Winter 2019
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Europe
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The Gospel In An
SMR SOCIETY *(Secular and Multi-Religious)
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EDITORIAL
TRAINING ACROSS EUROPE
10 This magazine is published twice yearly to report on the work of GLO in Europe and around the world and to promote mission interest. There is no subscription rate but readers are welcome to send gifts towards postage and production. GLO is a charity registered in Scotland: SC007355. If you would like to contribute financially to the work of GLO this can be done directly using the bank details below
MISSION TEAMS 2019
CHURCH PLANTING ACROSS EUROPE
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TILSLEY COLLEGE
CONNECT WITH US!
NEW FACES OF GLO
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GLO Europe is on: LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY
or by contacting our Finance Director: Ian Smith (ismith@glo-europe.org).
Many people have a concern about what the long-term impact of their lives will be on others. As Christians this is a big issue because the Bible encourages us to live our lives in view of eternity. GLO, along with many
BANK OF SCOTLAND, 72 BRANDON PARADE, MOTHERWELL ML1 1UW ACCOUNT NAME – GLO TRUST SCOTLAND SORT CODE – 800915 ACCOUNT NUMBER – 00400636
other Christian organisations, benefits greatly from legacies that people leave behind. It is a way of significantly helping the work of the kingdom by organising your giving after you have gone. We have produced an information booklet on the use of legacies and if you would like to have one then write to: Stephen McQuoid | GLO Centre | 78 Muir Street | Motherwell ML1 1BN | smcquoid@glo-europe.org
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Editorial by Stephen McQuoid
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elcome to another edition of e-vision. As we head into the winter season we are grateful to God for all he has done through the work of GLO. Our mission team
programme has come to an end and among other things, we are celebrating the significant number of people who became Christians as a result of the mission team programme. It has been an important reminder to us all of the strategic value of shortterm mission teams in evangelism. This edition of e-vision is also a bit of a progress report. On pages 8 & 9 you will read about some of the new church planting projects that we have launched in GLO in recent years. Most are in southern Europe, but we also have one in Scotland which, God willing, is a sign of things to come. Church planting is hard, requires tenacity and much prayer, but we thank God for the opportunity to be able to bring the gospel to new areas by planting churches there. Perhaps as you read about the church planting that is happening throughout Europe, you will be inspired to get in touch with our missionaries and learn more about what church planting involves. God might also begin in your heart a desire to be involved in church planting.
You will also notice on pages 10 & 11 that we have an update on training in Eastern and Central Europe. This has been a relatively new development in the work of GLO which is very exciting. We have been doing church-based training as well as weekend Bible schools and leaders’ conferences in partnership with our friends at the Philadelphia Trust. These events take us to places such as Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Albania and the Czech Republic. Our prayer is that the leaders and potential leaders that we help to train will make a significant impact in their churches. Church based training is also available in the UK through our Joshua programme. We have just come to the end of Joshua programmes in both Swansea and Newent and have recently started two new ones in Motherwell and Romford. Our prayer is that they will also have a significant impact in local churches. While GLO workers are busy all over Europe there is also a lot happening at the GLO Centre in Motherwell. We are delighted that our bookshop has once again won the Large Independent Christian Bookshop of the Year award which is assessed by Christian Resources Together (CRT), an umbrella body of retailers, publishers and the Booksellers
Association. Our staff have served customers well and this is recognised by the award. Andrew, the bookshop manager, mentioned that a really significant issue that impressed the CRT inspector was the work done by the bookshop with people from the travelling community. The traveller community locally, have been experiencing a bit of a revival and the bookshop staff have worked hard to find suitable Bibles and literature for new converts. Since 2012 we have also been running Precepts Bible studies here at the Centre. Led by Jan Goodall and Debbie McQuoid, these study groups offer the opportunity for women to engage in the serious study of the Bible on a weekly basis. Between the two groups there is an average of 25-30 women involved representing a whole range of local churches. It has been exciting to see how lives are challenged and changed through Bible study. I would ask you to keep praying for the work of GLO. Our opportunities for service are almost limitless, but our capacity to deliver is much less. We need others to join us, we need the resources, and most of all we need the Holy Spirit to empower whatever we are able to do.
