EDITORIAL
By the Vista Editorial Team
Have you ever heard someone speak “on your behalf” but without ever asking you what you think? Or maybe you are in a conversation and you just can't get a word in edgeways because someone else is dominating the conversation.
When it comes to conversations about mission in Europe today, the same things can happen. Certain voices dominate whilst others are marginalised. And similarly, if we only talk to people like ourselves, or those who work in the same area, we may only be hearing views that are similar to our own.
This edition of Vista presents the views of 13 representative voices on Europe. We asked nine questions around the theme of “Who speaks for Europe?” and the responses were then analysed and are presented thematically in the following pages.
We invited responses from
(1) selected church leaders and church planters
(2) migrant/diaspora leaders and voices
(3) mission agency leaders,
(4) the European Evangelical Alliance, and
(5) an ‘outsider’ working in European mission.
Our thanks go to Daniel Costanza, Raphael Anzenberger, Richard Bromley, Mike Betts, Tony Peck, Samuel Cueva, Usha Reifsneider, Harvey Kwiyani, Kent Anderson, John Gilberts, Joke Haaijer, Frank Hinkelmann and Jeff Carter.
We are very much aware that this group is not representative – there are too few women, no voices from Eastern Europe, and of course, the non-English-speakers are effectively silenced. This just illustrates the importance of the issue, and our deafness to certain voices. Our apologies to those we could have invited to participate but failed to reach out to.
Have you ever heard someone speak “on your behalf” but without ever asking you what you think? Or maybe you are in a conversation and you just can't get a word in edgeways because someone else is dominating the conversation.
When it comes to conversations about mission in Europe today, the same things can happen. Certain voices dominate whilst others are marginalised. And similarly, if we only talk to people like ourselves, or those who work in the same area, we may only be hearing views that are similar to our own.
This edition of Vista presents the views of 13 representative voices on Europe. We asked nine questions around the theme of “Who speaks for Europe?” and the responses were then analysed and are presented thematically in the following pages.
We invited responses from
(1) selected church leaders and church planters
(2) migrant/diaspora leaders and voices
(3) mission agency leaders,
(4) the European Evangelical Alliance, and
(5) an ‘outsider’ working in European mission.
Our thanks go to Daniel Costanza, Raphael Anzenberger, Richard Bromley, Mike Betts, Tony Peck, Samuel Cueva, Usha Reifsneider, Harvey Kwiyani, Kent Anderson, John Gilberts, Joke Haaijer, Frank Hinkelmann and Jeff Carter.
We are very much aware that this group is not representative – there are too few women, no voices from Eastern Europe, and of course, the non-English-speakers are effectively silenced. This just illustrates the importance of the issue, and our deafness to certain voices. Our apologies to those we could have invited to participate but failed to reach out to.