SPOTLIGHT Central Europe

Second Poland Field Fellowship

    I just returned from Krakow, Poland where I attended the second field  fellowship of the Poland field, held February 25-27, 2005. All the A/G Missionaries to Poland attended, with the field moderator, Rich McLane, leading the meeting. It was their second offical field followship meeting, the first being held this last October, in Warsaw. Not long ago there were no Assemblies of God missionaries in Poland; today there are four families, living and ministering in there. (See Photo).
    It was our pleasure to also have visiting with us Brother Czajko and Peter Nowak. Brother Czajko is the General Superindentent of the Polish Penticostal Church; Peter Nowak is a member of the national church's executive committee and the newly appointed President of the Penticostal Church's Seminary in Warsaw. Both Brother Czajko and Peter Nowak took a few moments to greet the missionaries and thank them for their willingness to follow the call of God by coming to Poland. 
    There are several important activities scheduled in Poland this coming year. Our Central Europe Spring Breakaway will be held in Poland and also the yearly meeting of the leaders of the Pentecostal churches of Central Euorpe will be held in Warsaw this April.

Above Photo: Poland Field Fellowship-Rich & Lori McLane; Dennis & Diane Holcomb; Curtis & Sara Hobbs; General Superintendent Czajko; Peter Nowak; Jim Sabella and David & Michelle Lewandowski.

Spring Breakaway Planning Meeting

    On February 15th the planning team for the Spring Breakaway met together in Prague. This was our final meeting before the breakaway. All of the details are in order and schedule is set. If you would like to download a note-card-sized copy of the breakaway schedule click the link at the bottom of this post. In order to view this document you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed.
    We are honored to have Greg Mundis, Europe's Regional Director, attending the breakaway this year. He will be sharing with us and we with him. I will also be sharing with you about my heart for Central Europe and how I see that we are making a difference. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

(Photo: Dave & Karmi Buckley; Jim & Sherry Sabella; Rick & Lori Wislocky)

Breakaway Schedule PDF (182.3K)

Europe Royal Ranger's Conference Budapest, Hungary

    On February 11-13, 2005 the Royal Ranger’s European Leadership Conference was held in Budapest, Hungary. Because the conference was held in Central Europe I attend the conference as a honorary guest along with Steve Walent who is the AGWM Europe Representative for Royal Rangers Europe.
    In the course of the conference I found out some interesting facts: Did you know that Central Europe (Germany) is honored to have largest single Royal Ranger outpost in the world and the second largest national program in the world--USA has the largest program. Here are the stats for Royal Ranger membership in the countries of Central Europe: Austria 300; Czech Republic 928; Germany 12,600; Hungary 313; Poland 170; Slovakia 52; Switzerland 1,080. 

Photo Top: Steve Walent--AGWM Europe Royal Ranger Representative; Doug Marsh--Director Royal Ranger's International; Jim Sabella--AGWM Area Director Central Europe. Bottom: International Delegates.

An Uncertain Road

The Pew Forum on Religious & Public Life has published a report entitled--An Uncertian Road: Muslims and the Future of Europe. If you are interested, click here to view a synopsis of the report or to download a PDF file of the entire report.

An Uncertain Road: Muslims and the Future of Europe

A Trip to Berlin and Hamburg, Germany

   It was my privlidge to meet together with the team of Assemblies of God missionaries who are living and ministering in Berlin, German. They are pictured in the photo on the left. This team of dedicated missionaries is planting churches, training leaders and reaching students on university campuses.
   While in Germany I also had the privlidge of traveling to Hamburg, Germany with Assemblies of God missionary Paul Clark. There we visited with Inglof Ellssel,the Superintendent of the German Pentecostal movement; we also to met with Assemblies of God missionaries Steve and Karen Pecota. Assemblies of God missionaries are making a difference in Germany and in all parts of Central Europe.

Photo -Standing: Kirk & Amy Priest holding Jack and Mercy; Kathy Kilpatrick; Austin & Shanda Brown; Hans Theerman; Kneeling: Jim Sabella; Chuck & Marilyn Kackley. Not pictured in the photo are other members of the Berlin Team: John  & Gayle Butrin. They are presently in the United States.