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I believe I must communicate candidly. Last year, 1999, was a difficult year for the work in Europe: it has been unclear exactly what results came from the two campaigns. Issues, unique for Europe, raised many questions, and answered few, for International Crusades. Frankly, I had become weary in the work.
What a wonderful experience this trip became to my tired heart!
In more than 25 years of partnership work, this preparation trip is by far the best I have ever experienced. In EVERY country, in EVERY meeting, I saw the Holy Spirit at work. Never before has there been such an overwhelming sense that I was simply an observer in His meetings.
New areas were identified for future work: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Poland and Austria.
A new kind of work, the Gospel Festival, was planned for Rome. Plans for "traditional" campaigns were finalized in France, Hungary, Portugal, and Spain.
I am grateful to have experienced the work of the Holy Spirit during these 10 days.
I have intended to try to get this email completed since Sunday. However, I discovered Monday night why I needed to wait. (I can't provide a good reason for the delay from Monday to Wednesday, except I have been out of town on business).
Monday night, Janice and I went with a small group from our church to the evangelism conference in Ft. Worth. Oh my! It was a holy time. I am so grateful to my dear friend, Bailey Stone, for such an awesome service. The music was wonderful. We heard a stirring response by the pastor of the Edgewood Baptist Church to the mindless murder of some of his members late last year.
Then God broke my heart. Jim Cymbala, pastor of the great Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York, spoke to my soul. I became so hungry to go to Europe in a new way. In times past, I have asked you to pray for me to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, touched by the Holy Spirit, and comforted by the Holy Spirit, but I must confess I see that I have missed the mark with each of those requests.
I simply ask you to pray that I will be FILLED with the Holy Spirit. None of me. All Him. His communication, His plan, His passion, His heart, His vision, His hunger, His words, His methods, HIM. None of me.
Dear God, let it be.....
Jerry
I have arrived in Paris. The flight was great and the transportation to the hotel relatively quick. I will be having lunch with Henri Frantz, the pastor of the Avenue du Maine Baptist Church, a long-time supporter of partnership missions. Our European leadership workshop will be held at his church in May.
This afternoon, I have a meeting with Etienne Lhermenault, the Executive Secretary of the French Baptist Union and IC Coordinator for France. After that, there will be a meeting with several leading pastors to discuss the future possibilities of IC in France.
Join me to pray the Spirit will "own" every meeting, every discussion.
God bless you,
Jerry
Wow! What a wonderful day. The Spirit filled all that was done. I praise the Lord and thank you for your prayer support and encouragement.
At lunch, Henri Frantz informed me that he has been praying and working to develop a Partnership among French speaking countries, especially Canada, France and Belgium. The purpose is to do work in other areas of the world where French is the dominant language (e.g. Haiti). I volunteered to facilitate any way possible, and several ideas have emerged.
Henri also mentioned a "day of music" in France on June 21. He believes that music evangelism (especially gospel music) will work well if built around that date. More ideas regarding that have been discussed also.
The Lord miraculously replaced my passport which was lost/stolen. And He did it in less than an hour, and AFTER THE PASSPORT OFFICE WAS CLOSED. Truly miraculous.
Tonight we had a great meeting with Etienne Lhermenault and a couple of missionaries (one IMB, one from General Baptists). We discussed the possibility of a multi-year program with France both receiving and sending evangelism volunteers. There is an opening also for including Belgium and Arabic language churches too.
A date range for the campaign in France in 2001 was set as well (April-May). Much enthusiasm was present over the concept of a national preparation retreat, although it may be necessary to have regional retreats. France is about the size of Texas, so getting everyone together is somewhat difficult.
I look forward to a good night's rest. Asleep in the arms of the Spirit.
Sweet rest to you, too.
Jerry
Brother Alf Kavli just left the hotel here in Rome to return to Norway, where he is the associate pastor with 2 congregations. He came to Rome (cheaper than for me to go there) to discuss the possibility of International Crusades engaging with Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland in a program of mobilizing believers in these countries to join in evangelistic work in Europe and the world as well as to receive volunteers to work with them in Scandinavia.
He will attend our European Leadership workshop in Paris as an observer and also propose meetings in Scandinavia to introduce IC and learn of the interest from Scandinavian leadership to work with us. Those meetings will take place in May, after the workshop.
Pray for him as he returns home and for the national leadership and other pastors with whom he has discussion regarding all these possibilities. I am grateful for Juanita and Donnie Land (IC enlistment staff from California) for providing the contact to Alf. Pray for them, too. They are in Estonia leading a preparation retreat and will be returning to the US soon.
Today I am meeting with the Baptist Association of Rome (and having WONDERFUL fellowship with the Zerbinati family, whom we love like our own) and visiting in a couple of churches. I will report to you tonight about those meetings.
I am praying for you as you praise and worship the King of Kings today. I pray that He will be lift high, drawing many unto Himself.
In the service of the King,
Jerry
What a joy to remember the great things that the Lord has done! My day has been just that: worshipping and sharing communion in the Monte Sacro church in the north part of the eternal city. Then a trip across town and across time to the Centocelle church. It was here that we took part in our first campaign in Italy in 1976.
