Jacob Boss, his wife, Elisabeth, and their three children live in London, England. They have the privilege of leading the work for the International Mission Board among the European Peoples. Jacob connects missionaries and leaders across Europe to ensure the gospel is getting to this least-reached people group. Many may not realize this, but statistics show that fewer than 1 percent of Europeans are evangelical Christians.
“The scale of lostness is staggering,” Jacob said. “There are way too many people in Europe who have not heard the Gospel. They might know of a church building or have heard the name Jesus, but they have never heard the full, true Gospel.”
Additionally, apathy among the people is a big obstacle in building God’s kingdom in Europe.
“Europeans don’t see a need for Jesus and therefore are spiritually unengaged,” Jacob said. “The younger generation is searching for spiritual things, but they are looking in places outside of Jesus and the Gospel.”
But the harder the ground the greater the rewards when seeing God pierce a person’s heart.
Jacob said, “I love seeing people who hear the hope of the Gospel for the first time, trust in Jesus and then become His ambassadors among their family and friends. Their fresh faith and love for Jesus is inspiring to my heart!”
And God is at work answering prayers in unexpected ways.
“More than 20 million Ukrainians have heard the Gospel through various social media videos and have had an opportunity to chat through Facebook Messenger with a believer,” Jacob said. “My wife, Elisabeth, has ministered to several Ukrainian ladies who have been able to hear the Gospel and about the love of Jesus.”
As the Boss family works the hard soil in Europe, they need the prayers of Oklahoma Baptists. They ask to pray God would send more laborers into the harvest fields of Europe (Luke 10:2) and that the Word of the Lord will spread rapidly in Europe and be honored (2 Thess. 3:1). Pray also that missionary kids would be spiritually strong, emotionally stable and physically healthy as they serve with their families.
Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together.
Jacob and Elisabeth Boss are featured in the 2023 Missionary Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information about the Cooperative Program, visit oklahomabaptists.org/cp.
