International Presence
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We have offices in many nations. Please check our list of offices for information on contacting them directly. Most of them still use our old denominational name. More information is available on our websites: AfricaAmericas
Asia
Australia & New ZealandEurope
Some local church congregations have their own web sites. These sites are generally maintained by someone in the local church and have local information such as meeting times and places, information about the pastor, and announcements. Copyright 2009
Grace Communion International |
Our Missions Directors [MD] fill a vital role for the denomination. They work in teams to coordinate and superintend our missionary activities. We are blessed to have leaders with a rich diversity of ministerial experience. Most of the team members serve as National Ministry Leaders in their home nations.
The teams are:
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Gary Moore and Kalengule Kaoma for Africa
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Rod Matthews, Eugene Guzon and John McLean for Asia, the Philippines, Australia and Oceania
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Charles Fleming and Hector Barrero for the Caribbean and Latin America
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James Henderson and Santiago Lange for Europe
The MD acts as a catalyst and a facilitator for the living and sharing of the gospel. They respond to new calls to mission from various places and people. They confirm the legitimacy and viability of a mission call. Once they involve themselves with a mission, much of their work is engaged in identifying and training indigenous men and women. The MDs are becoming specialists in contextualizing the gospel into diverse cultures and situations. This takes maturity and a great deal of experience, since there is often a thin divider between the blessing of a contextualized gospel and the curse of syncretism.
Other priorities of the MD may be summarized as providing pastoral leadership development and succession planning, promoting personal well-being, providing pastoral supervision, ensuring biblically sound teaching, spiritual formation and equipping of pastors, providing evangelism guidance and coordination, linking available resources from external sources to ensure greatest gospel value, linking developing missions to the fellowship through communication, intervening when necessary, being a presence for the denomination.
The mission of the Worldwide Church of God outside the United States is funded in three ways. The first is through the donations of members in the various countries in which we work. The majority of mission work being done is being funded through this means. The second category is the money that comes out of the denominational apportionment of the contributions received in U.S. local churches, and the third source is from individual or congregational donations that are in addition to the funds made available from the denominational apportionment. Our Missions Directors and other mission expenses incurred at the denominational offices are funded from this denominational apportionment.
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Kalengule Kaoma, a native of Zambia, is National Director for Zambia and Missions Director for much of Africa. Over the past several years the number of refugees in Africa has increased tremendously. Of the many congregations we have in this region, two are composed mainly of refugees – one in Nairobi, Kenya, and another in Kakuma, in the north of Kenya near the Sudan. Many of the refugees are Congolese, Rwandese, or Burundian. Some in Kakuma are Sudanese or Ethiopian, and in Kakuma we have a number of members who are hearing impaired. The refugee members have many needs, both physical and spiritual. We have supplied a number of them with Bibles, and have also tried to set up some self-help projects, as well as supplying food as direct assistance.
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Malawi is often described as the "warm heart" of Africa, and is certainly a beautiful and friendly place. However, the country has not had good rains at the right seasons for several years; there have been food shortages and near famine conditions. Various churches in the developed world supported a fund that assisted 35 families with food for a period of around six months during the worst of the crisis. In addition, land and seeds were purchased in order to plant crops for the end of the crisis. This initiative resulted in a bumper harvest for our members in need. Also, some years ago the Blantyre church planted a small church called Minimini on the slopes of Mount Mulanje. This church is located in a tea plantation, and now has around 70 in attendance. A literacy program has been established to help particularly women to learn how to read.
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Madagascar. The WCG in Madagascar (Association le Monde a Venir) has been helping kids from poor families for many years. With our two congregations (Antananarivo and Antsirabe), we are offering spiritual education, scholar kits, protein complementary food every two weeks and some educational activities for about 70- 80 kids between 2 and 13 years old.
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Angola. Oliveira Kitambala and his wife are beginning a school project for orphans and street children just outside war-torn Luanda. Details are still being obtained.
The church is active in most nations of sub-Saharan Africa.
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Gary Moore is the National Director of our denomination in Canada. As such he serves as ministry leader, and coordinates the administration and missions of the fellowship in Canada. Congregations began to develop in Canada in the early 1960's, and have grown to a national family of over 60 churches since then.
Gary married Wendy (Holladay) in June 2006. Wendy, a native South African, served as the National Director in South Africa. Gary served the church in southern Africa from June 2006 until June 2007. Gary and Wendy now live in Canada.
