Displaying items by tag: Europe

Last week we celebrated the Finnish district court clearing an MP and her Pastor of all hate speech charges over their beliefs on sexuality, declaring that ‘it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts’. (See) Then on the 11th April the media reports that the prosecutors will reportedly appeal that verdict.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban won his fourth term in Hungary’s general election. In his victory speech, Orban said, ‘We never had so many opponents, Brussels bureaucrats, the international mainstream media, and the Ukrainian president.’ He has close ties with Moscow and has banned transferring arms to Ukraine. Victory for Orban means a headache for the EU. In 12 years of tenure, he has rewritten the constitution, filled the top courts with his appointees, and changed the electoral system to his advantage. During campaigning, the opposition's catchphrase was ‘Orban or Europe’ complaining he had isolated Hungary from the European mainstream, from consensual democracy, fairness and decency. Hungary is isolated in the EU and NATO - but neither institution will ostracise him. They want to show Russia Western unity so he will remain an unpredictable thorn in their side. Orban said Hungary would pay Russia in rubles for gas – other European countries have ruled it out.

God loves the nations, and we can pray for their healing and destiny. May Ukraine experience God’s comfort and help. May the sun of righteousness rise upon them with healing in its wings. May God’s peacemakers arise in Russia, people full of mercy. Pray for love to overcome evil and for all that is in the dark to come to light. Pray for corruption to be revealed. May Jewish people in both countries hear the call to come ‘home’ to Israel and that spiritual revival comes. Europe is currently experiencing how the national and international security of the past few decades is beginning to falter with Russia invading Ukraine. The war poses far-reaching questions regarding political, diplomatic (international relationships, understanding of national interests), economic (sanctions, embargo) and military (weapons delivered to Ukraine, realignment of military resources) How can the war be ended quickly? 

New Life Radio was based in Russia but moved to Odessa, Ukraine, in response to increasingly restrictive Russian laws. New Life’s founder and organiser said despite the current crisis, Christian radio is a crucial ministry for reaching Russian-speaking peoples. He said, ‘The importance of Christian radio is we can ensure Russian-speakers get solid biblical teaching and sound doctrine in a way that overcomes their inability to currently get it. When the government stops the evangelical church from evangelising and doing public discipleship, what’s the next vehicle that can accomplish that? Christian radio’. New Life Radio was launched as an FM station, then expanded its reach across Russia and surrounding Russian-speaking nations through satellite radio. They now broadcast on the internet around the world. During the Ukraine crisis they moved to Romania to continue broadcasting. They also now give updates for informed prayer.

Elżbieta Jarmulska, a feisty Polish entrepreneur, is the founder of the Women Take The Wheel Initiative to provide Ukrainian refugees with a ‘bubble of safety’. She says, ‘Those women have been through so much already, walking or driving their way through a war zone and now are exposed to fear and exploitation here? I have no words for what that must be like’. Elżbieta has recruited 650+ Polish ‘amazing women’, as she describes them, driving backwards and forwards as often as they can to the Polish-Ukrainian border, in order to offer refugees safe passage. They show their ID card and proof of residence to officials, before asking if anyone wanted a lift to Warsaw. The car is full in moments. Small children are given water, chocolate and motion-sickness tablets if they need them. The women are so relieved when they see they have a female driver to help them to safety.

Vladimir Putin has told his French counterpart the shelling of the besieged city of Mariupol will only end when Ukrainian troops surrender. The key southern port city has been under heavy shelling for weeks. French officials said on 30 March that the Russian leader had agreed to consider plans to evacuate civilians from the city. They called the situation in the city ‘catastrophic’, adding that civilian populations must be protected and must leave the city if they wish. They must have access to food aid, water and medicine. France, Turkey, Greece and several humanitarian groups have presented Putin with a plan to evacuate the city. Officials said Putin told Emmanuel Macron that he will think about it. However after the talks with Ukraine the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, played down any hopes of a breakthrough. On 31 March Ukraine made another attempt to send aid and bring back evacuees.

Alexander, Iryna and their children are in Kyiv and tell us how their faith helps them to live under siege. ‘Millions are praying for Ukraine and we believe that God has the victory. It's scary, we feel fear and don't know what the next hour will bring, but God is still the same as 2,000 years ago. We see military helicopters, hear shelling, but we believe we will win. People will have to give lives for this freedom but we know our nation is strong. We know that the truth will win, and the darkness and the lie will be exposed. Sometimes we don’t see God's intentions, but he hasn’t stopped doing his work and we must trust and believe. Our God came to give us life and no doubt, it's a spiritual battle. We are on the prayer frontline. God's word is alive, God’s word comforts. His word is active and gives us strength, his spirit is within us. God is big, he's bigger than any enemy.’

The general secretary of the Russian Evangelical Alliance said he felt called by God to speak out against the invasion of Ukraine. In an open letter Vitaly Vlasenko said he mourns what Russia has done and shared his sorrow for the victims and those forced to flee Ukraine. He wrote to President Putin twelve hours before the invasion to implore him to think again. He has not received a reply, but he has received letters of support from across the world. ‘They think that I’m really courageous, to openly say something about this, but I’m a simple pastor of the local Baptist Church.’ Vitaly’s parents were children of World War 2 and they told him how tough it was and that nothing is worse than a war. ‘We are in the 21st century and must think differently. We must discuss on a political level with the church, a place of reconciliation, peace and love.’

Ukraine’s Christians are praying for God's protection, peace, and His will to be done, seeking Him in churches, bomb shelters, and homes. They are believing for miracles, healing and the supernatural presence of God to manifest itself powerfully throughout Ukraine. There is such faith being exercised, with crying out to God, as shown on videos, that some wonder if the presence and glory of God will become so pervasive that Russian soldiers will kneel down and repent on the battlefield, while Ukrainians extend grace, forgiveness and mercy, showing the love of Christ. In the midst of trial and war, the church is singing. It is standing against the wave of evil, bringing a standard of righteousness and holiness in the midst of calamity. Worship and prayer, spiritual warfare tools, are cutting through the darkness and joining brothers and sisters in Christ worldwide.

Pray that the Russian people learn the full truth about the war in Ukraine. Their main source of information comes from state-owned television. There is an increasing awareness of being lied to among the younger people who are active in social media. Truth sets free, and it can set alight a resistance against this war that Putin cannot ignore. Pray for Russian mothers! Sooner or later, the truth about the rising number of Russian casualties must come out. In 1994, after Chechnya tried to gain independence from Russia, the ‘Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers’ opposed the senseless and bloody war and went into the battle zone to confront and negotiate with the military. Many soldiers were released to return home. The Ukrainian government has already called the Russian mothers to come and collect their captured sons. God can raise up the mothers in Russia, once more, as instruments of peace.