Christianity's historic roots are in Europe. In the first century AD, the Holy Spirit led the Apostle Paul to evangelize Europe. Likewise, much of the New Testament is comprised of letters Paul wrote to young European churches. In the following centuries, the church expanded across Europe and into neighboring continents. Later, Europe again played a pivotal role as the home of the Reformation with the recovery of the biblical gospel. Eventually, the seed of the Gospel came from Europe to be planted around the world. Yet, in the last century the European church has shriveled and is struggling to survive.

The following proposal attempts to respond to this reality with an explanation of:
1) the Need of Europe today as seen from an Evangelical point of view,
2) the Vision of developing a new generation of European apologists, and
3) the Strategy of the European Apologetic Network.

SECTION 1: THE NEED OF EUROPE
The needs of this continent come into sharp focus when we compare the prosperity of the evangelical church in other parts of the world with the poverty of the European Evangelical church. We can see this in the massive change that has occurred during the last 100 years.[1]

On the one hand, the Evangelical church has seen enormous growth in the two-thirds world. The Latin American Evangelical church has increased by 5,164 percent over the last 100 years.[2] Evangelical Christianity has also exponentially increased across Africa by over 4,154 percent during the same time period. Asia has also seen enormous growth to the rate of 2,265 percent during the 20th century. For example, in 1900 China had a young church of less than 1 million, which grew to over 80 million by the year 2000.[3] The editors of the World Christian Encyclopedia summarize this explosive growth "Christianity has in fact surged ahead in the world's less-developed countries from 83 millions in 1900 to 1,120 millions by AD 2000."[4]

On the other hand, Europe, the heart of historic Christendom, has seen a hemorrhaging of the faithful. For 19 centuries, Europe was the primary home of Christian life and mission. The editors of the World Christian Encyclopedia comment on page one the startling news of the devastating de-christianization of Europe in the Twentieth Century: "No one in 1900 expected the massive defections from Christianity that subsequently took place in Western Europe due to secularism, (and) in Russia and later Eastern Europe due to Communism."[5] We see these twin movements: the enormous growth of the Christian church in the Two-thirds world, and the wilting of the church in Europe over last 100 years depicted in the two graphs below.

 

Europe is the Prodigal Continent
In Africa and South America-because of the enormous growth of the church-the primary need is Discipleship and Education. Europe's need is different. In other parts of the world, atheism and agnosticism is a tiny fraction of the population. In Europe, these belief systems have been mushrooming like a philosophical atom bomb, growing from 1.7 million to 130 million people over just the last century. Just as secularism has choked the life of the church in Western Europe, atheistic Marxism has strangled the church in Eastern Europe. At this point in time in Europe, only a tiny percentage of individuals attend church, or even understand the Gospel. Most Europeans have a family history with some form of Christianity but now, like the prodigal son, have turned away. The following graph illustrates this radical de-christianization.

Why Is Europe So Important?
Why not forget Europe and focus our energies and resources on the parts of the world that are seeing such immense growth? Europe has historically been, and continues to be, the intellectual nerve center of the world. Ranald Macaulay, son in law of Francis Schaeffer and founder of both the English L'Abri and the Cambridge Summer School of Theology argues, "As much as the United States influences the developing world technologically, so much does Europe influence the world intellectually." Europe was the greenhouse of the Enlightenment, which has so shaped the world over the last 300 years. Likewise, the postmodernism that is the fashionable style of many intellectuals around the world, finds its roots in European thought. If the Gospel is to be effectively communicated today around the world, it must address the concerns and arguments that emanate from this intellectual nursery of ideas.[6]

SECTION 2: THE VISION FOR EUROPE
What did the Apostle Paul do when Pre-Christian Europe was so pagan, relativistic and pluralistic? He did apologetics among his contemporaries. He went first into synagogues to persuade his fellow Jews that Christianity is true, proving and arguing from Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Paul also went to pagan Greeks. Starting with their literature and cultural artifacts, Paul demonstrated that the "unknown God" has been revealed and proclaimed in Jesus the Lord and Judge. Likewise, in front of King Agrippa, Paul declared the Gospel to be "true and reasonable."

