The Need in Austria

Living as a missionary has its good days and bad days. On a tough day, we can feel homesick, discouraged or uncertain about what the future holds. We can try to accomplish things out of our own strength and feel inferior or ill-equipped. On a good day, however, we feel encouraged and confident about why God brought us here and how He is using us. We look forward to seeing what God has in store and the people He will draw to Himself in Vienna.

On tough days, it's important for us to go back to the reason why we are here. Recently, we put together a video for a missions conference that is an overview of the needs here in Austria and our ministry focus. Watching this video helps to remind us, as well as our friends, family and supporters, why we are here! It's so important for us to always go back to the basics - the need here in Austria and the Supplier of all our needs.

We hope you will take a look at the video, as well as pray for the work God is doing here in our city.

Why We Are Here

This month, I've found myself going back to the core reasons of why God brought us here. Sometimes when I'm mired in the details of everyday life, it helps me to step back and look at the big picture. I need to remind myself of God's plan and how we fit into it, because otherwise, I can lose sight of it and get distracted by the tyranny of the urgent matters in life.

So why are we here? We shared a lot about the need in Austria when we were preparing to come and raising support. But I was recently reminded of some important facts that I want to share with you. These come from the blog of our friends, Bobby and Danielle, who are preparing to come serve in Austria in church planting and hope to arrive in the next year.

• In America, there is one evangelical church for approximately every 1,500 people. But in Austria, there is one evangelical church for every 60,000 people. In some states, that number is 1 for every 100,000.
• Austria is an immigration center - it's centrally located and is home to one of the major UN offices. By planting church here, we have the opportunity to impact the world through those who move here from different countries.
• Less than 0.5% of the population claims to be evangelical, but more than 4% claim to be Muslim and that number is rapidly growing.
• Adherence to formalized religion is on the rapid decline. Many Austrians, however, claim to be "spiritual". This means they pick and choose from many different philosophical and theological ideas, putting together their own conglomeration of beliefs.
• Austria is a rich country...which means many people have "all that they need" and do not see a need for God. They do not recognize their own spiritual need or sin.
• There is high rate of suicide.
• Prostitution is legal and there are upwards of 6,000 prostitutes in Austria. (They actually are registered with the government, because they are required to get regular AIDS blood tests.)
• Austria is a common destination for human trafficking, especially for the sex trade.

Revisiting these reasons fuels the flame for us and reminds us of the task ahead. To be honest, many days, it seems overwhelming. How can God possibly use us in such a dark place? But God is bigger than all of this and our job is to be obedient to how He leads us, even if it only impacts a handful of people. Even one soul is worth it.

The Presence of Islam in Vienna

As more and more immigrants move to Europe, there is a growing Islamic presence in most European countries and cities. Austria is no exception. An article was recently published here stating that Muslims now outnumber Catholics in middle and secondary schools in Vienna (with primary schools close behind). In a catholic country like Austria, this development is significant. Not only that, but according to the article, "Austria is also in the process of introducing new taxpayer-funded textbooks for the formal teaching if Islam in all public elementary schools across the country.... This is the first time Islam is being taught to Austrian students in the German language."

I think these statistics may not be as straight forward as they appear. Yes, there are more Muslims moving to Vienna and registered their children with the government as officially "Muslim". But this also points to the shrinking number of Catholic children in the schools. Although the older generation placed a high value on church membership and attendance, the growing trend is a disinterest in the church and formalized religion. I suspect that today's generation of parents is less likely to register their children as "Catholic", even if they themselves grew up in Catholic homes. With this in mind, it's no surprise that Muslims are passing up Catholics in official numbers.

The article also talks a lot about the new textbooks that will be used in the schools to educate Islamic students. The focus is to reinforce Islamic beliefs and help the students feel "at home" in Austria. It seems to me that the Islamic faith here is putting much more effort into educating their young than the Catholic church...or at least are doing it more effectively. Another new development is that Islamic clergy will now be educated within the Austrian university system.

For us, this news confirm what we knew already, mainly that there is a strong need for the gospel in Austria. With Islam's growing presence and the current level of disenchantment with the Catholic church, few people are hearing and embracing a Christian faith.  We've heard from many people that when they decide to leave the Catholic church, they are not looking for "another Christian option". Instead, if they are searching for God, they go in a different direction completely, such as towards Islam. And that is becoming easier and easier, since Muslims number 6% of the population, while evangelical Christians are only 0.5%.

Please pray with us for Austria and this growing need. Pray for the true God to be seen and known and for boldness for us and our fellow brother and sisters in Christ to share the good news with Austria.

Avoiding Suffering and Loss

This last Sunday, we attended the Shakopee Campus of Friendship Church, which is the church that I grew up in.  Pastor Mike spoke about the story of Joseph (staring in Genesis 37) and all of the challenges that he faced leading up to his ultimate reign over all of Egypt.  It is a pretty great story.  Towards the end of the sermon, Mike made an observation about the story of Joseph that stuck with me.

He said, "If you take away the suffering in Joseph's life, you have to take away the blessings, as well."  If you go through the long list of horrible things that happened to Joseph and all the injustice he experienced and take it all away, if you spare him of all that pain and hurt, then you must also take away God's provision for His people and the family of promise.  You can not have one and not the other.  Joseph would never have ended up in a position of power at the end if he hadn't first been sold as a slave by his brothers. These realities are two sides of the same coin and inextricably linked.

Our American culture often tells us that suffering is something to be avoided, something to flee from. We work very very hard to avoid difficulty and keep ourselves safe and secure. But if we avoid suffering, we also give up the blessings of that suffering. So many times as I look back at my life, I say to God, "If that had not happened, life would not be so hard" or "God, if you would only shield me, if you would only take these hard things away, my life would be more full."

But if God takes away these hard times, if all we get are the good times, then we also have to give up those moments of release where we hand our life over to God and say, "I can't do this. Please help."  We also give up the meaningful relationships that are formed in the fieriest furnaces.  We give up the deep communion we get with God as our heart becomes more and more dependent on Him and holds less and less to our emotional anesthetics. And finally, we give up God's miraculous provision that is seldom early and always on time.

Photo credit: clarita from morguefile.com

He is Risen Indeed! A Cross Cultural Ostern / Easter

"Now he is talking about how fear and hope meet at the cross... now he is talking about...."

This was how we experienced our Easter service this morning at the Evangeliumsgemeinde here in Vienna.  It is day 10 of our vision trip and we were very glad to share an Easter breakfast, baby dedication, and Easter service with this community of believers.

We enjoyed a European breakfast (all different kinds of bread, cold cuts, ham, really nice bologna, all kinds of cheeses, hard boiled eggs, a few kinds of cereal, and some amazing jam and sweet bread!) and all sat around tables and talked.  The food was amazing and the conversation was good as well.  We tried in limited German to say who we were and where we were from.

Most often we either had someone that could help to cross the language barrier or the people we were talking with spoke some English.  It is great to see the fellowship times, that often last as long (and are as important) as the formal service.

We also got to see a baby dedication with many family members of the couple there.

While we miss our families, we know that God is leading us towards Himself.  It continues to stir my heart to hear men and women lifting their voices in other tongues to the Lord.

Along with all of this celebration, I am reminded of the need here.  Easter is a time that many people go to church, often those that don't have any communion with the God of the universe.  Seeing this gathering and realizing that there are so many others that need to hear about the transforming work of God in His gospel, we are further convinced that we are following God's leading to be a witness of the gospel in Austria.  Many Austrians know about God, but few have a personal relationship with him.

 What impacted you from the Easter celebration that you attended?