As a community of churches committed to Great Commission engagement, we are excited to share how we carry out the Great Commission through our Training Initiative.

Training Initiative: Equipping current and next generation preachers, disciple makers and church planters for Great Commission engagement

One way we break this initiative down practically is through:

. Institutional Training

. Church-Based Training

. REACH Project (International)

. Global Conferences

This week, we are highlighting Institutional Training:

Formal training is conducted at various CGN connected institutions of higher education and specialized training around the world, including Bible colleges with programs designed to help students know Jesus and live a life that glorifies Him.

This week, we will be focusing on Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe, uniquely located to emphasize missions, church planting and ministry in Eastern and Western Europe. By attending the campus, not only will students gain a heart for missions, but they will also be given the opportunity to live out that heart. Learn more at CCBCE.com.

If you are interested in attending Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe, visit ccbce.com to view all info and application FAQ’s.

. Q&A Interview with Pam Markey of CCBC Europe

. “My Experience at CCBC Europe” by Jeremy Foster

We at CGN and CalvaryChapel.com were able to interview a representative of CCBC Europe, Pam Markey, about the college and biblical training opportunities under the CGN Training Initiative!

1. What is the vision of CCBCE?

The vision of CCBCE is to be instrumental in raising up, equipping and sending out Christians to fulfill the mission of God that is to take the message of the Gospel to all nations at home, near and distant. We seek to do this through a systematic study of the Scriptures, discipleship and practical opportunities to reach out into the world.

2. Is there a verse that sums up the vision of CCBCE?

While it is difficult to sum up the vision of CCBCE in a verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 is one that is key when to understanding who we are in the light of the Gospel.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the ministry of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

3. What is the mission of CCBCE?

As part of our mission, we at CCBCE desire to:

. Instill students with a love for the Word and a deeper relationship with God.

. Encourage each one to have a personal encounter with Jesus.

. See them increase in the knowledge of God and His heart for the world that they too would have His love for the world. ( A love for the world and not of the world.)

. Help them go out and be a part of teams that plant churches everywhere i.e. at home and abroad

4. What are the CCBCE beliefs?

While our student body and guest teachers come from a range of church traditions, CCBCE is an evangelical institution that is part of the Calvary Chapel family of churches.

5. What is the history of CCBCE?

Millstatt, Austria: 1994 -2002

During the years while CCBCE found its home in Austria, it was mainly a place where mature believers came to grow deeper in their knowledge and understanding of the Word in order to be raised up as passionate disciples for Christ. A high priority was placed on principles of leadership as CCBCE began to take a much more serious approach toward the discipleship and raising up of pastors and ministry leaders throughout Eastern Europe.

Vajta, Hungary: 2002 – 2017

In moving to Hungary, the focus became more missional. When we first started the program in Hungary, there would be between 30-60 Hungarians onsite who were being raised up to go plant churches or become involved in ministry at their church. Even though there was an outreach focus in Austria, outreach became more of the lifeblood of the campus when it moved to Hungary. With so many church plants so relatively close to each other, it was very easy for the students to build and grow in relationship with local fellowships and help them grow, evangelize and become healthier in general. In moving to Hungary, we truly became a birthplace of missionaries.

Budapest, Hungary: 2017 – Present (2020: new announcement!)

Over our years in Vajta, the missional focus has only grown. CCBCE is a launching pad for missionaries, church planters and leaders in this generation. It became clear that the Great Commission lived out through this ministry would be best exemplified in the heart of one of Europe’s largest cities. Budapest provides many opportunities for our students to invest themselves in the many church plants in and around the city. We are encouraged by the different seasons and locations God has taken CCBCE. Join us as we embark on this new adventure in Budapest and see the ways the Lord might use us next in this city, nation, continent and planet!

CCBCE came to Hungary from Austria, as it was expanding in discipleship and church planting Europe. The desire was to continue discipling and equipping individuals to church plant throughout the world, including the Middle East, Asia, Africa and India, to mention a few. Geographically, it is in a unique location for training in cross-cultural ministry, since it is surrounded by seven countries with their different cultures only hours away in each direction including Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia.

6. What degree programs are offered at CCBCE?

Currently, we are offering two programs at CCBCE:

Option one: We are offering, a two year non-accredited Bible College education that Calvary Chapel has offered for decades with an added emphasis on cross-cultural evangelism and church planting.

Option two: School of Mission. This is a two-semester, plus 40-day program, which offers more focused training and equipping for those students who feel a specific call for cross-cultural missions and church planting. As part of the program, a 40-day practicum is completed by the student under the leadership of a church chosen in agreement with the student and the leadership of the college. This practicum can be completed during the winter or summer break between semesters.

7. How would you best describe the local culture for prospective students?

Our students enjoy the benefits of living in downtown Budapest, Hungary. Hungary has an incredibly rich history, and the capital of Budapest shows it off in style. Even though the city has a population of just under two million people, the city feels much smaller and more intimate. Our students enjoy the daily benefits of ever-growing coffee culture, the beautiful Danube river cutting the city in two, and an endless number of places to explore! Above all, we have the benefit of living in an environment where we get to take the classroom to the streets daily!

