The past Sunday Sherry and I were in Vienna, Austria to take part in the installation service of Larry & Melinda Henderson as the new pastors at Vienna Christian Center.
We welcome Larry, Melinda and their family to the Central Europe team and to Vienna Chistian Center.
Sherry and I had the honor of hosting the leadership of the Pentecostal churches of Central Europe during their visit to the headquaters of the Assemblies of God USA. We spent a week together visiting the headquarters of the Assemblies of God USA, the Assemblies of God World Missions, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Global University. We also attended sessions with Dr. George Wood and various ministry leaders. It was an honor to host them. Here's a photo of the group.
I've been traveling a lot lately. At the beginning of February I was in Chennai India, where I attended the Assemblies of God World Fellowship conference. Four thousand five hundred people, representing many of the Pentecostal church movements from around the world, attended. India is an exciting place and Chennai is a vibrant city.
I wanted to see and experience as much as I could and so I thought that riding to and from the conference on a three-wheeled open taxi was a good way to see the city and to learn a thing or two. On every ride my western world view expanded; I begin to see the world differently.
As we traveled though the streets of Chennai, the thin line that formed the a great divide between considerable wealth and abject poverty was everywhere event. The sidewalks were filled with people. Vendors were selling their wares and food. Some people spent their lives on the sidewalks, eating, sleeping, living. The streets themselves were filled with cars trucks and buses. Drivers were blowing their horns in code-like bursts that only the drivers could understand. Our taxi driver severed in and out like a master, zipping past car made by Ford, Audi, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and even the occasional Jaguar. I saw dozens of bicycles, motorcycles and a cow or two.
On one trip the driver pulled alongside of a bus packed so full of passengers that the boys got to ride on the outside. They placed their feet precariously on a small ledge around that ran down both sides of the bus. They held on to the open window frames, placing them face to face with those who had a seat. A friend told me that India had just surpassed China in its population. India is now home to 1.3 billion people. The people are wonderful, warm, friendly and kind. But I just can't get the great divide out of my mind.
India's spiritual atmosphere is electric. I've never experienced anything like it before. Like Europe, India is spiritually dark, but it is not like the silent darkness at is evident across Europe. Europe's spiritual climate is dark and silent because most Europeans deny the existence of God or any supernatural spiritual power for that matter. India's spiritual climate is also dark, but far from silent. Unlike the Europeans most of India's people fully believe in the supernatural and the existence spiritual powers. They don't deny the existence of God or gods. The spiritual darkness of India is filled with the energy that comes with the belief in millions of gods.
Someone said, that anyone who goes to India will leave a different person. I agree. I returned home to Prague with a different view of the world. From the conference I returned with a deeper understanding of both the historical roots of the Pentecostal church and the modern move of the Holy Spirit. From India, I returned with a clearer understanding of human triumph and the frailty of our existence in a world that is quite temporal. I returned carrying the honor of meeting some of the wonderful people of India and having the opportunity to briefly touch a culture that is much different from my own. And I returned with a renewed passion to help make a difference in the world that is desperately in need of compassion and hope.
Szczecin Poland is a fascinating city. Once a thriving center of Europe's shipping industry, its people remain warm, friendly, and hard working. Though the city is in a time of transition it seems that there is a bright future ahead.
Part of that bright future are Assemblies of God Missionaries Dennis and Diane Holcomb (Photo on right) who are giving of themselves to helping others. On the day we visited with them we attended a meeting of local pastors and their wives. The meeting was organized by Dennis and Diane who have been working hard to build strong relationships with and among the pastors of that region. They are both well accepted and loved by the pastors, their wives and the people of their community.
A Look to the Past: In 1979 Sherry visited Szczecin as a college student. She stayed with a family there in the city. When I told the gathering of pastors that Sherry had been there in 1979, one of the women smiled and said that she remembered Sherry staying at her family house. Another women said that she too remembered Sherry being there and how exciting it was to have an "American" visit their home. It seems that Sherry was the first American they had ever met. The women gave us the address of the apartment where her parents lived. We went to the address and took a photo in the front of the building. See the photo above.
I just returned from Slovakia where some missionary colleagues, church leaders and I visited two Roma communities.
One housing project we visited housed 7000 people. Some of the apartments have 30-40 people living in three rooms. They often have no heat and no running water.
Absolutely unbelievable living conditions.
God has called two pastors from the Roma community and placed them as spiritual leaders in their community.
One is just being to build a church the other is just about finished. We are praying that we will be able to assist them in these projects to reach one of Europe's unreached people groups.
Sherry and I are in Springfield, MO for Missionary Training. Here's a photo of our Central Europe candidate missionaries. From left to right Michael & Jen Dant, candidate missionaries to Slovakia; Sherry and me; Micah & Melia Mann, missionary associates to Austria; Aaron & Julie Davis, candidate missionaries to the Czech Republic. Veteran missionaries arrive next week for missionary renewal.
Sherry and I are heading out the door to return to Europe. We've been in the USA since June and are looking forward to our return back to Prague. This return is a bit different than the others; this time we're going back without the boys. And so, Sherry and I begin a new adventure. As Sam said to Frodo (loosely quoted, of course): When we take this next step we will be further away from home then we've ever been. Thanks for your prayers and friendship and your support. OFF TO THE AIRPORT!!!
Sherry and I just returned from from an Europe wide strategic planning meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece. Thirty Three Assemblies of God Europe missionaries met together to pray, brainstorm and begin the process of formulating a strategic five year plan for impacting Europe with the Gospel. Our first step in our strategic plan...calling all Assemblies of God Europe Missionaries to 100 days of prayer, starting January 1, 2009. We hope that you'll pray with us. Europe needs Jesus!
Following our strategic planning sessions we attended the Pentecostal Europe Missions conference. Missions leaders from all over Europe gathered together to pray and plan on reaching Europe. We were honored to be a part of this conference. John Palmer, General Secretary of the Assemblies of God USA was the guest speaker for the conference.
The First Assembly of God in Harrisburg, PA held their annual missions convention on November 9th AM and PM. I spoke at AM service. The PM service was missions banquet. That evening we took an offering to help complete the Warsaw Theological Seminary in Warsaw, Poland and received $14,000.00 in the offering. In June 2010 First Assembly will bring a construction team to Warsaw to help put the finishing touches on the new building.
