“Impossible.” This one word was Mike Clark’s answer to whether his family’s mission could be casually accomplished without being embedded among the people they serve. Mike, his wife Laura, and their young daughter Ella make their home in the so-called “four-country corner,” where Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland meet. Their goal is to plant the church in German-speaking Europe, and for them, the only option is to live among the people.
This may not seem like a revolutionary idea since missionaries have always left their homelands and traveled to faraway lands to preach the gospel. The first step is going, but subsequent steps involve losing one’s identity as an American and fully integrating in a new context. This isn’t just a ministry strategy for the Clark family; it is a way of life. For Ella, central Europe is home, and the United States is a place they visit once in a while.
The Clarks have prolific experience in disaster response and international diplomacy and have even negotiated and the release of hostages, aid workers, and humanitarian cargo. For people with that kind of experience, it would be easy to approach church planting like they do disaster relief, flying in to accomplish a specific task. But as Clark explains, “Church planting is not something one does remotely. Our God—who modeled incarnation—expects us to live amongst the people we minister to.”
Using this model, they have been able to present the gospel to individuals within universities, governments, and royal households. Mike also works with the International Christian Police Fellowship in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. This connection has allowed him to advocate for pastors becoming voluntary chaplains in the Austrian police force.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike planted a new church in an alpine village that now has 25 attending, and has raised up and installed local leadership as well.
Being culturally savvy and not relying on their American world view opened many doors for the Clarks. Mike recommends a radical approach: investing a decade primarily on learning language and minimizing social contact with English-speakers. The uncomfortable reality is that it takes intense focus and discipline to dismantle one’s life-long world view, presuppositions, and hero mentality of missions. Losing oneself for the sake of Jesus and the gospel is worth it.
Living among the people they serve is one of the keys to the Clark’s success. Instead of viewing people as targets of proselytization or subjects of their latest newsletter, Mike says, “These are my people. And in my more than 25 years living here, I am [now] seeing the greatest openness toward the gospel.”