The people of the “capital of Europe”, natives and European workers are mourning separately because they do not speak the same language and their frame of reference is different.

We want to become reliable moral figures by just saying some appropriate words, but the authentic change will come when we all kneel down before the Golgotha cross.

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.

“Pray for the groups of various ethnic backgrounds among whom once more the seed of distrust has been sown today. Pray for peace in the midst of divisive forces”, General Secretary Thomas Bucher writes.

Guillem Sampedro, a member of an evangelical church in Spain, was in the Brussels-Zaventem airport when the explosions happened. “Some people were saying: ‘a bomb, a bomb!’, but we did not know if it was true.”

Resignation is the most spread feeling amongst Brussels inhabitants. Even the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, said in the first press conference: “What we feared has happened. Our country has been struck by vile attacks”.

At least 14 people killed after two blasts in Zaventem airport, passengers have been evacuated. Later, another blast at the Maelbeek Metro station left other 20 passengers dead. Around 200 people are wounded. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attacks.

All of the students killed are women. They were coming back from an organised trip to Valencia’s Fallas regional festival.

“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 survey shows 7 in 10 free evangelical churchgoers believe “Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 in 3 citizens in the East of the country think Jesus never existed.

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for the upcoming remake of Ben Hur, the new film adaptation of Lew Wallace’s 1880 biblical novel. See European release dates. 

The secular 1970s did not prepare Europe well for the religious vitality that would become all too apparent during the late 1990s and onwards.

Director of Jubilee Centre Jonathan Tame believes the main themes of the campaign should be analysed from a relational point of view.

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.  

Sunday trading hours will remain the same at present after MPs voted by 317 votes to 286, to dismiss the proposal. Religious leaders were against it too.

“The main challenge is that non-evangelical Europeans feel that the gospel has been tried and found insufficient, that it is too simplistic for a complex and sophisticated society”, says American missionary Steve Mann after working in Europe for 30 years.

The Italian Evangelical Alliance “welcomes the decision”, because the law “made it very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain the authorization to open a new worship place.”

“An agreement that would be tantamount to a blanket return of any foreigners to a third country is not consistent with European law”, representative says.

Left-wing party Bloco de Esquerda targets Christians to celebrate new law allowing same-sex couples to adopt children.

We have to choose between impress the people or serve the people. Let’s lead out of our weakness and not out of our strength.

“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.

In the Christian tradition we believe that Christ taught us to break out of the matrix, out of the grip of grey despair and to be moved by beauty and light which restores our hope. 

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.