Our Europe Area Director, Rev. Jerry Coleman, relates why he is compelled to minister in Europe:
When I used to think of Europe, I thought of a place to take my wife on a two-week dream vacation. From this continent, the birthplace of my forefathers, sprang the basic theology of my faith. It is the home of some of the richest culture and some of the most historic churches in the world!
Europe is commonly considered a “Christian” continent with nearly 2,000 years worth of history to define it as such. Historically, Europe has been a great contributor to sending out missionaries to the other continents of the world. So why do we need missionaries in Europe?
After several years of living and working on the “Continent,” I have a clearer perspective on the 730 million inhabitants of Europe. The grand churches are often empty (except for tourists). The Christian faith is asleep or diluted – “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).
The people in the land of my forefathers seek other gods in this postmodern, post-Christian continent. Only 2.4 percent of Europeans profess to be evangelical believers. This is the lowest percentage of any continent in the world. According to Operation World (2002), “The rate of decline of Christians is accelerating. Many of [those who profess Christianity] have no meaningful involvement with Church life. Regular church-goers would probably be under 10% of Europe’s population.” In the meantime, other religions are increasing – Baha’i, Spiritist, Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim and Hindu.
FMWM is looking for ExT missionaries who will go to Europe! Our most pressing areas of need include
- Belgium - couple with pastoral experience to work with developing churches
- Russia - couple with church planting and/or compassion ministry experience to begin work in St. Petersburg
- Bulgaria - couple/single with ministry experience to assist with leadership development, working as a part of a team
- Romania - couple/single with church planting experience to assist with leadership development and church planting, working as a part of team based in Arad
- Ukraine - couple with church planting experience and theological education to work with a church planting team in Kyiv
- In addition, we are always interested in finding out about people who have already established relationships or connections in other European countries. These often give us open doors into other countries or areas in which we have no current contacts.
Want to know more about being a missionary in Europe? Send your questions and ideas to ExploreMissions@gmail.com. If you are ready to move toward applying, find out how to get started.
Learn more by going to the website for the Free Methodist Church in Europe.I want to check out opportunities in ...