August 9, 2022
WEI is so blessed to partner with many missions- related ministries in the brotherhood of churches of Christ. One of those unique partnerships involves our co-sponsorship with Sunset International Bible Institute and Partners in Progress in hosting the European Vision Workshop. WEI chose to help support this workshop because of our vast historical roots and network of students, teachers, and church leaders in Albania and Romania, as well as other European countries.
Historically, Bill McDonough and Partners in Progress have helped to plant churches using our WEI materials as a tool to study the Bible with students in locations throughout the world. Nearly all the church leaders in Albania learned the Gospel first from WEI studies, and then later were trained as church leaders and ministers from Sunset’s extension school locations.
During the individual introductions almost all the Albanian leaders introduced themselves as Christian products of WEI. It was a truly humbling and meaningful testament to the effectiveness of the WEI tool. Praise God.
This annual workshop began in 2016 in Athens, Greece as a meeting of European church leaders gathering for three days to discuss the Syrian war refugee crisis flooding Europe at that time. It was used also as an opportunity to offer encouragement to our many European church leaders facing the challenges of ministry and evangelism in small but faithful congregations spread throughout the European continent.
This year the EVW was held in Rome, Italy and the emphasis was again on ministering to and evangelizing among the Ukrainian war refugees displaced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Approximately 140 were in attendance. Encouragement and evangelism was the focus of two full days of classes and reports. Inspiring stories by our brothers and sisters in Christ were shared particularly by those on the front lines of refugee ministry in Poland and Romania.
The 3 keynote addresses each evening delivered by Brother Bill Watkins of the Crieve Hall church of Christ in Nashville, TN were powerful and inspiring messages to continue preaching the lifesaving Gospel of Christ in every and all circumstances. Many WEI teaching plans were discussed for 2023, and the Workshop did not fail to encourage, inspire, and impart a sense of much needed post-pandemic Christian unity, love, and fellowship among all the attendees.
It was a pure joy and blessing to represent and promote WEI at this year’s EVW. The EVW also provided an opportunity to publicly introduce Elvin Xhimitiku as our new WEI promotional site webmaster. Elvin briefly spoke about his history of coming to Christ through WEI studies and then using WEI to convert his wife to be. They are now raising two beautiful children in the love and admonition of the Lord.
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” – Romans 10:14
