The IFES European Student Evangelism Conference gathered 1,700 students from around 50 countries in Aschaffenburg (Germany). This year, the conference theme is Presence.

Swiss organisations serving 10,000 young people every year will no longer work alongside public youth agencies. The government’s decision is “degrading” for Christians workers, says expert Andi Bachmann.

“Many people never read big chunks of the Bible at all, they just return again and again to the bits they experience as inspiring or comforting”, says researcher Ruth Perrin.

Detained asylum seekers enter hunger strike as President Janos Ader is re-elected. Christian expert Paul Sydnor says new measures only result in people “becoming re-traumatized.”

The Church should “not be locked inside an institutional box”, says Jaume Llenas. Christians are now in the “margins of culture”, a new missionary context.

A climate of tension surrounds the Dutch general election, which will be held on Wednesday 15. The Missie Nederland General Secretary, Jan C. Wessels, hopes “the values of the Dutch people, which are partly rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, will conquer.”

Government restrictions force Compassion to leave the country. Hundreds of “churches that are passionate about caring for children will still be there” for the 145,000 sponsored children, says the NGO Director in Italy, Silvio Galvano.

An in-depth interview with Vijayesh Lal of the Evangelical Fellowship India. Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh are the states were Christians face the strongest persecution.

How can the church better include people with disabilities? What was Jesus Christ's approach? Thérèse Swinters (European Disability Network) speaks from her own experience.

“The basic nature of the Macedonian crisis is moral”, says Nikola Galevski, a pastor in Skopje. “Pray that the church will clearly see its specific calling for a time like this”.

Spanish group Evangelicals in Economy and Business organises conference for business leaders. Meeting regularly with fellow believers is “vitally important”, says experienced businessman Peter Briscoe.

“Taking the streets is a step forward, that goes beyond just praying on Sundays in churches for those in authority”, says political expert Adrian Petrice.

In his first National Prayer Breakfast, the President of the USA says he will eliminate the Johnson Amendment to “let religious representatives speak freely without fear of retribution”.

Only in the European Union, 70 million people live with some kind of disability. Churches should “get the issue onto the agenda”, says Thérèse Swinters, facilitator of the European Disability Network. 

“Unique” was the theme of this year’s Week of Prayer in Europe. A summary of the highlights in Italy, Austria, Spain, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

“Resources are getting scarcer and no doubt the local churches and its members will have to take on a heavier financial responsibility in the future”, explains Parish pastor Haakon Kessel. 

The incident will not have much influence on the public opinion, pastor in Austria tells Evangelical Focus.

Hundreds of Christians gathered in St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva, to pray for Europe. Aitor De la Camara, of the movement 'Prayer 24-7' in Spain, recalls the event.

“We need a realistic, grounded sense of self that is not pre-occupied with maintaining its own importance, but serving a purpose bigger than ‘me’”, says Psychiatrist Glynn Harrison, author of ‘The Big Ego Trip’.

Secretary General of the Bible Society of Egypt, Ramez Atallah underlines the “general denouncing of this tragic incident by Muslims in all media”.

About 70 people from diverse evangelical backgrounds met for the Spanish annual Lausanne Movement gathering. They discussed how the church can respond to 10 social challenges in the country.

“Too often we hide behind our Christian heritage which is somehow only a kind of folk and nominal version of real Christianity”, says Frank Hinkelmann. Evangelicals should not let fear towards foreigners stop their mission.

Evangelical leaders from England, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic and the Netherlands analyse the situation from a biblical perspective.

Why are so many evangelical Christians worried about the growing unity between Protestants and Roman Catholics? We ask Leonardo De Chirico, one of the theologians behind the “Is the Reformation Over?” document.

More than 20 countries were represented at the European Evangelical Alliance General Assembly 2016. The “identity of Europe” and the Christian response to several challenges was discussed in Colares (Portugal).