An evangelical association in Barcelona will send 4 trucks to Idomeni and other refugee camps in Greece. Many media reported about the project.

“The state must assume its responsibility”, CDU leader Volker Kauder said in a guest article for the German newspaper “Welt am sonntag”. He praises Open Doors and encourages local churches to get more involved.

What basic ideas do members of churches in Europe need to know when relating to refugees who have gone through traumatic experiences? Marion Knell (Global Member Care Network) gives some insights.

“Christians should affect destinies, not just modify current circumstances”, says Jenn Brown, member of OneHope. The organisation develops programs and tools to contextualise the Bible for children in different cultures.

A Spanish evangelical church brought 3,500 pairs of shoes to a Croatian refugee camp. “People are relieved but also disappointed, they have not found the open arms they expected from Europe.”

How are traumatic experiences affecting refugees years after arriving to their destination? What can churches do? Marion Knell (Global Member Care and Redcliffe College) answers these and other questions.  

“Refugees need to learn the language, and how to survive in the society to which they arrived”, says Vimal Vimalasekaran, a former Tamil refugee. He now works among asylum seekers in Germany.

How should we integrate asylum seekers coming to Europe? Vimal Vimalasekaran (European Christian Mission) shares his story as a former refugee and gives answers.

‘Can we live up to the ideals we espouse?’ Doug Marshall  (working with refugees in Malta) commentates on five 2016 World Press Photo images.

The situation inside the ‘jungle’ of Calais is “chaotic”, admits Paul Sydnor (IAFR). Churches should understand the need to “offer a platform” for reconciliation between Christian and Muslim asylum seekers.

After surviving her own journey, Zinash Witsel supports other people arriving to Europe. “I try and help them as best as I can, because I know how it feels to be a refugee.”

The Refugee Highway Partnership (RHP) round tables gathered experts, Christian NGOs and church leaders in Catania to analyse the crisis Europe is facing and find ways to “offer integral help.”

Around 26,000 unaccompanied children entered Europe last year. Most of them are targeted by criminal gangs. Some have been sexually exploited, Europol informed.

About 1,600 died in Boko Haram attacks in the last four months. “Insurgency has not only succeeded in killing, injuring and displacing people, but have worsened distrust among people of different faiths”

Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said the fence will be meant to ensure controlled, orderly entry into Austria, not to keep migrants out altogether.

100 people were involved in the fight, and 3 were injured. 250,000 people have passed through the Balkans since mid-September alone.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people who had been stranded in dangerous conditions for days, have been allowed to enter Croatia.

The Spanish Evangelical Alliance “calls the evangelical people in our country to consider, before God, what is their responsibility towards those who arrive to our doors.”

The Belgian federal government asks for the evacuation of the Maximilien Parc camp. Politicians accuse each other of permissiveness. Volunteer say alternative offered by the administration is an “excuse to say they are doing something”.

Comradeship and solidarity mark the daily life of the refugee camp in Brussels, as NGOs and volunteers serve asylum seekers waiting for an appointment at the Foreigners’ Office. 

Two evangelical pastors in Szeged share their views after borders are closed to refugees. The country “will need the church to help integrate and accept the refugees who stay”.