Europe Missions
The Power of Teams
The Power of Teams
Wales
Ryan McCullough
The Hard Stuff No One Wants to Tell A ...

You don’t become a missionary by raising money and flying to a foreign country. You do it by being obedient to God. Tell people about Jesus where you live. Get out of your comfort zone. Sell something precious and apply it to your debts. Make a sacrifice. Develop better friendships. There is an old saying: “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” While this is not to be taken literally in this sense, (please, don’t start wearing the national garb of the country you want to go to just yet). However, somewhere in the process, we have to make a conscious decision that there is no going back. 

The Hard Stuff No One Wants to Tell A Prospective Missionary
Portugal, Spain
Dan Desrosiers
Starting from Scratch

Dan and Joy West have had a rich missionary career, yet at a time in their career when they might be tempted to stay in their comfort zone, Dan and Joy are starting over.

Starting from Scratch
Netherlands
Dan Desrosiers
The Miracle of the Oasis

More than 30 years ago, the last evangelical church in the municipality of Bergen, Netherlands, closed its doors, leaving no evangelical witness for two generations. But a small yet passionate group of Christians believed God for a miracle in their community.

The Miracle of the Oasis
Poland
Dan Desrosiers
On the Hunt: Embracing—and Breaking—Tradition ...

For most of his life, one of missionary Rich McLane’s passions has been hunting. His wife Lori enjoys playing the trumpet. When they became missionary church planters in Poland years ago, who would have guessed these passions would converge to reach more than 120,000 hunters throughout the country?

On the Hunt: Embracing—and Breaking—Tradition in the Name of Christ

Germany

Sharing Christ's Love with Refugees in Germany

The steady stream of refugees into Europe seems to have no end. As reported in the news, a large percentage of them have entered Germany. Our AGWM personnel in a particular city in Germany, Steve and Christina Walent, relate that there is a camp of 120 refugees in a “container village” right next door to their local church. Three Sunday afternoons a month the church hosts an International Cafe for the refu­gees, simply to offer them fellowship and a little distraction from the turmoil that they have been through, and through which some of their loved ones are still facing back in their home lands. A local bakery provides free pas­try and rolls, and ladies from the church offer language classes so the newcomers can learn German and adjust more quickly. The Walents also state, “We have been giving out Bibles, but we need more Bibles in Arabic. We are able to share our faith here and there, but right now the main focus is to gain the respect and trust of our new guests. They are opening up to the love that they are experiencing, and through that we believe that the Lord will open their hearts more for the message of Christ.”

1-sm.jpgThe steady stream of refugees into Europe seems to have no end. As reported in the news, a large percentage of them have entered Germany. Our AGWM personnel in a particular city in Germany, Steve and Christina Walent, relate that there is a camp of 120 refugees in a “container village” right next door to their local church. Three Sunday afternoons a month the church hosts an International Cafe for the refu­gees, simply to offer them fellowship and a little distraction from the turmoil that they have been through, and through which some of their loved ones are still facing back in their home lands.

A local bakery provides free pas­try and rolls, and ladies from the church offer language classes so the newcomers can learn German and adjust more quickly. The Walents also state, “We have been giving out Bibles, but we need more Bibles in Arabic. We are able to share our faith here and there, but right now the main focus is to gain the respect and trust of our new guests. They are opening up to the love that they are experiencing, and through that we believe that the Lord will open their hearts more for the message of Christ.”

Limping No More in Germany

Hanna was tagging along with a pair of friends who were visiting the church plant in Germany in which AGWM personnel, Michael Tyler, is on staff. She had never been there, and didn’t know anything about the church or about God for that matter. Faith wasn’t something that had ever been important to her. It was just a non-factor in her life. She sat in her seat just taking things in. At the end of the service Hanna and her friends stood up and were about to head out the door when Peter, the church’s staff-pastor, noticed she was walking with a limp. He asked her about it, and she explained that her knee was extremely stiff. She had just come home from the hospital after an operation which didn’t go as planned. Further surgeries were still to come. Peter said, “Don’t leave yet. We want to pray for you. Sometimes God takes care of these things in a special way.” Hanna was confused but said “Okay”. Peter spontaneously grabbed a few people from the church, and they prayed for Hanna’s knee.

There was no light from Heaven or warm sensation in her leg, but when Hanna stood up she instantly knew that something had changed. She tested her knee gingerly at first, adding a little weight with each step. She was unsure how to react, but the pain, which had been constant, was completely gone. She was visibly confused. As she was testing her knee on the stairway, some of the youth leaders then took the opportunity to engage her in a conversation about how God heals. Two minutes later, as Michael Tyler headed downstairs, he found Hanna RUNNING full speed up and down the hallways! She was running and laughing together with Phil, a physical therapist who was joyfully confirming the healing work God had done. The healing was instant and complete. The limp is no longer there! God took care of it!

image001.jpgHanna was tagging along with a pair of friends who were visiting the church plant in Germany in which AGWM personnel, Michael Tyler, is on staff. She had never been there, and didn’t know anything about the church or about God for that matter. Faith wasn’t something that had ever been important to her. It was just a non-factor in her life.

