Displaying items by tag: Netherlands

Thousands of Dutch minks became infected with coronavirus and were culled. Researchers are now urging other countries such as Denmark and Spain to test their animals, after infected minks passed the virus on to several mink farmers. The Dutch government says the culling is to prevent farms from becoming long-term reservoirs of Coronavirus. The animals were first infected by their handlers in April. In May, the government identified two cases in which humans had been infected by sick animals - the only animal-to-human transmissions known since the global outbreak began in China. The Humane Society is calling for the 24 countries still allowing mink farming to evaluate evidence from the Netherlands.

Millions are fleeing tyranny of war, famine, and heartache in the largest movement of people in modern history since WWII. For most, Europe offers the only hope of safety, and many risk the very real threat of death on their journeys. Often these people are seen as a problem, and while our enemy can use people to kill, steal, and destroy, God sees each one as a unique and loved creation. Christian mission agencies working in refugee camps and across Europe want to introduce each refugee to the God who loves them. Meanwhile many European countries are rejecting them, the latest being the Dutch government who refused to accept 47 refugees currently on a ship run by a humanitarian group who rescued them off the Libyan coast over a week ago. Since then it has been sailing through high winds and seven metre-high waves.

Evangelical Christians are living in a period of historic transition as Western culture becomes post-Christian and attempts a revision of faith values. By and large the spirit of our age no longer discerns or delights in the beauty of God’s design for human life. Many deny that God created human beings for His glory, and in our personal and physical design as male and female. After a group of 250 Dutch pastors signed the Nashville Statement (which promotes a biblical view of sexuality), they were met by strong opposition - even the Hague flew a rainbow flag in protest. The country’s public prosecution service is examining the statement to see if there is any basis for a criminal investigation against the pastors. Over recent days, the public outcry against them for their Christian convictions has been ferocious. Politicians and celebrities have publicly denounced them. See also

Preachers at the Bethel Church in the Hague have been holding a round-the-clock service for over a month to stop a family of Armenian asylum seekers being deported. The family has lived in the Netherlands for nine years, integrated into the community, and made friends. But a court ruled on 25 October that they must return to Armenia. A centuries-old tradition states that authorities cannot enter a church while a service is taking place, so a service has continued since 26 October. The Tamrazyan family - mother, father, two daughters and a son - are staying inside the church, and therefore avoiding immigration authorities. The family’s asylum issue is still unresolved. The Dutch ‘children's pardon’ grants asylum to children who have lived there for over five years while their asylum application is processed. This action also calls attention to the fate of 400 children in similar circumstances.

Dutch military intelligence disrupted a Russian cyber-attack on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The attack, which was thwarted with the help of British officials, came after Russia had also attempted remote attacks on on the UK Foreign Office in March and the Porton Down chemical weapons facility in April. Both attacks were unsuccessful. The Dutch defence minister said that four Russian intelligence officials from the GRU’s cybercrime unit, known as Sandworm, had been expelled from the Netherlands after being caught spying on the chemical weapons body in April. Jeremy Hunt said that a number of hackers widely known to have been conducting attacks around the world were covers for Russia’s GRU intelligence service, and their attacks had been undertaken with the consent and knowledge of the Kremlin. A Russian spokeswoman dismissed the hacking accusations as ‘big fantasies’.

Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) is set to win the largest number of seats in the Dutch election. The current global wave of anti-establishment sentiment, and the migrant crisis has boosted support for PVV. The election is less than a month away, and Wilders is recorded as saying, ‘All Christians should vote for my party because we are against Muslims and for Israel.’ But many believe that his populist policies generate fear and hate. A study in 2016, Saving the People, says that populists hijack religion for their cause. They see two groups of ‘enemies of the people’- the ‘elites’ and the dangerous ‘others’ who threaten the wellbeing of the people. Pray for voters to be discerning, see the bigger picture, ask what the fruit of populist policies will be, and to view everything through the lens of the radical politics of God’s kingdom. See also