Introduction
Will you let God stretch your view of “missions” beyond what feels strategic, familiar, or comfortable, and even beyond what looks obviously needy? The central teaching I want to press into you is this: we do missions in Europe because the Great Commission sends us wherever the gospel is desperately needed, and Europe’s spiritual poverty is real, even when its material prosperity can hide it.
Many sincere believers ask honest questions: Is a Europe trip just religious tourism? Aren’t those countries already Christian? Isn’t it a waste of money because they’re not poor? I understand those questions personally because I spent years church planting in Italy and in Manchester, England, and I still serve alongside European church planters through ongoing partnerships. So let me disciple you through a biblical framework, a sober look at reality, and a story of how God uses ordinary skills to advance His kingdom.
Main Points
Will you let God stretch your view of “missions” beyond what feels strategic, familiar, or comfortable, and even beyond what looks obviously needy? The central teaching I want to press into you is this: we do missions in Europe because the Great Commission sends us wherever the gospel is desperately needed, and Europe’s spiritual poverty is real, even when its material prosperity can hide it.
Many sincere believers ask honest questions: Is a Europe trip just religious tourism? Aren’t those countries already Christian? Isn’t it a waste of money because they’re not poor? I understand those questions personally because I spent years church planting in Italy and in Manchester, England, and I still serve alongside European church planters through ongoing partnerships. So let me disciple you through a biblical framework, a sober look at reality, and a story of how God uses ordinary skills to advance His kingdom.
Europe Is Part of Our Gospel Story
God often leads churches into specific “spheres” of relationship and ministry over time. For us, Europe is not an idea, it’s part of our lived history. Years ago, our church family sent teams across places like Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Italy, Germany, and more, doing evangelistic outreach, serving orphanages, and partnering with local believers. Those early relationships grew into long-term sending: church planters in Rome, ministry in Romania, and ongoing care for vulnerable children.
In Scripture, we repeatedly see God use relationships and sending pathways to strengthen the work of the gospel (Acts is full of churches partnering, sending, revisiting, and strengthening). So when I say Europe matters, I’m not talking about a trendy target; I’m describing a stewardship, God opened doors, built relationships, and called us to keep walking faithfully through them.
The Great Commission Shapes Our Mission Priorities
I want you to think biblically about mission, not emotionally or culturally. Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18–20). And Acts gives us a pattern of gospel spread: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
That means we should expect a balanced missional life:
- Local ministry (“Jerusalem”), our own city and neighbors
- Regional/national ministry (“Judea”), places nearby or within our nation
- Cross-cultural but connected contexts (“Samaria”), cultures with shared history or proximity
- Distant, very different contexts (“ends of the earth”), places with major language/religious barriers
Europe often functions like “Samaria” for American believers: historically connected, yet spiritually distinct in modern reality. And the Great Commission doesn’t let us dismiss a place simply because it looks developed. Jesus sends us where disciples are needed.
Church Planting Multiplies Mercy and Witness
I want you to see why we emphasize church planting as a primary missionary strategy. Mercy ministry matters deeply, caring for the poor, the vulnerable, the widow and orphan is biblical (James 1:27). But church planting creates something that can outlive a single project: a local base for gospel proclamation, discipleship, leadership development, and mercy ministry that springs from the indigenous church itself.
When a healthy local church is planted, over time you get:
- local pastors and elders
- ongoing discipleship and evangelism
- community engagement that doesn’t depend on outside teams
- sustainable mercy ministry that grows from the people of that place
So we plant churches not because we care less about compassion, but because we want compassion and the gospel to remain rooted and multiplying long after we leave.
Europe’s Spiritual Poverty Is Statistically Real
Here is where I want to gently confront assumptions. Many people assume Europe is “already Christian.” But the reality on the ground, especially in evangelical terms, is stark.
Consider these figures that help expose the need:
- Italy: ~1.46% evangelical (and less than 1% in northern Italy)
- Slovenia: ~0.21% evangelical
Now compare that with places many churches naturally prioritize for short-term trips (good and worthy mission fields, by the way, this is not a criticism):
- Mexico: ~10.45% evangelical
- Congo: ~19.21% evangelical
- Iran: ~1.2% evangelical (with far greater persecution risks)
Do you see the discipleship lesson? Our perceptions can be wrong. Material wealth can mask spiritual famine. Europe may not always display the same physical poverty, but there is profound spiritual poverty, a shortage of gospel-preaching churches, disciple-making communities, and biblical clarity.
