MISSION FOCUS – February – MICHAEL OTS
I serve as an evangelist working with university students around the UK and Europe. This coming term I will be speaking at events weeks in Reading, Loughborough, Durham and Newcastle in the UK. These weeks of evangelistic events can often attract several hundred students – many of whom will have never had any contact with the Christian faith so an amazing opportunity! We have found that since the COVID pandemic students are even more open to the gospel than before and very willing to come to events even just through receiving a flyer.
A big part of my time is taken up with leading the FEUER network (The Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities of Europe). This a network of 200 evangelists and academics committed to the public proclamation of the gospel in Europe’s universities. As well as organising a large conference for the network each autumn this also involves hosting many international guests at events weeks in the UK. The purpose of this is to inspire and inform students and leaders how to do effective public evangelism. Another part of the FEUER role is to go and speak at events weeks in other parts of Europe. In the coming months I will be speaking at events in Poland, Belarus and Estonia. We’re also exploring how we can spread the influence of FEUER beyond Europe and so this summer I will be speaking at an events week in Ghana as well. It’s been wonderful to see how through the network over the last seventeen years, the proclamation of the gospel has grown across Europe. When it began just two countries outside the UK were regularly organising events weeks. In the last year nearly 200 took place in 36 countries!
Although I lived for many years in Bournemouth, I now live in Leicestershire and with my wife, Rebecca, and we’re involved in local ministry through our church, North Evington Free Church. The church building is located in a predominantly Muslim and Hindu area of Leicester and so through various means we are seeking to reach out to the local community. It’s amazing to see many coming into the church building and hearing the gospel.
Rebecca also has many opportunities to share the gospel with her colleagues as she flies her Boeing 787s around the world with British Airways. She regularly gets to give out copies of my book to other pilots and to cabin crew.
We are also wanting to be more intentional about reaching out to the village where we live and hope to start some regular evangelistic initiatives in the area.
Praise God for the many opportunities coming up around the UK and for those who will hear and respond to the Gospel
Pray for the impact of FEUER to be felt right across Europe and beyond, and for leaders and students in new countries to grow in confidence in the proclamation of the Gospel
Pray for the ongoing ministry of North Evington Free Church – that we would start to see those from the local community coming to know Jesus
Pray for Rebecca’s witness at 38,000 feet!
Pray that the Lord would open doors of opportunity into our local community as we get to know it better