2 Timothy 2 - in Belgium

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.”

Reflecting on a Great Summer in Spain

It all started with an incredible day camp for kids! Kelly Seders, AGWM personnel in Barcelona, Spain and her group of volunteers (with the help of a team visiting from the States) hosted more than 60 children for a week of learning and growing in faith. The theme was imagination and invention, with a theological focus on God’s creativity and the unique purpose for each individual.

It’s common in Spanish culture for kids to attend weekly camps the entire summer due to the long work hours of parents. This, of course, gets expensive. There’s virtually no such thing as a free camp, but the International Church of Barcelona (ICB) provided a camp free of charge. Kids were saying this was the best camp they’d ever attended; they even wanted it to be longer! Parents were blown away by the quality of the camp and amount of fun their kids were having, to the point that some wanted to pay ICB after the fact!

On the first day of the camp, volunteers were standing outside greeting parents and kids with loud cheers, and it caught the attention of several passers-by. Earlier that morning, a woman had asked God, "If you're real, please provide something for my kids to do this week." As one of those interested passers-by, she then asked what was going on in the church, and one of the volunteers told her about our camp. Astonished, she asked if her kids could be signed up, too! They came the following day and were with us for the rest of the week!

Then, in July and August, Nick and Kelly Seders led ICB in a very intentional reading challenge. In order to support biblical literacy and focus on the meaning of the Gospel, we led everyone in a 30-day reading of the New Testament. Since summers in Spain tend to be slow (with locals heading for the hills and tourists hitting the beaches), it was the perfect time for everyone to add scripture into their daily routines! The challenge not only did that, but it also forced fellow believers to come to terms with essential elements of the faith. According to one of the new believers, “It’s been a daily appointment with myself: a space to relax, reflect, and get the answers that only God has. Opening the Bible every day gives me peace.”

For the duration of the NT-30 challenge, the Seders coordinated a weekly gathering outside of the city which allowed for a time of worship and reflection on the things that they as a community had been reading. Teachings included how redemption and restoration function, the power of the Holy Spirit, how to read the Pauline letters, and the message of Revelation. God used these gatherings to support the reading challenge in such a great way!

Gospel on YouTube in France

Henry and Karen Linderman, AGWM personnel in France, share this exciting news of salvations through their posting French sermons on You Tuber. “God is reaching more and more people through our YouTube French sermon outreach. As of today we have 5,651 regular subscribers and 1,647,655 views. In just the last few weeks we baptized 8 people who had given their lives to Jesus through listening and watching on their computers, even before contacting us and coming into the church.

“Cou Sine, of Cambodian origin, began listening to our sermons and sharing them with her husband. They were both baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues and contacted us to share their joy. We were able to direct them to the Assemblies of God church in Châteaudun, France, where they will soon be baptized in water.

“Christian Hertz, a French-man living in Sweden, was attending church but didn’t understand that he had to get all sin out of his life. After listening to our messages he fully repented and later called, wanting to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I prayed with him over the phone, and a half hour later he called back to say he was speaking in tongues. Now he has asked permission to translate our sermons into Swedish, gathering Facebook friends to tell of what Christ has done in his life, and to share our sermons with them.”

Children meet God in the Czech Republic

Over 500 people from across the Czech Republic gathered in the Jesinik mountains this past July for a spiritual emphasis week. The program included nightly worship and teaching, morning small groups, some specialized workshops and 5 one-hour blocks of afternoon prayer.

During the morning hours when the adults and youth were in their small-group meetings, over 100 children also gathered to hear about Jesus. Jason and Andrea Morrison, AGWM personnel in the  Czech Republic, were privileged to have Nathan Jorris from Fort Wayne First Assembly as their special guest speaker for the children. Nathan and his team were fantastic as they brought a lesson each day and led the children to times of personal prayer.

The most exciting part of the week was to see many children spending time in prayer and truly connecting with God. Many of them had tears in their eyes as they prayed on their own. In preparation for the week, the Morrisons spent much time helping the national leaders to plan the program and gather resources. Since the theme was about being a superhero for God, they decided to shoot their own superhero film to introduce the program each day. The Morrisons state that, “After seeing the children respond to God, we know the time in preparation was well spent.”