| Greetings! I am so excited to tell you about my trip to Europe. I went with a team of 20 to the UK where we are about to send a church plant. The trip was bifurcated into our time in London and our time in Reading. In London, we spent a lot of time traveling to different locations and buildings that have had significant impact on our Christian history. We had a guide named Ben who did an excellent job of telling the stories of the saints who came before us, showing us the greater themes of their lives, and connecting everything back to the gospel as we went. Our time with Ben was so enriching to the soul; for me, the most impactful story he told us was about the life of William Tyndale. Tyndale is most well known for being the one to stand up against the Catholic Church during the reformation and producing for the first time ever a translation of the Bible into English. He was strangled and burned for his act of rebellion and all 3000 copies of his English Bible that he smuggled into England were burned in the courtyard of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London shortly before he was executed himself. He dedicated himself to ensuring that God’s word could be in the hands of common people. He saw this as the task of his life, even if it meant living in exile and dying before seeing his work accomplished. in 1536, Tyndale’s dying words were “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!” His prayer was answered just 3 short years after his martyr when King Henry VIII allowed Tyndale’s translation to be in every church in England.  Ben telling us the story of William Tyndale while we sit atop the very spot where his 3000 illegal Bibles were burned.We spent the second half of our time in the UK in Reading, the city where our next Resonate Church will be planted. We split our time there between meeting and sharing the gospel with students from the University of Reading and discovering details about the city that would be helpful for our church plant when they move. One of the best interactions I had while there was during our lunch break. My new friend Sam (from Resonate Fort Collins, CO) and I decided to go eat lunch in the student dining hall to see if we could meet a few more people. We met two freshers (as they call them) who were first year students at the university. We talked for a long time about cultural differences between American universities and British ones and eventually we started talking about the gospel and what it means to really believe and follow Jesus. One of the guys, Fin, shared with us that the last time he had even considered the possibility of a God was also the first time when he was in 3rd grade for a school assignment. This actually seemed to be a common theme among the people we talked to. For the most part, Europe is so pre-christian that not only is Christianity not taboo to talk about (like it is here in the states) but for most people, they really don’t think much about the possibility of a god.  This is our UK Thanksgiving team all together! This story seems to be fairly normal for a lot of Europeans. The City of Reading has almost 200,000 people and has only 5 theologically sound churches. The largest of which only has 500 attenders. We got to meet with one of them to hear about their experience in the UK since starting their church as a plant from the US. Getting to hear their stories were very encouraging. It seems like right now the problem in the UK is not that people are hardened to the gospel, but that most people have never heard it before. After we finished with the UK trip, I and a few others stayed to tour around Europe for a few days. Funny enough, I think we ended up sharing the gospel more times in our travels than on our official Resonate trip. We met people in our hostels and on trains and buses and the places we visited. One of the most encouraging stories was a group of three we met in Denmark. Over dinner we talked about the culture in each of our home countries and ended up talking about the gospel for quite a while. They were very interested (in fact one of the guys turned down going to the bar with a girl he had met because he told her he was too interested in the current conversation). We ended up decided to hang out all day together the next day so the three of them and the three of us took a train to Sweden together and continued to talk about spiritual things. You can be praying for Aaron, Robin, and Esme that God would grip their hearts with the gospel. Robin especially seemed like he was really considering what we were telling them.  Here are our friends we met in Copenhagen, Denmark. Esme is the girl in the front left, she is from Greece, Robin is the guy in front on the right, he’s from Switzerland, and Aaron is the guy in the back right, also from Switzerland. Overall this trip was so good for my soul! I am encouraged and more prayerful than ever about the things God is doing in Europe. You can join me in praying for this church plant and for Dakota as he moves with them at the end of the school year. And be praying for Robin, Aaron, and Esme, along with everyone else we met as we traveled. I have so many stories I could share about this trip, so feel free to write back with any replies or questions. God bless! |
What a wonderful experience and blessing.
Your sharing is so exciting to read!! I look forward to reading and learning more and more of your Commission work!! Praising God for you all!!
I love hearing about your trips and your daily encounters with other students. Can’t wait to hear more and I will continue to pray for Esme, Robin and Aaron. Looking forward to more stories and be praying for all of you!
Awesome trip! You are a blessing bro 😎
I can’t wait to chat with you and hear more stories! I love how God used you to bring the gospel to everyone and anyone you came in contact with! As we finished our lady’s bible study tonight (“David-Seeking a heart like his” by Beth Moore). Beth ended it well…we are here on this earth for God’s purpose and for our generation! It’s really all that matters! Having a heart that loves Him and a mind that wants to know Him more! Thankful that you have that heart and mind! Love you!