THE 2010 BALATONSZEMES REPORT
2010 impressions of Balatonszemes - The European Baptist Mission (EBM) is now called “EBM INTERNATIONAL.” The council meeting of the EBM mission in Hungarian Balatonszemes decided on this. It is to underscore the fact that the mission is operating globally and not just in Europe, said the speakers at the conferences with over 100 delegates and guests. The various branches of the mission's work operate under their geographical designation. There are EBM AFRICA, EBM MASA and EBM INDIA.
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The 2010 Balatonszemes report
The meeting took place under the motto “The Congregation - the Lord's Dynamic in the Mission.” The professor for missiology at the Elstal Theological Seminary (university) of the German Union of Evangelical Free Churches, Michael Kisskalt, reminded us in a lecture on the fundamentals that congregations have been the supporters of the global mission since the time of Johann Gerhard Oncken (1800 - 1884), the founder of countless Baptist congregations in Germany and Europe. A missionary association can handle the organizational matters, but the congregation itself remains responsible for the work, he said. This must also be demonstrated in the daily life of the congregation, Kisskalt continued and called on those present to pray for the missionaries, to enter into contact with them, to inform themselves, and also to make donations for them. Kisskalt was himself a missionary for the EBM in Cameroon from 1995 to 1999. He voluntarily runs the division for the mission and evangelization of the European Baptist Federation (EBF). In the discussion, various delegates noted that the mission field of the EBM is not only in countries abroad, but also in European partner countries. This missionary challenge must be accepted collectively and everyone must react in word and deed. Everyone must support each other.
The representative of the EBM's Indian Aid (Indienhilfe), Dr. Dervaray Voola, was visibly moved by the debate in which he was described as a missionary. He had never thus been described before as hitherto Indians understood missionaries to be solely foreigners sent to India. He thanked the delegates for being taken seriously as a partner. The EBM General Secretary Christopher Haus (Elstal by Berlin) noted that the former Hans Herter Indienhilfe (India Aid) had been successfully integrated into the EBM structures. Since the beginning of 2009, the EBM has been responsible for “Indienhilfe” (India Aid). Haus said that the precarious financial position of the EBM, particularly in Africa, had improved in the past year, but was still not completely normal. The long-standing treasurer of the mission, Elimar Brandt (Berlin), departed after 18 years of service and a total of over 30 years in leading EBM positions. He also thanked the EBM for strengthening and supporting him in times of a personal crisis. The German Urs Bruhn (Illmensee) was elected to be his successor. He also works in the EBF finance committee. Newly confirmed on the EBM executive board and in their offices were the Norwegian Arild Harvik as president and the Dutchman Dr. John Sussenback as deputy president. The board also consists of the Swiss Esther Fröhlich, Linda Koroma from Sierra Leone, Janos Papp from Hungary, Dr. Günther Schwarzinger from Austria, Ulrich Wagner from Germany and David Boydell from France.
The Vice President of the European Baptist Federation (EBF), Hans Guderian (Berlin), conveyed the greetings of the EBF. He underlined the necessity of working even more strongly and efficiently in the area of the mission in the Middle East in order to strengthen the Christian faith there.
The EBM consists of 26 member unions from Africa, Latin America and Europe. Its local and European employees support 33 development and mission projects in Africa, 12 in Latin America and 38 in India.