You don’t become a missionary by raising money and flying to a foreign country. You do it by being obedient to God. Tell people about Jesus where you live. Get out of your comfort zone. Sell something precious and apply it to your debts. Make a sacrifice. Develop better friendships. There is an old saying: “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” While this is not to be taken literally in this sense, (please, don’t start wearing the national garb of the country you want to go to just yet). However, somewhere in the process, we have to make a conscious decision that there is no going back.
Dan and Joy West have had a rich missionary career, yet at a time in their career when they might be tempted to stay in their comfort zone, Dan and Joy are starting over.
More than 30 years ago, the last evangelical church in the municipality of Bergen, Netherlands, closed its doors, leaving no evangelical witness for two generations. But a small yet passionate group of Christians believed God for a miracle in their community.
For most of his life, one of missionary Rich McLane’s passions has been hunting. His wife Lori enjoys playing the trumpet. When they became missionary church planters in Poland years ago, who would have guessed these passions would converge to reach more than 120,000 hunters throughout the country?
Twenty years ago, the corner brick building near the riverfront in Antwerp, Belgium was a place where prostitutes gathered to work. Today that same building is a place where they can gather to play board games, be a part of a book club, drink good coffee, and hear about the life-giving hope they can have in Jesus Christ.
Our AGWM missionaries are extremely blessed whenever they see their ministry, training, and sacrifice replicated by those to whom they have come to share the gospel. Such is the case with AGWM missionaries, Blair and Dina Bonin, Students for Christ (SfC) Europe directors, based in Belgium. They relate this type of blessing in the following account:
“As we were saying good-bye to one of our SFCers who was on her way to a ministry school in another country, she made a point to thank us for our ‘oui’ to come and serve in Belgium. She explained that because we said, ‘yes’, she and a few others that she named have also said, ‘yes’ to the call to go into full-time ministry. This is 2 Timothy 2 in action!
“After 21 years of working in Europe to share the good news that Jesus is real and seeks relationship with every individual, we are never more elated than when we see European brothers and sisters respond to God’s call to give of themselves in order to lead others in surrendering their lives to Christ. This is what makes what we do, regardless of its temporal sacrifice, so worth the investment of our lives.
“Fanny Cuisset is one such example. She came first to SFC as a student, then as a student leader, did an internship with a sister SFC group in Grenoble, France, and now serves as an SFC group leader in Namur, Belgium and is also part of the national staff of SFC-Belgium.
“A Congolese-Belgian girl, Jerielle Akoto , also joined SFC as a student, the followed by becoming a student leader, led an SFC group at Louvain-la-Neuve and is now doing a 6-month missions endeavor with YWAM in Amsterdam.
“Both girls feel called to full-time ministry and would love to be part of a planting team for student or church ministry.”
To those who support them, the Bonins, (as is true of other AGWM missionaries, say “thank you for your part in sending us so that we could answer the call, and in turn, see Europeans step up and give themselves in service to Christ.”
The Refugee Support Ministry at the International Christian Center, Brussels, Belgium looked for an opportunity to bless and connect with a nearby refugee center for those seeking asylum from their war-torn countries. The group was not allowed to have a little Christmas celebration with the children there as the center did not want to encourage ‘one faith’ celebration. However, they together came up with the idea of blessing the whole center with some baked goods for the New Year. The Christian Center team came together for a few days to bake, decorate and package the treats. It was a wonderful time together as a team doing something fun. They made 200 individual treat boxes for all in the Refugee Center along with individual packages to be handed out to the refugees and homeless who are sleeping in the open in downtown Brussels. The treats were received with enthusiasm and the team was thanked for the generosity. The team also brought four bags of gift items, new clothing, toys, hygiene items and school supplies to be given to the children. Very rarely are they given new items, so they were received very happily. The team continues to serve weekly with compassionate hearts to show Christ’s love in practical ways.
The Refugee Support Ministry at the International Christian Center, Brussels, Belgium looked for an opportunity to bless and connect with a nearby refugee center for those seeking asylum from their war-torn countries. The group was not allowed to have a little Christmas celebration with the children there as the center did not want to encourage ‘one faith’ celebration. However, they together came up with the idea of blessing the whole center with some baked goods for the New Year.
The Christian Center team came together for a few days to bake, decorate and package the treats. It was a wonderful time together as a team doing something fun. They made 200 individual treat boxes for all in the Refugee Center along with individual packages to be handed out to the refugees and homeless who are sleeping in the open in downtown Brussels. The treats were received with enthusiasm and the team was thanked for the generosity. The team also brought four bags of gift items, new clothing, toys, hygiene items and school supplies to be given to the children. Very rarely are they given new items, so they were received very happily. The team continues to serve weekly with compassionate hearts to show Christ’s love in practical ways.
Our AGWM Personnel in Belgium are excited to report that recently dozens of people have given their hearts to the Lord. Two events held lately were the International Church of Brussels Friendship Festival in August and a joint-church sponsored evangelistic outreach with Nicky Cruz in September. During the Friendship Festival, the church provided food, music, games, and enjoyable activities for our friends, neighbors, and contacts in an effort to share the gospel. Over 700 people came to enjoy this afternoon of beautiful weather. New people have already expressed hunger for the Lord and started visiting the church on Sundays. On Wednesday, September 14, Nicky Cruz shared his testimony in Charleroi, Belgium where the venue was packed with over 400 people, many coming from the streets through the ministry of Teen Challenge. The following day, Nicky spoke to over 600 people in the heart of Brussels, with the same passion and urgency, highlighting the hope that can be found only in Jesus. In both evenings some 100 people responded to the call for salvation, healing and deliverance. Both nights were saturated with a mighty move of the Holy Spirit, prompting greater unity among churches participating in this evangelistic effort. Venues proved to be too small and many had to follow the meetings via t live streaming.
Our AGWM Personnel in Belgium are excited to report that recently dozens of people have given their hearts to the Lord. Two events held lately were the International Church of Brussels Friendship Festival in August and a joint-church sponsored evangelistic outreach with Nicky Cruz in September. During the Friendship Festival, the church provided food, music, games, and enjoyable activities for our friends, neighbors, and contacts in an effort to share the gospel. Over 700 people came to enjoy this afternoon of beautiful weather. New people have already expressed hunger for the Lord and started visiting the church on Sundays.
On Wednesday, September 14, Nicky Cruz shared his testimony in Charleroi, Belgium where the venue was packed with over 400 people, many coming from the streets through the ministry of Teen Challenge. The following day, Nicky spoke to over 600 people in the heart of Brussels, with the same passion and urgency, highlighting the hope that can be found only in Jesus. In both evenings some 100 people responded to the call for salvation, healing and deliverance. Both nights were saturated with a mighty move of the Holy Spirit, prompting greater unity among churches participating in this evangelistic effort. Venues proved to be too small and many had to follow the meetings via live streaming.
