IMB Discovery Trip Menu:

• Western Europe 2002
• South Asia 2004

The Western Europe trip was in January 2002, not too long after 9/11, so security was really an issue. My goal was to visit ISC and Journeyman personnel to experience their work and see how they lived and how they were doing. I was in seven countries in 17 days!

There was a regional meeting outside of Amsterdam where I hooked up with a few Journeymen. They were working with a large immigrant and refugee population. It was fun for them to show off their new neighborhood and the work they were doing.

The focus of my trip was to see the Gateway Cities strategy at work. These cities across Europe were gateways for refugees to enter various European countries. While there, many refugees were open to the hospitality offered by our personnel, and many were open to the gospel! One refugee center I visited had our personnel leading an ongoing Bible study with a a group of about 25 Iranian men!

I was able to visit Holland, the UK, Spain, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Germany. One of our personnel (grandmother age) in Germany told me, "We just love on these people, they are so warm and welcoming... can you believe they pay us to do this!" That day, an Iraqi wife and her younger children received a phone call that her husband and old sons have not been found. Through the tears there were hugs and comforts that spoke loudly that we Americans care about you and your family. The children would always run up to one of our older gentlemen... relationship was definitely the key to their work!

My impression of Western Europe was that work there was very difficult for our personnel, at least in trying to reach Europeans. While they have the luxuries of modern conveniences, the work was difficult (in this post-Christian society). It's easy to be a missionary in Zambia; it's like going up to a tree and picking off the fruit.