“I wouldn’t call our previous years a winter, but I would certainly describe what we are experiencing now as a new spring. Something is sprouting, new life is growing.”
Joel Kalin, Vicar from Romelanda, Sweden
A message from the Executive Director
I am so encouraged by this story from Romelanda, Sweden, of God doing something new in this church and community through Alpha. Through patience and prayer, so many stories like this one are emerging across the region of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. We are seeing a ‘new spring’, with small shoots sprouting – sometimes in the most unlikely of places – and bringing hope and new life. As we are reminded in Zechariah 4:10 not to ‘despise the day of small things’, we trust that God is building something significant in and through his church.
We know the scale of opportunity for the gospel in our region – the harvest is plentiful and our role is to equip workers for His harvest fields. Gathered with 5,000 leaders in the Royal Albert Hall for LC24 in May this year, over 1,000 EMENA delegates were blessed by a message from Pope Francis, reminding us that a ‘good leader knows how to raise up new leaders.’ As we build towards Vision 2033, we need to train and send out workers to ready the ground and reap what has been sown. Read below for more on how we are seeking to develop leaders and build capacity, through NAO Strategy Cohorts and our new Centre for NAO Development.
Pope Francis also reminded us that good leadership is ‘personal but not exclusive’. Read on to hear how we are investing in developing key Growth Markets (Eastern Europe and MENA) to ensure ‘everyone, everywhere’ has the opportunity to hear the gospel by the 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ resurrection in 2033. We are breaking new ground, developing Alpha scripts to serve the Orthodox church, opening new doors in Kazakhstan and building up the ministry in countries like Greece where we have seen few courses in recent years.
As we partner with Jesus to build his church in EMENA, we also know that we are stronger together, and that prayer and meaningful strategic partnerships are fundamental to multiplication growth. We are encouraged by the partnerships we are developing across the region, particularly with Youth organisations as we prepare for the upcoming launch of AYS 3.0 in English in autumn this year, and in 20 languages across Europe and parts of MENA in spring 2025. We have laid strong foundations so far in 2024, particularly through the Alpha Youth Network, standing us in good stead to launch with impact next year.
We are encouraged that our 6-month metrics are all showing good growth, and with 138,884 Alpha participants in the first 6 months, we are in range of reaching our goal of 300k participants in 2024! My prayer is that you are encouraged by the shoots of new life that you read about below. Thank you for your support and prayers as we play our part in God’s plans for Europe and MENA.
Every blessing,
Paul Davie
So far in 2024…
6567
Courses
increase of 8.1% from June 2023
3693
Churches
increase of 8.7% from June 2023
138884
Participants
increase of 9.4% from June 2023
Please note that these are in-year figures and will not be fully audited until the Annual Data Collection process in Dec 2024.
EMENA Centre for NAO Development
As we work towards Vision 2033, we want to be even more intentional in our focus on building the capacity and capability of our National Alpha Offices (NAOs). Our desire is for every NAO to step up to the next level over the next 2 years! To achieve this, we have newly established a Centre for NAO Development (CND), with a vision to bring together coordinated support for National Boards and Offices, to sustainably ‘scale up’ their capacity and ensure they have the capabilities required to support their plans for multiplication growth. We will work with Alpha leaders with experience in key areas such as Leadership and Fund Development, supported by a growing number of consultants who bring a wealth of expertise in areas such as HR, to support our focus areas of capacity-building, leadership & team development, and Board renewal. A key element of our strategy will be continuing to roll out our innovative 18-month peer learning NAO Strategy Cohort programme, which has already demonstrated encouraging results in the Nordic region.
Learning together – NAO Strategy Cohorts
After our highly successful pilot in the Nordic region, we began to roll out our sub-regional NAO Strategy Cohorts in Q1 in Eastern Europe. The DACH and South-West Europe regions start in Q3, and MENA in Q4. During these cohorts, key teams and Board chairs meet together every 6 months for a curated leadership development, team building and peer learning programme. These gatherings will enable each NAO to refine their vision and growth goals, build sustainable strategies, learn best practices from peers, and develop and test innovative approaches as teams.
