STORIES FROM
EUROPE

In 2005, at our Eastern Europe Prayer Days retreat in Hungary, a young Dutch girl named Estera came forward with her mother to thank me for playing Lego with her when she was six. Her parents had answered God’s call to move to Romania after the fall of Communism in 1990 and later had three children. That moment reminded me how vital children—especially missionary kids—are in God’s work.

When my wife Ellsye and I sensed God calling us to leave our settled life in Northern Ireland and move to Austria, we knew the cost for our three children. They left friends and security behind without choice. That experience shaped my approach to missionary kids: playing games, reading, chatting, and just spending time together over the years has been a way to tangibly show God’s love.

I’ve often reflected on Moses at the Burning Bush. In Exodus 4:2, God asks, “What is in your hand?” Moses replies, “a staff”—an ordinary shepherd’s tool. Yet God transforms it into a mighty instrument in His plan. Similarly, God delights in taking ordinary gifts—time, attention, care—and using them in extraordinary ways for His Kingdom.

In 1990, ECM invited me to serve as Eastern Europe Director. I had been a pastor for only two years, led a building project at Castlewellan Castle, and run a small business—but had never led a team of missionaries across Central and Eastern Europe. Few would have called me an administrator. Yet through small acts of care—playing with children like Estera, taking them for bike rides, meals, or treats—I’ve been able to show love and support for missionary families.

Leadership can be lonely, and caring for missionary kids is a vital part of pastoral care for Gospel workers. Over the past thirty-five years, I’ve travelled thousands of miles with my staff, spent hundreds of hours at kitchen tables, and shared tea, coffee, magazines, and books with pastors and their families. And Estera? She’s now a qualified radiologist in Holland and a godly young woman—a living testament to God’s faithfulness and the power of ordinary acts of love.