Not all training takes place in formal meetings.
Sometimes it is walking down the street, other times it's drinking coffee in a cafe, or talking on Skype. God has given us many opportunities to spread the vision for starting new churches and encouraging men and women who are taking part in planting these churches. As catalysts we spend a lot of time networking and asking God to direct us to the people he has prepared. The picture above was taken on a street in Hamburg, Germany during a lunch break at one of the City to City trainings. We had 50 leaders, pastors and church planters from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Poland, and Germany attend the meetings.
In October we were also in Moscow and Kiev, where God is lighting fires in the hearts of the believers in these cities. In Moscow the tears flowed down my cheeks as I watched in awe as over 800 twenty and thirty somethings prepared to worship. I grabbed Bobby's hand and whispered, "Can you believe it?" For years we prayed for a church like this in Moscow. In a previous newsletter we wrote about Evgeny, the pastor of this church. When you ask him what is the reason why his church has doubled in six months, he simply says, "We are preaching the gospel." Evgeny has a desire to start 10 more churches in Moscow. This is where we fit in, equipping him and his church to plant new churches, encouraging them to be involved in mercy and justice ministries, teaching about faith and work, and discipling leaders who will add fuel to the fire God has started. We are also working with a network of churches in a different denomination in the city who have the same desire to see churches that can reach young families and professionals in Moscow.
A week later we were In Kiev, where 149 pastors, leaders and church planters gathered for a two day conference on planting gospel centered churches. Bobby was instrumental in getting Center Church by Tim Keller translated and published into Russian. The book was available for the first time at the conference and the participants were eager to buy it. Please pray we will connect with those whom God has chosen to plant churches in the larger cities of Ukraine. Right now Ukrainians are having an identity crisis because of the political and economic upheaval. Please pray the people in this country will turn to Christ and find their identity in him alone.
As European Regional Leaders for UWM, our mission organization, we are also encouraging our missionaries and finding ways we can connect them in strategic places. We know that planting churches among refugees is vital in Europe so please pray for more workers to reach these unengaged peoples.
We thank God for all of you! Your sacrifice in giving and praying on our behalf are greatly appreciated. It is such a privilege to be your hands and feet in this part of the world. Pray for us to stay healthy and strong as we travel. Some days we get really tired, but the vision of seeing God’s glory permeate these cities keeps us going. Pray God will give us wisdom, discernment and knowledge of his plans. Pray as we network with church planters and pastors we will be alert to hearing God's voice as to the next steps. Pray we will preach the gospel to ourselves everyday so we will be reminded it is God's vision, his plan and his timing. We know we are his instruments, who are sinful and flawed, yet deeply loved and accepted by him. Pray we will not give in to the lies or temptations of Satan, who wants to render us useless, but we will stand firm in the gospel.
Our next stops are New York, Liverpool, Bucharest, and Budapest where we will connect with those who are already planting churches and those who have the desire to start new ones.
In Kiev, Bobby closed the conference with inspiriting stories of how God used Ukrainians over the years to spread the gospel in Russia and in Central Asia.