When the EMF school was born(in Watford, way back in the 1960s), with the primary purpose of providing training for EMF missionaries, one of the main reasons for that was the simple (and sad)fact that there were relatively few seminaries and Bible colleges in continental Europe that shared EMF's biblical and gospel-centred core values.

Happily, in more recent times that situation has changed – for the better. Some long-standing seminaries have become more biblical and so more in line with EMF, and in some places new seminaries have come into existence that share EMF's theological DNA. We are in the process of putting together a list of faithful seminaries and Bible colleges in continental Europe; we already have an encouraging number, and the real number is likely to be considerably greater.

How might this benefit the work of EMF and the cause of the gospel across Europe? The simple answer to that question is that we may well see more and more new EMF missionaries coming to us from some of those seminaries.

Since 2018, EMF has had a Training Fund, which was set up to provide a way of continuing to support the training of gospel workers after the sale of EMF's headquarters ('Guessens' in Welwyn, Hertfordshire) and the closing of EMF's School of Biblical Studies after over 50 years. The Training Fund has made it possible for EMF to sponsor the training of future gospel workers at London Seminary, Edinburgh Theological Seminary, the Portuguese Bible Institute, the Martin Bucer Seminary (also in Portugal), the Greek Bible College in Athens, and other similar institutions. A growing number of men who have benefitted from the help of the Training Fund are going on to become EMF missionaries. Some recent examples are Romuald Lasnes, Manuel Morelli, Bruno Pires, João Cid, and Andrea Festa.

Now, with a longer list of trustworthy seminaries across Europe, the potential for finding suitable candidates, both for the Training Fund and for a longer-term relationship as EMF missionaries, is greater than ever. We are already taking steps to build partnerships with some of the seminaries on our list.

None of this is to take anything away from EMF's special relationship with London Seminary, which goes back to when London Theological Seminary (as it was called then) was established in 1977. A number of today's EMF missionaries studied both at EMF and at London Seminary, and the seminary continues to provide courses for the ongoing training of our missionaries.

The Lord of the Church left us the well-known exhortation to 'pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest' (Matthew 9:38). Europe desperately needs more gospel labourers. The Lord is answering the prayers of his people. A new generation of faithful gospel workers is being raised up. The challenge now is whether we will have the necessary financial and practical resources for the equipping and sending out all over Europe of that new generation.

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