Nationalism

We saw evidence of rising nationalism in a number of the countries we visited. Posters for Austrian nationalist presidential hopeful Norbert Hofer, “Osterreich braucht sicherheit” (Austria needs security) were everywhere. In Hungary we arrived just a few days after the referendum on European Commission proposals to redistribute asylum seekers more evenly across the EU but messages were still prominently displayed on buildings across the country: Ne kockaztassunk (No risks) Szavazzunk Nemmel (Vote No).

Insight: Nationalism is a complex issue, but our primary allegiance as Christians must ultimately be to Christ.  Mission in tomorrow’s Europe may involve us speaking prophetically into the increasingly nationalist public arena to remind Europeans of that.

Migration

Migration is also a complex issue.  This was most clearly illustrated by the opportunity we had to contribute to a mission conference being held in Karlsruhe, Germany by a network of Spanish-speaking migrant congregations.   These churches are mostly comprised of Latin American young adults but in the best cases they have formed mutually beneficial relationships with German congregations.  Sri Lankan ECM worker Vimal spoke at the conference about his refugee ministry, yet even among those who work with refugees, there are significant tensions.  Not all refugees are genuine.  And Muslim immigration is a particularly sensitive issue in many countries.

Insight: Today’s Europeans often have a migrant story in their recent past and this will affect the way we do our evangelism, discipleship and church planting.