Europe today is in great need of gifted apologists who can demonstrate that Christianity is true and relevant. The words apologist and apologetics come from the Greek word apologia which means defense. So when Peter writes, "Always be prepared to give a defense (apologia) for the hope that is within you," he is teaching that Christians must be willing and able to communicate the gospel persuasively to their neighbors.

Some people hold that evangelism is nothing but the simple proclamation of gospel truths, uncontaminated by cultural baggage or human argument. It is no surprise they then see the church sermon as its most appropriate vehicle. But does this really tally with the Apostle Paul's approach?

A careful reading of Acts reveals Paul's extraordinary versatility as a communicator. He was at home in any venue, could meaningfully convey truth to those of any world-view, and was not afraid to engage in vigorous debate. While he made full use of his opportunities in the synagogue (Acts 13:14-43), he was equally comfortable out of the pulpit, whether it was in the marketplace (Acts 17:17), lecture theater (Acts 19:9), civic center (Acts17:22), or private home (Acts 28:23). Wherever people were prepared to listen, Paul was ready to speak.

He did not deliver a stereotyped message. Although never compromising on the essential facts of the gospel, Paul constantly contextualized the way the gospel message was packaged so that it made sense to his audience. Old Testament Scripture provided an appropriate entry point for religious Jews (Acts 13:16-41) but he did not use it when speaking to farmers at Lystra, to philosophers at Athens, or to an angry mob in Jerusalem. Rather he argued from nature (Acts 14:15-17), from polytheism and pagan poetry (Acts 17:22-28) and from personal testimony (Acts 22:1-21). He took the truth they already knew to establish initial points of contact.

He then established points of confrontation; exposing wrong beliefs, teasing out the inconsistencies of individuals' world view and pulling apart the false ideas that were a barrier to faith. All this he did in the context of dialogue - a two-way traffic of information. Paul "reasoned" (17:17), "discussed" (19:9), "argued persuasively"(19:8), "confronted" (13:46) and "disputed" (17:18) with his hearers. He summed up his ministry by saying "...we try to persuade", (2 Cor 5:11), and "...we demolish arguments and every pretension" (2 Cor 10:5).

It is important to notice that Paul was not content merely to contextualise and confront. He used these approaches as vehicles for conveying the gospel; of Christ's death, resurrection, promise of salvation and coming judgment. We see this from people's response. Some "received the message with great eagerness" (Acts 17:11), "were persuaded" (17:4) and "believed" (17:34) and yet others "sneered" (17:32).

If we build bridge or expose false teaching without preaching the gospel, then we are failing in our witness. Paul's heart's desire and prayer was that people be saved (Rom 10:1) through hearing the gospel (1:16). His priority was to win people to Christ. But, while he always finished by preaching Christ crucified, his strategy also involved both contextualization and confrontation. And Paul did apologetics in an environment where the hearers felt comfortable, in a way that made sense to them, and in a manner that gave them opportunity to discuss and raise objections. It is this understanding of Apologetics that needs to be revived in Europe.

In 21st Century Europe, we are wise to follow Paul's example. And so our aim is to train a new generation of apologists who can stand in today's marketplace of ideas in the way that Paul did in his generation. Our desire is develop apologists who will testify to the truth of the gospel with wisdom, versatility and courage in their efforts to persuade their contemporaries. Stefan Gustavsson, the Chairman for the Swedish Evangelical Alliance, explains the need for apologetics in Europe:

In an increasingly secular society, where the church has either lost contact with the culture or lost the content of the gospel, the need for apologetics is urgent. A fresh presentation of the Christian faith and a persuasive argumentation and defence of its claims is much needed today. For years the apologetic work has been neglected in Europe and the few apologists working in different countries have often worked in isolation. The formation of a network for apologists in Europe is therefore crucial for the future of the church. The European Apologetics Network is the strategic initiative that many of us have been praying and waiting for.

SECTION 3: THE STRATEGY OF THE EUROPEAN APOLOGETIC NETWORK
In May 2001, a group of European apologists met to address this need and vision. The primary strategy initiated by these leaders was the creation of an international network that sought to develop the next generation of Christian apologists, which they called the European Apologetics Network (EAN). This is not an establishment of a new ministry. Instead, it is an attempt to bring together the leading evangelical apologetic ministries through out Europe to achieve synergistically things that they cannot achieve on their own.