Wanted:
UK CHURCH PLANTING CO-ORDINATOR
We're recruiting for an
E-LEARNING DEVELOPER For more details contact the College Principal, Allan McKinnon: amckinnon@glo-europe.org
GLO has a vision and passion to plant churches in the UK. We are looking for a mature Christian with church leadership experience to become a UK church planting co-ordinator. The role would be part-time and on a ‘living by faith’ basis. It would involve promoting opportunities, supporting new plants, pastoral care and motivating people to plant. If you would be interested in taking up this exciting challenge contact: Stephen McQuoid at: smcquoid@ glo-europe.org
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“ We need to learn to approach individuals on their own terms. In every town and city, indeed in every community there will not be one standard worldview�
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ne of the many changes to take place in Europe over the past few decades has been the increasing diversity that we see in much of the continent. Sociologists have for years been trying to define what kind of a society Europe is and where it is going. For decades the dominant belief was that Europe was becoming more secular and that religious belief was being pushed firmly into the margins. There was a confidence in the rise of secularisation, and this was assisted by intellectual and academic influences, particularly in the realms of science and philosophy.
The Gospel In An
SMR SOCIETY *(Secular and Multi-Religious)
by Stephen McQuoid
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Informal groups like the so called ‘New Atheists’ began a concerted campaign to paint religion as superstitious, irrational and actually dangerous. They conducted tours, held debates, released material on Youtube, wrote books and did all they reasonably could to impose their secular (and atheist) vision on the minds and hearts of people. Meanwhile in philosophy departments across European universities, the evidence for and benefits of atheism and secularism were extoled. All of this gave the impression of a very secular Europe where religious belief was a thing of the past, or at the very least, something to cling to in private but not to speak about in public. While this caricature has a strong element of truth, it is far from a complete picture. The reality is that the past few decades have also witnessed the persistence and even the resurgence of religious belief. This gives a lie to the long-held ideas that the decline of religion, and especially of the Christian church and the increased secularisation of society are inevitable. True, the Judeo-Christian worldview has largely disappeared in European life and most Europeans never darken the doors of a church. However, practising and committed
by Stephen McQuoid
Christians remain an influential though small minority in many European countries, and Islam has become a force to be reckoned with in European life. Moreover, there has also been a resurgence of Hinduism and especially Buddhism as well as an array of other belief systems. The significance of this should not be overstated, nevertheless it is sufficiently evident that some writers are now describing Europe as post-secular. Perhaps a better way of describing Europe today is as ‘Secular and Multi-religious’ (SMR for short). It is very unlikely, barring a massive revival, that Europe will return to a context where Christianity is a dominant voice and where Christian values will enjoy wide acceptance in European life and culture. Likewise Islam, while growing especially through immigration, will play a very significant but still limited role in European life and will also be subject to secularising forces as Christianity has. What is more likely is that secularisers will need to live together with Christians and Muslims as well as others in a Europe that reflects a wide variety of different beliefs. The evidence of this can be seen everywhere. Airports and other public buildings have their interfaith prayer rooms while universities accommodate Christian as well as atheist groups. National parliamentarians represent a range of worldviews and there are protests and protest groups expressing their disquiet about everything from gender legislation to sex education in schools. Both religious freedom and freedom of speech will be ‘hot topics’ and while there will be a concerted effort from secular societies to banish religion from the public square, nevertheless churches, temples and mosques will continue to be built in towns and cities throughout Europe. All of this raises some questions about the future. For example, how should the church respond to this kind of a society? What are the implications of this for mission? How do we prepare ourselves for a Europe of diversity where