8. Are there outreaches/ministry opportunities students can look forward to engaging in?

Literally, every night students have the opportunity for ministry and outreach. By living downtown, as a major European capital city, our students have opportunities to live out what they are learning in class as soon as they step out of their apartments! From working with evangelism teams, ministering at skate parks, ministering to the homeless or serving in a number of churches, there is almost an endless list of ministry opportunities. Also, as a part of our school program, students are encouraged to go on weekend outreaches to local churches throughout Hungary and our neighboring countries.

While there, the students will work alongside the church and missionaries and help impact the community and encourage people to come to church. Additionally, each semester, all of our students go on a 10-day outreach to a number of locations throughout Europe. This semester, we have students ministering in Spain, Ireland, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania. It is always an exciting time as the students are stretched in areas of serving and ministry! The churches and missionaries that we partner with absolutely love having the teams come, as they are able to do larger events for the community, such as organizing and running a VBS for the kids in the community!

9. How can people apply?

The best and easiest way to apply is through the CCBCE website.

10. What is the best way to contact CCBCE?

For all questions and any general information, our registrar can be reached at office@ccbce.com.

_{Article updated on May 8, 2020.}

It was early September of 1996, and the fall semester at Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe was just about start. I was on a flight from Los Angeles, California, to Munich, Germany, flipping through a phrase book trying to learn how to say, “yes,” “no,” “please,” and “thank you” in German (my two years of high school Spanish were of zero help at this point.) I had no idea that I was just starting the ride of my life. I would stay at CCBCE (then at Schloss Heroldeck in Millstatt, Austria) for my final three semesters of Bible college and be in CCBCE’s first graduating class.

As a student of CCBCE, one of my favorite aspects of the program was the opportunity to get to know so many missionaries and church leaders in Europe.

—Servant leaders who have been out on the front lines doing hard work for years upon years upon years. I was also able to visit many different countries and see God working across Europe, to see Him move in various cultural contexts. I visited cities which had never seen a single protestant church—let alone a Bible-teaching one—in their history. This was true in hundreds if not thousands of cities across the continent.

After graduating, the staff asked me to stay on board and teach an elective class. (In retrospect, I’ve always felt bad for the students who took that class, but those who survived were hopefully no worse for the year.) After returning to the states, my wife and I spent some years ministering at Calvary Chapel Vineland, New Jersey, before heading back to CCBCE in 2004.

Upon returning to the college (now as an ordained pastor), I was given the great privilege of working with some of the most amazing men and women of God in the world.

The teaching staff of CCBCE has shared God’s Word with students who come from all across the States. We’ve had students from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Japan and China; students from Brazil, Russia, Cuba, a great many European countries, and even from Canada, to name a few places. While living in Europe from 2004 to 2013, I was able to share God’s Word in 12 different countries. Needless to say, I’m spoiled.

Fast forward to today. I’m sitting at my desk in Rogers, Arkansas, where I pastor a fantastic little church. I’ve just returned from another trip to CCBCE, and I was—not surprisingly—thoroughly blessed by my time with the students and staff at the college’s current location in Budapest, Hungary. I’ve had the pleasure of being either a student, teacher, pastor or guest lecturer for more than 20 different semesters of Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe. I’ve been given a unique perspective to see so much of God’s work through CCBCE from the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

Over the years, literally hundreds of CCBCE’s students have taken their own missionary adventures to serve our great Savior across the planet.

Others have returned to their native countries—that much more prepared and equipped to do the work of the ministry—where they’re now teaching others about the love of God. It’s amazing to see how our college has impacted and is impacting so many lives and eternities in so many different places. Former “CCBCEer’s” have spent time ministering on every continent (except—to my knowledge—Antarctica). CCBCE’s reach includes the fact that we have former students dealing with Russian immigration and the polar vortex as they declare Jesus in—no kidding—Siberia.

It was Dr. Robert Moffat, who, in the early 1800s shared with Dr. David Livingstone what he often saw in Africa: “the smoke of a thousand villages,” where no message of the gospel, no missionary or no mention of Jesus had ever reached. What’s staggering is that there are seemingly thousands of cities across the continent of Europe where the same can be said still today.

There is much need, and CCBCE has continued to be a constant bridge for the gospel over the years.

Every semester of CCBCE’s history has included a variety of outreaches where students serve at various Calvary Chapels, meet some wonderful saints and share the good news of Jesus with the world. These students are given what I was given all those years ago: an opportunity to see God at work in ways that they’d never be able to see without first taking a step of faith, getting on an airplane and frantically flipping through a foreign language phrase book. I hope these students have stories of their own, and that they become just like me: super spoiled as they are given opportunities to be part of God’s great work through His people across the planet.

Legendary actress Sophia Loren was quoted as saying, “Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.” I’m not going to say that I owe everything to my time with CCBCE; that would be silly. I will say that God used all those semesters in so many ways to help shape me into who I am today. For that, I’m spoiled, and because of that, I’m grateful.