the ancient city of ephesus

Well, it’s been a while since our last update and a lot has taken place. After the July 7th bombings we saw our first team leave. We had a fantastic send off, where over 150 people came to a farewell service, which took place at the end of July. We saw 13 people trained up to further serve God’s Kingdom; as an encouragement to you for praying, 3 members of the team decided to stay on and work with LCM full time, and a couple others are considering missions work with different organizations.

Ash and I had the month of August to recuperate and get ready for the new team that has just arrived. We were also able to take a trip to Turkey for a week, where we mostly sat on a beach and relaxed. We did, however, take a day trip to the “Ancient City of Ephesus” where the apostle Paul resided for a number of years. The city was discovered about 100 years ago, and much has been done through archeological digs to piece together what the city once looked like 2000 years ago. What was most startling was the contrast between what the church looks like now in Turkey versus what it used to look like through the missionary efforts of Paul and the early church. There are virtually no churches in Turkey, but that is beginning to change through increased efforts the reach the people of Turkey by missions agencies. However, at the moment the Turkish landscape is filled with mosques, rather than churches. Why the change? According to our guide that took us through Ephesus, the change took place mostly through emigration, which is partly true. Muslims came in to the area and Christians left or were displaced. It does remind me of what John wrote to the church in Ephesus in the book of Revelation where he writes, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Rev. 2:4-5)” Apparently, the church in Ephesus did not repent and God kept his promise.
The same seems to be true of England. According to the Daily Telegraph, which is a newspaper here in London, “if current trends continue, churchgoing will plummet by two thirds over the next three decades while Islam will mushroom, the statistical analysis by the Christian Research organization says. By 2040 there will be nearly twice as many Muslims at prayer in mosques on Friday as Christians worshipping on Sunday. Moreover, the average age of Christian congregations will have raised to 64 as the young abandon the churchgoing habits of older generations in the face of growing secularization. ” Please remember us in your prayers. We desperately need them as we seek to bring the Gospel to a country that clearly needs it.