Sandwich Vacation

John & Jan Baxter

Missionary


John and I spent most of June and into July participating in four diaspora-related conferences. Between each one we sandwiched in some vacation because,
well, all the conferences were in Europe!
Our first stop was Liverpool, England. The Lausanne Global Diaspora Network gathering provided updates with missionaries, pastors, and other practitioners whose goal is to engage people in global migration with the gospel of Jesus Christ.On the way to visit a Chinese diaspora church, we stopped to tour the Liverpool Cathedral with Dr. and Mrs. Barnabas Moon (above).
We had an extra day before our next conference and spent it walking around Oxford, England, then on to Darmstadt, Germany, for the Next Generation Korean Diaspora Conference. How encouraging to speak to second generation Korean-German pastors who are thinking missionally, planning and praying for gospel impact among immigrants and business workers in Germany. (Can you find John's name on the banner?)
We had several days after Darmstadt to visit Trier, Germany, as well as the Bastogne War Museum and areas associated with where my (Jan's) dad was 75 years ago with Patton’s 4th Armored Division.

Next John spoke to a resource gathering of missionary leaders near Frankfurt, Germany, then we took a train to Normandy, France, to visit more historical sites associated with the liberation of France.
Our final week was a Converge Europe-Africa missionary conference in Neustadt, Germany. We were invited as diaspora advisors to help the many initiative leaders around the globe find opportunities for missions to and from people on the move. We returned to the U.S. with a growing list of projects.

Spain Update

Working in Malaga in April, we learned that the proposed refugee ministry partnership is not operating in the way we anticipated. During that month we renegotiated our partnership agreement with Interlink Resources International and are pleased that Converge leadership recently approved the changes.

We will move forward in overseeing UN refugee-oriented mission projects for Converge and our partner organization. Because of the need to add significant infrastructure, most of this will be done in the U.S. We will also oversee the implementation of a business for mission platform allowing our Converge missionary teams to reside in some highly restricted places around the globe. Our revised plans mean short stays in Spain each year, with the length expanding as the work grows.

John & Jan Baxter, Missionary

Helping Converge missionaries and churches with effective engagement with unreached migrating people groups around the world.