On 4-8 October 2022, the HOPE FOR EUROPE 2022 Experience took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The special gathering, hosted by the European Evangelical Alliance normally takes place every three years (last in Tallinn, Estonia in 2018, Covid resulted in a postponement of one year) and convenes hundreds of evangelical leaders from across Europe to share strategies, best practices and valuable insights. The motto of HOPE 2022 was „Builders connecting – Celebrating the Kingdom of God”.
Approximately 280 leaders participated, with three main themes covering three main thrusts of the Gospel from Tuesday 4 October to Saturday 8 October 2022: (1) Connected in Proclamation, (2) Connected in Good Deeds and (3) Connected in Speaking Up. At the heart of HOPE 2022 were 17 thematic networks of the European Evangelical Alliance, covering topics ranging from “Collaborating for Shalom in our Cities/Developing a Missional City Vision” (EEA Cities Network) and “Helping churches to deal with the immediate and long-term effects of war and occupation” (Refugee Highway Partnership) to “Women and men partnering for God’s work” (Women in Leadership Network).
The speakers at the conference included a variety of voices from the evangelical community from different corners of Europe, as well as some prominent names such as Thomas Schirrmacher (Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance), Usha Reifsnider (Co-Regional Director for Europe of the Lausanne Movement), Jeff Fountain (Director of the Schuman Centre for European Studies), Dele Olowu (Continental Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God) and Leanne Rhodes (Executive Director of the European Freedom Network).
All photos by Antun Balog
