Western Europe, January 2007

Here in what T.S. Elliot called "The Wasteland" spiritually, the true Gospel is reviving, as we've reported previously. Although response is mainly coming from the many new immigrants, we notice a renewed level of interest from many of the 'Old Europeans' themselves. We get applications for literature from the countries of Western Europe each day from our websites. Nowadays, one can travel Western Europe and never be far from either a brother / sister in Christ, or those who are strongly acceptive of our doctrinal positions. From Russian sister Lena in Germany to the new ecclesia in Finland, through Switzerland and Luxembourg, we have been encouraged this year alone by the revival of the Truth in this highly materialistic and secular part of the world.

Photo: Breaking bread with Andy and Lindsey in Luxembourg after several hours intense discussion of the record of the crucifixion- an evening to be remembered
    

We spent a wonderful time in Switzerland with our contact PATRICK, and it was our joy to baptize him in a hotel near snowy Montreux, overlooking the quite spectacular lake. We encouraged him as we do all those we baptize to read Scripture daily using the Bible Companion , not that the plan is anything special in itself but because it provides a very real bond between the growing number of isolated brothers and sisters world-wide, knowing that we're all reading the same chapters each day. We also provided Brother Patrick with Wrested Scriptures and the Bible Timelines- we're pleasantly encouraged by the many requests we've had from them. They really are good as they don't 'preach' at people specifically but just give a nicely produced visual summary of Bible history which is both a reminder to new converts of the historical context and development of God's purpose, as well as a stimulant to the unbaptized to ask more. You can view them at and order from the artist herself, Sis Robin Jones, robinthered@hotmail.com .

Photo: Cindy with Patrick, timelines, Wrested Scriptures, Lake Geneva
        

Thanks to free tickets on Ryan Air we were able to fly down to Portugal to meet a Russian family who had been studying in the Russian section of our online Aletheia Bible College [ http://www.aletheiacollege.net ] Having gone from church to church seeking sincerity and truth, Lera & Rina finally set up their own group- with them and their three lovely children. They live in three tiny rooms which are almost literally falling down on top of them. They have Portuguese citizenship but finding work is hard as they only know Russian- they clean houses and teach music to make ends meet, but their main focus in life is the study of God's word and sharing it with others.
They've gone out into the Russian speaking immigrant community in Portugal and beseeched people to turn away from tradition and nominal faith and adopt a solid, Bible-based approach. They've gathered now a group of about 40 people and despite their financial limitations, they manage to rent a hotel conference room once / week where they gather together. Lera researches what he's going to teach, and searched for a Biblical explanation of Revelation [in Russian]. He came to our site via Google, liked the material, and decided to register for Aletheia College. Since then he's faithfully shared the material with his group.
It was a very humbling experience to spend a weekend with such eager seekers after truth. We took the powerpoint projector and Duncan gave talks which went down well. They run what they proudly call "Bible School" every Sunday afternoon, inviting Russian speaking people to come in and spend the afternoon learning about the Bible with them..

Photo: Sunday afternoon "Bible School"
    

The family are very musical and they put on a fine musical presentation, which people can't help but enjoy. They get up early Sunday mornings for the long journey by public transport into Lisbon, taking with them their bulky keyboard, which they set up in the hotel conference room. For us one of the most touching moments was to see Lera lead the family in prayer that they could learn and spread God's truth more that day, and then lead them in practicing scales. They practice for about an hour, and then people start to arrive, they make their presentation, and Lera then teaches what he has learnt.

Photo: Early morning practicing scales as a family
    

And all this came from the children getting online, saving up for a computer in that very humble home, showing dad how to use it, and him then learning the truth online. At times all the fiddly and frustrating work connected with websites and translating into other languages seems not worth it, but at times like this one does give thanks for how God is using the internet

Photo: Computer
    

Speaking of that, can we remind you that the draft of Duncan's new book about the Devil is now complete. Your comments are welcome, as we seek to reach out to others with the true Biblical understanding of this vital doctrine concerning sin, evil and the victory over the Devil which the atonement in Christ has achieved. See www.realdevil.info and send us your critical comments!

With love from your brothers and sisters of CCM