Copia Di Pef News
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER PEF OF THE PENTECOSTAL EUROPEAN FELLOWSHIP NEWS 2017 WINTER EDITION CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Highlights of recent ministry trips made by the PEF Chairman across Europe & beyond In the last few months, Pelle Hörnmark was able to • Sweden: A conference about Roma peoples. minister in the following countries, representing PEF • Belgium: European Prayer Breakfast and brief and encouraging the vision of expanding God's visit at our PEF office in South Brussels. kingdom in each one of them: • Slovenia: Meeting with new leadership of our PEF member there. • Bulgaria: A pastors' meeting in Sofia, convened by the National Alliance United Churches of God, in Let us keep praying for each of these countries cooperation with the Pentecostal Assemblies of and movements as we endeavor to bring Jesus to Bulgaria (both PEF members). Europe! • Macedonia: Meeting with leaders who are very much involved in planting churches. • Africa: 2 weeks ministering in Ethiopia with seminars for leaders. • United Kingdom on the occasion of the Europe Prayer Sunday and the Presidium Meeting in London. • Georgia: Meeting with local Pastors. An historical moment: their movement has decided to join PEF. • Armenia and Azerbaijan: Good meetings with the brethren, in spite of challenges. Pastors' Conference in Sofia Leaders conference in Georgia Joint Pentecostal Conference in Bulgaria NEWS FROM GREECE Youth Conference The 49th Youth Conference of the Synod of Greek Pentecostal Churches was held in Katerini. Young people from churches in Northern Greece as well as from Athens gathered for three days of spiritual inspiration and fellowship. The event was bathed in prayer for God to revive the youth with a fresh wave of His Spirit, sending them to impact Greece by their holy lives, spiritual passion, and evangelism. Pastor Giorgos Ikonomakis’ ministry on Friday evening, together with the ministry of the main speaker, Pastor Daniel Costanza on Saturday and Sunday, was a great blessing to the youth. The dynamic, challenging preaching led many to the altar where God moved among the young people. There were also wonderful times of worship, sharing news, and warm fellowship together. A group of pastors and their wives with our speaker Daniel Prayer for people responding to the message Costanza during the youth conference Ministers’ Conference Along with the usually hot temperatures in June, there was the added spiritual fire for those who participated in the 13th Conference organized by the Brotherhood of Greek Pentecostal Churches (an umbrella organization that connects various Pentecostal denominations as well as independent churches). This year’s theme was ‘revival’, and uplifting messages were delivered by Greek pastors as well as our guest speakers, Costas Mitchell from South Africa, and Osbek Ihsan from Turkey. A joint worship team from churches around Greece led in worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, the source of our unity. Submitted by Pastor George Aggelou From the Lord’s table at the last day of the conference p.2 NEWS FROM FINLAND FINLAND’S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATED BY A PENTECOSTAL CONFERENCE The Iso Kirja College and Conference Centre seized the opportunity presented by this historic moment. Finland celebrates its centennial year of independence officially on the 6th of December, 2017. The festival year also coincides with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation which soon spread to Scandinavia as well. The Pentecostal Mid-Summer Conference, held at the Iso Kirja Conference Centre in Keuruu, Finland, embraced both of these historic remembrances under the title of “The Finnish Faith”. The conference, known to many PEF and PEM leaders, gathered some 30,000 people. Friday, June 23, was a special celebration day shared by the Council of Free Churches of Finland. The program began with Suomalainen messu (The Story of Finland), a spectacular music production composed by multi-instrumentalist Lasse Heikkilä, a graduate of the famous Sibelius Academy and a member of the Tampere Pentecostal Church. This special day in Keuruu culminated in an open air meeting which included the raising of the Finnish flags by the young Royal Rangers. Antero Laukkanen, a member of the Finnish parliament, known for national prayer meetings, challenged the conference attendees to live out their Christian faith. Esko Matikainen, the executive director of the Pentecostal Church, led people in prayer for the nation. A special prayer song for Finland, Pro Patria, composed by Marko Halttunen, the conference director, was also presented at the end of the service. Interestingly, the song has been requested for the official centennial celebration of Independence Day, December 6, in the town of Keuruu. Welcome in 2018! Iso Kirja has a vision of impacting the nation through education and events. The IK College has begun a satellite campus in Helsinki in the headquarters of FIDA International, which will provide an English section next year. Next year’s summer conference will feature the theme “Future and Hope”. People from all over Europe, especially from the PEF family, will also be welcome to one of the world’s greatest Pentecostal conferences which provides simultaneous translation into major European languages. Iso Kirja Camping, a venue for many events, is an ideal place to stay, even after the conference, with its natural landscape of lakes, forests and fields providing different activities. For further info: www.ikopisto.fi Marko Halttunen p.3 PRAYER: THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL CHANGE IN EUROPE As 2017 draws to a close, prayer has been at the forefront across our continent. On November 12th, PEF held its annual Europe Prayer Sunday, with an evening prayer meeting held in London at the New Testament Church of God, hosted by Bishop Louis McLeod. In a joyful atmosphere of worship, the local congregation joined PEF representatives in a sequence of specific segments of prayer for every region where PEF members are active. The PEF delegation included Chairman Pelle Hornmark (Sweden), Daniel Costanza (Belgium), Jan Eilert Aakre (Norway), Marino Mojtic (Macedonia), Rauno Mikkonen (Finland) and Rimantas Kupstys (Lithuania). In spite of Brexit, local leaders felt it was vital to connect with churches across Europe, standing in the gap on behalf of the spiritual needs of our continent. A few weeks later, the 20th European Prayer Breakfast took place in the European Parliament in Brussels, On December 6th, gathering over 220 leaders from a variety of backgrounds for a time of worship, fellowship, and prayer. PEF was represented by Pelle Hörnmark and Daniel Costanza. The main speaker, who came from Estonia, reminded all the participants of the impact of Abraham's intercession for Lot and his generation. The lesson is that one single intercessor was powerfully used of God to spare many people from divine judgment. May the Lord raise up a great number of intercessors for the salvation of Europe! EPS 2017 London CLARIFICATION In keeping with PEF's focus on the urgent spiritual needs in the region of Balkans, Jesus Revolution (a PEF resource ministry since March 2017) will conduct a parallel IMPACT KOSOVO 2018 is an outreach organized outreach, IMPACT THE BALKANS 2018 (preceded by a by PEF, at the invitation of and in cooperation with JR training camp in Bulgaria), endorsed by PEF. our PEF member in Kosovo. This project, already launched in 2016, will take place on July 9-15, Info: www.jesusrevolution.com/balkans 2018. More details will follow soon on this national outreach through PEF office. Please keep both evangelistic projects in your prayers as we intensify our efforts to reach the Balkans with the Info at headoffi[email protected] Gospel of Jesus Christ. www.pef.eu PEF Head Office PEF NEWS is published by PEF Head Office Brussels, Belgium / INFO headoffi[email protected] - www.pef.eu.