“Numb. That is how I feel.” This is how I answer when questioned, “How do you feel when you see what has happened in Europe?”
Numb is how I feel when I read “In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century” by Geert Mak, or “Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century” by Mark Mazower. Numb as I read “Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin” by Timothy Snyder. And these only scratch the surface. Let’s not forget “The Gulag Archipelago” by Aleksadr Solzhenitsyn, or “Night of Stone: Death and Memory in Twentieth Century Russia” by Catherine Merridale, or the host of others witnesses and records of the madness of the twentieth century.
Numb is how I felt in Dachau, in Auschwitz-Birkenau, in the remote Belarusian village whose inhabitants were corralled into a church and then the church was burned to the ground and now the village is a memorial. Numb as I read is in a Russian newspaper a government tell a protester, “Where in Russia can you find land that is not filled with innocent blood?”
The memories walk the grounds of Europe in the history books and memorials of what happens when our ideologies cause us to forget our humanity. It is a suffering I cannot imagine, let alone comprehend. How else would one feel after encountering unimaginable suffering?
Yet, I love Europe. She is beautiful, historic, culturally rich, and diverse. I see a beautiful face horribly scarred by ideological versions of small pox. The scars run deep, too deep for most to talk about. Numbness and silence are the only recourse for most.
How can I not feel numb? Can I absorb the suffering? Can I grasp the horror each city and village has faced? Can I for even one minute taste the fear and pain each family and individual on this continent faced in the last 100 years? I cannot. My only recourse is the human survival skill of numbness. If I don’t go numb I fear madness.
Numb. But not done. For I have Hope.
I have hope for Europe. Europe may appear to have given up on God, but God has not given up on Europe. I believe this Dark Continent will shine again with the light of the Gospel.
I see signs of the Church making a kingdom difference in Portugal, in Spain, in Germany, in Greece, in Albania, in Russia, in Ukraine, in Estonia, in Ireland, in the United Kingdom and in more places than I have room to name. My own eyes have seen the lives transformed by the Gospel of Grace. This Gospel has not lost its power nor has it lost its appeal, for as long as there are lives broken by sin, grace will always abound in abundance.
All throughout Europe I see the church rising up in the power of the Spirit and the Authority of the Word of God. Yes, the church has been hard pressed. Yes, the Christian faith has been marginalized. Yes, there are hundreds of reasons to give up. But there remains One stronger than all reasons. And He has not given up.
He has set a City on a Hill, a Light to the Nations in this Dark Continent: It is called the Church.
I celebrate that we now have over 300 Foursquare Churches spread throughout Europe. This is the dawning of a new day. Will you stand with me in faith, in hope, and in love that these 300 will become 600, and then these 600 will become 1,000 and these 1,000 will plant new churches in every nation, every city, and every village of Europe?
Pray for Europe. Pray for the pastors and missionaries who are faithfully laboring in one of the hardest mission fields in the world. These are amazing men and women with great faith. The harvest is ripe and the laborers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.
Your giving makes our serving possible. Right now Debbie and I are working in multiple nations to see Foursquare Churches started. Local churches are our strategy. We believe spiritually vibrant and socially relevant churches are the only way to transform this continent. Your financial support helps make this possible. Thank you.
Through Sending and Sustaining missionaries on the field we have seen the Foursquare Church go from a single church with a global mission to a global church with a single mission: to make disciples of all the nations. We now have over 65,000 churches in over 130 nations.
The Dark Continent of Europe will once again shine as a beacon of the Gospel in this world. Christ shall reign forever and ever. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.
“Hope. That is what I feel.” This is my answer to “When you see what has happened in Europe how do you feel?”
There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call.
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.
Debbie and I serve as the FMI Global Associate Director for MENACA and Europe. We focus on cultivating disciples, leaders, and church planting movements.
