Denmark: New Age doors opening to Jesus
A Danish pastor tended to confront head-on the growing number of New Age adherents and seekers in his country, without much success. Despite his obvious heart for the lost he was met by suspicion, mistrust, and closed doors. Then he changed his approach. ‘What I’ve learned is the need to move from a more defensive or even hostile attitude towards New Agers and new spiritual seekers, to dialogue and most of all, presence in their setting.’ He meets them on their terms and on their turf and has learned to speak their language as he presents the truth of the gospel, with uncommon compassion. This month his ministry ‘In the Master’s Light’ celebrates twenty years of outreach and bridge building. Pastor Madsen and his co-workers are regulars at New Age fairs, engaging and praying for seekers. They also offer accessible YouTube videos and other social media touchpoints.
Czech Republic: Calls for army deployment to deal with Roma migrants
The chamber of commerce of Usti nad Labem, a town of 93,000 in northern Bohemia, has called for the army to be deployed on the town’s streets to help it deal with problems caused by Roma migrants. Using stark language, the chamber’s external communications coordinator and the letter’s author, warned of a ‘demographic catastrophe’ as more Roma move into the town, often from neighbouring Slovakia. The letter claimed this drove down house prices and displaced the well-mannered and less aggressive non-Roma. ‘As soon as possible the army should be deployed for internal security duties such as assisting the police service. The army can do this immediately and it would also result in the city saving a lot of money.’ He added the town could borrow David Cameron’s ideas on limiting migration by reforming benefits to migrants.
Cyprus: President expects progress in long-running peace talks
‘Negotiations to settle Cyprus's division are starting to show some progress , Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said in an upbeat assessment on ending one of Europe's most enduring conflicts. Mr Anastasiades, who represents the Greek Cypriot community in reunification talks with Turkish Cypriots, said some ‘convergences’ had started to appear in negotiations on specific topics under discussion. Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island's north after a brief Greek-inspired coup, though the seeds of partition were sown soon after independence from Britain in 1960. ‘A degree of progress is being achieved. If we continue at this rate I believe that soon we can start to speak of significant progress,’ he said.
Croatia: Refugee’s challenges
Sandra, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee has lived in Croatia for nearly two years. She has done her best to integrate into her host country - learning Croatian and attending university in Zagreb. Still she feels like an outsider. ‘From my experience, Croatian people will always treat me as a foreigner and you will always be 'the other’. It is not easy for me to deal with it every day. Some days I am OK with it, but most of the time I am sick of it.’ Social isolation she is experiencing, coupled with lack of job opportunities, have made Croatia an unpopular destination for people in need of protection. In 2014 the EU registered a rise in asylum seekers but Croatia saw a decrease of 58%. Many who escape Middle East and Africa don’t choose Croatia because integration into a homogeneous society that has very few migrant communities is very challenging. To read the rest of this article as it goes on to describe how NGOs are helping refugees in a new culture click on the ‘more’ link.
