On Saturday, March 5, representatives from around New England and Europe gathered in Framingham, Massachusetts, to plan and pray for God’s spirit to move over the course of the next 10 years in particular.Directed by board chairman, Valdur Koha from Boston, this group meets regularly to discuss the best way to distribute finances from our special mission’s contributions, how to cooperate better to communicate good news and what next steps should be taken to ultimately glorify God.
This meeting had some extra excitement regarding the New England piece because a committee was put together with the stated goal of helping us all dream for the next 10 years (what we are calling the 2020 Vision). You will be hearing and seeing more about this in the coming months. Please be praying and thinking about what you can do personally in your character and life to use your God-given talents for His purposes.
There was some great news from the European churches. In Tirana they had a Valentine's Day service where their 58 members brought 30 of their friends to church and have three that are very close to becoming disciples. In Budapest they raised over 10,000 Euros and for the first time donated the entire amount to the IMS. They also had their first two teen baptisms and the rest of their teens are all studying. They saw tremendous growth and had 13 baptized in 2010 and 3 getting ready to be restored. In Zagreb they had 4 restored, their first restorations ever. They are also planning for an Easter service and are planning on giving out 50,000 invitations and have rented a hall that seats 500 for the service. In Milan they have grown from 46 to 60 and have already seen 2 baptisms this year. When the Silipo's moved there, the teen ministry consisted of their son, Joseph. Now there are 5 teen disciples and Joe just baptized one of his friends and they are studying with another friend.
One of the biggest developments has been the concept of 'Mission Centers'. These Mission Centers would provide a center of training and strengthening of European leaders to be sent out to existing churches and plant new churches. Be praying for these plans and the impact that they can have all across Europe.
Following the IMS meeting, the European representatives stayed to meet with a group called “mission zealots.” These disciples from each New England congregation have been commissioned to bring back “good news” and keep all of our churches informed about our partnership with our brothers and sisters across the ocean.
We want to make sure each month we are having at least some brief section in our Sunday service where we see a video or publicly share about the churches abroad so we don’t forget to pray, give, email and encourage our European brothers and sisters as much as we can.
Shared from http://www.bostoncoc.org/