As part of the Western world, Europe might not seem like a place where unreached people groups would be found. Yet more than 30 million unreached people live in Europe. Some are native Europeans, while others immigrated from Africa and Asia.
God is moving in incredible ways throughout Europe to bring people out of spiritual darkness and into His marvelous light. He is transforming identities, reaching out with compassion, and revealing the light of the gospel.
Here are a few stories of how God is changing lives in Europe.
A Self-Proclaimed Witch Finds Jesus
Maria had a difficult upbringing. Her mother abandoned her as a child, leaving her feeling inadequate and constantly striving for acceptance. As an adult, she offered spiritual advice and referred to herself as “Maria the Witch.”
One day, Maria visited a coffee shop in Western Europe owned by followers of Jesus. When the owners told Maria that God had instructed them to open the coffee shop, she became immensely curious and expressed interest in visiting their church.
That next Sunday, Maria came to church and met Sofia. After a few months, Maria told Sofia she was ready to discuss spiritual matters. By then, Sofia learned that Maria had referred to herself as a witch. Sofia felt ill-equipped to discuss Christianity with Maria because of her New Age beliefs. But Sofia asked for prayer as she began discipling Maria.
Soon, Maria’s conversion became evident. While studying the Bible, she asked Sofia to explain 2 Corinthians 5:21, which says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” As Sofia explained the verse, Maria wept, asking how it could possibly be true that Jesus had borne the burden of her sin. To her, it was simply too much to fully comprehend. Maria marveled at the magnitude of Christ’s love, declaring that she could do nothing but offer her gratitude and live her life for Jesus. Her life was forever changed.
Compassion Changed a Woman’s Life
Fernanda was desperate. Her life had taken several bad turns, and she found herself begging for spare change in a European train station.
One day she approached a man—an East-West national partner—and asked for money. He was more than willing to give her the coins in his pocket, but what caught Fernanda by surprise was his willingness to sit and talk with her.
As they sat on a bench in the station, the man asked Fernanda her story, and she shared that her impoverished lifestyle made her sad. Fernanda explained that money would make her happy, but the man objected. He said only God could give her true happiness.
Fernanda didn’t think God really cared about her, but the national partner assured her He did, so much so that He sacrificed Jesus—His only Son—to give her eternal life. The look in the national partner’s eyes reflected the compassion of the God he spoke of, and Fernanda contemplated the message the man shared.
It took only seconds for her to realize that God really did care for her. He’d proved His love when He sent Christ to die on a cross, and He was demonstrating it again that very day through the kind and caring words of the man sitting next to her.
She couldn’t help but believe in the gospel.
Finding the Light of the Gospel
Anwar found himself stuck in Europe after fleeing for his life from the Middle East. His entire family was killed by the Taliban when they raided his home, and he alone survived.
The journey had been long and left Anwar with nothing but fear, exhaustion, and loneliness. He wandered the city parks, surrounded by people, and lost in his life’s own darkness.
While walking through the park one day, a person on a short-term mission team approached him. Anwar was confused. The man looked Middle Eastern and spoke to him in Farsi, but he was with Americans and was wearing American clothing.
The short-term mission team member introduced himself, starting a conversation—something rarely done in those parts—but Anwar found no threat from this man and introduced himself in return, saying, “My name is Anwar.”
The team member paused, and with a gleam of excitement in his eyes, asked him, “Do you know what your name means?”
Caught off guard by this question and the look on this man’s face, Anwar stumbled through his words without giving a real response. But the man answered for him, “Anwar, your name means light!”
While Anwar’s thoughts raced, the team member began to tell the story of the Son of Man who is called Light. He explained that this Man is Jesus, and He came to bring light into the darkness as the hope for all people, even for Anwar.
Anwar looked up at the team member and said, “I want to believe.” And in that moment, he became a member of the Kingdom of Light.
These stories reveal God’s heart for the unreached in Europe. Please pray that God would continue to transform identities, show compassion, and show the light of the gospel to the lost.
Ministry in Europe
A battle rages throughout Europe for the hearts and souls of this region’s people. But a spark of true faith has ignited in Europe and is slowly growing into a steady flame. East-West fans the flame of faith in this region by training local believers to share their faith in Christ and plant churches.