The EAN is committed to identifying, developing and training 1,000 Christian Apologists over the next five years. The existing 115 EAN members will nominate many of these individuals, although some nominations will come from trusted colleagues. There will be an application process to ensure individuals have a solid evangelical foundation and spiritual maturity before participating in the EAN program. Over the next five years, the EAN is committed to developing these gifted apologists through teaching, encouragement, fellowship, mentoring and educational resources. As appropriate, these individuals will be asked to help train other individuals from their region of Europe.

Who are the leaders of the European Apologetic Network (EAN)?
The individuals who participated in the original strategic planning session and became the Steering Committee of the EAN are some of the central leaders of Apologetic ministries from across Europe:

§ Richard Cunningham, Executive Director Christian Persuaders
§ Dr. Lars Dahle, Academic Dean, Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication in Norway
§ Stefan Gustavsson, Director of Credo Academy and Chairman of the Evangelical Alliance in Sweden
§ Dr. Greg Pritchard, Executive Director,Communication Institute
§ Michael Ramsden, European Director, Ravi Zacharias Ministries
§ Dr. Peter Saunders, General Secretary of Christian Medical Fellowship
§ Wim Rietkirk, International Chairman of Trusteees of L'Abri Fellowship

The First European Apologetic Network Meeting
This EAN leadership team identified and invited spiritually mature apologists (or apologists in training) and brought them together at the first European Apologetic Network (EAN) meeting. Each participant invited was known by a Steering Committee member or by someone the Steering Committee knew and trusted. The purpose of this was to ensure that participants were spiritually mature, gifted in apologetics, and had similar vision and passions.

In May 2002, the first European Apologetic Network meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary with 115 apologists from over 20 countries attending. Countries represented included: Ireland, United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. These individuals included:

§ Presidents and Professors from Evangelical seminaries and colleges
§ Professors from leading secular universities
§ Pastors who have major apologetic ministries
§ Leaders of para-church organizations
§ Leading European evangelists and apologists
§ Missionaries working in apologetic ministries
§ Key student leaders from campus ministries
§ Leaders of regional and national apologetic centers

Some of the top apologists in the world spoke and helped lead the participants, including:

§ Dr. William Lane Craig - President of the Evangelical Philosophical Association
   and one of the world's leading Christian apologists
§ Dr. David Cook - Oxford University professor and outstanding debater
   at Oxford University and on the BBC
§ Dr. Elaine Storkey - former Director of London Institute for Contemporary
   Christianity and former theological advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury
§ Stuart McAllister - International Director of Ravi Zacharias Ministries
   and former General Secretary of the European Evangelical Alliance

In addition, all the members of the EAN steering committee also gave presentations.

What was the Impact of EAN's first meeting?
The overwhelming response from participants was a great sense of encouragement and excitement for the future. One participant wrote at the close of the meeting.

"I am really thrilled by this conference. It has been like a dream come true. For 30 years I have had a desire for an initiative like this with wide and lasting implications. This has the potential to be a great and important work. Thank you for making it possible. Dr. Peter May, U.K.

A major difficulty facing apologists in Europe is that many feel isolated. They have been faithful for years, and sometimes decades. To be with like-minded brothers and sisters for four to five days of fellowship and fresh teaching was a great encouragement. One university teacher in the Czech Republic explained the value of this fellowship after the Meeting:

"I teach at a college in the Czech Republic and I get into all sorts of apologetic conversations with students both inside and outside of the classroom. One thing that I struggle with is the sense of isolation I have as an apologist. The Czech Republic is very poor in apologetic resources and support. This conference was of great encouragement to me. I leave here (Budapest) feeling both challenged and deeply affirmed by the like-minded brothers and sisters."
Yours in Christ,
Dr. Ted Turnau

Participants were inspired from hearing how God is moving across Europe. For example, Dr. Peter Saunders, the General Secretary of Christian Medical Fellowship, explained that over the last 10 years he has focused a significant portion of his time training medical students in apologetics. He described the effect of this training on Speakers Corner in London where hundreds of individuals are gathered each Sunday afternoon to interact with various public speakers. For years, Muslims have dominated this gathering. Over the last few years, a team of 30 medical doctors, medical students and others trained in apologetics by the Christian Medical Fellowship stand up each Sunday afternoon to explain why Christianity is true. The Muslims are now on the defensive. Older Muslims discourage young Muslims from listening to these persuasive young Christians.

