Spain: Drug traffickers unload boat on Spanish beach
Late afternoon beachgoers watched twelve drug traffickers beach their motorboat on the sand and casually unload their cargo. They were oblivious to the onlookers as they offloaded their illicit cargo and were filmed by a member of the public. The video, posted online, shows a large black dinghy arriving on a stretch of coast near Gibraltar and the men moving the cargo to shore. Police sources reportedly confirmed that the packages probably contained cannabis. The traffickers were not detained by the authorities during or after the incident. Spanish police said the scene reflected the growing impunity of criminal traffickers. A statement from the organisation guarding Spain’s borders and coastline said the situation around Gibraltar was ‘out of control’ due to a lack of staff and resources to tackle the traffickers and criminal organisations which have ever-greater resources, personnel, structure, support, sympathy and capital at their disposal to commit crimes. There’s a high level of unemployment on the Spanish side of the border as well as the problem of terrorism being funding through drug trafficking.
Slovenia: Evangelical witness needed
This small European nation controls some of the continent’s major transit routes due to its central location between Central and Eastern Europe. After World War II, Slovenia became part of Yugoslavia and it finally gained independence in 1991 after a 10-day war. The independence was almost bloodless and Slovenia now has a solid infrastructure. The Catholic Church is predominant in Slovenia, but high rates of secularism and spiritual apathy are growing within it. Despite having an evangelical witness since the Reformation, today’s evangelical presence is known for nominalism and a failure to serve and witness outside of the Church. Very few Christian books have been translated into Slovene, the nation’s official language. Pray that those in Slovenia would break free from their nominal ways towards Jesus.
Slovakia: Outgoing US Ambassador condemns anti-Immigration protest
He expressed deep concern at the recent violent anti-immigration protests in Bratislava on 20 June, a date also celebrated as World Refugee Day. These are complex issues and even in the United States there are multiple views of how best to address them. But we can all agree that at the core of the issue, we are discussing the lives of fellow human beings – women, children and men – in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, and we have a moral obligation to help. The debate about how best to assist them should remain a reasoned, peaceful exchange of ideas.
Serbia: An empty Christian tradition
Captured sixty times and destroyed thirty-eight times, Serbia’s beautiful capital city Belgrade exemplifies the war and civil unrest that the Balkan Peninsula has undergone over the past two millennia. Ethnicity and religion go hand-in-hand. Over half see their faith as cultural and as their ethnic identity, leading to rampant nominalism. The Serbian Orthodox Church has suppressed other churches, often in totalitarian fashion. Non-Serbian Orthodox churches are increasingly attacked, Muslim/Christian relations remain tense. Protestantism has had a history of influence on Hungarian and Slovak minorities, but its impact on Serbs is minimal. But despite deep divisions within the faith community and difficult cultural hurdles, a tiny but growing body of evangelical believers is attempting to overcome ethnic division and are worshipping together in unity.
