Across Europe, Generation Z is more open to the Gospel than any other generation alive today. Could this missional opportunity lead to another missionary-sending movement from Europe? I believe so.

Church historian J. Edwin Orr described a pattern that has often emerged when revival comes. Simply put, it begins with prayer. Prayer leads to revival. And revival often results in a missionary-sending movement.

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This pattern is evident throughout our European history. It has happened repeatedly, time and again. The examples are many.

The Moravian example

Perhaps the clearest example of this pattern is the Moravian revival that began in August 1727 in the small Christian settlement of Herrnhut in eastern Germany.

Due to conflicts and relational tensions, their leader, Count Zinzendorf, decided to lead the community into a 24/7 prayer chain, in which each family took one hour at home to pray for God to move.

And God did move. Revival came. This Moravian “Pentecost” soon led this small community to send missionaries to different corners of the world – sending, within one generation, probably more missionaries than two hundred years of previous Protestant Christianity combined.

Other examples

The first era of Protestant missions – often referred to as the William Carey movement – emerged one generation after the First Great Awakening in the eighteenth century.

Later, toward the end of the nineteenth century, another wave of missionaries arose from Europe, fuelled by the legacy of the Second Great Awakening.

Figures such as Hudson Taylor, with his passion to reach inland China, and David Livingstone, who carried the Gospel across Africa, became symbols of this movement.

Today, new epicentres of global missions are slowly emerging in the Global South. Missionary-sending movements are rising from Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia – regions that have experienced sustained revival movements over recent decades.

Once again, the sequence proves true: prayer leads to revival, and revival gives birth to mission.

What about Europe?

So the question remains: if this spiritual openness among young Europeans leads to revival, should we not also expect a new wave of missionaries from Europe?

I pray for it. I hope for it. And I plan for it. This is why we run The Send.

The Send Europe

Since The Send was established in Norway during the pandemic, it has gathered more than 130,000 people across Europe around the Great Commission – calling this generation to go wherever, whenever, and to do whatever for the sake of the Gospel.

So far, about 10 percent of participants have shared their names and contact information, inviting us to walk with them.

If just 0.8% of participants at The Send thus far ultimately become missionaries to unreached people groups, that would still mean around 1,000 new missionaries sent from Europe in the years to come.

The future

As The Send continues to expand into new European nations, it is not unreasonable to believe that we could gather another 100,000 – 200,000 people across the continent in the coming decade through both small and large gatherings.

If even 1% of these go on to become missionaries to the unreached over the next generation, could this constitute a new European missionary-sending movement?

We do not see it yet. But we see the shadows of its coming. These glimpses of the future lie at the core of my motivation. The reality is that when we look ahead, we see waves of young people going from Europe to the ends of the earth.

Simple, yet profound

This movement does not belong to an organisation or a denomination. It is larger than any structure can contain. It is not led by a single personality; it is led by a message. And that message is simple, yet profound: “Here am I, send me!”

I believe Europe could once again be known as a missionary-sending continent, not to rule, but to serve. Not in isolation, but in deep partnership with churches from the Global South.

Not because God depends on us, but because He desires us. Not because this is our mission, but because it is His.

The biggest pay cheque

My biggest “pay cheque” ever was reading the front page of the Norwegian newspaper Dagen on January 24, 2025. The headline said: “The number of young people wanting to go abroad as missionaries is increasing: ‘It’s sad to have to say no,’ says a mission leader.”

After fifty years of decline in the number of missionaries sent from Norway, the tide is turning. In fact, it is turning so quickly that many Norwegian mission agencies now lack the capacity to send those who are ready to go.

This is why we run The Send.

Andreas Nordli leads The Send in Europe, as well as YWAM in Norway.