God is raising up new Apostle Pauls to speak with power and conviction why Christianity is true and how God has changed their lives. It is difficult to describe just how encouraging this was for the struggling and lonely apologists from across Europe. This is a large part of the purpose and vision of the EAN, to create an environment where the Spirit of God can use the gifts of one member to teach and encourage others across borders and languages.

At each meal individuals were able to meet with top scholars and apologists who have wrestled for years with difficult questions. Topical meetings over meals focused on particularly difficult apologetic questions and profiled solid groups that the Lord has been using in powerful ways. What was the result of these many lectures, conversations and relationships? The participants and leaders of EAN's first meeting were overwhelmed that the Lord was moving in such a powerful way. For example, Ranald Macaulay, founder of English L'Abri, wrote in an email soon after the event:

"I think it was the most significant event I've been involved in- or even heard about-during the past two decades. It was simply thrilling."

Richard Cunningham, one of the leaders of the EAN, similarly wrote;

"I can't tell you how important this initiative will be to the UK (my home) let alone the whole of continental and Eastern Europe. We have been stretched, nourished, and equipped for the task of reaching our needy continent. This is one of the most exciting things I have been part of in 15 years of full time Christian ministry. This could be (under the Lord) one of the most significant developments of the first half of the 21st century."

The Elements of the EAN strategy
The Goal of the EAN is to develop the next generation of Christian apologists. The EAN will seek to do this through teaching, encouragement, fellowship, mentoring, providing educational resources and training. There are six basic elements to the EAN strategy.

Strategy 1: Annual Meeting
At the end of the EAN meeting, each participant selected three initiatives from a list of 13 possible they hoped the EAN leadership would pursue. An annual meeting was at the top of EAN member's list. Participants found the meeting so helpful and encouraging that they wanted to return to a similar experience in the following years.

An illustration may help to clarify the value of such a gathering. One individual who came was Pavel Stolyarov, the director of Russian Center for Apologetics Research. His ministry helps believers in witnessing to cults and assists churches to stand for the truth. He wrote the following after the meeting.

"It was very important for me to participate in such a conference. It gave me not only new thoughts and ideas, but energy (and strategy) for how to do my ministry much better and more effective. I'm so thankful for the organization that provided such an important event. It unites Christians, builds bridges, and helps in our faithful following of Christ. I thank the Lord for all the people who made this conference happen and for those with an open heart who sponsored such an important event. Thank God!"

As a result of the great success of the first EAN meeting, the steering committee has scheduled the next EAN meeting for May 31-June 4, 2003. Seeing the critical nature of this event, two world Evangelical leaders have agreed to serve as plenary speakers. One is Ravi Zacharias, one of the foremost Christian apologists in the world and the other is D.A. Carson, a leading New Testament scholar. In addition, the meeting will feature many sessions and specialty workshops, and significant amount of time for relationship building, brainstorming, strategizing and training. The annual meeting serves as rallying point to teach, encourage brothers and sisters, and provide a place to worship our Lord together.

An annual meeting will NOT meet the needs and achieve the vision of the EAN. It is not our intention merely to perpetuate an annual meeting that gives people an emotional high or cognitive content but has little to no long-term effect on their lives. However, as one component of a broader strategy, a meeting can be enormously valuable as a source of clarification, instruction, encouragement and synergy. An example is Peter Saunders' Christian Medical Fellowship apologetic training. Dr. Saunders has multiple elements to his strategy to train Christian medical students in apologetics, including a yearly meeting, a magazine and newsletter, multiple training seminars, leaders who model effective apologetics and individual mentoring. Similarly, the value of the EAN annual meeting will be determined by the implementation of the overall EAN strategy described below.

Strategy 2: Training Courses
Apologetics is the science and art of Christian persuasion. Apologetics is not merely a body of intellectual content and knowledge. Apologetics is Christian in that it centers on the person of Christ and consequently those who seek to be apologists must first and foremost be Christ-like in their character. Apologetics is persuasion in that a Christian apologist is seeking to show why Christianity is true and reasonable. But apologetics is more than just this. An apologist must also be a skillful communicator. How does an apologist learn these skills?

