is Christianity dying in Europe?
The mainstream media consistently reports that Christianity is dying in Europe and that the rise of secularism is unstoppable. But that’s not what we’re seeing in IFES ministry! Through an exciting new evangelistic initiative, we are witnessing thousands of students hearing and responding to the gospel in Europe’s universities.
I expected to be preached at, but I listened to an interesting lecture and wise reflections on life.
Here’s a taste of what’s been happening:
Poland: Over four days, more than 900 people attended the ‘Something More Than’ Festival last November. About 250 people left contact information. One participant said, ‘I expected to leave after 15 minutes, but I stayed till the end. I expected to be preached at, but I listened to an interesting lecture and wise reflections on life.’
Albania: Students finally got permission to hold one of their events within the university. A famous Christian singer spoke, and 130 students attended. Over 250 students heard the gospel during the entire mission week. ‘We have never seen Albanians reaching other Albanians on such a large scale before,’ said Zef, the IFES General Secretary there.
Bulgaria: Almost 40 people attended the grill-a-Christian (question and answer) session, 15 of them new people. Some of the non-Christians stayed for five hours afterwards to talk and play table games!
Great Britain: Thirty students professed faith and over 100 expressed interest in further discussions about the gospel after a mission week in one city in Wales.
The past six months alone have seen:
- the first ever university missions held in Poland, Romania, Armenia and Malta (where the mission attracted the Maltese Prime Minister and was featured on national news);
- thousands hearing gospel presentations at over 90 missions in UK universities, with many hundreds making professions of faith or signing up for further discussions;
- over 1,700 students in Serbia crowding into an auditorium to hear an evangelistic message, with over 35,000 more following on the internet.
FEUER is currently in the middle of a continent-wide campaign to hold university missions in 25 major cities in 25 countries in 25 months.
All this is the fruit of the Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities of Europe (FEUER), a joint-initiative that IFES and UCCF Great Britain started in 2008. Led by Lindsay Brown (IFES Evangelist-at-large), Richard Cunningham (UCCF National Director), and Martin Haizmann (IFES Europe Regional Secretary), FEUER brings together Europe’s brightest young evangelists to publicly proclaim the gospel and engage in dialogue.
FEUER is currently in the middle of a continent-wide campaign to hold university missions in 25 major cities in 25 countries in 25 months. Over the next few months, mission weeks are planned in Germany, Italy, Albania and Denmark.
Lindsay is enthusiastic about the long-term impact of FEUER: ‘Hundreds of students are coming to Christ. The next generation of evangelists committed to public proclamation are being trained to follow in the footsteps of Michael Green, Roger Carswell and Jurgen Spiess. These are exciting times! Please pray for us.’
FEUER is proving that reports of the death of Christianity in Europe are greatly exaggerated!