"Gesu libre, salve, impegne" ... Jesus liberates, saves and engages. Yes, He does. And this church has historically felt this call. After WW II, the church build a place for orphans. Even then, there was a partnership. The plaque is still there: "A Gift of the Women's Missionary Union of Texas, Mrs. Marie Mathis". Now the orphanage has orphans of a different kind--old people who often have no one else but the church. The church in Italy is still engaged.
But, those first two things, liberation and salvation. What about them?
Although there has be some history in evangelism, in the last few years, it has been moved further and further back until the urgency and the necessity has almost been forgotten. But God had some who did not forget .....
Perhaps you remember last year when I reported about the meeting in Prague, when Ettore and Patrizia Zerbinati shared that no church in Italy was passionate about evangelism. We prayed for them and asked you to join us.
Through the last 9 months, God has been stirring in Italy. Ettore began a search to find the Italians who remembered the mandate to evangelize. First there was 3, then 7, then 2 churches, then 4, now 6 churches gathered today to encourage each other to win Rome, then all of Italy, to Jesus.
First, we shared Agape, a love-feast, just as the Romans of Paul's day shared (only Italians can possibly do this right!). Then a short break to talk, laugh and drink coffee. We reconvened back in the fellowship hall for a general meeting to dream a dream. To expect God to share His vision for Italy, for Europe, for all His creation.
The group warmly endorsed increased evangelism, specifically a gospel festival this fall. This is a new concept that uses small music groups to draw a crowd to the area near the church where they hear a clear presentation of the gospel and a connection to the church. The five groups will go to a different church each day. Pray now that God will call out people to come share in this innovative opportunity.
After the meeting, we returned to the Zerbinati house for pizza, french fries, rice and cheese balls, salad and much happy conversation and laughter. Wow! My heart is so full.
God was glorified all day in many, many ways.
Now to bed and an early get up, to head north to England.
Tired, but filled,
Jerry
Surprise, surprise! That is really the way it is. I arrived into London a bit late and just as well for Bryan Doyle our IC coordinator for England, was late as well. He had a small wreck with his car last week, leaving in in for repair. His church (Stopsley Baptist Church) was robbed during the services Sunday night and part of the loot was his laptop computer and all the "stuff" on his desk. Part of that stuff was his car keys. A member gave him a ride home, with his insurance company to tow his car to his home.
Last night, Bryan's garage caught on fire, doing a great deal of smoke damage to the house. He got little sleep, but used his assistant's car to pick me up at the airport. Returning to the church, we car his car (actually, his wife's), but didn't recognize the driver. We assumed it was the company bringing his car back. Nope. It was the robber who had returned and stolen he car.
Needless to say, Bryan was distracted and we only had a the ride from the airport and dinner tonight to visit. As always, that was mutually encouraging. I spent several hours with the church's Minister of Missions. Great visit! We have charted out some plans for reaching out to other churches to encourage their going on future campaigns. Also there were positive discussions about continuing participation of Stopsley in campaigns world-wide. We were able clear up some misperceptions. We also talked about the possibility of a campaign in England.
Then came the most joyful news.......
One of the participants on last year's Hungary campaign, Alan Heavey, was concerned about the spiritual condition of his parents, aged 80 and 82. He wrote a letter to them trying to explain why he was going to Hungary and his burden for lost people, not only in Hungary, including his own family. Alan had a great experience in Hungary using the questionnaire to walk people toward an understanding of their lostness and the need for a personal decision to receive Christ.
When Alan returned, he decided to go visit directly with his parents. He took the same questionnaire with the same 10 questions that he had used in Hungary. After an hour a half of going through the questions and their meaning, step by step, BOTH PARENTS DECIDED TO PRAY TO INVITE JESUS TO BE THE LORD OF THEIR LIFE!
Certainly, one of the benefits of direct mission campaigns is what it changes in the life of those who go. They return more confident, more committed and more burdened. Perhaps not 100% of the time, but almost always.
How special! Alan has said he wants to go to other churches in England and encourage them to "let their people go!"
Today truly was joy amid chaos,
Thank you for your partnership as we see the Lord at work,
Jerry
I am at that point in the trip where I am running out of gas. I really need to be filled, but, Dear God, only with your Spirit.
I met this afternoon with Tivadar. He is so special! He will be taking me to Austria and Germany in May to introduce the work of IC. Tonight we met with interested pastors. It appears there are about 10-12 interested churches at this point. We could rise to 15 by the preparation retreat, tentatively set for May 4-6.
We heard wonderful testimonies about how the campaign here in Hungary is still going and that the churches are continuing to Baptist new believers. The testimonies were wonderful. I wish each of you could be hear to hear the answer to your prayers.
One of the constant words I heard tonight is that the leaders here in Hungary recognize the need to mobilize their people to go to other places and witness.
God bless you in Him,
Jerry
I love Portugal and Lisbon. What a wonderful place, filled with so many beautiful memories.
