France
Mark Oshman
Nice, France - ESL or French Literacy Outreach ...

Most people around the world think of Nice as a glamorous beach vacation destination, home to mansions, yachts, and movie stars.  But Nice is also home to a significant Muslim population (France has the largest percentage of Muslims as compared to their total population in the EU). Nice is the second largest French city on the Mediterranean, after Marseilles, which is the most Muslim French city with a 20% Muslim population.  The Joshua Project says that Nice is a “formerly or falsely reached” city.  

Pioneers has a team working with Muslim background peoples in Nice, and they are currently looking for new team members to help them reach out to this community through teaching English and French, as well as initiating friendships and Discovery Bible Studies in the community. 

Atheists

Using Your Gifts in Northeastern Hungary

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Our team is based in a small town in Northeastern Hungary.

It is estimated that there are less than 2% evangelical Christians in Northeastern Hungary. These are  poorer areas where many families work 50-60 hours a week and struggle to make ends meet. Dysfunctional families are prominent, with high divorce rates, live-in boyfriends as fathers, alcoholism, and  a  lack  of  loving attention and  hope  given  to  children.  Many  suffer  from rampant depression, family feuds that last generations and utter loneliness. Heartless religious   ritual, atheism, communism and the occult have firmly influenced the ideas and beliefs in this region.

In partnership with Hungarians, our team is seeking to serve in a church planting movement in the cities, small towns and villages scattered throughout Northeastern Hungary. God has been gracious through years of sowing to cause growth in the town our team resides. In addition, we are working in partnership with Hungarians in another town with a church plant in beginning stages. 

We seek to saturate Northeastern Hungary with the gospel and with equipped Hungarian saints who would faithfully carry out their unique callings in the local church, local community and beyond.

Our team uses various tools to build bridges with those we are seeking to reach: Ev. material distribution, puppet ministry, summer camps, sports outreach (soccer, volleyball, baseball), English as a second language, Mother's of Preschool Club, Local Community Events, Children’s Ministry, DBS principles finding people of peace. We also have need of help in discipling and mentoring first generation Hungarian and Roma believers.

A Famine in the Land of St. Patrick

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There is a famine far more severe than the loss of potatoes which has been making its way across the Emerald Isle for many decades. The land of St Patrick, home of rock band U2, is in need of Gospel seed to be sown among the many communities where a historical Catholic church has fallen into the background of tradition and culture, offering an unengaged path of religiosity through a distortion of the Scriptures.

While some of the larger cities, such as Dublin and Cork, have an evangelical presence, most of the country is without sufficient Gospel witness. In partnership with local networks such as Calvary Mission, we are engaged in church planting in various rural communities, especially in the West of Ireland. We work amongst real people, with real needs, who need a real Jesus displayed in the true Gospel.

As if the need for Gospel workers weren’t already great enough, recent changes in the requirements for a Minister of Religion visa have created new roadblocks against more laborers coming to these harvest fields. Currently, we are praying for those who have EU citizenship—and thus open access to enter and reside in Ireland—to ask the Lord if He might be calling them to be a fresh source of Gospel seed in the Emerald Isle!

In addition to engaging rural Irish, there are also opportunities to pioneer ministry amongst Irish Travellers (similar to Roma/Gypsies) as well as the growing Muslim populations in Ireland.

As the famous Breastplate Prayer of St Patrick says, we are seeking those who would come to engage in relational, incarnational evangelism, so that we might see Kingdom fruit…

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

Related Links

https://calvarychurchballina.ie/

http://www.calvarymission.net

For a great article on the need for Gospel work in Ireland please read: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/reaching-ireland-christ/

Church Planting Among Atheists

"Pravda vítězí" - Truth Prevails! The national motto of the Czech Republic comes from the early church Reformer and Czech John Hus.  Yet today, by many measures, the Czech Republic ranks as the most atheist country in the world.  Though the cities and villages boast remarkably beautiful cathedrals and churches, less than 1% of Czech know Jesus as Lord and Savior. This post-protestant, post-catholic nation is need of gospel renewal and a move of God in the planting of new churches across the country.  

Consider joining a team of church planters working with local churches across the country to encourage, equip, and help plant new gospel-centered churches.

Engage Cultural Catholics with the Gospel

Once a majority Catholic nation, today only 4.5% of French consider themselves practicing Catholics.  France was the birthplace of the Reform, yet sadly, today less than 1% of the French are Bible believing, Christ followers.  France was also the birthplace of rationalism and boasts of her great philosophers such as Descartes, Rousseau, Voltaire, Comte, Sartre, Foucault, Camus, Derrida, Diderot, Pascal, and many others.

Is God calling you to engage this post-Catholic nation with the hope of the Living Savior Jesus Christ?  If so, prayerfully consider joining one of our teams in France.

Minister to Atheists in Creative Ways

Europe seems like it has access to the gospel, right? But what if you lived in an area where you were told that your priest is the only person who can understand the Bible. Many people of Poland grow up in church tradition without encountering God’s Word for themselves. That leaves a secular culture of people who identify with a religion but not faith.
 
Perhaps you would fit well on a team of people using creative ways to reach Poles. They have a need for people who are certified to teach English as a second language, who are gifted in music and art, who love working with youth or are skilled in sports (like BMX and in-line skating, skateboarding, etc.).
 
Serve on a team with a long-term worker while reaching into two communities with less than 10 known Christians. Contact us to find out more