Need for Missions

Sometimes Christians may wonder about the need for missions, particularly in Europe. An e-mail handed to me by one of my church members Sunday dispells any doubt about that need. Lance Borden, a missionary to Austria, wrote about some answers given to a survey about Christmas:

• What do we celebrate at Christmas? "Festival of love"
• Whom do we celebrate? "I don't know"
• What do we celebrate at Christmas? "Festival of family"
• Whom do we celebrate? "Family?"
• What does Jesus Christ have to do with Christmas? "I don't know". [Lance writes that one should keep in mind that there are manger scenes everywhere.]
• When did Jesus live on earth? "Uhh..wasn't it at the beginning of the 19th century?"

Lance writes: "These answers came from Austrians who, in the public schools, attended religious instruction classes every week for 8 years. He reports that Austria ranks alongside many Muslim countries in percentage of people who have saving faith in Christ [about 1/2 or 1%].

Do we need to send missionaries around the world, even to Europe? Absolutely!