Missionaries for the Dead

The weary old building reeked with death. Spiritual demise had occurred long ago at the hands of theologies that strangled biblical truth. Members had aged, the young had moved on, and clergy who questioned the relevancy of their own lives and beliefs spoke to congregations of a dozen or less – themselves soon to die.

Europe is littered with the "catacombs" of dead religion. But in some of those grave stone buildings life is sweeping in again. Followers of Jesus are returning to the catacombs. The "reverse missionaries" from Africa and Asia, many of whom are the fruit of earlier European missions, are returning to lands that once colonized their own. They lease or buy deserted church facilities whose decaying walls throb with exuberant worship styles and passionate preaching.