February 18, 2023
One of the most dramatic months of my life ended last Sunday evening when our plane took off from Auckland Airport, just hours before it was shut down by the worst cyclone in New Zealand’s history. As reported in past weeks, the month began with my wife breaking her arm two days before departure to […]
February 11, 2023
Several ‘round-figure’ occasions of special commemoration are engaging my wife and me now and in the coming weeks – for our movement (50 years), our church (400 years) and our family (100 years). In May we celebrate the birth of Youth With A Mission in the Netherlands 50 years ago, primarily Romkje’s initiative as a […]
February 4, 2023
Described by local papers as ‘biblical’, the torrential rain pelted against the corrugated iron roof as we sat down to dinner, having barricaded the doors with towels to prevent water seeping through under the doors. The dinner remained largely uneaten. Suddenly we realised the waters were creeping right inside across the floor. Water bubbled up […]
January 28, 2023
Over twenty years ago, I wrote one of the earliest weekly words from Europe’s eastern-most city in the heart of Russia, Perm. Russia today of course is in most people’s bad books. Yet the long-term transformation of that nation must remain a priority for God’s people. Perm is a mega-city, more populous than Amsterdam, built […]
January 21, 2023
This perfect rainbow photographed over Kyiv just a few days ago was welcomed as a sign of hope by many Ukrainians after suffering several recent tragedies. Ira Kapitanova, who has been sending regular reports from Kyiv since the war began, noted that January rainbows were unique phenomena and cited Genesis 9:17: This is the sign […]
January 14, 2023
We easily take our bodies for granted while they perform well. But when your wife breaks her arm, or you need a stent inserted, or you test COVID positive and need to isolate, or your close friends and colleagues battle with terminal illnesses, or you observe your mother’s frail 100-year old body fading – all […]
January 7, 2023
In 600 years, no pope had ever done what Benedict XVI did almost ten years ago. He resigned. The day after his abdication, I happened to be passing through Cologne among the crowds of visitors to the cathedral, once the world’s tallest structure. The retired pope was waving from a huge photo hanging on a […]
December 31, 2022
This nativity scene by Ukrainian-born painter Irenaeus Yurchuk, now based in New York, expresses the reason millions of his compatriots face the New Year with hope – despite everything a desperate dictator tries to break their morale. Ira Kapitonova, a YWAM colleague based in Kyiv who has been faithfully sending frontline updates almost daily for […]
December 24, 2022
This painting of the Adoration of the Magi, thought to be a Rembrandt copy, fell off the wall of a private home in Rome six years ago. While repairing the damaged frame, an art restorer realised the painting was an authentic Rembrandt. Most likely it was painted around 1632 in Rembrandt’s studio a short walk […]
December 17, 2022
This Advent season, the words of Mary’s Magnificat take on special significance against the background of Putin’s war in Ukraine: He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty (Luke 1: 52-3). As do the […]
December 10, 2022
How could you set up stadium events in the heart of the Muslim world, one border away from Mecca, where the leading actors get to witness to Jesus, watched by over half the world’s population? Answer: stage the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Despite all the controversies surrounding this location, coverage of this year’s World […]
December 3, 2022
‘Holodomor’ is a term that only invaded my consciousness following the Russian military assault on Ukraine early this year. Last Saturday, the word was foremost in the minds of all Ukrainians who on the fourth Saturday each November commemorate the victims of the 1932–33 artificial famine that starved millions to death in Ukraine under Soviet […]
