20 Dramatic Years

24/Feb/2009 | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
image Jeff Fountain opened the recent European Leadership Forum in Berlin reflecting on the twenty years that had passed since the Berlin Wall came down.
The venue was a houseboat moored in the River Spee alongside the East-Side Gallery, the part of the Berlin Wall that has remained preserved.
These two decades had been dramatic, said Jeff. They began with the shaking of the communist world. Next came the shaking of the moslem world.
And now, he added, we see the shaking of the capitalist world.
The world is in transition. We in YWAM are also in transition, he explained.
These twenty years bracketed his term as field director for YWAM Europe.
"I step aside from this role as of the end of 2009", adding: "I turn 60 this year, and twenty years in one role is long enough for anyone." Jeff said it was time to see younger leadership coming to the fore.  


In these twenty years, Jeff had seen the following developments in:

1. THE WORLD:
  • the shift from a Cold War mentality pitting communism against capitalism to the mindset of the 'clash of civilisations', proposed by Samuel Huntington, where the world scene is dominated by the perceived confrontation between the "Christian West' and the moslem bloc;
  • the rise of Islam globally, especially its fundamentalist form of 'Islamism' personified by Osama bin Laden;
  • the 'flattening of the world' through globalisation and migration;
  • the rise of China and India as economic and technological superpowers rivaling America and Europe, and representing one third of the world's population;
  • the coming of the Internet, websites, blogging, facebook, ipods and iphones, skype, cheap global communications, virtual communities ...
  • the growth of the majority world church, which Philip Jenkins predicts (The Next Christendom) will be the single greatest factor shaping the 21st century;
  • the emergence of post-modernity as the dominant cultural climate signalling a megashift in worldview affecting all areas of life.

2. In EUROPE:
  • the implosion of the Soviet Union;
  • the expansion of the EU and NATO to include former Soviet bloc countries;
  • and Schengen has done away with border controls even in the Baltics now;
  • the Balkan wars resulting from the 'binding of the strong man' and setting free lesser nationalistic demons;
  • the spread of the Russian mafia across Europe, and the associated human trafficking, now as lucrative as drugs and arms;
  • the increase of migration, and the influx of new Europeans from Africa, Asia and Latin America;
  • the return of religion, including Spirituality, and new expressions of spiritual hunger
  • the development of budget airlines revolutionising travel in Europe

3. In the CHURCH
  • the decline of mainstream churches both Catholic and Protestant;
  • the rise of Alpha groups, and house-, simple- youth- and cell-churches;
  • as well as churchless Christianity, increasing numbers of keen believers finding alternative expressions of fellowship to Sunday church;
  • saturation church planting strategies such as DAWN,
  • the growth of migrant churches in Europe's cities bringing colour and passion back into worship-more blacks attend church each Sunday in London than anglo-saxons.
  • a growing Kingdom awareness and hunger to flesh out the gospel in daily life and work
  • many prayer initiatives have emerged over the past 20 years following the Marches for Jesus in the '80s and '90's, prayer concerts, prayer triplets, 30 days of prayer for the Moslem world during Ramadan, 24/7 prayer with boiler rooms, Global Day of Prayer at pentecost out of Africa, and more...
  • networking and partnerships including Hope for Europe, HOPE•21, Together for Europe, Gemeinsam für Berlin, the EEA, RELaY...

4. In YWAM:
  • the fall of communism precipitated our eastward expansion enabling many new oplocs to be opened in the former Soviet bloc;
  • Op locs more than doubled to around 200; staff also doubled to roughly 2000;
  • eastern Europeans were quickly mobilised into missions around the world;
  • various forms of leadership development training emerged: LDC, LTS,...
  • the field was organised into four regions in 1999;
  • Mercy Ships goes independent (2002)
  • Festivals of the Nations began in 1995 (Lausanne) as field staff events; held in 2000 (Budapest) and 2007 (Herrnhut);
  • 4K strategy & Call2All developed.

0 TrackBacks

Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: 20 Dramatic Years.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.ywam.eu/mt4/mt-tb.cgi/1233

Leave a comment

News Items
New Ukranian video series, "Let's talk about family" goes into production

Four years after their first prayer towards

Unity, leadership discussions start GLT meetings

by Scott TompkinsReport 1 from 2010 GLT

Come and Pray With Us!

From Jonny ClarkIt is 6 months into YWAM