Only 25,000-30,000 of Austria's 8 million people, or .3 percent, are evangelical Christians. In the last few decades, however, it has seen more growth than it has had in the last few hundred years. (GEM photo)
Austria (MNN) ― When Lisa Meyers first came to Austria with Greater Europe Mission as a church-planter in 1992, she struggled to help women work through the pain and bitterness in their lives.
"They are angry, they're bitter, or they are often depressed, and they just can't seem to get out of it," she said. "There's a principle that hurt people hurt people, and that's what I just saw in Austria a lot."
About five years ago, Meyers discovered Open Hearts Ministries, an organization committed to helping the abused. Its materials had already been translated into German. The ministry in Austria is called "Befreit Leben," or "Hope for the Wounded." Now the ministry is changing the lives of many women not only in Austria, but also in Germany and Switzerland.
One Christian woman struggled so much with the bitterness that she went through the "Befreit Leben" course for a second time.
"This woman was talking about how often she's been rejected, how often she's been hurt, and we just asked her very gently, maybe she could ask the Lord to show her where she hurts others," Meyers said.
Although this suggestion shocked the woman, she followed it. The very next day, God answered her prayer in an exchange with her supervisor at work.
"She responded with a snippish remark, and the supervisor had tears in her eyes. She didn't say anything, she was just hurt by this comment. And the Holy Spirit really touched this woman and he said, 'You are also hurting people.' And she was so broken by this truth."
The woman asked for forgiveness from her supervisor, and the relationship between them improved.
"I think that is where I'm seeing real spiritual growth--" Meyers said. "when people are realizing that we are hurt but are also hurting others. We are in need of forgiveness, and we also need to forgive."
Many women who go through the courses become interested in leading the courses.
"Austrian women are very shy, and they do not take on leadership responsibility very easily because they're shy, not because they're passive," Meyers said. "[But we are] seeing wounded women wanting to lead these groups, basically because of the principle that we are comforted, and so we can comfort others."
Meyers believes it is critical to raise up women as leaders in the church.
"I believe that Jesus set such a great example of how He treated women in the New Testament," she said. "I think that a lot of our view of women, because of sin, has been so tainted and twisted. So if we have godly women that rise up, teaching about following Christ in their marriages, following Christ in their singleness, following Christ in their churches -- if we have women who are passionately devoted to the things of Christ and not the things of themselves, then we will have a transformed church."
