One day after the wedding had taken place, Ellen returned to the pharmacy, and her pharmacist greeted her, saying, “I don’t know what you did, but it worked.” The Lord had granted Ellen’s request for good weather on the day of the wedding. Ellen explained to her pharmacist that she had prayed daily as well as during the wedding.

“Only the Lord can make these things happen,” Ellen explained to her friend. “He tells us to pray about everything, so I continue to pray. I will stay steadfast in praying, and you will continue to be amazed, as I have, when the Lord answers.”

From Malta
Many in different countries and states joined together in intercession for a day of prayer in Malta. Workers there had praise, worship and prayer time in Maltese and English. Nearly 100 people participated in these events, including a team from the United States who prayed for the 68 council areas of Malta and Gozo.

Workers in Malta saw one of God’s tangible answers to their prayers for the people of Malta. In one of the villages, Tom struck up a conversation with a policeman as he was standing outside the police station. During the course of the conversation, Tom had a chance to share the Gospel with the policeman, who recognized his need to ask Jesus into his heart and life.

Eleven people like this policeman accepted Christ as their Savior during the emphasis, and many prayers of intercession were lifted up on Malta’s behalf. The fields are indeed “white unto harvest!”

From Germany
Carol’s friend Betina believes in and prays to God but doesn’t know what to think about Jesus. She said she believes the Bible is a book full of men’s opinions, but still, she wants to hear more.

Carol and her husband Alex have looked for ways they can minister to Betina and her family, and recently, God provided a unique opportunity for them not only to physically help Betina, but also to pray for and speak truth into her life.

Betina and her husband have an adult son, Dieter, who is disabled. Alex has helped carry Dieter up and downstairs to Betina’s flat. Usually when it is time for Dieter to leave the flat, he throws a terrible tantrum and is very hard to manage, which upsets Betina.

But this particular time, Alex and Carol prayed for God’s peace for Dieter during the transition to the van. Dieter was totally fine, even happy, and began singing! Betina was so amazed.

Alex and Carol told Betina they had asked Jesus for peace for Dieter as they helped him out of the apartment, and Betina wondered aloud if that was what had happened to cause such a change in Dieter’s behavior and attitude!

These are just a few stories of Western Europeans with whom IMB workers cross paths each day. They are friends, neighbors, and members of the community who may be searching for truth and hope. Pray for workers as they seek to be salt and light to their friends as they go about their daily lives, and pray for more Europeans like these to be curious about Jesus Christ.

For 24 hours, maybe — 48 tops.

Then it was back to business as usual and firm British defiance. “We will hold firm” went the refrain from World War II days. Londoners made it through the Blitz and years of IRA terror, after all; they could surely survive this.

A brief window of opportunity

But members of the Southern Baptist mission team dedicated to spreading the Gospel in London made the most of their brief window of opportunity.

“The day of (the bombings), people were horrified,” said one missionary. “I was over at my neighbor’s house three times that day. I talked to my other neighbor, too, who I hadn’t been able to speak with for quite a long time. She hadn’t even seen my 8–month–old baby.”

Missionaries told of another neighbor who initiated a conversation that day. He wanted to talk about evil in the world, Jesus’ return, the forgiveness of sins.

“It makes you wonder where God was,” he mused about the bombings. “What is the purpose of these events? Why would God let this happen?”

Then he answered his own question: “I suppose that God uses events like this to try to get our attention and think more about Him.”

Initial reaction passed quickly

A few days later, people weren’t talking much about it, reported Southern Baptist workers who walked the streets to get a feel for their neighborhoods. Some Londoners still hesitated to ride public transport. More cars were being used in central London. Bicycle sales have increased. Otherwise, “It’s as if it never happened,” reported one missionary.

Relationships are crucial

“Relationship, relationship, relationship,” said another mission worker. “These are crucial days. Now is the time to concentrate prayer on those relationships we’ve already built and allow the Spirit of God to take them to another level. People are discipled into the kingdom of God, not just discipled after they make a commitment.”

Relationships are even more important among the huge and varied immigrant communities of London — particularly among Muslims, who fear a possible backlash for the terrorist actions of a militant minority.

Responding to Muslims in London

“The circles I’m in are fearful,” says a missionary who ministers to Muslim women. “Their children are fearful of things that could happen or be said.”

The day of the bombings, she talked with two Muslim mothers — one from Turkey, the other from a Kashmiri family. “They are appalled at the taking of innocent life. Husbands and brothers could have been on the trains that were bombed, but weren’t. They have feelings of guilt and gratitude all mixed together.”

Other Christian workers met the next day to share the hope of Christ with London taxi drivers from Iraq and Afghanistan and students from Turkey.

Some Christians look on London and other European cities and despair. They see spiritual wastelands, pockmarked with empty cathedrals and bare ruined choirs, almost beyond hope. Others see them as the new capitals of “Eurabia” — a region rapidly becoming culturally colonized by Muslims.

Europe’s cities filled with spiritually hungry people

They are neither. In God’s eyes, they are cities filled with millions of spiritually hungry, searching people speaking many languages — just like New York, Los Angeles or Atlanta.

A week after the bombings, it was back to “normal” in London, acknowledges one of the missionaries there. “But scratch the human surface of the heart (and you) find people who are troubled at the thought that the men who did this were average people next door,” she reflects. “Our world view is being changed as if in a pressure cooker. The pressure will get more intense. Jesus said so. His word to Paul as he set forth in the Roman Empire was to ’open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me’ (Acts 26:18).

“Two thousand years later, in the former Roman outpost of Londinium, there are still believers in Jesus who are praying for London’s peoples and the world she represents to receive forgiveness of sins and a place around the throne of King Jesus.”

He and 73 other students and leaders saw a London far different from the British castles, Big Ben and Parliament most American tourists see. They worked a week in north London, crowded with immigrants and refugees from around the world, including many from “Last Frontier” countries closed to the gospel.

The students were taking part in the first week of M–Fuge, part of the Centrifuge program that is a hands–on missions camping program sponsored by LifeWay and Southern Baptists’ International Mission Board. Of almost 20,000 students who will take part in Centrifuge this year, about 1,500 will participate in M–Fuge programs in England, Wales, France, Mexico and Venezuela during June, July and August.

Southern Baptist missionaries who work with groups of M–Fuge students in London say the idea is not just to just give the students a missions experience, but to actually do missions that will ultimately help get churches started among some of the world’s hardest–to–reach people.

Although it was the first time Torres had flown overseas, he said the real highlight of the week for him was visiting in the home of a Romanian family where a woman had just watched the video they had given her about the life of Jesus. “We shared Christ with them and it was interesting to see how they lived and all,” said Torres, age 17.

“It was a bittersweet experience,” Torres summed up the week. “I was so happy to travel and visit different people. It was amazing, learning about their cultures. But, unfortunately, most of their cultural backgrounds did not allow for them to accept Jesus, let alone hear about Him,” he said.

“This depressed me but I was motivated to keep on sharing the Good News,” he said. The M–Fugers distributed more than 1,500 videos on the life of Christ in the first two weeks, but Torres said many doors were closed in their faces and they heard “not interested” many times.

Torres is a member of First Baptist Church in Kenedy and lives in South Texas Children’s Home, sponsored by Texas Baptists.

For more information on the M–Fuge program, check LifeWay’s Web site at: www.lifeway.com/fuge.