Nordic Strategy Cohort – Pilot Finishes
In January and June, the Nordic Alpha Offices (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) gathered near Gothenburg, Sweden and in Oslo, Norway respectively for the third and fourth episodes of the Nordic Strategy cohort. These were the final instalments of the four-part journey, which piloted our new NAO learning and development process. Delegates found these peer learning opportunities hugely beneficial in their strategic planning and working together on shared challenges, as well as in innovating and progressing towards common goals. Panu Pitkänen, National Director of Alpha Finland, spoke of the ‘tremendous blessing’ that the cohort has been to the four Nordic countries, highlighting the power of ‘praying together, getting to know each other, learning to trust each other and building unity between teams’. We are hugely encouraged by the initial fruits of this first cohort, and how the cooperation and mutual support between these countries is growing. We are excited to see how God will continue to develop the Nordic nations this year!
iDACH
The NAO teams which make up the DACH sub-region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol in Italy) gathered in the south of Germany at the beginning of the year for their annual iDACH conference. With the recent arrival of new team members, this was a key opportunity for relationship-building and strategic alignment, and their time together was filled with helpful and inspiring input, fruitful discussions, and wonderful moments of prayer, worship and fun! Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol in Italy
EEST – The Adventure Starts
Almost 40 leaders from 17 countries across Eastern Europe including The Balkans and Ukraine met in Kraków, Poland for the inaugural Eastern Europe Strategy (EEST#1) cohort. Supported by coaches from the US, Canada and the Netherlands, they worked on assessing the current state of Alpha ministry in their contexts, dreamed of what could be, prayed together and created the action points for the next 6 months to bring Alpha in Eastern Europe to the next level. The next meeting (EEST#2) of four is planned for September in Hungary!
With the vision for ‘everyone, everywhere’ to hear the gospel by 2033, we are hugely encouraged by the developments in our ministry in our key Growth Markets in EMENA: Eastern Europe, and the Middle East & North Africa.
Eastern Europe
As we seek to serve and support our ministry across Eastern Europe, acknowledging its scale, complexity and diversity, this year we launched Alpha Balkans! Serving Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Greece and North Macedonia, and with a newly appointed Director, Grozdan Stoevski, we are excited to see how God will develop the ministry in this region. We are also excited for the upcoming launch of the Alpha Orthodox scripts, developed with the support and approval of His Eminence Bishop Sionij from the Bachkovo Monastery, which is a great spiritual breakthrough and provides an open door for implementing Alpha for Orthodox. We pray this will be a blessing to the Orthodox church. We are particularly encouraged by what God is doing in Greece, sowing seeds of growth through meetings with key leaders and theologians in Thessaloniki in June!
MENA
Despite significant challenges in the Middle East & North Africa, and the pain of war and division, we are seeing amazing things happen in the region! The team continues to grow, and we have recently engaged a 3rd-party consultant to support our leadership and people development. We are also encouraged by the way God is using the Marriage Courses, with 102 Muslim Background Believers (51 couples) having attended a Marriage Course in Turkey so far this year. The focus is now on building scripts to enable the development of the fully contextualized MENA Alpha Film Series, which we believe will be an enormous blessing to Arabic speakers across the region.
Alpha ‘Shaking the Planet’ in Dubai
The popular Australian worship band ‘Planetshakers’ visited Dubai as part of their current world tour earlier this year, and performed their most popular songs in front of 6,000 excited spectators. The owner of the organising event company, who attended Alpha Collective at HTB in London in 2023, provided the Alpha Gulf team with the wonderful opportunity to promote the ministry: visitors were welcomed at an Alpha stand, receiving invitation cards to ‘Stay Curious’ handed out by a team of volunteers; inflatable beach balls with ‘Try Alpha’ print were kicked and tossed around by the waiting crowd; and Alpha promotion videos were played. There is exciting growth taking place in the Gulf, with a record number of new churches having started Alpha so far in 2024. We also join Alpha Gulf in celebrating their 4th anniversary this year!
“Participating in Alpha has instill[ed] a newfound sense of peace and the unmistakable presence of the Holy Spirit. I now wholeheartedly embrace the certainty that Jesus is in control, guiding my life with His plans and purpose. I feel truly blessed.”
