Non-competition

We’re trying to make more a point of connecting with other ministries around Europe. Part of that is meeting with guys who are roles similar to mine. There are a pile of people here in Budapest who have regional roles. We’ve talked about doing this for a while, and today is the first whack at it. Please pray for us that we would be able to figure out how we can cooperate better for the Kingdom.

UPDATE:
Not everyone we were hoping to see was able to come to the meeting. Four organizations were represented and we're hoping to see at least two or three more take part as this develops. It was a good time of getting to know each other and starting to see what it might look like. This was a small taste and now we have a developing thirst to see God move among us.

Bad photo-blogging

This is the sign that greeted us as we got on the bus to the airport. Kind of a funny way to start the trip from Stockholm to Tallinn and I looked 100% tourist as I stopped to take the picture.

We were there to visit Argo

Buinevitš and his family. Argo is starting a church in Lasnamäe, a district of the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

I’m such a bad photo-blogger that I don’t have a single picture of Argo or his family. =(

James got some good ones, so I leech off of him and post some after we get back to Budapest. In lieu of emotion-grabbing photos, I have snow-filled, former-Communist apartment/development pictures from the area where Argo is working. 

The clean car is Argo’s.

We spent the 48 hours in Tallinn asking as many questions as we could and listening to Argo tell us about his heart for this district where there are no Protestant churches and one unfinished Orthodox church building.

We also tried to encourage Argo and Einike, his wife and their 10 yr old son Markus. Part of that was taking them out to eat on the Old Town square in Tallinn.

If I had taken the picture to truly show you what we saw in Estonia, they would show you a man and his family with a deep commitment to see God worshipped in an area where many of the people don’t even believe He exists. When I get the pictures from James, I’ll show you a man whose courage and determination I admire.

Seventy new ones

The EFK is an exciting group in Sweden. I know the picture doesn’t exactly convey the electricity in the room, but that was because this was at the end of the day, following a lunch and we hadn’t been properly re-caffeinated.

A vision to start 70 new churches in Sweden before 2020 is inspiring. The sad reality is that by their estimation, that only slows the decline in the number of believers in Sweden. They told us how they close churches every year and hope to start new ones to replace them in growing areas of Sweden, but it’s difficult to keep up.

I should mention that there were more people at the meeting earlier, but I was too engaged in the conversation to think about getting a good group shot. Regardless, it was an encouraging day as they expressed their desire to help as many people as possible start as many new churches as possible. And they asked us to help.

Later today we hop over to Tallinn, Estonia for 48 hours to check in with Argo, a church planter there. No updates for a bit, because I’m not taking my computer. Pray that we can be an encouragement like we’ve been encouraged here.

Mileage

I’m sitting in my office.

I haven’t been able to say that too often this year. This room isn’t even where my office was at the start of the year. It is the same building, so I guess that’s something. Today has been kind of a ‘self-debrief’ of my October. I was in the US for 5 weeks for Europe leadership meetings, a couple events, and to find more partners for the work in Europe.

The leadership meetings went well. It was the first time that we had an extended time with our new leader David Ruiz. (Below is his talk at Cape Town 2010.)The week was a great time for us all to get to know each other better and begin to focus our direction as a leadership team.

The events were great. I was at the EFCA Great Lakes District conference where there were some great speakers (Mark Batterson was one of them) and I was able to talk with some great pastors & church planters about engaging in Europe. The Missions Fest at the Compass Church in Naperville, IL was also exciting as they focused on ministry in Europe.

As I was going over my calendar for those 5 weeks, I realized that I traveled by car about 3,000 miles. Now, I’m sure there are people who do that all the time. I’m not one of them. That was a lot of driving for me, but it was worth every mile. I was able to spend some time with some awesome pastors and church planters. It encouraged me, it was refreshing to just be with these men.

Reaching a City with the Gospel

Tim Keller Argues For Churches In Cities [Lausanne] from Kenny Jahng on Vimeo.

Two false notions American churches should reject about global ministry

Pastor Chris Brauns gets the hat tip for this post. Seriously good stuff to keep in mind as you are partnering with the Church in Europe or anywhere for that matter. Thanks Chris!

What is a church?

In The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch defines a church like this:

1. A covenanted community – a church is formed not by people just hanging out together, but ones bound together in a distinctive bond. There is a certain obligation toward one another formed around covenant.
2. Centered on Jesus – He is the new covenant with God and he thus forms as the true epicenter of an authentic Christ-ian faith…A covenant community centered around Jesus participates in the salvation that he brings. We receive the grace of God in him. But, more is required to truly constitute a church.

A true encounter with God in Jesus must result in…

3. Worship, defined as offering our lives back to God through Jesus.
4. Discipleship, defined as following Jesus and becoming increasingly like him (Christlikeness)
5. Mission, defined as extending the mission of God through the activities of his people.

from Tim Stevens LeadingSmart.com

I follow a couple of blogs. This one caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, this is the kind of question I have been thinking on since 1995 when I first came to Europe. Other than language learning, the question of what a church is has been a constant topic. It helps to have a good idea of what you're trying to get started when you're working in a different culture.

Second, Hirsch's book is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read. I need to get to it.