The extensive lawn of the Foreign Missionary Club in London
provides an ideal place for small group discussions.
"People working with current leaders often work in the background, without making a lot of noise," says David Wilson, one of the "Three Amigos" who lead Agape in Europe. “But in reaching leaders they have learned significant things about discipling that the rest of us need to know."
Recently David called many of these staff members together in London for a Consultation on reaching Current Leaders and Influencers. This disparate group included Agape staff members working with audiences such as athletes, artists, diplomats, military personnel and business leaders. They met at the Foreign Mission Club, which for the last 115 years has served as a "home-away-from-home" for missionaries serving in every quarter of the globe.
As they met, people took turns sharing principles they have learned regarding how to reach out to those in the public eye—leaders who have little free time yet great influence, and who are never sure whom they can trust. David also invited Christians prominent in society to speak, such as millionaire businessman Ram Gidoomal, who ran for Lord Mayor of London, Dutch politician Roelie Bosch-Nijeboer, and London actor David Gross. Each of these shared inspiring stories of how God has enabled them to stand up for Him in their circle of influence.
Participants included staff members working with Christian Embassy ministry in Washington, DC, and the United Nations in New York, as well as in Berlin, Riga and London. Special greetings were sent by video from Sari Essayah, secretary-general of the Christian Democrat party in Finland, and from the Jamaican ambassador to Germany.
David Wilson called together the London
Consultation on Current Leaders and
Influencers, so that staff involved in this
ministry could learn from each other.
The Consultation gave staff the opportunity to discuss the criteria that define a Christian Embassy type of ministry in Europe, as well as laying a groundwork for future collaboration.
"The gospel touches everything!" pointed out John Austin, director of the Christian Embassy at the United Nations. "We are experts in this; it is what we have to offer people."
"If we want to see nations discipled it means bringing the gospel to those who shape their cultures," says David Wilson, "and bringing it into their ideas and into their hearts."
