September 2015
In our last update, we shared about how God sometimes uses circumstances unrelated to missions to actually accomplish His mission. Some people move or migrate due to jobs, education or even crisis. The scattering of the church by persecution was such a case. The reverse of this is when someone unexpectedly says, “Please bring Jesus to our country!”
Just like that show on the Discovery Channel, “How Stuff Works”, that explains everything from lightbulbs to hand soap, this is how missions often works. Such is the case of a young student named Maria from Romania. She was already a Christian studying in London, and she was brought into our EN church there by our campus ministers. While at our EN Berlin leadership conference last June, she met with our leaders and said that she wanted to see God do something in her city for young people.
What began as a request now involves our Ten Days missions team, other churches in Europe, and Myra and I. We are preparing to scout Cluj, Romania for an initial trip that will lead to a missions team which will hopefully lead to student ministry and an eventual new church plant.
Let me mention that I just turned 53 last week, so why am I involved in any way with student/campus ministry? Glad you asked! The answer is, “That is How Stuff Works!” Namely, the majority of all the church planters and missionaries we know were reached as youth or on a college campus. I was also reached this way, and as we facilitate regional outreach and church planting we first endeavor to reach the next generation. These are our future leaders and missionaries, and helping local leaders pioneer this kind of ministry will be a catalyst to taking the Gospel to regions and spheres where traditional foreign missionaries can’t go.
But I am getting a bit ahead of myself. The mission is more than anyone can do alone, and that is why we will travel to Kraków, Poland for all of November to lay the groundwork that will allow us do long-term extensive ministry in that region. Thanks for standing with us as we enter this new season, and we invite others to invest in what God wants to do.
God bless,
Mike and Myra
Pray
1. Increase in financial partners
2. Safety while traveling
3. More campus ministers for Europe
4. Peace and prosperity for Ukraine
Contact
mike.watkins@everynation.org
