YNYSYBWL, WALES – EMM workers Alan and Carol Wert invited a mini-bus full of folks from the Welsh valleys to a special celebration at Glenwood Christian Center near Cardiff. They enjoyed the mix of celebrative worship music, drama, and insightful thoughts from Rob Bell, a young pastor from Michigan. Their life group and house church has watched many of Rob’s thought-provoking video clips as discussions starters, so it was a treat to see him in person. [Ed. note – you can find these highly unusual and stimulating videos at nooma.com

Carol said, “Rob answered some very difficult and unusual questions from the audience in a well-articulated, concise manner, and his brief, historical narrative about Roman and Jewish history was intriguing and set the stage for some challenging remarks for the church today. He challenged the church to seriously examine whether there is anything in the Christian story across the ages that we’ve forgotten and need to go back and reclaim. He also challenged the church to ask if there is anything along the way that has become part of the Jesus movement which really shouldn’t be there and which ‘we need the guts to get rid of.’ Every generation needs to ask, ‘What does it mean for us to be the people of Jesus here and now in this place?’"

On this occasion, and others Alan and Carol say, “We’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with people who don’t know Jesus. Floyd McClung, an experienced church planter, says that is the first of several steps to planting a simple house church. May you join us in opening your home and hearts to people who don’t know Jesus!”

Wales, once a place of powerful revival, now has very little vibrant Christian presence; many churches have closed their doors. Pray that Anabaptist witness would offer a living alternative that would spark a new interest in the living water of Jesus.

See a video created in october 2006 about the work in Wales,
Read more from Wales
Read the Wert's Blog

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