Ukraine: Bakhmut defenders losing support
Ukraine’s call for more weapons and ammunition to bolster the defence of Bakhmut has grown louder. A year ago they fired all forty barrels of their rocket launcher in one go. Now they can only afford to fire a few at a time at Russian targets. They haven't got enough ammunition for their weapons but are still called on to provide fire support to Ukrainian forces desperately clinging on to the edges of the town, which Russia has spent months trying to capture. Russians are getting closer to their goal, but at enormous cost. On 1 May a top Ukrainian general said that over 20,000 Russian fighters have been killed in Ukraine since December. Some of the Ukrainian Grad missile supplies are coming from the Czech Republic, Romania and Pakistan. Ukraine is frustrated that it can't provide more support to their fellow fighters being killed in Bakhmut.
Germany: transition - with divine guidance
Germany’s last three nuclear power plants were closed on 15 April. Its car industry has been the market leader for decades. Now production of diesel and petrol engines will end, and gas and oil heating systems will not be installed in homes. Current prosperity, welfare, and economy are being run down and replaced with higher-grade technologies for which technical and personnel replacements are not readily available. Increasing chaos on the railways illustrates the incompatibility of political demands with the current state of infrastructure and the available staffing levels. The political agenda also fuels disruptive actions by climate activists and strikes in the public sector and in state-owned companies. Germany has been entrusted with much historically: the gospel of Jesus Christ, a country of poets and philosophers, a nation with economic stability. Pray for God’s purposes for Germany, not based on history's materialism but on #its God-given identity as a nation.
Serbia: 13-year-old kills nine
There is an awful silence hanging over the steep hill on which Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school sits. On 3 May, a 13-year-old entered the school, armed with two guns, and shot dead eight fellow students and a security guard. Six other children remain in hospital. The school is at the heart of this central Belgrade community, where streams of mourners are arriving, bearing flowers and soft toys. 24 hours after the worst school shooting in Serbian history, pupils from the next-door college stand along the street to stand in silence and remember those killed. ‘I am crushed’, says final-year school student Alex Oborina, 19, beside some of the handwritten notes left on the pavement. ‘We have failed as a society because this is something that should not happen to a 13-year-old. He should not be grabbing a gun and going into his school and shooting his friends.’ Alex seems to echo the sentiment everyone here feels. ‘This is probably the worst thing that has ever happened in my life. We need to use this as a stepping stone to rebuild.’
Global: violence against Christian women and girls
Violence against Christian women and girls continues to rise everywhere. Christian women are abducted and used as sex slaves. The 'honour' culture is used to shame and stigmatise victims of sexual or physical abuse, so victims are silent. Men attack with impunity because victims keep quiet for fear of dishonour to their family or community, so wrongdoing often goes punished. This, in turn, makes women and girls increasingly vulnerable to psychological violence. Rape victims are often viewed as sexually impure, making them vulnerable to rejection and limiting their future prospects. In many cultures, women do not hold the same value as men. This undergirds much of the persecution faced by our sisters. And in many cases, being a Christian means they are regarded as having even less worth. Open Doors’ vision is that every woman who is persecuted for her faith and gender is seen, valued, and empowered to reach her God-given potential.
