September 22, 2010
20 sept 2010 Last week we wrote about how we needed our memories jogged about the roots of western society. Last Friday, it seems the President of the European Council, Dr Herman van Rompuy, set out to jog the memories of Holland’s political establishment at a breakfast in De Wittenburg Castle. The European continent, he […]
13 sept 2010 Now and then we need our memories jogged as to how our western society was formed. Where did our norms and values actually come from? Why we do things the way we do? Why do we have seven days in the week? Why do we keep one day as a day of […]
6 september 2010 We live in a changing world, for better or worse. Muslim neighbours are here to stay in most of our European countries, whatever colour of governments we or others vote in. The world is shrinking due to globalisation, and we simply need to learn how to live in the same space. That […]
30 aug 2010 Most of us would be surprised to learn that the Qur’an speaks of Jesus as ‘the Messiah’, as ‘the Word of God’ and as ‘a Word from God’. Yet ignorance among both Christians and Muslims creates cultural misunderstandings and isolation. Education and understanding from both sides is key to defusing fear and […]
Tom and Libby Little came to Heidebeek in the late 1970’s to attend one of our first Discipleship Training Schools. Since then they spent 32 years in war-torn Afghanistan working in medical programmes. They stayed through the Russian invasion and a civil war. Libby wrote this article shortly before hearing about the murder of her […]
16 aug 2010 Across Europe this month, Muslims are celebrating the annual feast of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting from dawn to dusk. Meanwhile, many of us are confused as to how to respond to what is commonly seen as an ‘un-European’ religious celebration. Ramadan this year coincides with the hot debate in America […]
9 aug 2010 This week Muslims all across Europe will be joining their fellow believers around the world in prayer and fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. An extra challenge for many of the faithful this year will be the long wait for sun-down before they can break their daily fast. For this year […]
4 aug 2010 The world’s top cyclists swept across Rotterdam’s Erasmus Bridge last month to start the Tour de France. Rotterdam is proud of both its impressive bridge and its namesake, the sixteenth century Christian humanist. The city’s hospital and university are also named after Erasmus, born Geert Geertsen in Rotterdam, October 27, 1466 (or […]
26 july 2010 Charlemagne, Karl der Große, Karolus Magnus (literally Charles the Great) stood head and shoulders literally and figuratively above all his contemporaries. Seven times his own foot length in height (some said he was seven-feet tall), he continues to tower over the history of Europe. His capital, the German city of Aachen, was […]
19 july 2010 Next time we come to the communion table to partake of both the wine and the bread, let’s spare a thought for Jan Hus. For he and his followers, the Hussites, paid the price for believers over the past six centuries to partake of both the bread and the wine. It’s […]
12 july 2010 Europe’s search for her soul reminds me of the story of the drunk crawling on the ground under a lamppost, looking for his keys. Asked by a passer-by where he had lost them, he pointed across the road. “Then why are you looking here?” came the obvious question. “Because it’s dark over […]
July 5, 2010
‘It was an interesting mix of people in the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam on a hot Sunday night. Colourfully dressed Africans and Brazilians, middle-aged white journalists, and a bunch of chirpy twenty-something-year-old intern girls, gathered around a large table with microphones.’ So began my son Antonie’s report on the hidden side of the event […]
