September 22, 2010
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 […]
June 29, 2010
So there I was, nearly an hour after midnight, standing with my luggage waiting to be picked up outside the station in Biel, Switzerland. A few souls came and went but nobody seemed interested in rescuing me. In the sidewalk cafes nearby, the atmosphere was subdued, Switzerland having just been knocked out of the World […]
June 21, 2010
More stories surfaced this past week about Muslims coming to faith in Jesus through dreams and visions. I am writing this Weekly Word on the plane flying back from Greece after speaking at a national missions conference. There I met several workers excited about the strategic location of Greece as a doorway for Muslim refugees […]
June 14, 2010
Years ago I shared a couchette with some italians on a train headed north through Europe to Holland. When I asked where they were from, they all said ‘Bari’ in unision, tapping on their heels. My look of incomprehension caused them to dissolve into laughter. Then I realised what they meant. If the map of […]
June 7, 2010
In a recent newsletter, OM founder George Verwer wrote that quite a few Americans he encounters ‘think that the United Kingdom is about to be taken over by Islam or Muslims.’ However, he continues, ‘having lived in Britain for 46 years and loving the people of this nations including all of the immigrants, I want […]
May 31, 2010
Barely a week goes by these days without someone somewhere in the world sending me an email about Geert Wilders, the controversial Dutch politician with the blonded hair. Often the subject line says something like: ‘This will give you the cold chills!!’ ‘This speech clearly shows our situation in the world… well worth reading!’ ‘Read […]