She sat in her seat just taking things in. At the end of the service Hanna and her friends stood up and were about to head out the door when Peter, the church’s staff-pastor, noticed she was walking with a limp. He asked her about it, and she explained that her knee was extremely stiff. She had just come home from the hospital after an operation which didn’t go as planned. Further surgeries were still to come. Peter said, “Don’t leave yet. We want to pray for you. Sometimes God takes care of these things in a special way.” Hanna was confused but said “Okay”. Peter spontaneously grabbed a few people from the church, and they prayed for Hanna’s knee.

image006.jpgThere was no light from Heaven or warm sensation in her leg, but when Hanna stood up she instantly knew that something had changed. She tested her knee gingerly at first, adding a little weight with each step. She was unsure how to react, but the pain, which had been constant, was completely gone. She was visibly confused. As she was testing her knee on the stairway, some of the youth leaders then took the opportunity to engage her in a conversation about how God heals. Two minutes later, as Michael Tyler headed downstairs, he found Hanna RUNNING full speed up and down the hallways! She was running and laughing together with Phil, a physical therapist who was joyfully confirming the healing work God had done. The healing was instant and complete. The limp is no longer there! God took care of it!

A Miracle in the Making in Germany

AGWM Personnel in Germany, Steve Dunn relates the following answer to prayer. “We knew Ulrike would be coming to our healing service. In prayer I asked the Lord what He wanted to do and sensed that we should speak out life and not death. Ulrike is a young mother of two children and now expecting twins. The pregnancy did not develop normally. In this medical condition, rarely do both children come to birth healthy. Usually one, if not both will die, and the death of one will quickly threaten the life of the other and the mother. The one child was much smaller than the other. The doctors strongly recommended aborting, if not both, then at least the smaller of the two. Ulrike was in her 26th week. There was little hope that the pregnancy would last another week. At the healing service the entire church prayed. Miracles began to happen. First the babies turned unexpectedly in the womb to give the smaller child more room. Then there was an unexpected development in the blood supply to the smaller child. Then the smaller child grew and doubled its size within two weeks. Beyond all expectation the pregnancy continues on into the 33rd week. The church is believing God for a full term birth of these twins.

AGWM Personnel in Germany, Steve Dunn relates the following answer to prayer. “We knew Ulrike would be coming to our healing service. In prayer I asked the Lord what He wanted to do and sensed that we should speak out life and not death. Ulrike is a young mother of two children and now expecting twins. The pregnancy did not develop normally. In this medical condition, rarely do both children come to birth healthy. Usually one, if not both will die, and the death of one will quickly threaten the life of the other and the mother. The one child was much smaller than the other. The doctors strongly recommended aborting, if not both, then at least the smaller of the two.

Ulrike was in her 26th week. There was little hope that the pregnancy would last another week. At the healing service the entire church prayed. Miracles began to happen. First the babies turned unexpectedly in the womb to give the smaller child more room. Then there was an unexpected development in the blood supply to the smaller child. Then the smaller child grew and doubled its size within two weeks. Beyond all expectation the pregnancy continues on into the 33rd week. The church is believing God for a full term birth of these twins.

In Search of Life in Germany

Annette is in her late fifties and came to a church service for the second time recently. Like many Germans she had been raised in a traditional church and did not find what she was looking for. Her search for truth led her to India, meditation and the teaching of karma. When her guru claimed to be a living master just like Jesus was, her heart said “no”. She realized that the teaching of reincarnation brought no real forgiveness and redemption. But what would? The message that Sunday in the church included an explanation of the Ten Commandments. After the service Annette asked AGWM Personnel, Pastor Steve Dunn what “picture“ could help her understand that the death of Christ on the cross was enough to free her from all guilt before God. Pastor Dunn says, “The Holy Spirit led me to Colossians 2:13-15. It says that God ‘wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us… having nailed it the cross.’ I explained that when blood covers something, it leaves a stain that remains. The blood of Christ covered her sin. The ‘stain’ of forgiveness cannot be washed out. I could see light enter her eyes. A smile spread across her face. She reached out and hugged my neck as she said: ‘Thanks so much! I got it!’”

Dunn relates the story of another who is searching. “Nicole has been searching for many years, often looking in the direction of the esoteric. She first came to our open air service last July and has been to just a few meetings since then. Two weeks ago Nicole came again. She said that something keeps drawing her to our church and that she needs to make a decision about belonging to our group. I told her that her decision must first be one for Jesus. We are praying for Nicole that she too will ‘get it’”.

Annette is in her late fifties and came to a church service for the second time recently. Like many Germans she had been raised in a traditional church and did not find what she was looking for. Her search for truth led her to India, meditation and the teaching of karma. When her guru claimed to be a living master just like Jesus was, her heart said “no”. She realized that the teaching of reincarnation brought no real forgiveness and redemption. But what would?

The message that Sunday in the church included an explanation of the Ten Commandments. After the service Annette asked AGWM Personnel, Pastor Steve Dunn what “picture“ could help her understand that the death of Christ on the cross was enough to free her from all guilt before God. Pastor Dunn says, “The Holy Spirit led me to Colossians 2:13-15. It says that God ‘wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us… having nailed it the cross.’ I explained that when blood covers something, it leaves a stain that remains. The blood of Christ covered her sin. The ‘stain’ of forgiveness cannot be washed out. I could see light enter her eyes. A smile spread across her face. She reached out and hugged my neck as she said: ‘Thanks so much! I got it!’”

Dunn relates the story of another who is searching. “Nicole has been searching for many years, often looking in the direction of the esoteric. She first came to our open air service last July and has been to just a few meetings since then. Two weeks ago Nicole came again. She said that something keeps drawing her to our church and that she needs to make a decision about belonging to our group. I told her that her decision must first be one for Jesus. We are praying for Nicole that she too will ‘get it’”.