I feel quite a lot under pressure these weeks and struggle to find focus and motivation for the season ahead. Partly it's the unclarity of the transition we're in, which silently sucks away creative energy. Partly it's being structurally tied (and likely overburdened) into project coordination and admin tasks which don't make me tick. Partly it's my personal working style that is not the best expression of a healthy balance of family, work, friendship and relaxation. Partly it's personal discouragement of unmet expectations - or is it midlife crisis already, having reached the magical age of 40?
Continue reading "Orange under pressure" »
This weekend we enjoyed the sunny Autumn weather on the premises of Gooilust estate and the Spanderswoud, east of 's-Graveland and west of Hilversum.
Continue reading "The peacefulness of Gooilust" »
In this week's edition of Joel News International I focused on the question: how many people in Europe follow Jesus? Three different studies, using different definitions of 'committed Christian' and varying methodologies, came up with multiple indications: 1.1% (GEM), 3.5% (OW) and 4.2% (emRG). My colleague Andreas Wolf from Germany says he has most confidence in the higher percentage, and suggests that in God's Book of Life it might well be 10%. Wolfgang Simson disagrees with him and stresses that the issue is not about what people profess, but whether they really live surrendered lives and take their orders from Christ the King. He estimates the number of 'real Jesus followers' at just 0.1%. What is certainly clear though is that Europe is probably one of the most needy places in the world today.
Continue reading "Researching Europe" »
Dutch satirical website Goedgelovig.nl played a little parody on Joel News. In our Dutch edition we published a story of a lady who prayed for her dog who was incurably ill, and the dog got healed. Goedgelovig.nl picked it up and asked when the stories would start pouring in of the miraculous healing of rabbits, parrots and other domestic animals. And would Dutch healing evangelist Jan Zijlstra soon start a prayer campaign for animals? Quite funny. Interestingly, praying for sick animals seems to be a quite normal practice for many Christians. We have testimonies pouring in daily.
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Today Mattheus van der Steen of Touch, Reach and Impact the Nations (TRIN) paid me a visit. Mattheus is an exponent of what you could call 'a new breed of faith and charity evangelists' that is emerging from the Netherlands. TRIN started nearly two years ago and quickly developed into an international hub, based in Harderwijk, where young people can realize their God-given dreams related to reaching the world for Christ and bringing hope to the poor and oppressed.
Continue reading "A new breed of evangelists" »