a variety of worldviews wrestle with each other to gain supremacy? The answers to these questions will be both complex and nuanced, but let me tentatively suggest three that are practical and achievable. Firstly, we need to learn to approach individuals on their own terms. In every town and city, indeed in every community there will not be one standard worldview, rather the people we meet in those places will represent a spectrum of belief and opinion. That also means that we need to be able to engage and converse with people where they are rather than having a one size fits all way of communicating the gospel. In one conversation we will be stating why it is reasonable to believe that God exists, in another that Jesus gave evidence that he was indeed God. One conversation will centre around the need for objective ethical standards in society while another will focus on the difference between Christian ethics and those of other religions. Like Paul we will need to become ‘all things to all people’. Secondly, as Christians we need to be clear about the gospel and why it is good for the world. The clarity is important, precisely because of all the confusion that exists in our society. The smorgasbord of worldviews and ideas has meant that people have so much to choose from and we need to be able to communicate clearly the uniqueness of the Christian faith among all the other options. But we equally need to be able to
state why it is good news. Quite apart from the essential truthfulness of Christianity, there are a host of blessings that are part of it. The Christian faith offers forgiveness and unconditional love to broken people as well as an ethical framework that provides the basis for a cohesive society. It proclaims the value of community while at the same time elevating the individual because they are made in the image of God. It is an inherently compassionate faith based on the unique and perfect character of Jesus of Nazareth, the role model above all role models. A third thing we need to learn to do is to follow Jeremiah’s mandate to ‘seek the welfare of the city’ (Jer.29:7), that is, live in a way that blesses all around you, whoever they are. Christian should be people who care about what goes on in their neighbourhood and their community. They should have a concern for dysfunctional families, for crime, for local schools and community projects. Christians should care about the environment, social justice and the poor. They should support food banks and broken people as well as love their neighbours. In a world where we are a minority and one where the tensions between secularisation and religious adherence is the cause of much debate, Christians should be seen as people who care for all and treat everyone with dignity and respect. For as Jeremiah declared, ‘for in its (the cities) welfare you will find your welfare’.
“ We need to learn to follow Jeremiah’s mandate to ‘seek the welfare of the city’ (Jer.29:7), that is, live in a way that blesses all those around you, whoever they are.”
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M A E T N MISSIO s
t h g i l h Hig
2019
.. .. Domos “ The highlight of the team was the way in which both the British and Hungarian team members worked together in harmony to share the good news with all of the children in the camp.”
Albania
“ The highlight for me this time was seeing at least 27 young people accept Christ into their lives on the final night of camp. Also, on a personal level God really pushed me out my comfort zone big time and He put people in my way in order to challenge me.”
“ I am particularly thankful for the way in which God uses those with varied gifts and brings it all together for His glory in a week or two with GLO.”
“ The highlight is always the children. Their reaction to our dramas, quizzes and crafts, it’s wonderful to see. Worth all the effort the team put into the programme.” “ It was just amazing seeing how the kids there were so enthusiastic and seeing how God can work even when you don't speak the same language.”
Norway
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Royal Welsh Show “ We had some young local Czechs on the team in Sázava this year. Having young locals on the team is encouraging and increases the pot ential for making a wider impact going forwa rd.”
Sa-zava
“ I did the Royal Welsh show this year and it was so encouraging to see so many passionate Christians just loving people and sharing the amazing news of Jesus Christ.”
“ God gave me a heart for justice and a real sense of compassion for people less fortunate than me when I met the refugees in Avellino.” “ The highlight for me was leading two men to our Lord Jesus! I also thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the local Italians and distributing leaflets.”
