There are other questions as well. Why would we send anyone anywhere else whilst the church is in decline in our own nation and our own people are struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis (my church foodbank now gives out more food bags in a week than we did in the whole of 2012). Also, if we are going to send missionaries, shouldn’t we be prioritising more economically vulnerable nations in the Global South, and those nations at the top of the World Watch List1 where Christians face the most persecution (of which only one of the top 50 for 2024 is in Europe — Turkey, which comes in at number 50).

Why Europe when our own nation is struggling?

Yes, economically in the UK we are struggling more as a nation than in recent decades. However this is a worldwide trend, and we are not the worst affected (ECM workers in Ukraine, for example, are serving a nation that is dealing with this alongside a war that is significantly reducing their ability to produce food as well as to import goods). This does not mean we do not seek to serve those at home. The two are not mutually exclusive. It is important as Christians who are called to be Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem (our towns), Judea and Samaria (our and neighbouring regions), and to the ends of the earth that we maintain a glocal perspective (combining the importance of our local and global identities and responsibilities).

Similarly, as the church declines in the UK, other European nations are experiencing the same trajectory. Whilst 70% of British young people say they have “no religion”, that was only the fifth highest percentage, behind the Netherlands on 72%, Sweden on 75%, Estonia on 80% and Czechia on 91%. It is also worth noting that even if 99% of a nation professed to be practicing Christians, we follow a God that places the remaining 1% at the top of his priorities.

Why Europe when other parts of the world are struggling more?

Whilst there are great needs in the Global South, there are also significant opportunities for us as the church in Europe. I believe we are being called to be Jesus’ hands and feet in responding to this. Here are 6 crises currently plaguing Europe — and the alternative values God’s Kingdom offers, which ECM workers are seeking to offer across the continent.

Why Europe?

We support and send workers because through them we are able to partner in building God’s Kingdom throughout Europe as we seek to share Jesus’ love with a world in crisis.

Debbie Lyden is Discipleship Team Leader at Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church, which supports ECM workers in Portugal and Spain. She is also a Trustee of ECM Britain.

• Read this and more stories in our latest magazine
• Is God calling you for mission in Europe? Long-term and short-term opportunities with ECM might be your answer!