The Campus Evangelical Fellowship-Overseas Campus Magazine (CEF-OCM) has geared up to launch the first OCM Europe Edition in June, reaching out to the increasing Chinese students in Europe.

OCM Europe Edition is one of the ground-breaking agenda in 2006, marking a new milestone for the development of OCM worldwide. According to CEF-OCM’s February newsletter, the number of Chinese students going to Europe for further studies each year has now exceeded that of the United States, therefore OCM Europe Edition will exist to provide an alternative way to guide these students to Christ on top of campus outreach.

Since the decision for the publication of OCM Europe Edition was made in November 2004, the director and chief-editor of OCM Rev. Edwin Su have spearheaded in strategic planning, communication and legal registration in Europe, the newsletter reported.

After the one-year long effort, the base for OCM in Europe has been established in 2005 by completing the registration of the "Overseas Campus Magazine" Europe edition as a non-profit organization in Germany.

Since November 2005, Rev. Su, the regional director of ministry for Europe and the chief publication director of OCM have visited England, Germany and France in person and introduce the vision of OCM in Europe to local pastors. Eventually, the concrete direction and steps to publish the Europe Edition have been confirmed.

The OCM Europe Edition will be printed and published from Bamberg, south of Germany, according to the newsletter. Moreover, it has been decided that the Europe Edition is to be distributed for free to Chinese churches and bible study groups across Europe by post.

In order to bring the publication of the Europe edition of OCM to stability, training and mission in Europe must be strengthened to provide human resources and technical skills.

In 2005, the Overseas Campus Training Center in Berlin have been actively training local ministry workers and students through running continuous "mid-term mission trips" and working collaboratively with local churches, the Annual Report 2005 published in November says. As a result, the pioneering stage has declared a success, some students have been equipped with basic gospel knowledge and spiritual life building through direct training and teaching. This year, the training center in Berlin will shift its focus to guide some potential students to the position of leadership for OCM Europe Edition.

On Feb. 1-9, Rev. Su will travel to England to share with local ministers about his experience and necessary techniques when training new leaders.

CEF was first founded in Taiwan in 1957. During the 1960’s, many Chinese Bible Study groups were formed in the United States and later became churches, with leaders trained by CEF in Taiwan. In 1992, CEF in the U.S., with a burden to spread the gospel amongst overseas Chinese students and scholars, began publication of the OCM in Los Angeles, California.

CEF-OCM follows the heritage of the early student evangelical movement which originated in the U.K. and the U.S., such as the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as well as the 1940’s Chinese Christian student movement. It aims to evangelize Chinese intellectuals through the use of literature, media, and discipleship/leadership training. Through the overseas Chinese students, the gospel can be brought back to Mainland China.

In 2006, based on the main focuses of CEF-OCM on "spiritual growth, daily living and ministry participation" as well as the interaction between those three, CEF-OCM pledges to help Chinese Christians building up the God-centered values and worldview through its publication.