Due to the connection with southern Africa, Gary has been partnered to serve with Kalengule Kaoma as Missions Directors for that continent. Gary's responsibilities include the activities of the church in South Africa, and the areas directly administered from there - Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, and Namibia. Also, the Canadian congregations and members have taken a special responsibility to help fund mission efforts in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Further, due to the fact that about 1/3 of our African congregations are French speaking, a supportive relationship is forming between those churches and the French-speaking congregations in Canada.Gary and Kalengule are working closely together to support and encourage mission in Africa. Africa is truly an exciting mission field. There is an openness to the gospel that is very inspiring. Gary and Wendy strongly feel that the Canadian churches will gain a great deal as they seek to partner with and serve their African brethren. The mission of Jesus Christ in moving forward, and the light of the gospel is shining strongly on the African continent!
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Eugene Guzon is the National Director of the Worldwide Church of God in the Philippines and Missions Director for northern Asia and Micronesia. He coordinates the day-to-day administration and missions and outreach activities in the country. The Philippine church is keen on church planting, missions training and deployment. In March 2007, the denomination held its first World Missions Congress, attended mostly by Filipino tentmaking missionaries working in other countries, church pastors, and church members who are already involved or waiting to be a part of missions work. The congress also had delegates from India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, Nepal, and the United States.
In February 2007, Mr. Guzon was appointed as Missions Director for the Philippines, East Asia and the United Arab Emirates. He is responsible for promoting the missions work of the denomination in the region. This includes missions awareness programs, identification and development and mentoring of indigenous leaders, pastoral supervision, ensuring biblically sound teaching, and networking for the gospel.
- The Philippines is one of the countries with the most members of the
Worldwide Church of God. The church in this nation began as a Bible study group
in 1962. From that small group, God led it to grow to more than 75 churches and
about 45 outreach Bible study areas scattered in major towns and cities, with
about 7500 members nationwide.
In the past few years, we have seen significant growth in terms of churches and membership through holistic evangelism, missions and church-planting training, and leadership development and the role of prayer in the personal and community life of the brethren. Every year, our churches reach thousands through youth ministries, summer camps, medical missions, evangelism training, crusades, medical missions, relief and rehabilitation work during natural disasters. By the grace of God and the commitment of our brethren, God adds an average of 600 to 700 members per year in the church in the Philippines.
Most of the Philippine churches are led by bi-vocational pastoral teams. Many of the members have also undertaken missions training, which has led to more people who have participated in short-term missions trips abroad or have chosen to become tentmaker missionaries. Currently, more than a dozen have been deployed as tentmaker missionaries in Asia and Europe. Some have spent a few months on short-term mission trips in various countries in the region. There are dozens who are trained and willing to be deployed as tentmakers but are still raising funds for their deployment or applying for jobs in host countries.
- China was the world’s largest economy for most of recorded history
in the past two millennia until about 1800. Because of the collapse of the Quing
Dynasty and the resulting chaos, China fast declined in the world scene. It was
during that time that the United States rose to become the world’s largest economic
power. In recent years, because of its competitive labor force, a strong economy,
and a more open-door economic policy, China is fast becoming an economic force
to reckon with.
The "official" orthodox faith system held by most dynasties in China until the overthrow of the last dynasty is panentheism, which is centered on the worship of Heaven as an omnipotent force. Taoism, which is centered on "the way," is also considered a folk religion in China. Buddhism was introduced in China during the Han dynasty and it is the largest organized faith in China; China has more Buddhists than any other nation in the world, followed by Japan. Many Chinese identify themselves as Buddhist and Taoist at the same time.
In recent years, because of its greater openness to outside influences, Christianity is making good headway as we can hear of many new believers. The challenge is how to train and support pastors and leaders to disciple them.
- United Arab Emirates: About 96 percent of the population is Muslim
(80% Sunni, 16% Shiite), with the remaining 4% composed of Christian, Hindus and
other faiths. The country is relatively restrictive, although not as much as Saudi
Arabia and others in the Middle East. Christian churches still find a way to worship
during Fridays (the regular holiday) in private villas, restaurants and hotels.
Some gather in small groups in Christian households for Bible studies. For the
past 18 or so years, the WCG has had a thriving church in the Dubai. The congregation
had a major setback in the mid 1990s, but the work in Dubai has begun to grow
in the past few years. It is a vibrant community of about 40 people in attendance
composed of about 35 baptized members and their families. Almost all the members
are Filipinos who are in Dubai as overseas contract workers. We previously had
expatriates from Europe, but these have returned to their home countries.
