Kerygma180 PO Box 26856, London W7 2QJ www.k180.org I Email: office@k180.org Director: Rev. Martin Durham Autumn 2017 Dear Well, he did it! 4 hours, 18 minutes and 54 seconds. A fantastic achievement by Gareth Hides. Or is it John Hides? Sporting 'John 3:16' on the back of his shirt, one runner came alongside Gareth during the race; "Keep going John! Wow, 3 hours 16. Is that what you're aiming for?" Amusing, but also a sharp reminder of how oblivious many are to the things of God. As I stood watching at the start, I remember thinking, "I am so glad that's not me!" What on earth causes someone to choose to run 26.2 miles? People will give different answers of course, but for John Gareth there was just one motivation...spreading the gospel. As well as having opportunities to witness during the race, Gareth had a longer-term vision - raising money to help support our training of young leaders in Albania, Lithuania and Moldova. History Makers (HM) training is now happening in 25 European countries. The heartbeat of HM is 'Equipping leaders. Spreading the Gospel'. I am delighted to say that we have just launched a brand-new website specifically for HM in Europe. Why not take a look? www.historymakerseurope.org "Which generation are you living for?" I remember someone once asking, "Which generation are you living for? This one or the next?" A good question. There is no doubt this generation is our responsibility. The choices people make today about Jesus will have eternal consequences. It truly is a matter of life or death. How can we possibly stay silent? We don't know what tomorrow holds, but God has left us in no doubt about eternity. As the self-professed atheist, Penn Jillette once said; [if you know eternal life is true] how much do you have to hate someone not to tell them?" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) However, it is more than this generation. We are called to make disciples, to pass on those biblical principles we live our lives by, to see a new generation raised up who will declare the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9). Within the pages of this newsletter you will read of investment in young lives. Through your partnership, know that you are a part of what God is doing across Europe through the ministry of K180. In this vein, we are also delighted to welcome Jenn Symington and Johnny Mroczynski as K180 trainees, for 12 months and 8 months respectively. More from Jenn and Johnny in our next newsletter! Thank you for your ongoing interest and support, which is of huge encouragement to our team. We value your partnership more than we can express. It is a joy to be running the race alongside you!
UK STREET REPORT Ealing The weekly work on the streets here in London continues to demonstrate just how open & hungry people are to talk about things of substance (even when they know from the outset that you disagree with them!). God has grown our regular Friday night team by a couple of individuals this year. We pray for labourers for the harvest and God continues to supply them! Week after week we get to share about the redemption found in Jesus and seek to answer people s heartfelt questions about him. This past week a heckler/new friend named A stuck around for half an hour of sincere conversation to hear about a God who exists, loves him deeply, and longs to answer his questions about life. A identified (and argued passionately) as an atheist but softened throughout the conversation. We invited him to come around again next week with more questions. He jokingly replied that we might regret making that offer. I hope we do! Romford Our friends at Regeneration Church lead a weekly Tuesday evening outreach, birthed out of Friday nights in Ealing, and have continued to see God use their faithful witness in Romford. We have been able to join them a couple of times this summer in ministry, once with our team of students from Faithbridge Church in Texas. It is encouraging that their outreach team is not entirely made up of members of their own church. Seeing gatherings of all denominations and traditions unite behind the gospel message goes a long way in reinforcing that it s all about knowing Jesus (and Him knowing us) and not so much about which church we attend. Please join us in praying that God would continue to grow our teams and embolden us in His Spirit as we preach to see people saved and His kingdom come in London.
BIG 3 MISSION ONE MISSION, THREE CITIES Girona, Spain: 14-17 July During a very hot weekend in Northern Spain, the Big 3 Girona team were encouraged as we saw the gospel impacting lives. Training in sharing the Good News was eagerly received and teams readily went out on to the streets to proclaim Christ. Perhaps one of the most inspiring testimonies was that of local man, Alfonso. He was known as the baddest man in town with a track record to match. He stepped into church for the first time on the Sunday morning and made a decision to surrender to Jesus at the close of the preaching. The gospel remains the power of God for salvation! (Romans 1:16) Canterbury, UK: 10-13 July Our Canterbury team of 4 partnered in the ongoing work of United Beach Missions (UBM) in the city centre (with the cathedral in sight). We shared in ministry, fellowship and meals with another 10-12 team members, all of whom were eager to share Jesus through preaching, testimonies and conversations throughout the week. We engaged with individuals, families and students from Asia, the Middle-East, the Americas and all over Europe as they enjoyed their summer holidays. Some great conversations were had about the truth of Jesus love displayed through His death and resurrection. Reykjavik, Iceland: 13-17 July After travelling to Reykjavik, the three-strong Big 3 team did some street outreach on Friday before driving to the small city of Akranes where we were able to encourage the small church fellowship there. On Saturday, we led some training at Filadelfia church, Reykjavik (where the team was staying), followed by more outreach. Late night on Saturday, we joined Downtown Mission, who reach out to clubbers by giving out hot drinks and cards with scripture verses. We ministered at Filadelfia on Sunday afternoon. It was encouraging to see two young men who we had met on the street at the service.