Avellino
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ITALY
by Patrizio Zucchetto
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Church Planting
ACROSS EUROPE
iving out the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:18-20) is scary because the people we are sent to, have a great need. I have lived and served God for most of my missionary life in my own city, Naples, but years ago, the Holy Spirit touched my heart with the spiritual need of the Avellino province. Italy is still a mission field with about 8000 unreached villages and towns and an evangelical population of less than 1%. The dilemma I had was how an ordinary man like me could reach such an area of 429,000 people scattered in 119 town and small villages. Two years ago we moved to Serino, a village of 7200 people in a valley with a total population of 19000 people, and no evangelical church. For us this was an unknown area full of Roman Catholic religion,
morning”. We are making the most of every opportunity to share our lives and some have expressed interest in the way we live out our faith, including our neighbours who were suspicious of us. Jennifer has built strong friendships through shopping and sharing food recipe’s with ladies. I
to hold an English-speaking worship service with a dozen of them present. Jennifer offers English lessons to our community. We have university students, adults and children in our home every week with opportunities to share the good news. We have had some opposition and difficulties, but
tradition, superstition and a very rural lifestyle. So, with my wife Jennifer and our four children we have started to live out the gospel having a strong burden on our hearts, to see people saved. Led by the Holy Spirit we have simply but intentionally got to know people even with a simple “good
watch football with a group of men and from that I am building good friendships. If someone we know has a need, we do our best to help. In our village there are about 200 refugees, most Africans. I volunteer to teach Italian, distribute clothing and encourage those who are Christians. Now we gather
we press on as we gather now regularly in our home with a small discovery group who have an interest in hearing God’s Word. As a family we have been experiencing in a very simple and ordinary way, the power of Jesus who has sent us into a new territory where the gospel has never been before.
AIX-EN-PROVENCE by Philippe Perrilliat
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ROMANIA by George Sortan
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t first I thought that it would be too hard for me to work with gypsies. My car was intentionally damaged by someone three times, I received letters warning me to stop going there, we had no place for meeting, no place to bury the dead. It was hard. This segregation
between gypsies and Romanians is because of racism. Now, as the years have passed, I see God’s perfect plan and I thank God for giving me the opportunity, the honour and the love necesary to work with gypsies. Over 100 believers are in the new church plants.
he church planting project in Aix-enProvence is not just a single church plant, but rather a hub from which we can plant across a region, as well as creating a network with other church planters across the nation. While the church planting work progresses in Aix-en-Provence, trainees and interested observers are taken through a training programme designed to equip them to become planters themselves. The curriculum includes subjects such as discipleship multiplication, teamwork, French church history and pioneer evangelism. Sessions also include testimonies from practitioners as we network and
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Europe
SCOTLAND
by James McKerlie
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hy plant churches in the UK? I believe the UK needs the church In a nation which is increasingly dark and a church whose voice is not being heard, our call to be salt and light has never been so vital, as is the need for Christians to love and support one another. Yet churches are closing. Many are in unsuitable buildings, not appropriately placed, unable to respond to the needs of the community or bluntly have ‘lost their saltiness’. And, if statistics are to be believed, this decline is set to continue. I believe the UK needs new churches Church planting and revitalisation can make a significant contribution to addressing this decline. Church planting causes us to exercise our faith in
the centre of the community in a relaxed, seekersensitive way. I believe churches should plant new churches Releasing gifted members of our churches to
God’s desire and ability to save. We trust God’s promise that in our weakness, we experience His strength. With the leading of the Holy Spirit, we can be strategic in our presence and proclamation of the gospel. By using the local pub/restaurant in the last year, Darnley Mill Church has been able to meet in
engage in church planting gives space for church growth. It creates an impetus for evangelism and discipleship as well as a mission focus. Greenview Church in Glasgow has increased its prayer focus on mission by releasing three couples to plant Darnley Mill Church.
Glasgow, Scotland
Salon-de Provence, France
worship together. Currently two new projects are being birthed, one in Salon-de-Provence (with the Suter family who have joined GLO) and the other in St André de la Roche project (with the Hegé family). We expect this work to grow as more prospective church planters join us. We are now planning a national seminar for church planters which will take place next year. Nationwide we are linking with more than 10 other projects in France which require follow up work, fellowship, and resources. The ultimate goal is to have one church in France for every 10,000 people, but we are still far from this target. This is just the beginning of what will be an exciting work with a nationwide impact.
