10/40 Window or The Whole World?

A church in the U.S. has informed one of our missionary families that they will no longer be supporting them as they don't work in the so called' 10/40 window of the world.

(The 10/40 Window is a term coined by Christian missionary strategist Luis Bush in 1990 to refer to those regions of the eastern hemisphere located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator, a general area that in 1990 was purported to have the highest level of socioeconomic challenges and least access to the Christian message on the planet.) This church no longer considers Europe to be a mission field.

This is staggering, especially when you consider that the vast majority of Europeans do not attend church, have never been to a church service, and have never heard the Gospel message preached by a Holy Spirit anointed preacher. Europe was Christianized (at times with the edge of a sword) in centuries past but not evangelized. There are still vast areas of Europe that remain unreached by the Gospel. There are tens of thousands of towns and villages that are devoid of any living Christian witness.

While I accept that Luis Bush’s emphasis on the “10/40 window” of the world may have served it’s purpose to draw the attention of the Church to a needy part of the world, as a missions strategy it is unbiblical and irrational.

The bible states; “Go into all the world”. (see Matt. 28:18-20. Mark 13:10) This command refers to evangelism and disciple making, not Christianization. God also expects us to preach this gospel to each successive generations until the Lord returns.

Please do partner with us and all that will proclaim the gospel to the world, but do not neglect other parts of the world just because their ancestors have been Christianized.

Recent events in North Africa and the Middle East have taken the world by surprise. Current happenings are reminiscent of the fall of Communism in Europe in the late 1989. One encouraging thought is that all that has taken place in Egypt and elsewhere occurred nearly overnight. If God can do the politically impossible in a comparatively short time span then surely we can trust Him to do the seemingly spiritually impossible anywhere in Europe! How wonderful and exciting it would be if entire European nations were to be overcome by a spirit of conviction and repentance. "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Let us ask God for the salvation of Europe.*

Paul

* (Paraphrased from the ECM Update by Vincent Price)

Pastor Vidar fron Norway

Pastor Vidar is an amazing man!
He is a husband, father, and grandfather, a sheppard of 200 sheep, math teacher, and pastor of a local Church. In his spare time he runs across the hills and mountains of the West Cup of Norway. Betty and I found him and his wife to be the most gracious and loving hosts.
Thanks again, Jogina and Vidar!

Greetings from Sochi, Russia

Paul and Betty Weresch have just returned to their home from Europe. I had a wonderful time translating and assisting in their ministry. It was a privilege to be his translator and a blessing to participate in the Bible seminars conducted for the churches of Sochi, Russia.

God has been speaking much to me and my friends. We have learned so much these days. As you probably know the Winter Olympic Games in 2014 will be held in Sochi and together with Paul we are dreaming about having all of Sochi evangelized during the games. Now is a good time to start sharing the vision with believers in the city.

Please pray for Churches of Sochi to catch the vision and to partner together in this great venture!

Alexander Shein, Editorial Team

English Camp in Dzierzoniow, Poland

From right to left: Alana, Annie, Carrie, Jane, and Ray

Last week has proven to be a productive yet exhausting time for our team from America. All five of us are students or former students from Washington State University. Jane and Ray met Annie, Alana and me in Berlin and went straight to Dzierzoniow. Our purpose was to aid the local church in blessing the town by teaching a valuable life skill to its children: the English language. 

For five days we met with 30-40 young students, teaching them to sing English songs (about Jesus) and addressing the large group with a message about God's love. Then we broke up into three smaller groups, divided by skill level, and taught them some basics of the language. The children were introduced to several new vocabulary words and were given the opportunity to interact and practice their English on native speakers. In the oldest group of kids we had several great conversations about God and what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. 

Through the camp, some residents of Dzierzoniow have noticed the blessing that this church is to the community and have praised God because of it. Relationships were formed between the students and the American leaders, despite the linguistic obstacles. We praise God for the opportunity to be here and to work with this church. They, and we, look forward to doing this all again next year.

Ray Gross and Carrie Calhoun