Then, imagine what you could accomplish if you were willing to work with other churches to reach those goals. We believe we can accomplish more together than we can alone. That’s why we focus on building networks of churches that help accelerate church planting movements. The result…exponential growth for the Kingdom of God!
What Would You Be Willing To Sacrifice?
I’m continually amazed at the caliber of leaders we get to work with around the world. Bjorn and Simon in Marseille were no exception. Simon was our primary partner in Marseille, he is originally from Austria. Bjorn is his father-in-law from Germany. When this family moved to Marseille they faced incredible trials. Their homes were broken into regularly while they were at church. Their cars were burned. They spent more money on replacing slashed tires than they did on replacing vehicles. They faced great challenges, all stemming from the local mafia in Marseille. But, they persevered, and they prayed for their enemies, and God eventually opened doors of friendship and communication with their neighbors.
Bjorn and Simon now lead a vibrant movement of reproducing churches in Marseille, with networks and connections that spread across France. Their willingness to pursue the call God placed on their hearts for Marseille in spite of years of hardships, challenges, and threats to the safety of their families, has led to a movement that has reached many with the life changing message of the gospel. What are you willing to sacrifice in obedience to God’s call on your life?
Opening Doors to Germany and the U.S.
My friend Timo from Berlin joined us in Ambilly. We’ve been talking to Timo and some like-minded pastors from Berlin about doing a Catalyst Community there later this year. Timo joined us in France to experience his first Catalyst Community (bottom left picture). Timo was very encouraged! What I found most special about this visit was how our French leaders gathered around Timo on the our last day and prayed for his leadership and for the churches of Berlin.
We were also joined by two amazing pastors from North America. Steve Cordle from Crossroads church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Mike Wiggins from Indianapolis, Indiana. After experiencing two Catalyst Communities in France, both of these pastors are excited about hosting a Catalyst Community with like-minded church teams here in the states. Together we can help turn the tide so that America doesn’t continue down the path of Western Europe!
