At the end of December, the year is finally drawing near to an end. 2008 was a year that can be seen as a year in which we witnessed that our movement is growing and that the ties between the parties, politicians and organisations are growing stronger and stronger.

We had three major conferences in 2008: one in April in Helsinki (Finland), the annual member congress in June in Brussels (Belgium), and the southeast conference in Bucharest (Romania) in September. Besides these conferences, there were several activities where the ECPM was involved, taking place in many different parts of Europe. All together, the ECPM has organized 16 conferences in 2008!

Important changes were made as well. In the coming year, the ECPM will start to use the new logo. This was discussed during the annual member congress and was officially presented at the southeast conference in Bucharest. Another important change made during the past year has to do with the board structure. This resulted in the creation of a general board and an executive board.

2009 will present a challenge for the ECPM, especially for the executive board and the staff. Due to the quick growth this year, the ECPM staff had not been able to send a newsletter every month and the website also needs some improvements. However, we are confident that we can make important steps to improve this in the next year.

The European elections in June 2009 will be an important event for many ECPM parties, we want to wish all of them a good campaign and a good election result.

However, the most important is that God will bless us in our duties as a politician, party or organisation during the coming year. 2008 was truly a blessed year for the ECPM and we are grateful for that. I am confident that, when we keep our hearts and minds open for the Word of God and for each other, we will experience the same blessings and encouragement in the next year.

In a few days it will be Christmas and we will celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Each year, it is a wonderful feeling to end the year with this message of hope and promise.

I am very happy to wish you, on behalf of the ECPM board and staff, a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year in which I hope to see you on an ECPM conference!

Peeter Vosu,
Chairman European Christian Political Movement