One of the most revealing insights to come out of the recent EAN meeting was the glaring need for apologetic skills training. Some presenters described effective new training courses that have been developed and implemented. After their lectures, there was a surge of hungry apologists toward the speakers to discuss these initiatives. If the EAN is going to develop Christian apologists, part of its mission must be to train apologists in specific skills.

Apologist Bill Craig has compared the skill of a Christian apologist who debates atheists with the skill needed to become an Olympic figure skater. Does someone quickly lace up skates to immediately glide into gold medal history? It takes years of learning skills, watching the experts, listening to coaches, and practicing natural talents to become a highly skilled skater-or a highly skilled Christian debater.

What are the skills that are needed to communicate effectively with a nonbeliever?

§ How do we answer questions of sincere seekers?
§ How do we ask questions of disinterested nonbelievers?
§ How do we communicate to nonbelievers?
§ How do we challenge others without being unnecessarily offensive?
§ How do we write in a way that is both interesting and compelling?
§ How do we craft a talk that addresses issues that non-believers care about?

How do we learn any skill? By observing, imitating, practicing and coaching. One event illustrates the importance of example and modeling. The EAN steering committee wanted to provide an example of how Bill Craig debates various opponents at the meeting. To accomplish this, a late night (10:30 pm) session was provided to view a video debate between Bill Craig and the Oxford University Scientist Peter Atkins. A capacity crowd eagerly questioned Bill until the early hours of the morning.

Kermit Horn, a missionary leader in France and the Director for Europe for World Team, attended the EAN and commented after the meeting about the positive effect of seeing the modeling of various apologetic methods.

I work in France, a very difficult place to win a hearing for the gospel. This network consultation has been a powerful encouragement where we have been taught, resourced and have seen modeled very powerful apologetic methods.

Ultimately, if a gifted apologist prepares faithfully and receives proper training they can exercise a skill similar to that of a highly skilled figure skater. If done well, it appears effortless. But it takes gifting by God, personal discipline and acquired skill. Without gifted modeling, disciplined effort, wise coaching and divine empowerment, someone will never reach his or her potential as an apologist.

The EAN steering committee decided to identify the current best practices in Apologetic Training and then make these available over the next five years to all members of the European Apologetic Network. The three current training programs that EAN plans to use to train apologists from across Europe are:

1. Christian Medical Fellowship Confident Christianity Course
CMF has been using this method over the last 10 years to train individuals how to evangelize and do apologetics. This training method has flourished so much that they have developed several specialized additional courses. These additional courses include: Ishmael, My Brother (Apologetics to Muslims), Answering Other Faiths and The Media Training Course

2. Zacharias Trust Conversational Apologetics Training
This training program has been developed and field tested over three years to give lay leaders skills in conversational apologetics. Many believers do not know how to ask questions to understand the particular roadblocks and difficulties of individual unbelievers. This course is designed to give individuals the understanding and skills to persuasively explain the gospel to such individuals. The fruitfulness of the learning is measured by the increased effectiveness in conversational apologetics and personal evangelism of attendees. One large local church has asked Zacharias Trust to train their entire leadership, having seen their evangelism, based on the material, to help grow the church threefold.

3. Christian Persuaders Apologetic Speakers Course
Christian Persuaders director Richard Cunningham is one of the UK's leading apologists and former Apologetic specialist for the UCCF (IFES movement in Britain). six years ago, Richard was convinced that Christian leaders were not being taught to effectively communicate apologetically with their secular peers. He developed a program to train Christian apologists in how to craft relevant talks and to answer aggressive questions.

After receiving a recommendation for a participant, Richard then listens to tape of a message of the applicant to confirm that they have a speaking gift. He then invites, at most, 12 individuals to a retreat over a long weekend where they present a talk and are then trained in how to more effectively communicate. He has trained over 50 apologists and has seen almost all of them go on to give talks and lead discussions on University campuses.

