Impressions of Urban Mission Seminar 2011

„I learnt a lot from the trip to Amsterdam. We could see in practice what we have heard and learned before at the classes. The two church services were good example for me as a future pastor how the Sunday worship can be made different with slight changes. Walking in the red light district I was wondering how the Gospel can be preached there. This question accompanied me during the whole visit to Amsterdam. As a result now I see that the there is no boundary that can stop the Gospel, but it needs to be preached in different ways in accordance with the given context. Similarly I found the classes very useful and interactive. It was a well-structured class with good theoretical materials well linked to our own Hungarian context.” (Áron Ablonczy, 1st year students)

 „The course changed my whole view on mission. I encountered new insight that convinced me how important church planting is. I learnt from Lesssle Newbigin, that mission is not a programme of the church, but it belongs to the nature of the church. Before I lived a selfish life being concerned only about my own salvation. I learnt that our Christian congregation must be open to reach people who have nothing to do with Christianity. This requires a new model for pastors. Instead of turning our backs to the world, the pastors should prepare and empower the church to be missionaries where they are.” (Virág Bella, 1st year)

„I learned that though the context of Amsterdam is different to my background, but the Gospel is the same. And we have to proclaim the Gospel differently in different contexts.  The characteristic of a big city is that it is a conglomerate of many people from different backgrounds. Therefore we have to discover many different contexts and preach the Gospel in many different ways.” (Ilona Henrietta Nagy 2nd year)

 „I am thankful to God that I could participate in this course. Before I knew nothing about church planting, but during the semester my eyes were opened to mission prospective and to the necessity of missional churches. The course combined well the theoretical background to the practical relevance giving an insight to the methods of re-organizing and planting churches.” (Zsófia Mező 2nd year student)

“I understood one of the most important findings in Theology: seeing the city, quarter, congregation as not my area of work but God’s field. He installed us as workers in his vineyard, and He gives us all strength and company to this work. As I see where the pastors give the leadership to God, there real communities are formed. The missional attitude is able not only to attract new people to the churches but to revive the old, tired church members. The missional prospective in my understanding also means co-operation with the different denominations. (Hunor Koncz, 3rd year student)

„Before I started to attend this course, I thought I would never have any intention to start a church plant or work in urban mission. The more I read and learnt in this field during the semester, the more I felt this topic is mine. The trip to Amsterdam had great impact on both my thinking and my spiritual life. This course has renewed my spirit and theology.” (Ágnes Bobok, 1st year student)

 „I feel the course opened my eyes to a mission prospective which I did not have before.”  (Dávid Balogh 3rd year student)

 „If I had to summarize in one sentence what I had learnt in the course, I would say: we need to pay attention to the context, not caring only about our traditions and own thoughts. We should pay attention to the needs of the people, because we cannot do mission without examining the context. As a result of our short trip in Amsterdam I learnt more than in many theoretical courses I had before” (Boglárka Bikki 1st year student)

 „I never thought that this topic would touch me so deep. The trip to Amsterdam really broadened my perspective both as a Christian and as a theological student. It was a good experience, though not everything I heard was new to me, but the course made me to think about mission.” (Flóra Baintner 1st year student)

EEMA Conference 2014: Revolutions in European Mission

EEMA Conference 2014

REVOLUTIONS IN EUROPEAN MISSION

This year’s EEMA conference took place in Bucharest from 18th to 21st November.  As is appropriate on the anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain it reflected on 25 years of mission in eastern Europe and where mission to, in and from Europe goes in the next 25 years.

85 people from 23 different countries attended, including a variety of speakers representing mission agencies, Bible colleges and denominations were present, representing a variety of viewpoints both from within and outside Europe.

A dominant theme to emerge from the conference was how much the first couple of decades after the fall of the wall were often characterised by misunderstanding and mistrust between east and west, though we were encouraged to see that in recent years there has been more of an effort at mutual understanding and co-operation.  It could even be said that now, where the shadow of the wall was once very long, a new bridge is being built, bringing together different communities to talk, relate together and collaborate to bring the gospel to unreached communities in Europe and beyond.

Following an introduction our hosts Wolfgang Büsing (Director, AEM Germany) and Martin Lee (Director, Global Connections UK) we were welcomed to Romania with greetings from Rev Virgil Achihai (President, Romanian Evangelical Alliance), Dr Otniel Bunaciu (President, European Baptist Association), and Dr Ioan Ceuta (President, Romanian Assemblies of God).  Our theme of unity was underlined by the evident co-operation between these leaders of the three largest protestant denominations in Romania.

Plenary topics included:

• What has been achieved in 25 years of eastern European mission? (Dr Anne-Marie Kool)
• Geopolitical and economic implications for mission in eastern Europe (Dr Ivo Konstantinov)
• What I wish my foreign mission partners know about mission in my country (Charley Warner)
• 25 years of past and future mission cooperation between east and west Europe (Dr Alexandru Vlasin)
• Younger missional leaders: coming out of the shadow of the past (Anton Ponomarev)

Other speakers included Rev. Tim Herbert (UK), Volodymyr Kondor (UA), Niklaus Meier (CH), Viktor Ormanji (MD), Camelia Vlasin (RO) and Russell Woodbridge (US), and a particular highlight was a guided tour of the People’s Palace in Bucharest together with a speech from Dr Ben Oni Ardelean, a Senator in the Romanian parliament.