Today I had a moment for rest, which was great. I met all morning with the hotel people to evaluate all three of their properties.
This afternoon I had a meeting with my dear, long-time partner Antonio dos Santos. The fellowship and encouragement with and from this precious statesman of the Lord Jesus was like cool water.
The meeting with 8 pastors tonight was positive and very powerful. The have proposed a date for a campaign in Portugal in 2001 for me to take to Porto tomorrow and propose to them.
But listen to this ......
Two pastors committed to taking a team (one six 6 or 7 people) to Spain this fall! HALLELUJAH!!! What vision. What a blessing. I think there will be 4-6 teams from the Lisbon area. This is the answer to all our prayers.
They also suggested that we not link directly with the convention this time. This will give more freedom for independent churches and others aligned with other Baptist bodies freedom to participate. This is just the right suggestion.
Most of the pastors at the meeting participated in the campaign here 2 years ago. Each one said what a blessing it was.
We (6 of us) shared in a wonderful meal after the meeting. But I had truly already eaten. I had meat to eat they knew not of. And it was delicious.
More tomorrow night after the meeting in Porto.
Sleep well (and quickly. I will).
Jerry
Today ran the extremes: from panic to tranquility, from complicated meetings to the simplicity of love expressed from my daughter's special friend (and my "Portuguese daughter").
The hotel started my day by waking me up 30 minutes late. Heart rate and blood pressure: up, I am sure. There went breakfast at the hotel, a wonderful repast. Oh, well.
An tranquil train ride through the picturesque Portuguese countryside. Ok, I slept half the time. But I have driven along there and it is picturesque. Antonio Figueira met me and gave the grand tour of Porto. Wonderful lunch together.
We had a fine meeting with 6 pastors and two youth ministry leaders. For those of you who know them, Jair's father (a pastor) was there as well as Pedro de Andrade from Amadora and the national youth ministry.
The group in Porto agreed with the group from Lisbon that the best time for the campaign would be April 1-8, 2000. So we set that, pending confirmation from International Crusades that it will be ok. We had a very, very instructive dialogue about what when right and what can be improved in the campaign in Portugal 2 years ago.
One especially bright spot was the testimony from one pastor that he had baptized two from the campaign and that he thought others might re-engage with the church at any time.
These pastors want to take the campaign to the Northern Portugal Baptist Association to encourage more pastors to participate.
Finally, every pastor said they would encourage their church to send a team to Spain and the youth leadership was enthusiastic about promoting the Spain campaign this September.
One note of personal interest ....... the young man you has taken the responsibility for the work in Chaves (work our daughter, Rebecca, worked for 2 years) while the Wright family is on stateside assignment, was there and I took the opportunity to encourage him to know many of us are praying for that new work.
III hope to be able to send emails from the seminary, but possibly this will not get sent to you until I get to the Madrid airport Sunday, heading home. We'll see...
Sueños dulces (sweet dreams),
Jerry
Whew! What a great trip. I feel as Isaiah, I am a man of unclean lips, so unworthy, yet I have the hand of God in every country, in every meeting. What a wonderful experience! I am not so much tired, as finished with the work God set out to be done.
Today's meeting in Madrid was a test: no one to translate!
(except the Spirit, and there were times when I think He took a
break.) We needed to move the campaign one week later due to some
conflicts with other work here in Spain. That presents some
challenges, but God is able. Galicia no longer is prepared to
received teams, but the North area (Basque country) is. It looks
now like 14-20 teams will be needed. People have already signed
up from Holland, Portugal and Latin
America. This looks to be a great work. Praise God!
It was a surprise to have in the meeting Toni and Dori from Victoria, in the North. She grew up in the church in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, where we worked several years ago. She had just gotten married and left when we got there, but we have many mutual friends including the current pastor, Armando Santana, and the Voicu Burca family. What a nifty reunion.
I spent the afternoon searching out hotels near the First Baptist Church of Madrid. We found a great one, but there may some problems one night. Please pray for that to open next week. Additionally, when we met with the pastor to confirm availability of the church for the opening and closing rally, he was interested to have a team himself! This church is very special to me because this the last place outside the United States where my mom and dad served together on a mission trip (1981). The members of the church treated them (and everyone else) so very well.
The IC National Coordinator for Spain, Jose "Pepe" Carmet, is such a special friend and partner in the gospel. He has partnered with our church for several years in providing his young people to work in our Day Camp. Pepe went the 2nd mile (and more) by staying in Madrid an extra day, just so he could be sure I got to the airport OK. Actually, I was wondering about that myself. Again, God provided my need before I knew it!
My flight leaves in the morning at 11:30 and in 10 short (that's right, boys and girls, 10) I will be in Miami. A quick (and I mean quick) run through customs and I will jump on the next flight to Dallas. This time for 3 and a half hours.
I appreciate American Airlines and the religious sales group manager being a GREAT partner in my preparation travel. American Airlines is the best. I use them all I can because they deliver great schedules and great support. I hope you will remember that when you next need to travel.
Thank you for your prayers. I hope to send a summary next week.
Your partner in the gospel,
Jerry