Each of these courses would be offered on the last day of the EAN annual meeting as well as in local cities across Europe during the year. Every member (with an overall goal of 500) of the European Apologetic Network will be expected over the next five years to take the Confident Christianity Course and the Conversational Apologetics Training Course and perhaps 50 % of these individuals would go on to the Christian Persuaders Course as well. Ultimately we see the EAN members training new leaders in their local setting with all of these resources.

Strategy 3: Local Church and Pastoral Training
The EAN steering committee agreed unanimously that one of the most significant challenges in developing effective apologists in Europe today is the present resistance to apologetics in many European local churches. Many European evangelical pastors have been taught that apologetics is not a legitimate activity for the church and thus the church's mission is narrowly limited to proclamation, not persuasion. Thus, many young apologists find their church environments a difficult place in which to spiritually grow to maturity as an apologist.

There exists a vital need to bring the powerful message of how God's people, depending on the power and spirit of God, are called to persuasively explain that Christianity is true. The EAN plans to sponsor Apologetic Vision Seminars across Europe for Evangelical pastors and leaders to learn about the importance and role of apologetics in the life of the church. These seminars would be sponsored by EAN members for a local area over a weekend. These wouldn't necessarily be large gatherings, but two or three dozen Pastors and local church leaders who can interact about the role and importance of apologetics in the life of the church.

To ultimately build and mentor mature apologists we need to help create spiritual healthy environments for them to grow. Thus the EAN steering committee concluded that to achieve a long-term change in how the European Evangelical church thinks about and employs apologetics, the EAN needs to reach out to, educate and mentor local church pastors. Therefore at the EAN annual meeting there is going to be a Pastoral Training Course dedicated to mentoring and developing pastors. A significant portion of this course would include the importance and healthy functioning of apologetics in the life of the church.

This need to mentor pastors (and educators, student leaders, etc.) is one of the primary reasons why the EAN steering committee decided to entitled the EAN annual meeting the Evangelical Leadership Seminar. Many pastors and Christian leaders would not come to an apologetics meeting because they don't see themselves as apologists, but would eagerly come to a meeting on leadership as they see their role as one of service and leadership in the local church.

Strategy 4: Mentoring Apologists
Another conviction shared by the EAN steering committee is the vital need to mentor both individuals and groups. When Jesus led his disciples, he called them to be with him. He taught them in the context of life, not in a conference hall or lecture room. Jesus taught and discipled the future apostles in the context of relationships and spiritual reality. Following his pattern, the EAN will seek to use four avenues in which to mentor apologists.

A) Wheaton College European Summer Leadership Program
Over the last eight years, for six weeks each summer, approximately 20 Central and Eastern European leaders have come to Wheaton's College campus. Each of these Christian leaders participate with the entire group in a series of lectures from Wheaton professors and discussions each morning for an hour. Following this, each European leader is mentored in a prearranged topic with professor with a specialty in the area they are studying.

For example, Dr. Greg Pritchard has served as a mentor in this program in the areas of Ethics, Leadership, Theology and Apologetics. This program has been extraordinary helpful in helping individuals both receive some necessary input and to be spiritually nourished and encouraged. It has been a wonderful experience for these Christian leaders to step away from their normally hurried and pressured lives to study, think, pray and be mentored. There is a need to develop a number of European apologists in this highly relational and spiritually stimulating context.

B) Cambridge Summer School of Theology
Central to the convictions of the EAN leadership is the necessity of helping individuals build solid Evangelical convictions as a foundational step in becoming an effective apologist. But where can this be done? If someone has not been able to build personal convictions about the truthfulness of Scripture or Christ's uniqueness in bringing salvation, it will be difficult for them to share their faith effectively. Ranald Macaulay founded the Cambridge Summer School of Theology to offer an opportunity for European Evangelicals to work with the best of evangelical scholars and teachers.

Over the course of six years in the summers, an entire survey of Christian Theology is taught by the best of Evangelical thinkers. For example, noted Systematic theologian Wayne Grudem has recently taught on the Doctrine of Scripture and leading New Testament scholar D.A. Carson is teaching in 2003 on the Doctrine of Salvation. Those individuals participating in this program have found it to be extraordinarily helpful in both understanding and interacting with prominent evangelical theologians in these crucial areas. We need to make this resource available to a young generation of apologists who need this solid theological foundation.

