October 1, 2022
Brother Andrew – known in his home country by his real name, Anne van de Bijl – was always an outlier, going against the stream. When Russian tanks headed west towards Hungary in 1956, he headed east towards Russia with a car full of Bibles. When communist regimes collapsed and everyone was focused on Central […]
September 24, 2022
Encrusted as it was under layers of tradition, pomp and ceremony, Queen Elizabeth’s personal faith was clearly the well-spring of her devotion and service. This Christian faith, evolving through various expressions over time, has been a fundamental feature of life in the British Isles for most of the past two millennia. So who brought the […]
September 17, 2022
As the equinox approaches, the days are getting shorter, darker and cooler here in the northern hemisphere. Summer vacations are over. The new academic and political years have begun. What then is on the calendar for the Schuman Centre? • The Marriage Course: This week Romkje and I hosted the first of seven evening sessions […]
September 10, 2022
Perhaps you expected ‘Thank you Liz’ this week, following on from last week’s ‘Thank you Gorbi’. But there’s no shortage of media tributes to Britain’s truly exceptional monarch. So here’s another story which spanned over half her long reign. Last week closed a forty-year chapter which began with a meeting with squatters occupying an old […]
September 3, 2022
We must pause to jog our memories about the legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev with his passing this week and his burial ceremony in Moscow today. For his was an essential role in the events that led to the fall of communism and the Soviet Union a generation ago – and consequently the reunification of Germany, […]
August 27, 2022
“(Russia) is in great measure composed of spoils which she has torn from surrounding nations. Her frontier provinces are filled with injured, discontented hostile populations … many of whom wait, with patience and desire, the blessed day of emancipation and revenge.” – The Economist This quote from the venerable British journal is dated 1854 – […]
August 20, 2022
Ever since Noah’s ark, ships and boats have always featured in God’s mission to rescue humanity. Ships carried Paul to Europe on his missionary trips, firstly to Greece, later to Malta and Rome. The completion of the Great Commission requires reaching all tribes and every people group, from the remotest reaches of the Amazon to […]
August 13, 2022
Half a century of reminiscences were stirred by a recent visit to our Amsterdam apartment from Captain Brian Sloan and his wife Anne. Brian runs the YWAM Maritime Academy, training crew for the twenty eight vessels of the YWAM Ships fleet operating all around the world. For me, that’s a story stretching back to […]
August 6, 2022
Today the Pride Parade will snake its way through Amsterdam’s canals climaxing a week of LGBTQ+ activities celebrating sexual diversity. ‘My gender, my pride’ and ‘Free to be myself’ are among the slogans displayed around the inner city. Government agencies and prominent businesses add the rainbow logo to products and decorations, projecting a sense of […]
July 30, 2022
Who is our Jesus? Here’s Mother Theresa’s answer in her own handwriting. I came across this last week in the Memorial House built to commemorate her in the heart of Skopje, Macedonia, with her letters, meditations (some written on old envelopes) and awards (including the Nobel Peace Prize) on display. The house was built where […]
July 23, 2022
After years of waiting, Albania and North Macedonia were given the green light this week to start accession talks concerning full EU membership. Television news showed officials in Brussels toasting the ‘breakthrough’. So why are the Macedonians not excited? This news was only days old as Romkje and I landed at Alexander the Great airport […]
July 16, 2022
Life in an ‘open-air museum’ like the city of Amsterdam is full of unexpected discoveries. This week I learnt about a Dutch Reformed preacher and theologian who died exactly 400 years ago after facilitating the remarkable era of world exploration and trade which launched the fledgling Dutch Republic into its so-called ‘Golden Age’. He […]