- Japan: Over the years, we have had scattered members living in Japan
for job contracts and business. But their tenure in Japan usually lasts for only
a year or a few years. We now have a small church composed mostly of Filipinos.
They are ministered to by a Japanese bi-vocational pastor. Because of its homogenous
culture and language, strong traditions and relatively and costly financial requirements
for setting up churches, Japan poses a real challenge for missions.
- Guam and Micronesia: The work in these islands consists mainly of giving
pastoral care to scattered members. Eugene Guzon recently visited to meet with
members and leaders of other churches for possible networking opportunities. The
trips this year have been more of listening to the needs, challenges and opportunities,
networking with some religious leaders, and meeting national labor officials who
are involved in the deployment of Filipino workers to these territories. There
are also initiatives of partnership for leadership training among pastors in the
area since they have expressed desire for more training in preaching and other
leadership issues. Mission opportunities in this area will mainly be the promotion
of tentmaking ministries, leadership training, and pastoral care visits.
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Rod Matthews helps coordinate activities in nations from Afghanistan in the west to French Polynesia in the east; Nepal in the north to New Zealand in the south (although the church is not involved in activities in every country in this region). He is responsible to the denominational president for overall supervision of the activities of the church in the region, except for Australia.
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Pakistan, Nepal & India: There is ongoing communication with a number of church groups who have requested contact, assistance, and association with the WCG. The process is slow and incremental as we get to know one another in order to determine their needs and what motivates their requests, and match that with what we can offer within our limited resources. In Nepal we have developed a working relationship with a small ministry and have jointly established a medical clinic for the poorest people, especially those working in the brickyards on the outskirts of Kathmandu. In Pakistan we are assisting an established ministry develop biblical and vocational training facilities and meet the social needs of minorities.
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India: In Bangalore, we publish a free national magazine titled Living Light, which is designed to appeal to people of Hindu origins. In Hyderabad we have a counseling center, support orphanages for homeless boys and girls, as well as youth development camps.
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Sri Lanka: We operate the Worldwide Educational Institute teaching English and business skills to high school graduates. This enables them to gain better employment or be equipped to enter tertiary educational courses. We are also expanding our congregations and pastoral support in the poor rural areas in the mountainous central region.
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Bangladesh: The church’s presence in Bangladesh is through an energetic and active ministry offering humanitarian, vocational, educational and Christian outreach initiatives that works from a base in a village in southern Bangladesh under the name of the Bengali Evangelical Association. The facility includes a classroom and assembly building funded by the Canadian churches, and a three-story concrete building that was recently completed as a disaster refuge in the event of cyclones, storms, tsunamis and floods. Vocational, self-employment and agriculture projects strive to lift the people from poverty while sharing the good news of God’s message for them.
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Malaysia: We publish a free magazine that targets the non-Muslim population in Malaysia and Singapore.
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Thailand: We provide pastoral and humanitarian support for a congregation of Karen refugees in an internment camp in the western region bordering Myanmar. We offer personal support for a Christian Thai couple in their English language schools in Chiang Mai, where God’s values are being taught.
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Papua New Guinea: We provide pastoral oversight for congregations in Port Moresby and have installed a solar-power generator for the church-owned buildings near Mt. Wilhelm in the central highlands so the local congregation can have evening functions as an evangelical outreach to neighboring villages, which have no electric power.
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Australia: Rod serves as liaison with the John McLean, National Director for Australia, and individual pastors to match offers of assistance and resources with needs and opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. For example, sister congregation links have been established between Australian and overseas congregations in order to support the work of the church in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka and the Karen refugee congregation in Thailand.
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Solomon Islands: A boat has been provided for the Ranongga congregation to allow them safe transit to the regional center of Gizo for supplies, and to enable them to continue outreach and evangelism activities in this large town. A copra collection and re-sale facility had been established to support the church and help serve and fund outreach projects.
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Vanuatu: We have a village life development at Rory (where the congregation on Malekula is located) including water supply, building of a hall for women’s activities and promotion of economic livelihood activities.
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New Zealand: Southern Light is a community service initiative established by the local congregation in the city of Invercargill. Donated secondhand household goods are displayed and sold at discounted prices for needy citizens, and often given away to those in severe need.