Talmaciu, Romania
Aix-enProvence, France
Molise, Italy
Naples, Italy
Avellino, Italy Vlore, Albania
Church Planting
LOCATIONS 9
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JOSHUA ONLINE by Seb Brandt
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he world of communications has changed. In 2019, there is no doubt about the fact that the world as a whole is becoming more and more IT-friendly, shaping and influencing the way humans communicate and share information. It was a natural step to see online theological courses appearing using the most developed electronic 'tools of communication'. At Tilsley College, we have developed an online course, named 'Joshua online' which has been integrated into an existing programme delivered at the GLO Centre. The concept is simple and efficient: in the context of a standard lecture room, you will teach 15 - 30 students. With the internet, you can interact 'live' with hundreds of students, offering the possibility for students to learn and participate from their churches or house groups. If Joshua onsite was already designed to deliver flexible training to people who could not usually access this kind of education in the midst of their
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busy lives - working, parenting, volunteering, caring for relatives, etc., then how much more can Joshua online deliver? Online education is part of our future, and this is especially true of theological education. Have you ever thought about taking some courses online to develop your knowledge of God? (Contact: Anne Grover: agrover@glo-europe.org)
TRAINING IN CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE
by Richard Harknett
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efore autumn 2018, Central and Eastern Europe was somewhere that I had never visited. However, since then I have had the opportunity to travel to Hungary a couple of times. The most recent journey was in August 2019 for Week 2 of the Philadelphia Trust International Conference in Dömös, about an hour north of Budapest and not far from the border with Slovakia. About 60 people were present, with plenty of children in that number. For us, this was also a family event, as Pam helped with the children's programme and I was teaching in the main sessions. Although those attending were using English as a second (or third or fourth …) language, their interest, interaction and
enthusiasm was high. Seminar sessions allowed the studies to continue in a more conversational setting. Here, we began to realise how much we would learn through this week too. All of those attending were actively involved in their churches. Some find themselves facing situations of conflict, hardship or challenge, and hearing them think through how Scripture can speak to their contexts was a privilege for us. Others were running ministries which left us feeling that we should have been learning from them. That sense of partnership, with each sharing from their own
experiences to enrich the whole, remains an overriding memory as I look back now. GLO is involved in training work in Albania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Ukraine. This represents a wide range of contexts and the churches can find themselves in very different circumstances. Opportunities exist to work alongside these churches and support their ongoing growth. These same journeys can also prove to be significant learning experiences for those who travel and so can, in turn, bring blessing to the church in the UK.
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JOSHUA PROGRAMME by Phil Davies
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s a local church, Dunvant Christian Fellowship in South Wales had been seeking to respond to the need within the local church for a level of teaching and content that was deeper than what could be covered in its biblical discipleship teaching in a Sunday morning service. This service was seeking to cover such breadth of understanding of scripture, including those who were newly converted, and those who had been disciples for decades. The Joshua programme that we have just completed over a period of two years allowed us to give the option of more concentrated and focussed
teaching especially targeted at a number of potential leaders. The strength of using Tilsley College lecturers supplemented by local teachers broadened the approach, style and we gained much from the interaction across the group. It allowed us also to open this up to other churches and we had over 12 churches represented over the two years and numbers that started at around 45 and settled around 25. We would highly recommend this to other churches, and we are seeking for ways to take this further as a fellowship.
