Europe Missions
The Power of Teams
The Power of Teams
Wales
Ryan McCullough
The Hard Stuff No One Wants to Tell A ...

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. 

The Hard Stuff No One Wants to Tell A Prospective Missionary
Portugal, Spain
Dan Desrosiers
Starting from Scratch

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.

Starting from Scratch
Netherlands
Dan Desrosiers
The Miracle of the Oasis

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.

The Miracle of the Oasis
Poland
Dan Desrosiers
On the Hunt: Embracing—and Breaking—Tradition ...

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?

On the Hunt: Embracing—and Breaking—Tradition in the Name of Christ

Italy

May I Say Something to You?

May I Say Something to You?

Knowing and respecting the language of another still opens doors.  On the island of Sicily, an improbable but amazing story in missions continually is adding new chapters as that simple principle of knowing and respecting language is the basis for reaching the unreached.  A missions team, headed up by AGWM missionaries Neil and Kathy Vanaria, engages with refugees arriving from a multitude of nations, tribes, peoples and languages and shares God’s word with them in their own languages.  Light for the Lost is key to making this happen. 

A God Who Answers Prayer in Italy

“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:28 These virtues mentioned by Luke require a supernatural enabling because our natural reaction is to fight back. So when difficult times arise, how do we respond to those who mistreat us? Bob and Lynne Rose, AGWM personnel pastoring an international church in Rome, Italy state that the internationals in their church are sometimes challenged with a daily struggle to live in victory when situations in their life are trying. The relate the following challenge in the life of one of their congregants. “Anna* is a Filipina lady who began attending our international church 7 years ago when we first planted it. She had been raised in a very traditional church but had not been taught how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. She soon grew in her faith and was gentle and kind.

“One Sunday she came forward for prayer, weeping as she told us about her employer who had been mistreating her for more than 20 years. She worked long hours but on holidays was forced to work almost all night or was threatened with losing her job. One day while working, Anna became very ill and asked her employer if she could go home. He responded, ‘Just take a couple of aspirins and keep working or you’re fired!’ We prayed with Anna but told her that she, too, needed to learn to pray on her own. We told her that she now had a personal relationship with God and He would hear her prayers, so Anna began to pray and lift up her needs before God. “One day her employer asked, ‘Anna, are you talking to somebody?’ He had watched as she moved her mouth. She answered, ‘No one is here but me.’ She didn’t realize that she was praying even while she worked. This past November for her birthday, for the first time ever, her employer gave her a gift. She was so shocked because in all the years she had worked for him, he had never given her anything. Not only did he give her a gift, he began to treat her with kindness. Anna’s prayers had been answered!

“Recently at a Wednesday evening service, Anna came especially to see us. She couldn’t wait to tell us her testimony! She couldn’t believe that God had heard her prayers. It was such a boost to her faith and joy filled her heart as she realized that the God of the universe cared about what she cared about. He loves it when we bless those who mistreat us and pray for them. He hears and answers!”

Outdoor Picnica.jpg“Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:28 These virtues mentioned by Luke require a supernatural enabling because our natural reaction is to fight back. So when difficult times arise, how do we respond to those who mistreat us? Bob and Lynne Rose, AGWM personnel pastoring an international church in Rome, Italy state that the internationals in their church are sometimes challenged with a daily struggle to live in victory when situations in their life are trying. The relate the following challenge in the life of one of their congregants.

“Anna* is a Filipina lady who began attending our international church 7 years ago when we first planted it. She had been raised in a very traditional church but had not been taught how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. She soon grew in her faith and was gentle and kind.

“One Sunday she came forward for prayer, weeping as she told us about her employer who had been mistreating her for more than 20 years. She worked long hours but on holidays was forced to work almost all night or was threatened with losing her job. One day while working, Anna became very ill and asked her employer if she could go home. He responded, ‘Just take a couple of aspirins and keep working or you’re fired!’ We prayed with Anna but told her that she, too, needed to learn to pray on her own. We told her that she now had a personal relationship with God and He would hear her prayers, so Anna began to pray and lift up her needs before God.

