Mission-net closes

“It is with sadness but also with peace and confidence that we announce that the General Assembly of Mission-Net voted unanimously on Saturday 8th September to definitively cease the operations of Mission-Net”, the board of the organisation told supporters this week.

“We are confident of God’s leading and certain that his plans for Europe, for mission and for young people are not over, even if Mission-net is”, said the letter signed by Andy Stevens and Hester Zoutman (CEOs), and Connie Main Duarte (Chair of the Mission-Net Board).

According to the organisation, putting an end to the congresses and the mission movement “has not been a quick nor an easy decision and many of you were involved in it”. A survey sent out to many “was extremely instructive and helpful in shaping our conclusions”.

The organization had cancelled the December 2017 conference and said it was rethinking future initiatives. This was “the hardest decision we have ever had to make”, but the “generosity of many” allowed Mission-net to pay the resulting debts, “which has set an incredible testimony to all those we negotiated with”.

STARTED IN 2006

Mission-net started in 2006 and celebrated 4 big congresses. People from more than 50 countries (including Eurasia and Israel) were actively involved in the movement.

Plenaries, workshops, Bible studies, mission presentations and music were part of the congresses, which often gave scholarships to help as many as possible to attend.

Participants from many countries attended the Mission-net congresses. / Mission-net

In its last edition in Offenburg (Germany) in December 2015, hundreds of young evangelical Christians gathered to celebrate unity in Christ and received training and inspiration for mission at home or abroad.

The motto of Mission-net was: “Living and promoting a missional lifestyle”.

REASONS TO CLOSE

The board said the limited infrastructure, the lack of key personnel and very limited resources were some of the technical reasons that made the organization no longer “viable”.

Another reason was the growth of other organisations in Europe with a similar vision. “Thank God for diversity, zeal for the Gospel and creativity (…). We do not wish to compete with these new adventures (for participants, for venues, for timing, etc)”, the board writes.

The hopes of the team is that “God will take the vision, modify and clarify it, and that we can now hand it over to another group to take it on”.

SEEDS SOWN AND FRUIT REAPED

The Mission-net board “praises God for the many seeds that were sown through the Congress and through the Movement (…). We are certain that there are people who know Jesus that wouldn’t have known him otherwise (...) There are missionaries who can trace their journey to a conversation in the Global Market, Bibles have been translated, greenhouses built, and pastors have begun teaching”.

Read the full letter published on the Mission-net website.