Mission To The Cities Meeting in London
London, England. 6 people from the Baltic Union Conference had opportunity to spend 10 days in London and to take part in the Mission to the Cities (MTTC) evangelistic series. Each day we had to travel to different evangelistic events and see how it’s done by pastors and lay members in London. Here’s what our group members told after the event:
Mindaugas Pikunas, a pastor from Lithuania: “I feel really privileged to have been invited to take part in MTTC in London. Although program was intense from morning till evening, I did not feel tired or exhausted at all. Morning sessions were useful. And afternoon field visitations where inspiring. I have been reading many books and attending quite a few seminars on witnessing, discipleship and church growth. So for myself I mostly enjoyed visiting different sights throughout the London where different evangelistic events took place. This practical participation left the most lasting impression and gave a lot of things to think about.
“I have to mention also another side of the conference that was very useful for my personal growth — that is, personal fellowship with pastors from all over our Trans-European Division. Personal talks at the dinner table or going together to visit evangelistic meetings gave a chance for personal reflection and to exchange my thought or to hear input from others. Overall, I feel enriched after attending MTTC conference. I feel more empowered to apply some thing in my own context.”
Andres Ploompuu, a pastor from Estonia: “MTTC London was truly an eye-opening experience. What I noticed from the start was the versatility of approaches being used and applied for evangelism at London. Each approach used by churches in London had its genuine signature. What surprised me was the brave originality of some of the ideas, like Heroes the Game, for example.
“I then realised that for far too long we have been engaged in merely organizing events, while most of the time we lack the knowledge and vision to create or live a process. And that is still something I believe we need to learn. And in that sense we need to adopt a “culture of connecting” where we all could feel, and make others feel, that we are connected to and with something significant.”
Priit Põldaru, a lay member from Estonia: “I haven’t experienced before so much encouragement and reassurance, these 10 days in London were opportunity for me to think big and see what ideas and dreams God puts into my mind. Being there, I noticed how open and happy people are there. If I asked something, people were happy to help me, with joy.
Let me share a few ideas from one memorable event. I had an opportunity to participate in the presentation of a Christian game named “Heroes”. You can play this game on iPhone or iPad, but it’s promised also for Android. To play the game, you must know biblical characters. The player chooses at least 7 characters from among the 11, and he/she has 60 seconds to answer different questions about those characters. The player gets points and bonuses for correct answers. Why was this game invented? To solve the problem how to involve young people to study the Bible. Thinking about the creation of this game made me wonder how powerful a teamwork can be, specially when a group of people is praying and seeking God’s will. We can see wonderful ideas in the outcome. I could participate in other programs as well — “The Sabbath Sofa”, “Flower Festival”, “Refresh”, “Thank You” and many more.
“Let me share another interesting experience. My English skills are not the best. My friend Andres, who used to translated for me, had to leave conference room for a while. Next seminar lecture started. Theme was about the health, and I felt that this is an important topic for me. Speaker was a medical doctor, who had a strong accent, which I could not understand. I prayed to God that He would help me to understand what is being said, or that He would send Andres back, because I could not call him or send a message to him. But then came my friend, Ilya, who usually sat away from us. He sat down next to me and translated this doctor’s presentations. Isn’t God wonderful?
“After returning from London I realized how much can be done when people use their talents. I want to encourage everyone — be brave and listen to God! If you have talents, use them. Find out what is your talent, and use it. God has a plan for each person. And think about it: if God wants to give you some talents or gifts, but you are not receiving them or using them, then ask yourself — how does God feel about it. Can we be unconcerned? It’s just amazing what God can do when His people are willing to co-operate! Be active and courageous!”
Guntis Bukalders
BAUC Communication director
