Belgium: Christian outreach
There are a variety of mission agencies working in Belgium who need our prayers. OMF has nine Chinese churches and the AoG has one couple working among the Chinese. BEM has a Japanese couple working within the Japanese community and have planted a Japanese church. A number of other Asian communities (Korean, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Iranian, Filipino) have at least one church each. The Eastern European population is rapidly growing – Poles, Russians, Bulgarians, Kosovars, Romanians and others. Only the Romanians have a significant number of evangelical congregations; the Polish and Kosovars have none. There is little or no outreach to these peoples. There is a student population of over 250,000 in 17 universities and numerous colleges. Outreach to the student community is a major challenge. IFES has a ministry in seven Flemish universities (Ichthus with 150 students involved) and in several French universities. The small work grows very slowly. (Source: Operation World 2015)
Belarus: Persecution of Christians
Open Doors reports Belarus as the last surviving dictatorship in Europe. The government allows almost no political opposition. The Orthodox Church is the only officially recognised denomination with unregistered religious activity resulting in imprisonment or heavy fines. Unregistered churches are monitored by the secret police and violent raids occur frequently. Please pray for the pastors whose churches are being monitored to have courage and perseverance and for a change in the government's attitude to Christianity. The law prohibits religious organisations from providing religious education for children and from carrying out religious activity beyond the vicinity where the organisation is registered. Church registration is a tedious, expensive, if not impossible process. Many churches have to wait several years to register.
Austria: Discrimination against Christians
In a new report, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination expressed ‘serious concerns’ regarding the human rights situation in Austria for Christians. They found a ‘very high’ incidence of vandalism and burglary at Christian sites and denounced widespread anti-Christian discrimination and abuses against freedom of expression, assembly and conscientious objection. Dr. Gudrun Kugler, the director of the Observatory, told Breitbart News that in recent years there has been a shift both in public policy and the reigning popular mentality that has made life for Christians increasingly difficult. ‘Ever more restrictive laws are squeezing religious freedom, while society itself is growing more and more intolerant of biblical Christianity,’ she said. The many instances of desecration include destroying crucifixes, candle holders, paintings and statues; plus arson and burglary and graffiti such as ‘death to priests’ scrawled on walls. The Observatory criticised the use of Austria’s stalking laws to prevent prayer in front of abortion clinics, a move upheld by the state court of Graz, Styria.
Andorra: Dependency on tourism
Long isolated and impoverished, mountainous Andorra has achieved considerable prosperity since World War II through its tourist industry. Many immigrants (legal and illegal) are attracted to the thriving economy with its lack of income taxes. A conference this week (29 June ) in Andorra organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organization said that as political turmoil continues to spread across North Africa and other parts of the Arab world, countries in Southern Europe are drawing more visitors and witnessing a rebound in tourism. A delegate stated, ‘The events in North Africa will accelerate a recovery that was already underway thanks to price cuts.’ However they were not to consider this period of improvement as evidence of what the future will look like because when countries become more democratic, they tend to get more tourist-friendly and next year could in fact see a reversal, when Egypt and others bounce back with aggressive approaches on pricing, and Andorra and other countries could then lose out. See also http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/andorra.htm
