July 2, 2001
The bodies were black, brown and yellow, with a sprinkling of palefaces, jammed into the conference room at De Poort in Amsterdam last week. On the big screen more black-brown-yellow faces sang, clapped, danced, prayed and communicated from the distance of thousands of miles via a GENESIS link-up with Kona, South Africa, Lausanne, Sweden … […]
June 25, 2001
Help! not just anybody. Help! you know I need some-one. He-ee-elp! Nostalgic strains of classic Beatle songs waft through the house these days as a younger generation discovers the Lennon-McCartney genius. Particularly poignant is this 1965 hit – “when I was younger, so much younger than toda-a-a-y….” – which conjures up from my subconsciousness a […]
June 18, 2001
Nothing special draws attention to the narrow cobblestone Latin Bridge spanning the Miljacka River flowing through Sarajevo. Local Bosnian pedestrians bustle routinely across its four arches to and from the town centre. Trams rattle along the riverside, stopping at the bridge to exchange passengers. Other wider bridges up- and down-stream seem to be much more […]
June 11, 2001
The future of the Church in Europe belongs not to the caretakers (those simply maintaining the status quo), and certainly not to the undertakers (those engaged in ceremonial burials of the dead). No, the future will belong to the risktakers: those daring to challenge the established disorder of things, those willing to make bold efforts […]
June 4, 2001
Despite the collapse of communism, investment in disaster-prone Russia is still a risky venture for most businesses. But after visiting Europe’s eastern-most city, I’ve been reminded of the urgency – in our line of business – to invest in this great land. Perm is a mega-city twice the population of Amsterdam, built on the banks […]
May 21, 2001
Did you hear the one about…? Probably not, because I’m making this up as I go along. You see, there was this imam – a kind of Moslem pastor – who last week dared to say on Dutch TV that homosexuality was a sickness. Poor man. Obviously nobody had told him about political correctness. Suddenly […]
May 7, 2001
… fell mainly on the Costa del Sol this last week, so it seemed. Romkje and I were being hosted by Garry and Anke Tissingh, our North Africa directors, in our annual meeting for the Europe, Middle East and North Africa field leadership, along with Lynn and Marty Green, and Mounir and Ruth Boctor. So […]
April 23, 2001
Today’s BBC World report that unidentified gunmen were holding guests hostage in a hotel in Istanbul arrested my attention as I brushed my teeth this morning. Mention of a number of hostages being held in a 5th floor conference room glued me to the TV. For, just a few days ago, I had joined an […]
April 16, 2001
A spirit of death hangs over our neighbourhood in Holland this easter. Flags fly at half mast from houses and farm buildings. Gloom, fear and anger dominate many domestic conversations. Rumours circulate of farmers going bankrupt. Shoppers horde milk and supplies. Red and white plastic tapes cordon off farms from visitors. Many children are unable […]
April 9, 2001
The Euro is coming. Soon the Euro will be money in our pockets. Like it or not, we will probably pay our fees for the next European Leaders Consultation (the last week of January 2002) in Euros. So what? How should we be interpreting these “ever-encroaching signals” of “ever-increasing union”? About ten years ago, there […]
April 2, 2001
Remember a couple of weeks ago when I lost my shirt over reports of Europe being ‘still the most Christian continent’? I concluded facetiously that David Barrett and Todd Johnson, editors of the World Christian Encyclopedia, must have been counting anyone who had ever seen a church building or could draw a cross when they […]
March 26, 2001
Last week I was back in the Black Forest, in southern Germany, where nearly twelve years ago I first met with a small group of leaders from other organisations. Stuart McAllister, then with Operation Mobilisation, had gathered us together to explore ways we could partner more in our efforts towards the evangelisation of Europe. I […]