Training
ACROSS EUROPE JOSHUA TRAINING
by Mark Davies
Motherwell, Scotland
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Newent, England Swansea, Wales
Romford, England Poland Ukraine Czech Republic
Slovakia Hungary Romania
Albania
EASTERN EUROPEAN TRAINING
THE BENEFIT OF LOCAL CHURCH TRAINING n the real world, learning should never stop. We are all unique, we have our own ideas, but we still need to be lifelong learners of Jesus Christ. The message unchanging, but communication is constantly in flux. We need to develop both skills and knowledge. Apollo was very gifted, but he needed to know the way of God better (Acts 18:24-28). He had the humility to learn from a hard-working couple, Priscilla and her husband Aquila. When you have learned what to say and have honed the skills to say it, there is still the issue of attitude. The longer we live with bad habits and attitudes, the more concentrated the discipline needed to become more Christ-like. If this is true for us as individuals, then it will be even more so for the local church. Deliberate, thought-through regular training is needed at local church level so that you can be fit for purpose and able to communicate Christ effectively in your community. If you or your church leadership would like to discuss these matters, please get in touch. We have no easy answers, but some practical ideas, using tools we have shared and that have proved effective such as Joshua and Learning to Lead. These may make a difference in stimulating your local church in becoming a lifelong learning Jesus community.
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Tilsley
COLLEGE
by Stephen McQuoid CHANGES AT THE COLLEGE
This year life at Tilsley College is about continuity and change. The change has come about with Simon Marshall stepping down as College Principal as he is moving on to take up a role with ECMI. However, the continuity of service continues because Dr Allan McKinnon has been appointed to the role of Principal. Allan has served at the College since September 2010, working as a lecturer and as Academic Dean. We are delighted that he has been able to take up this responsibility. Georgette Short, who has been a lecturer at Tilsley College since 2016 has also been appointed to the role of Academic Dean. Both
SIMON MARSHALL
Allan and Georgette bring to their roles not only a great teaching ability but also a heart for mission. They both served as missionaries in Africa before coming to the college and their past experience is a great bonus. We are also delighted that Allan’s wife Jacqui has joined the staff team and serves as Student Welfare Manager. We are excited about the future and are grateful to have the depth and quality of staff that we enjoy at Tilsley College. The college continues to provide a high quality of training with a deliberate mission focus. Our prayer is that the college will play its part in equipping a whole new generation of missionaries, church leaders and church planters.
ALLAN MCKINNON
GEORGETTE SHORT
TRIBUTE TO SIMON MARSHALL I first met Simon many years ago when, as the pastor of Beacon Heath church in Exeter, he invited me, along with a group of students, to Exeter to do a student mission with them. It was then I discovered that he and Dorit had met on the GLO course years earlier and had married, before going on to jobs and ministries that took them to the Faroes, India, England and the Czech Republic. This was the start of a warm friendship that exists to this day. I met Simon at a conference in France some years later and at that time he was invited to join the work of Tilsley College. Simon brought his skills in pastoral care and high quality teaching to the college, and these were greatly appreciated. He was then invited to take up the role of principal, a role in which he has served with distinction. Under his leadership the college has gained a reputation of being a great place to learn and he has helped to develop the content to the point where we now offer accredited courses over one, two or three years culminating in a European Baccalaureate. We are grateful for all that God has given us through Simon and Dorit, and as they move to Devon and Simon takes up the role of Director of ECMI, we wish them both God’s richest blessing. They will be missed, not just by friends at GLO, but also by local churches that greatly benefitted from Simon’s preaching.
“ Our prayer is that the college will play its part in equipping a whole new generation of missionaries, church leaders and church planters. ”
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Full-Time COURSES ON OFFER Tilsley College offers three full-time residential programmes: a one-year Certificate of Higher Education, a two-year Diploma of Higher Education and a three-year European Baccalaureate.
The college is accredited by the British Accreditation Council and all three full-time programmes are accredited by the European Council for Theological Education.
CERTIFICATE IN BIBLICAL STUDIES AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
DIPLOMA IN BIBLICAL STUDIES AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
EUROPEAN BACCALAUREATE IN BIBLICAL STUDIES AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
This one-year residential programme combines biblical and theological studies with practical ministry experience through weekly placements, two separate weeks of Team Evangelism and a longer Field Placement.
This is a two-year full-time programme where the first year is the same as the Certificate course. The second year is a mixture of time spent in ministry apprenticeship with a local church or mission organisation and intensive, residential teaching weeks.
This third year builds on the foundation of the Diploma and is also a mixture of college-based learning and a church or mission placement. The EuroBac provides an education equivalent to degree level.