IMG_1414a.jpg“One day her employer asked, ‘Anna, are you talking to somebody?’ He had watched as she moved her mouth. She answered, ‘No one is here but me.’ She didn’t realize that she was praying even while she worked. This past November for her birthday, for the first time ever, her employer gave her a gift. She was so shocked because in all the years she had worked for him, he had never given her anything. Not only did he give her a gift, he began to treat her with kindness. Anna’s prayers had been answered!

“Recently at a Wednesday evening service, Anna came especially to see us. She couldn’t wait to tell us her testimony! She couldn’t believe that God had heard her prayers. It was such a boost to her faith and joy filled her heart as she realized that the God of the universe cared about what she cared about. He loves it when we bless those who mistreat us and pray for them. He hears and answers!”

The Proper Time in Italy

THE PROPER TIME International Church of Rome began in 2010, a vision of AGWM Personnel, Bob and Lynne Rose, where, due to a limited selection of rentable facilities, they met in various locations on Saturdays. But during this time, they felt God drop a promise in their hearts of an ideal location just three blocks from their home. It was a perfect site with a large meeting space and classrooms. It was located on a street that had been in existence since the time of the Caesars and easily accessible by many modes of transportation. Upon inquiring about the use of the property, the Roses were told that it was not available.

The Roses state, “We continued to be thankful for what we did have and prayed God would grant us favor for a facility at ‘the proper time’ that we could use 24/7. But God didn’t forget what He had spoken into our heart or close the door on us--He knew ‘the proper time’! Last December, we felt the Lord speak to us again about approaching the owners regarding the possibility of using this facility for our church. We prayed and left the result in God’s hand. About a week later, we received an official notice that the property would be available for us to use…not only the meeting space and classrooms but all five floors of the building including a commercial kitchen, fellowship hall, dormitory rooms and more! ‘The proper time’ had come! International Church of Rome began meeting in the new facility on February 12th!

“Already new people have started coming to the church and our evangelism efforts in this area are showing a harvest of souls. We will initiate a children’s outreach in July with a neighborhood VBS. Gloria, a little girl in our church, loves to sing. One Sunday her mother said, ‘I’m not going to church today.’ Gloria immediately exclaimed, ‘I want to go because that is my church and I love it!’ Her mother has brought her to church ever since! God’s message of love never grows old!”

Building1.jpgInternational Church of Rome began in 2010, a vision of AGWM Personnel, Bob and Lynne Rose, where, due to a limited selection of rentable facilities, they met in various locations on Saturdays. But during this time, they felt God drop a promise in their hearts of an ideal location just three blocks from their home. It was a perfect site with a large meeting space and classrooms. It was located on a street that had been in existence since the time of the Caesars and easily accessible by many modes of transportation. Upon inquiring about the use of the property, the Roses were told that it was not available.

The Roses state, “We continued to be thankful for what we did have and prayed God would grant us favor for a facility at ‘the proper time’ that we could use 24/7. But God didn’t forget what He had spoken into our heart or close the door on us--He knew ‘the proper time’! Last December, we felt the Lord speak to us again about approaching the owners regarding the possibility of using this facility for our church. We prayed and left the result in God’s hand. About a week later, we received an official notice that the property would be available for us to use…not only the meeting space and classrooms but all five floors of the building including a commercial kitchen, fellowship hall, dormitory rooms and more! ‘The proper time’ had come! International Church of Rome began meeting in the new facility on February 12th!

Bob and Gloria1.jpg“Already new people have started coming to the church and our evangelism efforts in this area are showing a harvest of souls. We will initiate a children’s outreach in July with a neighborhood VBS. Gloria, a little girl in our church, loves to sing. One Sunday her mother said, ‘I’m not going to church today.’ Gloria immediately exclaimed, ‘I want to go because that is my church and I love it!’ Her mother has brought her to church ever since! God’s message of love never grows old!”