By Tom Shanklin

To preach the gospel in the regions beyond … (1 Cor. 10:16 KJV)

Three new countries—Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic—are the targets of God’s love in our mission to Europe in February. Susan and I will be holding evangelistic/healing services, evangelism seminars, a women’s meeting, and ministering in churches. We had planned to go to Serbia also, but that was changed because of scheduling issues.

We should not need to call these nations “regions beyond,” since they have all be previously evangelized. But the truth is that now they are in desperate need for the Gospel. For nearly a thousand years, Europe was the last bastion of Christendom. Then, as a result of the reformation and the ensuing awakening, Europe became a powerful force for world evangelism, and the Gospel began to spread furiously throughout the world. The last 250 years have seen tremendous advancement for the Gospel worldwide, but at the same time there has been great decline in Europe.

Church attendance is now estimated to be less than 10 percent in Europe. Only about 2.5 percent identify as evangelical, with 17 nations having less than 1 percent evangelical. Dead religion, humanistic philosophy, and communism have taken their toil. Today, many of the 750 million people of Europe need to be introduced to Jesus. (Source: Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation, 2010)

The only answer is the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as the Apostle Paul continually sought to preach the Gospel in the “regions beyond,” we must continue to advance the Lord’s Kingdom in places where His voice is not being heard. That is why the Lord is sending us to Europe … as well as to Africa, Asia, and North America.

We thank God for the churches and individuals who stand with us financially. Your faithful support keeps us going into the harvest fields.

Susan and I are praying that 2020 will be the best year ever for you!

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Spiritual Assessment of the Czech Republic

To give you a clearer picture of the spiritual condition of the Czech Republic, I thought I would share the following information with you from our friend, Stan Strunc of In His Love Ministries, who serves as a missionary to the United Kingdom and Europe, and who is originally from the Czech Republic.

Stan and Sarah Strunc

“The Czech Republic is the country from which the voice of John Huss came, a man who was martyred for his way of thinking, and who incited a reformation that took place one hundred years before Martin Luther’s reformation. This is the country from which The Moravian church went out and from which worldwide missions were birthed, as the Moravian Brothers took the gospel to the USA and impacted the faith and beliefs of John Wesley.

“Today, the Czech Republic prides itself on being the most atheist country in the world with the lowest church attendance in Europe! Centuries of religious wars, counter-reformation, Nazism and Communism took their toll on the psyche and spirituality of this nation; People despise any kind of organized religion.

“All this has resulted in one thing – most Czech citizens don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. That’s what motivates me to go there with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

“My prayer is that the Czech Republic will experience a move of God and that church leaders will be able to unite and grow into maturity in Christ.” 

You can find more about Stan and Sarah Strunc’s and In His Love Ministries here. We thank God for their ministry and are happy to partner with them in the Gospel.