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Myanmar: We have two congregations in very remote areas where we provide humanitarian and pastoral support.
Outside of Australia, the church directly employs only five people —two in India, one in Malaysia and two in New Zealand. Activities in other countries are guided by either local partly funded or non-salaried pastors or congregational leaders, and sometimes include designated supervisory and support pastors from other countries who make annual or bi-annual visits. Therefore, there is much individual communication between the Missions Director and the leaders in other countries involving the coordination of resources and events, in addition to the need for routine pastoral supervision and care. Training and pastoral education and development is important, but especially for those who have very limited contact with colleagues during the year. Therefore, the provision and organizing of conferences, seminars and training weekends and personal visits are part of the annual calendar.
John
McLean is the National Ministry Leader in Australia and coordinator of the
mission work being done by congregations in Australia. There are more than 1,400
members in Australia, meeting in 36 congregations.
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Hector Barrero, National Director for Colombia, is our Missions Director for Latin America. He is well known in Columbia because he hosts a radio program. Easily 60 percent of our members in Columbia came in during the past few years as a result of the radio program. Hector served as vice president for both the NAE in Colombia and for the largest pastor’s association in Bogotá. He is also the national representative for Christian Schwartz’ Natural Church Development. He is often invited to speak at various churches. Recently he was called in to share his testimony by a group of churches that are concerned with the growth among many churches in Columbia of Jewish practices from the Old Testament.
Mexico: We have over 200 people attending church services every week in 15 groups scattered in the country, the one in Guadalajara being the largest. We have members in Chihuahua, Cuauhtemoc, Mexicali, Mexico DF, Monterrey, Tepic, Tijuana, Torreon, Tampico, San Luis Potosi, Ciudad Juarez, Xalapa, Veracruz, Jalpa de Mendez, Orizaba, and Francisco Villa. At present we have two yearly seminars of three days each for the leadership. In these seminars we work on doctrine, governance, promote unity and direction.
The groups in these cities are working within their communities helping and reaching out. They have weekly church services, in most cases at member homes. They invite family and friends to their Bible studies. The Guadalajara congregation has a rented hall.
Central America: We held a yearly seminar for members and leaders in either El Salvador or in Honduras. We invite leaders and members from Costa Rica and Nicaragua. This seminar is the only opportunity we have every year to see each other to plan for the future of the congregations in this area.
In Honduras we have two groups: one of about 50 people in the capital Tegucigalpa, led by Mauricio Diaz. This congregation has a ministry serving prisoners in a local jail. Members of the congregation are allowed by the prison authorities to present Bible studies. Members also take used clothing and Bibles to the prisoners.
The other congregation is in the northern part of the country, in San Pedro Sula, attended by about 30 adults and 50 children, led by Marco Antonio Mejía. Marco Antonio, a former school teacher, has a growing children's ministry in the area. At the end of each year the congregation gives children school supplies for next year. Parents of the children appreciate this gesture very much, as many of them need the help.
In El Salvador we have a small group of about 12 in the capital, San Salvador. There we have David Agreda, who translates our church publications into Spanish. He does an excellent job translating and keeping updated our Spanish web page. David is also our contact reference for all our leaders in Latin America. Two U.S. pastors and the local congregation in San Salvador give David a monthly offering for his work. We appreciate the help of those who contribute to make possible this monthly offering. David is translating into Spanish some of the classes offered by Ambassador College of Christian Ministry – material used by the denomination to train leaders and pastors.
South America: This is a huge area with over 450 million inhabitants. Our denomination is present in the following countries:
In Colombia, we have two congregations - one in Barranquilla, of over 50 in attendance, pastored by Sonia Orozco de Vengoechea. Sonia is the owner and principal of a school with 270 students. Sonia registered her school as a Christian-oriented institution, so she is allowed to teach Christian values to the students. As a result, many students and their parents are attending weekly services. Sonia has in the school a youth ministry led by a deacon with an attendance of 35 youngsters. The influence of Sonia’s school in the community is positive and well received by the neighborhood around the school.
The other congregation is in Bogota, the capital, with over 100 people in attendance. The church’s three-minute daily program in radio station Nuevo Continente reaches many Christian homes. We constantly receive new visitors to church services and phone calls from people who want spiritual guidance and counselling. The radio program has been on the air for over seven years and has given us the opportunity to come into contact with other denominations and their pastors and with secular radio stations, which have occasionally invited us to discuss a variety of subjects. We also receive constant invitations from the other Christian radio station, Vida AM, to participate in opinion programs. Our church is well known among the Christian community in the city. Nuevo Continente officials have invited us to increase our time spot from three to five minutes for 2008. Vida AM has invited us to have our program on their station but we have not accepted it because of our limited budget.
