From the October-December 2009 Issue
50 Years of Serving Christ in Europe
Daniel Webber
GuessensThis year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the existence and work of the European Missionary Fellowship. This in itself is a cause for celebration. It provides us with a fresh opportunity to look back and to rejoice in the Lord’s sovereign goodness to us. Not only did he choose to raise up this testimony to his grace in Europe, but He has marvellously sustained and developed it throughout this period of time.
But I also know that there will be those reading these lines who have longer memories; memories capable of stretching back farther than the fifty years we are celebrating this year. And it is appropriate that those involved in those even earlier years of witness be properly acknowledged as being a foundational part of that which was to follow.
The real beginnings (1934-45)
The real origin of this work goes back a further twenty-five years to 1934. For it was then that a lone young Scotsman by the name of James Stewart left the United Kingdom, believing that God had called him to preach the gospel in Eastern Europe. His initial experience consisted mainly of hunger and exhaustion, which did not seem to bode well for the future. Nevertheless, he persevered, and through prayer and faith in the One who had called him, this young Glaswegian soon found himself caught up in a mighty work of the Holy Spirit. Despite those early experiences, he went on to preach extensively, and to great effect, in the Baltic States, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Indeed, it was not long before reports of what the Lord was doing through him among Latvians, Estonians, Russians, Poles, Czechs, Magyars, Serbs, Croats, and Bulgars had filtered through to Christians in the United Kingdom. So much so that, by the time of his return, the beginnings of what was then called the European Evangelistic Fellowship was being set up. With the outbreak of World War II these efforts were brought to a sudden standstill. Although strenuous efforts were subsequently made to renew contact with those native evangelists and colporteurs that had so readily assisted James Stewart before the war, the so-called Iron Curtain was soon to draw itself around those peoples which had so recently known so much of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. With this reality, a new focus emerged. If the good news proclaimed in the Bible is essentially a matter of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, then it had to be acknowledged that the vast swathes of people living throughout Europe – east and west – were largely devoid of its blessings. Therefore, the main attention of the European Evangelistic Crusade (as the Mission was now called) began to focus on the dire needs of those living in Western Europe: the lands of Austria, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, to name but a few.
A significant appointment (1946-59)
It was during this new period of the Mission’s history that a most significant appointment was made. In 1952, the Rev. T Omri Jenkins was appointed British Home Director of what was by now a small, international, inter-denominational organisation. Formerly pastor of a Baptist church in South Wales, Omri Jenkins shared James Stewart’s passion for evangelism, and was soon to participate in evangelistic meetings with him. Not only did they become good friends, but were destined to be co-workers in a new era. They were also of one mind in being concerned about a new style of evangelistic endeavour that was gradually being adopted among evangelicals; one which seemed to rely more upon pragmatic and psychological considerations than the teaching of the Bible. They were persuaded that both the gospel preached and the methods employed should be directed by the Word of God. Alongside this they were keen to continue with a dual emphasis on the importance of the local church in evangelism and, whenever possible, the use of national workers. A further influence of some significance on Omri Jenkins at this time was the ministry in London of D Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Through this biblically-orientated ministry he began to see more clearly than ever before the Bible’s own emphasis on the sovereignty of God in salvation. This understanding was to have a profound effect on the future theological shape of the Mission. Then, in 1959, the European Missionary Fellowship came into being. A full account of the issues which resulted in the British section of the Mission separating and developing its own strategy is set out in Omri Jenkins’s Five Minutes to Midnight. Its author not only became the Mission’s first General Secretary and Director, but its inspiration. Under his dynamic and pastorally sensitive leadership the EMF became a much-respected mission agency amongst those Christians and churches who favoured a thoroughly biblical approach to the work of the gospel. Evangelism with a view to establishing self-supporting evangelical churches, continued to be the Mission’s main thrust. As did enthusiastic support for national workers; within two decades no less than two-thirds of EMF’s missionary body was made up of men and women working in their home countries.
The continuation of the work (1959-)
Fifty years have now passed and all those original convictions, emphases, and their accompanying passion, remain. When I became the Mission Director in 1990, the foundations for the work were already clearly established. Although Omri Jenkins had officially retired in 1988, he was still very much involved in the Mission’s life. This was something for which I was extremely grateful. By this time I had known my predecessor for nearly 25 years. I shared (and continue to share) his theological outlook, his biblical approach to missions, and his keen support of national workers. I also appreciated his concern to provide biblical training for a new generation of men and women who desired to serve the Lord better. I had personally benefited from such a course when the Mission’s headquarters was based in Watford. Therefore, I was very keen that the School of Biblical Studies should continue to offer a high standard of theological education; one that would help prepare a new generation of pastors, evangelists/missionaries, and Christian workers for the work of the gospel in Europe (and, as it happens, beyond!). Since the relocation of the headquarters to Welwyn in 1981, nearly three hundred students have graduated from this school. It is now six years since Omri Jenkins passed into the immediate presence of the Lord he loved and loved to serve. He not only lived to see the fall of the Iron Curtain, but to participate again in the extension of the gospel to those lands where James Stewart had been so wonderfully used of the Lord prior to World War II. He also saw the emergence of a new generation who were eager to serve Christ and his truth. Indeed, fifty per cent of the current EMF missionary body have joined the Mission within the last twenty years. Including the home staff, the EMF is seeking to provide support for nearly ninety individuals serving in fifteen European countries. And what of the future? None of us knows what the future holds, except God alone. We do know that these are challenging times for mission agencies operating out of the United Kingdom. We also know that each new generation needs to hear the gospel. We know that the spiritual needs of this continent are as great as those that faced the apostle Paul in New Testament times and, more latterly, those that faced James Stewart and Omri Jenkins in theirs. Our hope for the future rests in the same God of sovereign grace that they knew. Our responsibility is to continue to do the work that he has commenced. And we trust that many will continue to join us in this great work; and that there will be given to our generation a fresh Vision for Europe.