FIRSTSERVE The various placements in all three years are organised with the student to give a meaningful ministry experience with, at its core, a mentoring relationship with current Christian practitioners.
FirstServe is a gap year programme for 18- to 25-year-olds which provides an opportunity to serve God, be challenged, learn, and develop in a range of ways.
First Year
STUDENTS
We are delighted to welcome a diverse new group of first year students and First Servers to the GLO centre. The group includes people from the UK as well as Italy, the Ukraine and USA. Our prayer is that they will all grow in their faith and learn more about God and his world as well as the needs of mission.
JOSIAH CATCHPOLE
MATTEO GAROFANO
MATTHEW RELPH
EMMA COOPER
I’m at Tilsley College because I want to learn about God more and to be better prepared for serving him.
I want to serve God in my region, know God more, grow in knowledge and use what I will learn here to help others.
My reason for college is to grow in the Lord and to have a solid foundation to help others in the future.
I want to gain guidance from God as to where he wants me next. One step at a time!
CATRINA STANFIELD
LIUBOV VASILINIUC
NATHANAEL ROSS
MICHAEL KINCAID
DANIEL ANGULO ZAMORA
I want to grow in my knowledge of God and his Word this year, and am looking forward to gaining wisdom from other godly men and women in the college.
I came to college to understand God and his plan for my life, to serve him and to share the gospel with unbelievers.
I have come to Tilsley to get a good grounding and understanding of the Bible with a view to going into Bible teaching.
I am at Tilsley to deepen my knowledge of God and his Word and to prepare for potential overseas mission.
I want to know my Saviour better and I want to serve him doing the First Serve year and studying his Word at Tilsley.
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RUTH YOUNG
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y name is Ruth Young and I come from Ayrshire in Scotland. I grew up in a Christian family but came to faith personally as an 8 year-old girl. When I left school, I went on to study Business and Admin. I always looked forward to the summer holidays to be able to do mission teams, whether with SCEM in Scotland or with GLO. Over several years I have felt challenged and God calling me to do something full time for Him. This really brought me to Tilsley and the start of a journey. Firstly I came through the First Serve gap year programme (10 years ago). However I came back (6 years ago) to do the first year and over the last couple of years I returned to the college again, and completed the Baccalaureate programme. Spending the three full years at Tilsley has really been a huge and key part of my journey. However, in between my times at Tilsley I have spent some time in Bolivia and working for a bank. When I returned from a trip to Bolivia I started to get involved in schools’ ministry, working with my Dad. This has been a door that has opened and full of great opportunities. Church planting was never something that I thought I would be involved in, however having done the Darnley summer team in 2018 I developed an interest. After the summer team my involvement continued and I caught the burden and vision to be part of the Darnley team. God clearly showed me that the schools’ ministry and being part of the church planting team are where He wants me to be just now. “I
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have placed before you an open door.... walk in it”.
“ As God’s plans have unfolded we definitely feel we are together in the right place – which doesn’t necessarily mean the most comfortable place.”
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fter 17 years of cross-cultural mission work in Tanzania, I returned to the UK and, in 2010, set up the Glasgow South Christians Against Poverty Debt Centre. For eight years I’ve been working as the Debt Centre Manager. I have loved this job and the training I received through CAP helped me mature as I rose to the challenge of sharing my Christian faith personally with those I met through this ministry. Many came to be debt free materially and spiritually! At the beginning of 2019, Allan and I sensed the Lord was possibly leading us into ‘something different’. We did not know then how that would
FACES
unfold and certainly did not foresee Allan in a different role at Tilsley with me feeling God’s call to join the team there. However, as God’s plans have unfolded we definitely feel we are together in the right place – which doesn’t necessarily mean the most comfortable place. As the new Student Welfare Manager, I rather felt outside my comfort zone initially, but even in the few weeks since I started in this role I’ve seen God teach me new things as well as use existing gifts he has given me. Looking ahead, I pray that God will continue to guide me, change me, challenge me and help me to be a blessing to others as I serve in this new capacity.
