New Church Started in Nyborg

Kirken Odense Vækkelscenter (Odense Revival Center), affiliated with the Apostolic Church of Denmark, has for the past five years had a vision for starting new churches on the island of Fyn. The Odense church (www.kirken-ovc.dk/)
has now taken its first step in church planting. It all began as the result of evangelistic meetings held by evangelist Torben Søndergaard last March and April at Medborger Hus, Nørrevoldgade, in Nyborg. At the last of the services there were 60 in attendance, of whom 40 were visitors. "We couldn't even think of leaving these folks on their own," said Andreas Jørgensen, of the the Odense Vækkelscenter, "so, we decided to drive down to Nyborg every Sunday after our own service in Odense to have a service for these folks." Evangelist Søndergaard's meetings were so well attended that it seemed essential to begin weekly services in Nyborg. The first service of the Nyborg Free Church (Nyborg Frikirke) took place on Sunday, May 22 with 15 persons attending. Services are now being held every Sunday afternoon at 15.00 hrs. (3:00 p.m.), except the second Sunday of the month when there is a joint service with the Odense church. Andreas and Lene Jørgensen, who pastor the Odense Vækkelscenter, will also assume responsibility of pastoral oversight for the new Nyborg Frikirke that for now will be under the wing of the Odense church. For those unfamiliar with the geography of Denmark, the island and province of Fyn is found between Sjælland to the east and Jutland to the west. Odense is situated in the very middle of Fyn and Nyborg southeast of Odense on the island's east side. This report is based on an item that appeared recently in Domino, the new Christian lifestyle magazine published by FrikirkeNet, a network of Danish Pentecostal, Baptist, Apostolic, independent, and house churches (www.dominoonline.dk).

PRAY that the new Nyborg Frikirke will rapidly develop into a contagious, growing fellowship of believers empowered by the Holy Spirit for attractive and effective witness to townspeople.

PRAY that the new church will in its infancy attract those in the Nyborg who are truly craving for something real to fill the spiritual vacuum in their lives that we know can only be filled by a personal experience of faith in Jesus Christ.

PRAY that like Vækkelscenter, other free church congregations throughout Denmark will be awakened to the need for planting new churches.

PRAY for health, strength and fruitful results for Andreas and Lene Jørgensen as they minister for Christ in Odense and Nyborg.

Pray for Tove Videbæk

The European Evangelical Union has appointed Danish evangelical Tove Videbæk as its representative to the various institutions of the European Union. Tove was a member of the Danish National Parliament for the past seven years before assuming her new post on June 1. Before that she had a career that included church ministries and leadership in Christian media. Her role as the EEA representative in Brussels will be "to help strengthen the future of European culture, around historically agreed Christian social and ethical values." Tove and her husband Mogens served for 20 years as pastors of Pentecostal churches in Denmark. Subsequently, she has had held significant positions of leadership in Danish Christian TV and media. During the past year and half Tove has been a member of the board of Kulturcenteret, a large independent Pentecostal church in Copenhagen. Her seven years in the Danish Parliament found her struggling for legislation relative to Christian lifestyle, Christian families, children, and the poor. She also made attempts to prevent the medical industry from making use of embryonic stem cells. Tove does not think that evangelicalism in Europe is dead, though it is common knowledge that cultural Christianity and secularism are problems for Denmark and other European countries. As a committed evangelical, she says, "I have been struggling in church. I have been struggling in media. And I have been struggling in Parliament. So, I feel like the little fish going up the stream, very alive. And I feel that the evangelicals of Europe are like this fish." She believes that evangelicals are learning and willing to learn. Several churches in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe have participated in recent days in "40 Days of Purpose" with Saddleback's Rick Warren and are also learning from the Willow Creek model. (This report has been developed from information gathered from Christianity Today and from the European Evangelical Alliance website.)

PRAY for Tove Videbæk as she attempts to build strong relationships and communication with Christian politicians in Brussels so that they will dare to stand for what they claim to believe.

PRAY for the several prayer meetings being held around Brussels where Tove can meet Christian politicians and pray together with them for Europe.

PRAY that Tove will be able to work in the power of the Holy Spirit in fulfilling her task of making sure that the voice of evangelicals in Denmark and all of Europe is heard by the various governing bodies of the European Union.

PRAY that Danish and other European evangelicals will recognize the implications of disappointing European Union decisions that only too often ignore or disregard issues of Christian faith and ethics.