I am SOOO ready to get to Africa! Don’t get me wrong, it has TRULY been a blessing to be here in London for the month of December….VERY unexpected change of pace, but VERY nice during the holidays and the new year. After finding out THREE hours before we had to leave that we were flying to London, I was ECSTATIC. I mean…come on, it’s LONDON! I have really enjoyed getting to see the city and work with the people here. I KNOW God had us here for a reason this month. After Asia, we were all spiritually and physically EXHAUSTED and being able to be in an environment that was SOMEWHAT familiar was refreshing.
BUT…I am DONE here. Our ministry was very time consuming and well…COLD!!! The work we did in London completely opened my eyes to an entire population that I had previously ignored. We were all educated this month on how to DEFEND our faith when faced with people who do not agree with ANYTHING that the bible says. It was good for us to be out of our World Race mindset of being surrounded by the sick and the poor who will listen to ANYTHING you have to say because they are so hungry for HOPE and for a savior. The single mothers in the slums of Thailand NEED to hear Jesus. They ACHE for assurance of a God and for assurance that HE is there. The wealthy businessman in London who has everything he could ever want at his fingertips does not exactly have the same yearning for a savior.
So you might be thinking WHAT we could possible do as far as “mission work” in one of the most affluent cities in the world. Well I was a bit skeptical as well. I signed up for a year of working with the poorest of the poor in the most impoverished areas of the world. London would be exactly the OPPOSITE of that. But you see, Europe is just a different kind of mission field. In Europe, the Christian growth rate is is -0.44%. Yes, ‘thats right…it’s NEGATIVE growth. The Muslim growth rate however is +2.05%. This continent is in a POST christian stage. As much as I would have loved to be in Africa already, this place NEEDS Christ. Of the 11 million people in London, 1 million of them are Muslims. Overall in Europe, there are over 20 MILLION Muslims. I could go on and on about statistics in London and Europe, but the fact is that London needs missionaries just as much as Mozambique or Swaziland…people to remind them of who Jesus is. Granted, the mission work is different, but in all areas it is the same goal…to be Christ with skin on.