C) Emerging Scholars Network
One of the most significant needs for the Evangelical church in Europe is developing the next generation of scholarly leaders. To ultimately gain a hearing in their individual academic contexts, individual evangelicals need to go on for doctorates in their area of specialty. But many evangelicals who go on to the pressure cooker world of University graduate education, experience an intense sociological pressure to give up or compromise their basic evangelical convictions. They might know their intellectual discipline well, but it becomes difficult to recognize them as Jesus' disciples.

There is a desperate need to mentor these young scholars through this difficult time and help them think through their discipline from a biblical point of view. The EAN is planning to sponsor each summer a series of small seminar groups limited to at most 12 Ph.D. students or recent graduates and two gifted professors on a specific topic. For example, in discussions about this initiative, Dr. William Lane Craig has expressed his excitement about working with the EAN as a leader of one of these one to two week seminars in an area of his specialization. We plan to have these seminars at the Tyndale Fellowship, the Evangelical study center at Cambridge University, which houses the 3rd largest biblical studies library in the world.

D) Christian Scientific Network
One of the most interesting things to observe at the EAN's inaugural meeting was the number of scientists who attended. We had approximately 10 scientists, or scientists in training, who were desperate for apologetic tools to help them deal with scientific questions and issues. This is a particular need in the formerly Marxist countries where the dogma of scientific atheism has been forced down the throat of school children for decades. Many Eastern Europeans and Russians, who now are committed capitalists, still at their core believe that science has disproven God. This massive roadblock needs faithful apologists to remove it. There is a great demand to bring together the best individuals and resources to help feed and encourage this group of faithful apologists.

In this regard, the EAN has recruited Dr. Richard Carhart, a recently retired professor of Physics from the University of Illinois to bring together and mentor this subgroup in the European Apologetic Network. Dick is a solid evangelical who has a gift for pastoring and encouraging others. He is willing to give 15 hours a week to research, teach, travel and mentor this young group of scientists. We have arranged for him to speak at a "Man and the Christian Worldview" conference and a series of meetings in the Ukraine in fall of 2002 which are sponsored by some EAN members.

E) Christian Persuaders Mentoring
Following the Christian Persuaders residential training program, individuals are invited to join Richard on a University mission where they will have opportunity to observe, to do and to train in this context. Ongoing contact includes an after care program where members submit their lectures to Richard for analysis and feedback.

F) Special Interest Mentoring
Because of the widely varied pluralistic background in Europe, there is a need for highly specialized training as Christian apologists specialize on various subcultural and religious groups. For example, currently Islam is growing significantly across Europe. There exists a great need to train and mentor specialists in Christian apologetics for Muslims in order to reach this hardened and needy group.

The importance of mentoring needs to underlined. For the EAN to be successful, it cannot be merely a source of knowledge or conferences for people to attend. We need to grow a relational and synergistic network where individuals are encouraged, refreshed, discipled and inspired. We need to find or build relational contexts to mentor apologists to spiritual maturity and to use their apologetic gifts for the kingdom.

Strategy 5: Electronic Newsletter and Website
As previously reported, EAN members voted for an annual meeting as a key EAN priority. An additional initiative participants selected was an EAN website and newsletter. Virtually all of the EAN members come from contexts which are antagonistic to Christian faith, and as a result they feel alone and hungry for both encouragement and resources. They want an EAN website and newsletter in order to be in relationship with each other, gain access to educational resources and to be kept up to date on new initiatives.

Mahatma Gandhi once argued that for any movement to be effective, it needs to have a journal. To establish momentum, there needs to be a written vehicle to educate, inspire and encourage the members. The EAN leadership believes it can use the leverage of the world wide web and an electronic newsletter to achieve these ends. The Evangelical Apologetic Network website can be a clearinghouse of ideas, resources, and opportunities to help EAN members on a regular basis.