In the Bogota congregation we have been working to train small group leaders, and we have 10 small groups going during the week. We also send trained missionaries to visit scattered members over the country.
In Peru we have three small groups in the country. In Lima, the capital, we have 12 to 15 people who meet weekly with pastor Jose Kasum. This year we had a two-day seminar with attendance of 47, children included. We invited leaders from the Piura and San Benito groups. We plan to continue having a yearly seminar in Lima as budget permits.
In Argentina we have two congregations, one in Bahia Blanca of about 25 in attendance, and the other in Buenos Aires with close to 50 in attendance, whose pastor is Julio Fernandez. Julio works for a local Christian publication and is in contact with other evangelical pastors and denominations. In 2007 we held a two-day seminar in Ezeiza, near Buenos Aires, attended by over 50 people. The Ezeiza congregation owns a nice church hall in the middle of a community in which residents are somewhat related by family ties. When the MD visits Argentina he also visits Uruguay and Chile, where we have friend congregations. We want to keep our commitment to visit members and friend congregations in this area once a year.
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Charles Fleming is the Missions Director for the Caribbean region. Within the region, the desire is to see each congregation become missional – joining other WCG congregations as well as Christians from other denominations in sharing the love of God with those around them. For those looking for mission partners, here are three values that shape who we seek to become:
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Mission is personal service. Experiencing God’s patient yet insistent determination to set our denomination free from self-imposed legalism has left us with a desire to patiently, but persistently serve others with the hope that they too will come to know the life-changing love of God. We wish to partner with those who understand that mission involves entering into personal relationships with the people we serve.
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Mission is part of life’s daily rhythm. Recognizing that Christ’s life was a life on mission, we wish to make mission a natural part of the rhythm of our lives – individually and as congregations. We wish to partner with others for whom a mission is a sustainable part of their own life-rhythm.
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Mission is joint-effort. Having experienced the way the diverse gifts of the Spirit come together in the Body of Christ to express God’s love, we welcome opportunities to do ministry with committed Christians of different denominations.
The Worldwide Church of God has 23 congregations in 15 of the 27 nations that make up the region. For those interested in joining Caribbean congregations of the WCG in mission work, here are a few of our current mission-efforts.
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In the Bahamas, in June 2007 a group of WCG members and United Methodist members were involved in upgrading the Bahamas church building to better serve members and the community. A follow-up mission trip is planned for June 21–28, 2008.
On-going activities: the Nassau congregation is involved in a weekly soup kitchen to the local community. This ministry especially focuses on members of the Haitian migrant community. The church is also involved in refurbishing the facilities of the Simpson Penn School for Boys. There is a sustained effort to reach out to youth in the community, and an annual basketball tournament has been a popular feature.
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In Trinidad our campus has become a service center to the larger body of Christ. Dozens of Christian groups – from a wide range of denominations – along with para-Church agencies – rent the facilities for seminars, retreats and celebratory activities. The campus is one of the official training centers for Evangelism Explosion (EE) and for Kids’ EE. It is also the base for the United Methodists ‘Walk to Emmaus,’ a retreat weekend committed to strengthening the discipleship process of local churches. It is also a site for training persons involved in Prison Ministries. On-going activities. There is a major effort to serve economically challenged families in a nearby community, addressing family needs and providing educational opportunities.
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In Jamaica, over the past two years, trips by the Orlando WCG congregation to the Christian Pen congregation have led to a working relationship between the congregations. Plans are being made for another trip May 21–26, 2008. Construction projects along with continuing efforts to strengthen the Christian Pen’s congregation’s outreach effort to youth in community. The leadership of the Christian Pen congregation has shown great commitment to meeting the needs of people in the surrounding community, and the Orlando congregation is anxious to help.
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In Guyana, an English-speaking country on the northeastern coast of South America, our Georgetown congregation partners with the Queens, NY congregation in serving our small, 15-member congregation in Paramkatoi, an Amerindian village deep in the mountainous hinterland of the country. Once a year members from Georgetown visit Paramakatoi to provide training, to minister and to meet with villagers and share the Gospel.
