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Spotlight on Europe-
 The importance of Europe to the contemporary world can hardly be overstated. With its population of 750 million it represents one of the largest trading blocks in the world. Political decisions made in London, Paris, Berlin, and Moscow have global implications. Newspapers and television broadcasts daily deliver images and stories of politics, economics, terrorism, tourism, fashion and culture from many of the 44 countries that comprise Europe.
But tragically, this great continent, once the place from which the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout most of the world, is today one of the darkest spiritually. Less than one percent of Europeans are evangelical Christians. In these post-Christian societies the church is seen widely as irrelevant. In contrast, the church in Africa is growing at a rate 50 times faster, and in Asia it is growing 43 times faster than Europe.
Unfortunately, some mission groups have turned away from Europe to target “unreached people groups” in other places. Yet millions of unreached peoples are pouring into Europe, many from restricted areas in the Middle East and North Africa, making Europe a melting pot of ethnically diverse cultures. In truth, Europe remains one of the greatest mission fields on earth.
Though there has been a dramatic decline in church attendance in Europe over the last 50 years, many people there say they are interested in spirituality. Yet most young people have grown up with no tradition of church attendance in their families and so they have no knowledge of historic, biblical Christianity. Their world is conspicuously secular. Therefore, they look for spiritual values in an eclectic blend of New Age thought, materialism, philosophy and a number of other eastern religions. Large and ever-growing numbers of people have no idea who Jesus Christ is, and many do not believe in any kind of personal God.
Surely, it is no overstatement to say that a spiritual crisis exists in Europe. Yet this crisis also is a time of tremendous opportunity for evangelism. Vast numbers of people are open to the gospel if they can just hear it. They are looking for ultimate values, for some system that will give them meaning and hope. They have not rejected Christianity; they have no idea what it is. This is why proclaiming the gospel and planting churches is of utmost importance. The IBMP is faithfully engaged in this process, working in a coordinated way with the International Baptist Convention and the European Baptist Federation. We understand the value of partnership when it comes to reaching people for Christ, and therefore we have sought to bring churches and individual believers in the United States into partnership with us and with churches in Europe. Many have responded faithfully but many more are needed.
The gospel is believed to have first come to Europe when the apostle Paul responded in faith to the Macedonian call to “come over and help us.” That same call is echoed again today in these times of crisis/opportunity. To paraphrase Rabbi Hillel’s famous question of 2,000 years ago, “If not you, who? If not now, when?”
—Richard L. Blake
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