Unique Peoples Still Need First Churches
Sometimes the need isn’t just “more churches,” but “a first real foothold.” One example close to home is the Basque people (northern Spain/southern France). Many of us know Basque culture because Boise has a significant Basque community. Yet in the Basque heartland, gospel access in their own language is extremely limited.
Our partners are working toward what may be only the second evangelical church in the Basque language (Euskara). I want you to feel the weight of that: imagine an entire region where Bible-preaching churches in the heart language are nearly nonexistent. That is not a “tourism” mission field, that is a place pleading for laborers.
Ordinary Skills Can Become Gospel Bridges
Let me disciple you out of a narrow definition of “useful.” Missions is not only preaching on a street corner or running a VBS (though those can be wonderful). God uses skills, work skills, trade skills, practical help, as a bridge of love and credibility that opens doors for gospel witness.
A powerful example is what happened through a welding ministry in northern Italy. The church created “Life Labs”, a hands-on program teaching refugees and immigrants employable skills. Men from places like Morocco, Ukraine, and Moldova were trained, some through translation because language barriers were real. They could earn certifications and pursue stable work.
And here’s what you need to notice: this kind of work is mercy ministry and discipleship and community transformation. When people gain dignity, stability, and belonging, the church is embodying Christ’s compassion while also building relational pathways for the gospel.
The fruit even reached civic leadership. At a building dedication, local leaders who had once been against the church showed public support. Even a local Catholic priest expressed a desire for more Bible reading and more of this kind of gospel-shaped presence in the city. That is what happens when the church becomes a blessing to its neighbors (Jeremiah 29:7 is a helpful principle here).
Pray for Fruit, Not Just Experiences
I’m asking you to pray, and to pray with spiritual seriousness, that our mission involvement would never be reduced to a fun trip, photos, or personal memories. Yes, there will be joy. But we want real fruit:
- that missionaries and church planters would be strengthened
- that local churches would be encouraged and built up
- that families and children would hear the gospel (for example through outreach like a kids’ Lego camp)
- that refugees would be served with dignity and love
- that team members would come home changed, each with a testimony of God’s transforming work
And I want you to remember God’s heart for spiritually confused people. He spoke of Nineveh as filled with people who did not know their right hand from their left (Jonah 4:11). That compassion still reflects God’s heart today, for Europe, for our neighbors, for the nations.
Conclusion
Europe missions is not a distraction from “real missions.” It is Great Commission work in a place where evangelical witness is often scarce and where vibrant, local, disciple-making churches are urgently needed. Our calling is not to chase stereotypes of need, but to obey Jesus, steward relationships God has given, and invest where the gospel can take root and multiply, through church planting, mercy ministry, practical skill-building, and faithful partnership.
So I’m inviting you into a discipleship response: pray, participate as God leads, and give as you are able, so that the name of Jesus is lifted up and churches are strengthened across Europe.
Father in heaven, thank You for sending Your Son to seek and save the lost, and thank You for commissioning Your church to make disciples of all nations. Forgive us for the times we assume a place is reached when it is still spiritually hungry. Give us Your compassion for Europe and for every mission field, near and far.
Lord, raise up strong local churches and faithful leaders. Encourage missionaries and church planters who labor in hard soil. Open doors for the gospel through practical service, through mercy ministry, and through clear preaching of Your Word. Protect teams who go, provide what is needed financially, and make their work fruitful, real fruit that lasts.
And shape our hearts as a church family: make us obedient, humble, generous, and bold. We ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Europe missions is not a distraction from “real missions.” It is Great Commission work in a place where evangelical witness is often scarce and where vibrant, local, disciple-making churches are urgently needed. Our calling is not to chase stereotypes of need, but to obey Jesus, steward relationships God has given, and invest where the gospel can take root and multiply, through church planting, mercy ministry, practical skill-building, and faithful partnership.
So I’m inviting you into a discipleship response: pray, participate as God leads, and give as you are able, so that the name of Jesus is lifted up and churches are strengthened across Europe.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, thank You for sending Your Son to seek and save the lost, and thank You for commissioning Your church to make disciples of all nations. Forgive us for the times we assume a place is reached when it is still spiritually hungry. Give us Your compassion for Europe and for every mission field, near and far.
Lord, raise up strong local churches and faithful leaders. Encourage missionaries and church planters who labor in hard soil. Open doors for the gospel through practical service, through mercy ministry, and through clear preaching of Your Word. Protect teams who go, provide what is needed financially, and make their work fruitful, real fruit that lasts.
And shape our hearts as a church family: make us obedient, humble, generous, and bold. We ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.