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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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I. Vision Statement
II. Why Greece?
III. Current State of the Ministry in Greece
IV. The Scope of our Ministry
V. How to Proceed — Our Ministry Philosophy
VI. How to Be Involved
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I. OUR VISON AND MISSION |
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Our Vision
To be used of God to help build movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who
truly follows Christ…
That we could see Greek students...
...returning to the Word of God as a source of
relevant wisdom
...seeking out true believers as a source of hope
and an example of changed lives
...come to know Christ personally with a heart to develop and grow in faith
...start movements on their campuses with a
desire to send to the world
Our Mission
Helping to turn the lost students of Greece into Christcentered
lifetime laborers, enabling them to reach their
country, their continent and their world with the gospel.
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II. WHY GREECE? |
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Southern Europe
Southern Europe is a place of incredible diversity. Greece, in particular, is a friendly, expressive culture that is relationally driven— community is already a key part of their society. We want to be in a culture where we could work within existing networks friendships, exhibiting how we follow Chrsist, leaving fruitfulness up to God.
Strategically Located
As we trust the Lord to reach the students of our primary culture, Greece is strategically located for future sending possibilities. Greece is situated in the midst of the war-torn Balkans with a history of being isolated from the gospel message. To the North— Albania, Former Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Bulgaria— a mixture of post-Communist countries. To the East— Turkey and the Middle East— the birthplace of Christianity, with some similar history and culture. To the South— all of Northern Africa—
almost entirely of Muslim faith. To the West— the rest of Western Europe— post-modern and secular, disinterested in “religion.” These countries are in great need of hearing the gospel message.
Spiritually Reverent
Though the students of Greece have waning interest in the current religious practices, they still possess a reverence toward God. They are growing dissatisfied with mere traditions, and have little to no knowledge of the Bible or a personal relationship with Jesus. They are open to talk about spiritual things, but are taught that anyone outside their Church is a heretic. They are willing to engage in and exchange ideas, and that is a good place to start.
Opportunity to Pioneer
We wanted to be involved in ministry where there is little relevant presentation of the gospel message among students. Though Greece was once evangelized, it is now a country of religious tradition, where the students are walking away from the faith of their fathers. Many on the university claim to be atheists— having been influenced by the communist party and a post-modern worldview. Our desire is to be used by the Lord to help start movements on campus that will one day be turned over to Greek nationals
Interesting Place to Partner
As we desire to have a great ministry in our host country of Greece, we would also like to continue the way we have been able to build in to American college students and staff who come over to serve. The Gospel Frontier is not only an exciting place for evangelism, but it is also a greenhouse for growth for our short-term workers. Greece provides an interesting environment which will afford many opportunities to teach and train the next generation of spiritual leaders for America and around the world. The current spiritual climate in Western Europe is where America is heading— so learning how to do ministry here will prepare today's college students for tomorrow's challenges.
Home of Early Church, Following the Footsteps of Paul
Once the leading missions continent, Western Europe is now leading the world into a post-modern darkness and spiritual decline. We want to see Western Europe changed— and Greece seems the place to start!
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III. CURRENT STATE OF THE CAMPUS MINISTRY |
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Though agapeGreece (the name of Campus Crusade for Christ in Greece) has been active for a number of years, the primary focus has been in conjunction with Family Life Ministries and the use of the Jesus
film. At different times there have been attempts at a campus ministry, but no long-term presence to watch it mature.
Currently there are only 2 national staff working on three campuses in Thessaloniki— with a target of 80,000 students. We have a strong team of long-term staff and short-term “stinters” in the city of Athens (population of 5 million, and capital of the Greece), where there are more than 100,000 students, and will continue to expand over time to other major cities with student populations.
Before this time, there has been little to no opportunity for the Greece Campus Ministry to have any type of sustained partnership, receiving workers from other countries. This new partnership in Greece will link relevant resources with current opportunities— helping students have a chance to hear a clear presentation of the gospel while seeing it lived out in the midst of community.
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IV. THE SCOPE OF OUR MINISTRY |
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agapeEurope has recently restructured and streamlined our ministry focus. As it stands currently, “Student Ministries” is a primary strategy, and encompasses not only the university students, but high school students as well. Athens, in particular, has been named as one of the top six priority cities on which to focus in all of Western Europe. As we pioneer and look at the daunting task of reaching this city, we have chosen to start with university students, since that is our area of proficiency. Here are the demographics for the university sector:
Number of Universities/Institutes: Approximately 75
Number of Higher Education Students: Approximately 400,000
Where Students are Living: 1/2 in Athens and Thessaloniki,
1/2 in 5 other cities in Greece
As we build fruitful movements on campus, our future plans also include
an expansion in local high schools through partnering with Student Venture
(Campus Crusade for Christ's high school ministry) and partnering
with local churches.
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V. HOW TO PROCEED — OUR PHILOSOPHY |
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We have used this first year of being on the ground in Athens to develop our ministry
philosophy for reaching the university students. Our investment has helped us to shape
4 guiding principles:
1. Being Relevant — this is the main issue with students in Greece. They feel “burned”
by religious tradition, and can't name many ways that a relationship with God intersects
with their personal life. We are inviting students into our personal walks with
Christ, allowing them to hear and see how Jesus has changed our lives as we ask
them to consider his teachings in the Bible.
2. Working in Community — Greek students are incredibly relational. Everything they do
relates to their “parea” (small group of intimate friends). They can't be reached without
knowing their friends. We are emphasizing how people grow in relationship with
God while in the midst of relating to others. This allows believers and people in
process to enjoy one another's company without having to feel ashamed or ignorant
about what they know spiritually. It also allows us to begin the discipleship process
before someone makes a personal commitment to Christ.
3. Getting to the Gospel — In building community, we have not forgotten the importance
of making a personal relationship with Jesus Christ central. Jesus didn't just say,
“Follow me,” but as people understood who He was, He challenged them to commit
their lives to Him. We want people to be able to choose to belong to the faith, knowing
that people are not merely born cultural Christians, but also knowing they must respond to
Christ's offer of salvation.
4. Underscoring with Compassion — As we follow Christ together, we want to demonstrate
our faith to others by helping the less fortunate in this world. We have already
started key partnerships with existing compassion ministries that will allow us to focus
our primary resources and time on campus while giving us an outlet that can
explain why we are compelled to help others in need.
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VI. HOW TO BE INVOLVED |
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Prayer — We will soon be launching tools to help people be informed about how to pray
for our ministry. Check out our prayer requests page and sign up for our prayer requests and ministry updates.
Financially — We are now in the process of raising our operational funding (expenses for
the ministry, not the people). We are trusting God to meet our annual budget (as well
as some key needs) through donors giving one-time gifts or monthly donations. For more information on giving go to our giving page.
Participation in Programs — We are still in the midst of formulating what types of programs
to offer partnering churches and campuses. Our desire is to offer different types
of programs to accommodate people who are new to missions and to those who have
been involved with our organization in the USA. We are currently seeking partnership
with new churches who are interested in working in Western Europe. The programs we are affering are:
- Short-Term Project (1 to 5 weeks)
- Evangelism and Discipleship (w/ some Language Study)
- STINT (1 or 2 years)
- Full-Time Staff
Joining Staff with Campus Crusade for Christ in Western Europe
Please contact Chris McGuffey for more information.
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