One part of the summit was to divide up into small groups and discuss different issues regarding the ability of our national staff to raise their funding. In this picture we see evangelical leaders from these countries: Croatia, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and Albania. “The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few,” and the number of donors is small.
There are European Christians who are trained, motivated and ready to work hard as laborers in Eastern European and Russian harvest fields but don’t have the friends and contacts necessary to raise their support.
And what about the Christian wealth in America of which barely 3% goes to Christian causes? The numbers of Christians are lower and giving percentages are lower still for His church across Eastern Europe and Russia. What do we do? Do we persevere in faith to embrace Christ’s mandate to make disciples of all nations? Or do we consider it a hopeless situation and just let everyone “go back to their nets”?
We believe in a big God. And we believe He is in control. It is HIS mandate to take the gospel to the world; it is not merely our idea. But we are called to be His ambassadors even though we might not fully understand why as a ministry we are currently on this path.
With this as a backdrop 30 missionaries with Campus Crusade across Eastern Europe and Russia gathered here in Budapest for 3 days last week to discuss this problem and brain-storm possible solutions. We asked primarily two questions: “What can we start doing today so that within a generation the Eastern European Church takes ownership of the work of the gospel within her borders?” Also, “How do we help our European missionaries make connections in the USA (where most of the world’s Christian wealth is found) to raise their support?”
Join us in prayer please as we seek answers to these questions. Much of my job description for the next several years will be generated by this conference although this is not a problem that will be solved quickly. Solutions will require BIG changes in the culture on both sides of the Atlantic. But we move ahead faithfully confident in His provision knowing the Lord is more concerned about this than we are.
Please pray that the gospel will go out unhindered across Eastern Europe and Russia. Please pray the Lord will give us faith-filled and new ideas to address these issues. Please pray for the funding for our indigenous missionaries across Eastern Europe and Russia. And pray for our hearts that they will always be His and that we will persevere through trial.
One evening the whole conference came over to our house where EB had dessert and coffee ready for us all! Here Beni from Albania and Eugene from Moldova dig in!