Discussion centred around celebrating some of the achievements of mission workers from a variety of eastern European countries, several of whom have significant ministries in other countries, particularly in central Asia, and on working together to pool resources and move forward together in mission in, to and from central and eastern Europe.

We regret that pdfs, powerpoints and audio files are only available to people at the conference.  If you weren’t present, sorry you missed out!  Make sure you come to our next conference.

Us and Them. -- Central European Forum Bratislava 15-17 November 2014

The Central European Forum, 2014 – Us and Them

From the 14th to the 17th November 2014, Project Forum hosted the sixthannual Central European Forum in Bratislava. 2014′s Forum, featured seven debates and a wide array of satellite events and was entitled Us and Them. Amongst looking back at 25 years of post-communism, it sought to understand the divisions that separate Europeans, both within and without countries. 

Lengthier highlights of the debates will be being posted on the Time to Talk website soon, in the meanwhile watch our teaser video for a taste of things to come.

The Central European Forum, 2014 – Us and Them:

The sixth annual edition of the Central European Forum commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

The headline theme of the Forum – and representative of an emphasis reflected in all of the debate panels – us and them, addressed the entrenched polarisation of our societies. This problem concerns not just Central and Eastern Europe, but also the nations of Southern and Western Europe. Twenty-five years after inhabitants of the former Eastern bloc were able to gain political and economic freedom, our societies remain divided, in some cases so much so that there is seemingly little left to hold them together. Our institutions, our public services, the very constitution of our public lives seems to have been paralysed by these divisions. The aim of 2014′s Central European Forum was therefore to dissect the nature and implications of this phenomenon, looking not just at long term developments within European societies, but also at more recent concerns on the European fringe, including the Ukrainian crisis and the re-emergence of a more aggressive Russia.

Speakers at 2014′s Forum included, amongst others: influential political scientist, Ivan Krastev; acclaimed German writer, Ingo Schulze; Hungarian historian and author, György Dalos; Czech philosopher, Václav Bělohradský; Polish writer, Jacek Dehnel; American political scientist, Mitchell Cohen; Serbian playwright, Biljana Srbljanović; the founder of the famous East-West Company theatre, Haris Pasović; acknowledged French sociologist, Gilles Lipovetsky; diplomat and strategic thinker, Sir Robert Francis Cooper; and Fatos Lubonja, a long-time prisoner of conscience and one of the most translated Albanian writers.

As mentioned, the Forum also included several satellite events and, on Sunday the 16th November, Belarus Free Theatre, prohibited by the Lukashenko regime, performed their acclaimed play, Discover Love, rated as the best performance at Off-Off Broadway by the Independent Association of Theatre Bloggers. Well-known English playwright, Mark Ravenhill, speaks highly of the Belarus Free Theatre company, stating that “They have a stunning vocal and physical command, performing with ease and urgency material that combines both verbatim and physical theatre”. Such praise and the many international awards, which the theatre has received, make the company’s presence in Bratislava an occasion not to be missed and ensure an artistic highlight to accompany the high quality debating fare on offer.

Other side events at the CEF 2014, included: a special discussion panel, GLOBSEC at CEF 2014 (in cooperation with the Slovak Atlantic Commission); an exhibition about, and (in co-operation with the Slovakian Institute for Public Affairs and The Goethe Institute) a discussion of, Slovakia’s first decade as an EU member; diverse high-school and university debates; and a meeting of 20 European debate houses at Bratislava’s Pisztory Palace.

Of course, 2014′s Central European Forum would not be able to take place without the kind support of its donors and partners and the organisors wish to extend their thanks to all of them – ourselves and the OSF included – in particular to their main partner, the ERSTE Foundation, whose support they have been able to count on since the very first Forum in 2009.

Read more: 

http://www.eurozine.com/timetotalk/the-central-european-forum-2014-us-and-them/

Grenzenlos Berufen: Trends, Gefahren und Aufgaben in der Weltmission heute von Prof. Dr. Anne-Marie Kool

Aktuelle Ausgabe 4_2014

GRENZENLOS BERUFEN

_MISSION ZWISCHEN AUFTRAG, STÜCKWERK UND LEIDENSCHAFT

Aus dem Inhalt:

Grenzenlos berufen
_Heko-Referat: Trends, Gefahren und Aufgaben in der Weltmission heute
von Prof. Dr. Anne-Marie Kool_4

„Rede und schweige nicht“
_Heko-Bibelarbeit zu Apostelgeschichte 18, 1-11 von Sabine Kalthoff_8

Berufen zum Gehen
_Gilt das „Gehet hin in alle Welt“ nur für eine Minderheit von „Berufenen“?_10

Berufen und gesandt in Europa
_Wer die Botschaft übersetzen will, muss die Komfortzone verlassen_10

Wann gelingt, wann scheitert Mission?
_Heko-Forum: „Vulnerable Mission“ will begleiten statt erobern_11

http://www.smd.org/smd/smd-transparent/aktuelle-ausgabe