For example, there were 11 presentations at the initial EAN seminar, many of which were cutting edge in their discussion of crucial ideas and strategies. It would be extremely useful to edit these lectures (or other tools) into articles that can be sent to the EAN members. Then EAN members can then in turn send these key articles to friends and students. The crucial point is that with the tool of the internet, well-written arguments can be multiplied in their effectiveness. An additional advantage of such a newsletter and website is to inform EAN members of new initiatives, training opportunities, traveling lectures or debates that they could take advantage of. EAN members could tap into various resources through the EAN website, including tapes of presentations, lectures and debates. They can receive the names of specialists in a specific area they are struggling with or read ongoing discussions with unbelievers and faithful apologists.

SUMMARY
Why Europe? Why this vision? Why this strategy? Europe today is post-Christian. The current situation is the reverse of what Paul addressed in II Corinthians 8 and 9. The Apostle Paul told the European Corinthians that they had an obligation to give to the Jewish believers in Judea who were in such desperate financial straits. These Greek Christians had originally received the Gospel from missionaries these faithful Jewish believers had sent out, and Paul challenged them to provide for their brothers and sisters. Likewise, today, the church in North America has the gospel as a result of faithful European Christians from generations past. What is our obligation to the Europe of today? Paul writes to the Greek Christians of his day: "At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need."

What do Europeans need? Today, Europeans desperately need the Gospel to be persuasively explained with power and conviction. How can American Christians best help Europe? American believers can provide Europeans Evangelicals with the tools and resources to help them reach their continent for the Lord. One key insight of modern missions is the great advantage of using nationals rather than missionaries in reaching a people. A national intuitively knows the language and culture, which is the means of communication. The EAN is uniquely leveraged to take advantage of the cultural understanding of its members from over 20 countries in order to present the gospel with power and conviction.

Why Europe? Yes, Americans may have some responsibility to give back to our spiritual ancestors. But why focus on Europe right now? As in Paul's day, Europe today is the intellectual center of the world. Many of these new philosophies are anti-Christian. These ideas that begin in Europe travel the globe like computer viruses. There is a great need to treat these viruses at their source with the powerful medicine of God's truth in the gospel.

The European Apologetic Network is confronted by an historic opportunity. Never before have so many European Apologetic ministries come together united around one vision. Many of these groups have prayed for years or decades, for such an opportunity. There is a synergy that is possible at this moment that these individuals have never seen before. (See the EAN leadership letters of support that are attached to this proposal). Europeans want to do the job. They have the passion and commitment. They just need the opportunity and resources to do it.

The EAN strategy is also leveraged because it is focused on leaders. Each person who comes to one of EAN's programs is a Christian leader of some kind, heading up educational institutions, apologetic ministries and churches. The EAN strategy is designed to help mentor and nuture these Christians to be the leaders in their local context. Thus, each individual who attends an EAN function has the potential to influence an entire community of believers.

The EAN leaders are making sacrificial commitments. EAN speakers and leaders have volunteered their time and energy. The EAN leadership team held multiple meetings, and committed resources and time toward the EAN vision. Participants who attended the first EAN meeting demonstrated their commitment by paying their entire travel costs, as well as a portion of the registration fee. Even with scholarships, Central and Eastern European's meeting fees and traveling costs were nearly a typical monthly salary.

In short, the European Apologetic Network seeks to: provide the best Apologetic teaching, train individuals in necessary skills, model communicating the truth with power and conviction, develop and employ educational resources, and mentor the next generation of European Apologetic leaders. We are praying for the resources to do this.

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[1] We have available to us a wonderful tool to document these massive shifts in the World Christian Encyclopedia edited by David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
[2] Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 12... With a work with the volume and complexity of data of the World Christian Encyclopedia, there are certain to be some controversial categories. The heart of these interpretive issues would include their typology... For example, I would argue from a historical, sociological and theological position that both Pentecostal and Charismatic should be understood as part of the broader category of Evangelical. The Encyclopedia does not frame the data this way.
[3] Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 191.
[4] Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 3.
[5] Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 3.
[6] Europe has experienced the ravages of two World Wars, ethnic and religious hatred, devastation of Marxism, Naxism and other forms of Totalitarian governments... All of the secular philosophies of nihilism, extreme existentialism, secular humanism and post-modernism find their roots in the soil of Europe. Lastly many of the sociological forces of secularization find their historic structures in European history. There are many reasons for the precipitous collapse of the Christian faith in Europe. But the question of the causes of this predicament pale in contrast to the question, what do we do now?