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BEN, ANNE-AYMONE, AZIELLE & JOANNE SUTER
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s a family, we are very pleased to be living in Salon-de-Provence, for the purpose of church planting. After two years of project building, we were thankful to attend the first Sunday meeting in January 2019. Since then, we are a joyfully, slowly growing the church family. But, going back a few years, here is how it happened… The Lord put on our hearts the burden for church planting in France not long after we got married in 2010. Our first home was in Pontarlier (east of France). After desperately looking for a church community, we ended up joining a church in Switzerland, twenty minutes away from our home. The desire of beginning “something” nearby took place in our heart. After three years living in this area, making new friends, working, buying a house, etc., this desire was even stronger, so we decided to do a minimum of one-year seminary school at the IBG – Biblical Institute of Geneva. In September 2013, we quit our jobs, sold our house and began our studies in Geneva. During this great year, we were challenged to register for
the full training (3 more years). And so we did! Ben completed the full four year IBG curriculum while Anne-Aymone completed on-line training with the CCEF – Christian Counselling and Educational Foundation, in Philadelphia. During those years, both of our hearts were still moving towards church planting. Therefore we chose an internship in Istres (south of France), a church that had this in mind. During the second year, the pastor and elders asked us to lead a church planting project in Salon-de-Provence. After pondering, praying and getting to know more we accepted their challenging offer. Since then, Philippe and Marie-Christine Perrilliat, agreed to be our mentors and trained us specifically for church planting via the CFRi (Church Planter’s Training Centre) and followed us as couple. After two intense years of reflecting on the vision for the church, building up a team, communicating on the vision and so on… here we are now in 2019, in the reality of this adventure! We are a community of around 40 people. Not all are Christians yet, so a great part of our mission is to take care of these men and women who are
discovering who Christ is and how to respond to his invitation. Since our vision is to know the gospel, to live it out and to grow, the challenge is to share the truth of the gospel in a contextualized way, so that everyone can grow. This reflects a strategy that starts through us to reach others. For this purpose we pray for men and women or families who have understood their calling to know God and make him known around them, to join us (Isaiah 6.8). We thank God for having you as partners who want to pray for us and to support us in diverse ways.
“ The Lord put on our hearts the burden for church planting in France not long after we got married in 2010. ”
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GLO BOARD MEMBERS
CONTACT DETAILS Stephen McQuoid (General Director) smcquoid@glo-europe.org 01698 263483 Mark Davies (Training Director) mdavies@glo-europe.org 07503 953259 Sam Gibson (Missions Director) sgibson@glo-europe.org 028 9447 9411 Ian Smith (Finance Director) ismith@glo-europe.org 01698 263483
Rupert Abbott Stephen Cracknell Admin office James Davies admin@glo-europe.org Mark Davies 01698 263483 Judith Gibson Sam Gibson College Office Karen Macrae college@glo-europe.org Allan McKinnon 01698 266776 Stephen McQuoid Mike Packer GLO Bookshop Philippe Perrilliat books@globookshop.com Ian Smith 01698 275343 / 263483 Patrizio Zucchetto
GLO EUROPE VISION STATEMENT
Our vision is to grow mission focused churches in Europe.
Our focus is to:
EVANGELISE:
to proclaim the gospel to as many people as possible in Europe using every method available
ESTABLISH: to ensure believers are established in their faith, strengthen
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Tel 01698 263483 Fax 01698 253942 E-mail: admin@glo-europe.org Internet: www.glo-europe.org
Gospel Literature Outreach 78 Muir Street Motherwell ML1 1BN
existing local churches and plant new mission focused churches in Europe
TRAIN:
to prepare and equip people for mission, to evangelise and church plant and to serve God and his Kingdom with excellence in a wide variety of vocations
RESOURCE:
to provide resources that support mission activity through finance and literature, strategic input and pastoral care
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