TRAINING YOUNG LEADERS 2 Timothy 2:2 says, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." It is a huge privilege to partner with the International Leadership Institute (www.iliteam.org) in helping equip young leaders across Europe for Gospel ministry. The summer months were jam-packed with training initiatives. Here is a glimpse of the countries involved and the immediate impact on young leaders... Latvia "[Due to an ingrained Soviet mindset even as a relatively young leader at 31] for ten years I have struggled with this whole vision thing. Now I finally get it! (Gunta, District Leader, Latvia) Estonia UK " like a wakeup call from God to me (Maria, Estonia) God has cleared my vision, fuelled my passion. (Michael, UK) Macedonia [History Makers] helped me find the God-given vision for my life. (Ali, Macedonia)
Romania [History Makers] was a spiritual revival for me and I rededicated my life to God. (Lulia, Romania) Spain I was able to increase my faith and clarify my vision of what God wants for my life. (Carla, Spain) Georgia This journey helped me to fill the gap that was in me. (Kevin, Georgia) Belgium It is amazing. Every day God is speaking to me. No, every session God is speaking to me! (David, Belgium) Please take a moment to check out our new HM Europe website www.historymakerseurope.org
EURO STREET TEAMS: ON MISSION IN Budapest & Pécs: Hungary In May, we rejoined our friends at Bible Speaks Church in Budapest and Pécs supporting them in evangelism training and 5 outreaches across the two cities during the long-weekend. We were excited to meet participants at Saturday morning s training in Pécs from four of the city s churches. One young woman shared that she had decided to join the training as she had recently felt an urgency to get out and share her faith. Many shared testimony, songs, and in conversations on the street for the first time during these outreaches. It was so encouraging to see what God was doing as the church stepped out to meet the spiritual needs of their cities, and two new brothers were added to the family of God! Following the mutual encouragement in May, we returned again in September. This time, we sent two small teams, one to each city. Both teams enjoyed eventful weekends of ministry, building relationships with other churches, equipping the local believers and seeing an increased vision for what God has in store there. More to come in 2018! Tbilisi: Georgia At the end of April, we joined our partners in Tbilisi, Georgia once more for a long-weekend filled with many evangelistic opportunities. We joined with James and the team who lead the weekly street outreach, along with a team from a nearby city as we preached and conversed with the many people out and about over the holiday weekend. On the Sunday, after church services, we joined Pastor Maxo s team as they headed to a housing estate in a nearby village where a member of their church lives. They were the only born-again believers that lived there. We went out with flyers and welcomed everyone to join us for a viewing of a Jesus film later that evening - over 100 people showed up and stayed! God is moving in Georgia in so many ways to bring people to know Him, and not just a tradition of religion. Conversations have already begun as we pray to see how we might best partner with the ongoing work next year!
Gdansk, Warsaw & Poznań: Poland In May, K180 were invited to partner with Street Church in Poland. We were able to encourage the teams and share on the streets with them. Street Church (Kościół Uliczny in Polish), holds open-air services in city centre locations around the world. As well as proclaiming the Gospel, opening a prayer tent for people to receive prayer, and having teams of musicians leading worship, they distribute a free meal to the homeless of the city. We were able to connect with the teams in Gdansk, Warsaw, and Poznań before heading back to Warsaw to serve Church for Warsaw in some outreach, and ministering at Genesis Church on Sunday morning. It was a joy to be encouraged by, and to encourage, the teams, and to preach the Gospel on the streets of three of Poland s largest cities. We were able to pray for some who made responses to the Gospel on the streets, and many who came forward on Sunday in response to the call to first-time and recommitments. We hope to return soon to connect and support the work of the Street Church teams. Lviv: Ukraine We returned to Western Ukraine in June (our first visit being the Franklin Graham Festival of Hope in 2015), at the invitation of Pastor Mark and Living Word Church in Lviv. Alongside some training, we went with church members to the Old Town where we proclaimed the Gospel through music, testimony, and illustrated Gospel messages, engaging any who stopped to listen. It was the Greek Catholic Pentecost over the weekend, so there were more people in the city than usual. A highlight of the weekend was the response of two teenage girls who stopped to hear the end of an illustrated message and after talking with a team member for a while and hearing the Gospel clearly explained, wanted to pray to accept Christ. We trust God for fruit, and for the outreach team that is forming in Lviv.
LOOKING AHEAD It has been a 'full on' summer. Well, a 'full on' year if the truth be told! However, I am convinced that is how it should be. The need is great. The days are urgent. Whilst we must safeguard a healthy pace in life, hard work is the order of the day while the sun still shines. Lives hang in the balance, with eternal consequences beckoning. Our team is labouring pretty much at full capacity. We recognise two things. Firstly, we would not be able to do what we do without your support. Thank you for your encouragement, prayer, and practical support. It is a massive blessing to our team. Secondly, we need at least one extra team member 'full time'. As you remember, please join us in praying to the Father for wisdom in this regard. Focus on Prayer Even though ministry is demanding and there never seems enough time, as a team we are working hard to protect our times of prayer. As Jesus warned, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5). Whilst not restricted to this one time, we have a designated time every week when we gather for prayer. Here we still ourselves before Him and intercede for the ministry, partner prayer needs, and for Europe to be ablaze with the gospel. Every month we send out a prayer schedule to those who want to pray more specifically alongside us. If you would like to be part of that team, or indeed, you have anything you would like us to be praying for, please let us know at prayer@k180.org As a team here at K180, we are filled with gratitude as we remember those who are running alongside us. Thank you for your partnership in the gospel. What greater privilege do we have than being about the Father's business? We look forward to the days ahead and pray that many more lives will be transformed through the preaching of the gospel. He is faithful! If you would like to partner K180 financially, please see the enclosed Response Form. Every gift makes a difference and enables us to take the many gospel opportunities before us. Thank you for your interest and support. Kerygma180 A Registered Charity: 1123294 A Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales No 6481900 Please note that we have regular email updates from K180 available. These include video testimonies, latest updates, news of evangelistic resources etc. Please email office@k180.org asking to Subscribe if you would like to receive these.