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In Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada, our churches have growing outreach programs into the community.
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In Haiti, the congregation, in partnership with WCG congregations in Ohio and Indiana, runs a school. Unfortunately, the breakdown of law and order has made it difficult for most parents to send their children to school, and so we are reviewing our best way to support the congregation. The church also sponsors a program for training dozens of young people to become bakers and so giving them a way of making a living.
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In Bermuda, the church is known for its hospitality and has a growing passion for serving young people in the community.
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James Henderson, in addition to being National Director in the United Kingdom, is also one of the Missions Directors for Europe. He writes the following:
Europe – the challenge and opportunity
Modern Europe is changing. Alongside stereotypical national images is emerging a new world order with staggering potential. The sad thing is that this brave new world is often godless. God is not on the agenda. Europe has been called neo-pagan, post-Christian.
Of course, communities of Christians do survive and at times thrive, and in some places an archaic form of Christianity remains amidst the debris of failed state religion, adhered to nominally for the most part. Faith in Christ, however, is in short supply whereas secularism, humanism and faith as multiculturalism seem the order of the day. To be a Christian is regarded as possibly fanatical, a social indiscretion or an embarrassing inconvenience.
Europe is stony ground indeed for the gospel. But the work of faith must go on. Christians tell their stories of courageous faith amidst an increasingly disinterested and sometimes hostile society.
What can the Worldwide Church of God do in the spiritual wilderness that is Europe? We think that God can perform a miracle. Just as he transformed the five loaves and two fishes and fed thousands, so Christ can take what little we offer and through his miracle feed spiritually tens of thousands. Scattered throughout Europe we have grace-filled congregations and contacts who seek to be used by God in his mighty work. We need to hold their hands in faith. Below is an introduction to their stories. Please pray with us that God will use us to proclaim the good news of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
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United Kingdom and Ireland):
There are 1,414 members in the British Isles and Ireland, meeting in 46 congregations. However, without God, we are nothing. Our fellowship has come to realize clearly that we cannot do his work on our own strength. The Worldwide Church of God in the UK and Ireland has rededicated itself to the work of God. It is our prayer that he will use us for the furtherance of his gospel. Our congregations participate in living and sharing the gospel nationally and locally where they live. To find out more, check out our website at www.wcg.org.uk.
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Estonia: The church has had members in Estonia since 1988. In 1989 one member of the WCG together with seven other Estonians started an organisation that could help fellow Estonians. This project is now one of the largest Estonian organisations helping released criminals find work and housing, helping street children, a boy’s home for the homeless and other projects. The WCG has 15 members living in Tartu, Estonia, which is the second-largest city in the country. The pastor of WCG Scandinavia visits Estonia four times a year serving the members, holding public lectures, where the public requests the topics. And for the last three years the WCG in Europe has, with qualified staff members, held a summer school for the Estonian youth of the town of Kallaste. The local school requested the subjects: Basic and advanced English, Computer, Art, Principles of living and American football (especially requested by the local school)!
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Si vous voudriez lire cette section en français, clic ici. France:
L’Eglise
Universelle de Dieu / Le Monde à Venir is a Christian community of 700 members
spread over 10 churches in metropolitan France and three churches in the
Caribbean. In France, churches are in Bordeaux, Laval, Lille, Lyon, Marseille,
Metz, Narbonne, Selestat-Mulhouse, Paris and Orléans. House churches are also
being developed. The church’s work in France began 40 years ago, in 1967, with
the publication of a magazine. Our magazine La Vie Chrétienne reflects
our new understanding and doctrinal orientations. The WCG France teaches
salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The church teaches the
values of the New Testament and that salvation is offered to all humanity.
Members are encouraged to live their daily lives according to these
principles.
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Italy:
In 1982, there were only a few Italian
members. They had come into contact with the WCG in other parts of the world.