Alpha Participant, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Gulf)
Ireland ‘Called to One Hope’
‘Called to One Hope’ (Eph 4:4) was the theme of this year’s Alpha Ireland conference in March, with over 300 people from all denominations across the island of Ireland joining together in prayers of thanksgiving and hope and in support of the Alpha Ireland Dream: ‘to invite 1 million people across the island of Ireland to come closer to Christ through Alpha, with at least half being young people under the age of 25’. We are excited to see the fruit of this dream in Ireland over the coming years!
70,000 at Resurrection Concert
It was a privilege to be part of the Resurrection Concert in April in Madrid, organised by the Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP), to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. With more than 70,000 people attending, and Holy Trinity Brompton’s worship group being invited to lead worship during the event, it was a significant moment for Alpha Spain and an amazing opportunity to highlight what God is doing through the ministry. We continue to be thankful for opportunities to partner with others in spreading the gospel in Spain and across the region.
Alpha Belgium – CCDE
In June Alpha Belgium had the opportunity to share with church leaders about Alpha at the launch of the Christian Centre for Discipleship & Evangelisation, alongside other organisations presenting tools, resources and methods for sharing the gospel inside and outside of the church. The event was a real encouragement and we look forward to seeing the fruits in Belgium in the coming months. The event was a real encouragement and we look forward to seeing the fruits in Belgium in the coming months.
Pope Francis addresses LC24
When the people of God gather together to worship and listen to what He has to say, hope is stirred, faith is inspired and generations are impacted. We were blessed to welcome 1,000 leaders from across EMENA to Leadership Conference 2024, alongside leaders from across the world. We heard from incredible speakers including Jennie Allen, Mark Varughese, Lecrae, and Tom Holland, but the highlight for many was a special message of hope delivered by Pope Francis around the theme of Good Leadership, based on the example of Jesus.
To experience highlights from LC24 register for LC On Demand here.
Book your seat for LC25 here.
Focused investment in our youth ministry is vital this year, as we prepare for the exciting launch of a translated Alpha Youth Series 3.0 in EMENA in spring 2025 – a reimagined series to equip the church in reaching the rising generations. We are full of expectation as we build the team across our region and prepare to launch with impact in 2025.
Alpha Youth Network develops
The Alpha Youth Network brings together Youth Coordinators in our National Offices and key youth leaders and young leaders from across the region to equip, inspire and raise up. The network has been growing through strategic social media activity, and during LC24 the team hosted a pizza lunch. The gathering was an amazing opportunity to build the community, and to ‘dream and scheme’ around AYS 3.0 launch plans and the development of the Youth ministry across the region. We believe that investment in this group of young people with a heart for their countries and contexts has the potential to change the game for Alpha Youth in Europe!
New Alpha Youth Training resources
Developed by Alpha Netherlands, in collaboration with the regional team, the Alpha Youth Community is a coaching programme which aims to provide Youth and young leaders with an ‘e-learning’ coaching programme, journeying with them and helping them to see Alpha Youth not just as a course, but as a missional community starter. In May, a group of EMENA Alpha Youth Coordinators gathered in the Netherlands to record content and help develop the programme, which will be rolled out and contextualised into further languages including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Join us in praying for the impact of this exciting new resource.
‘La Place’ in France
In January, Alpha France hosted ‘La Place’, an event which gathered ‘Gen Z’ around the theme of identity and finding their place in society. ‘La Place’ was aimed at young Christians (18 to 25-year-olds), but also offered an opportunity for them to invite their friends who are more distant from faith or church life.
With over 200 attendees, the event began with a fun, contemporary concert, before ‘Circles and Spaces’, which provides a space for young people to speak and connect freely without fear of judgement, covering topics such as FOMO (‘Fear of Missing Out’) and boundaries.
Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, pioneers of Alpha, were speakers at the event, and several members of the EMENA team participated in the panels and discussions. It is so encouraging to see events like these providing a space for young people to connect with God and each other!
Budget
January – June Expenditure
£729,300
EMENA regional team costs, plus NAO grants and operating costs for all countries in MENA.