WEC International
| WEC International - Worldwide Commitment for Christ - Worldwide Evangelism for Christ | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Mission Society |
| founding | 1916 |
| founder | Charles T. Studd |
| Seat | Singapore |
| main emphasis | People all over the world should experience God's love and begin a living relationship with Jesus Christ |
| method | Spread the word, plant Christian churches, and mobilize, train, broadcast and support people |
| Action space | worldwide |
| people | Patrick Johnstone |
| sales | borne by donations |
| Employees | 1800 employees in 170 teams in 70 countries (2020) |
| Website |
www.wecinternational.org www.wec-international.de www.wec-international.ch |
WEC International or Global use for Christ (English: Worldwide Evangelization for Christ ) was in 1916 in London as Evangelical Missionary Society through the English missionary Charles Studd founded and his wife Priscilla, nee Stewart. The aim was and is to make the gospel of Jesus Christ known in word and deed to unreached people and ethnic groups so that they can love him, serve him and learn to worship God.
history
Charles T. Studd was a pastor in Ootacamund in Tamil Nadu in southern India from 1900 to 1906 . There he was made aware of the unreached areas in central Africa by a British missionary of German origin named Karl Kumm , where people had never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1910 he therefore traveled to Sudan and Central Africa , which then led to the establishment of an Africa Mission Society (English: Heart of Africa Mission ). He was assisted by Lord Radstock . In 1913 Studd visited the Belgian Congo with Alfred Buxton and established four mission stations there. In 1916 his mission society expanded to South America and Asia and became the World Evangelization Crusade WEK (English: Worldwide Evangelization Crusade WEC ). Studd then stayed several times in the Congo and set up his center in Ibambi , while his sick wife Priscilla supported him from home in London , where she died in 1929. He continued to work in Ibambi until he died there in 1931.
Norman Grubb , who was married to Studd's daughter Pauline and had worked with Studd, continued to run the mission society WEK in the spirit of the founder and also expanded it.
WEC International was founded in Switzerland in 1948 by the Briton David Batchelor. In 1954 he handed over the management to the Swiss Heini and Jo Schnyder. In 1979 a center was opened in Rüti ZH , which was expanded in 2012.
The German Protestant theologians and brothers Detmar Scheunemann (1932–2015) and Volkhard Scheunemann (* 1934) worked as Bible school teachers in Batu, in eastern Java , Indonesia , from 1957 to 1989 . Together with their wives, they made an important contribution to the training and education of local pastors and experienced awakening new beginnings . Volkhard was later still active as a mission leader in Germany. The British Bible translator and author Patrick Johnstone (* 1938) joined the WEC International leadership team in 1980.
In 2000, 29% of employees came from Asia and the Pacific, in 2015 it was 39%. In 2020, around 1,800 long-term employees from 50 countries worldwide belonged to WEC International, who worked with 170 teams in around 70 countries, for example in Albania, Equatorial Guinea, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Germany, Ivory Coast, Fiji, France, Gambia , Ghana, Greece, Great Britain, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Cambodia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Congo, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Netherlands, East Timor, Portugal, Switzerland, Senegal, Zimbabwe , Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sudan, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Chad, the United States and other countries that are not disclosed for security reasons. There are more employees from South America and Asia than from the west; 110 people come from Germany and 100 from Switzerland. The international seat is in Singapore.
working area
Today, WEC International is active in around 70 countries in various fields of work and in various social areas, such as school education, vocational training, child labor, women's work, health care, agriculture, counseling and pastoral care and in theological training and further education. Hearing and getting to know biblical stories and testifying to the gospel in word and deed are natural and integral parts of all ministry. WEC employees strive for an active Christian faith, a Jesus-like lifestyle, self-sacrificing following of Christ and authentic community so that their work becomes fruitful and sustainable and many people can benefit from it.
literature
- Jan Sihar Aritonang and Karel Adriaan Steenbrink: A History of Christianity in Indonesia , Studies in Christian Mission, Volume 35, Brill, Leiden 2008, ISBN 978-9-00417-026-1 , p. 875.
- Janet & Geoff Benge: Charles T. Studd - the daredevil of God , Christian literature distribution CLV , Bielefeld 2016, ISBN 978-3-86699-275-7 .
- Hildegard Berg: Life where the pepper grows - memories of South Sumatra , WEC International and OM Books 2009, ISBN 978-3-90266-909-4 .
- Klaus Fiedler : The Faith Missions in Africa: History and Understanding of the Church , Luviri Press, 2018, ISBN 978-9-99606-600-9 .
- Norman P. Grubb: Charles T. Studd - No sacrifice too big , Brunnen , Gießen 1986, ISBN 978-3-76553-808-7 (several editions, last 2014, ISBN 978-3-76554-243-5 ).
- Laurie Munro: The open door . R. Brockhaus , Wuppertal 2000. ISBN 3-417-23526-X .
- Detmar Scheunemann: And took me out into space , R. Brockhaus, Wuppertal 1982, ISBN 978-3-41712-216-9 .
- Gerlinde and Volkhard Scheunemann: the main thing is to lead! Life experiences with the living God , Brunnen, Gießen 2012, ISBN 978-3-76551-509-5 .
- Volkhard Scheunemann: Joy with the Bible , Hänssler Verlag , Neuhausen 1987, ISBN 978-3-77511-184-3 .
- Eileen Vincent: Charles T. and Priscilla Studd - United in the fight for Jesus , CLV, Bielefeld 1998, ISBN 978-3-89397-365-1 .
- WEC International: ... and where are you going? Workbook for families preparing to move abroad , concepcion Seidel, 2008, ISBN 978-3-86716-024-7 .
- WEC International: Fit for Germany ?! Welcome to Germany , concepcion Seidel, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86716-068-1 .
- Jutta Weinheimer & Mirjam McWhinnie: The village chief in the wheelbarrow and other experiences with God , SCM Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 2013.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Working method on website wec-international.ch
- ↑ Own presentation and goals according to website wec-international.ch
- ↑ https://missiotop.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/em2015-2.pdf
- ↑ Guest preacher Volkhard Scheunemann at Calvary Chapel Lippstadt May 17, 2017
- ^ History of WEC international on website wec-international.ch
- ↑ WEC International's own presentation on the wec-international.ch website
- ↑ WEC International on website aem.ch
- ↑ Self-presentation of WEC International values on the wec-international.ch website
- ↑ Working method of WEC International on website wec.international.ch