The first elder was ordained in 1985, and congregations were formed in Rome,
Milan and Catania. New contacts mainly came through heavily subsidized media:
a nationwide television program, an Italian version of our magazine, which at
one point had a circulation of 100,000, and through various booklets on
aspects of Christian living and doctrine. -
Portugal:
The
Portuguese church is small in numbers but big in heart. Our members are
geographically distant from one another, some living in the north, south and
central part of the country. There are also members in the Madeira and Azores
islands. Portugal has a long coastline facing the Atlantic Ocean and in the
age of discovery established colonies in diverse parts of the world. They
share language and cultural links with these countries. Meetings are held in
the Lisbon area, so if you are ever in Portugal you are welcome to fellowship
with us. Our website www.idm.pt
contains our contact information as well as many articles in the
Portuguese language. -
Scandinavia:
The WCG
has had members in Scandinavia since the mid 1950s. The members have always
been scattered in this region because they came in contact with the church
through mass media. There are 65 members in the three Scandinavian countries
of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The church has regular meetings in Oslo,
Copenhagen, Stockholm and in other areas on a less regular basis. The church
produces five booklets a year in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish with a
readership of just over 1,000. The church has a homepage in all three
languages: www.gvks.org. The WCG in
Scandinavia has Estonia as an outreach project and serves the members there.
In recent years the WCG has held a summer school for Estonian youth of the
town of Kallaste. The regional pastor for Scandinavia is Carl Fredrik Aas.
The National Ecclesiastical Council,
composed of three pastors and a spokesperson, works hand in hand with the
church board to offer pastoral care and handle administrative matters. We
encourage members to get involved in church activities as well as in their
local communities. Outreach ministries for the elders, youth and little ones
are encouraged and developed. A prayer ministry binds the local churches with
our scattered members and those who are in difficult situations. The annual
"Celebration of the Kingdom" is a strong moment in the life of our Christian
community. Information can be obtained on our website:
www.lemondeavenir.com.
Email:
contact@lemondeavenir.com Street
address: 53 rue Raymond Losserand, 75014 PARIS – France.
Today the church in Italy is growing again, mainly through
personal evangelism, and there are about 120 people meeting in small groups or
churches in Turin, Milan, Genoa, Trento, Vicenza, Ancona, Rome, Bari, Catania
and Lercara Friddi (Sicily) and Sassari (Sardinia). There are also members in
Alessandria, Naples and the Calabria region. The church publishes a free
quarterly magazine titled Seguimi and organizes a nationwide festival
during the last week of each August.
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Santiago Lange is the National Director of the WCG in Germany as well as one of the Missions Directors for Europe.
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Bulgaria:
Germany and Austria:
The Netherlands:
The Houten congregation is part of an association of ten Christian churches that is involved, along with the government, in supporting the elderly, the needy and youth. The ecumenical work among these churches has proven to be constructive in spite of theological differences. The goal is to bring the message and the person of Christ nearer to the Houten community. Unfortunately, many people do not think of the word of God being relevant in their lives today.
The Tilburg congregation is also an active member of an ecumenical association and it supports an orphanage in India. The congregation in Antwerp is associated with the Evangelical Alliance. After many difficult years, the WCG’s work in Flanders (Dutch-speaking Belgium) is now being positively recognized.
The Dutch WCG national church is active in a number of mission projects, particularly in Bulgaria. In 2007, the congregations sponsored a youth group that is building hospitals and schools in Malawi. Other activities involve street evangelism and the support of WCG activities in Estonia. Most members in the Netherlands are fluent in English. The WCG Netherlands continues to remain in contact with two members in Surinam, South America, who are supported spiritually as well as financially.
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Spain
The WCG in Spain held its first worship service in 1988. There are about 20 members regularly attending the Madrid congregation, although there are an estimated 100 Christians, mostly of Brazilian background, who occasionally also come to our fellowship.
We have been blessed with a second and very vibrant congregation of about 15 members in Vilafranca de Bonany, Majorca. Most of those in attendance are "second generation" Christians whose parents had been attending the WCG.
About 35 additional members are scattered throughout Spain. Most of them came in contact through the old denominational magazine, La Pura Verdad. Some are also visiting other Christian congregations even though they want to remain members of the WCG. The church produces two magazines, Juntos and Verdad Y Vida. Juntos provides the Spanish members with strong spiritual nourishment. The second magazine, Verdad Y Vida, has 500 subscribers. The gospel faces great challenges in Spain and we would greatly appreciate prayers of support.
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Switzerland:
As you can probably appreciate, our Missions Directors take seriously the unique characteristics of the cultural and historical context in which they have to minister within the realities of their regions. We hope that this information has broadened your overview of the international work. There is still so much to do. We appreciate your regular and fervent prayers that God will inspire and uplift our MDs as they respond to the Holy Spirit, that God will bless and protect the many fellow laborers scattered throughout the world, and send even more laborers into his harvest.