To See Triumphs Over Evil: Why I'm Headed to Europe Today

Today my family and I embark on a hastily planned adventure to Europe. A short time ago we had no intention of flying beyond the Atlantic, but sometimes the Spirit’s tug is irresistible. 

In October I went to a conference for young Christian leaders from Europe and the Middle East. I met people at this conference upon whom the Spirit’s indelible mark rested and through whom God changed (is changing) me. I met a man who worships Jesus underground in a country where Christianity is outlawed. I met people working hard to fashion ministries after the humble and present image of Christ’s incarnation in places where Christianity has nearly passed away. I met young people who work long hours at normal jobs and then go to their places of ministry to follow the call on their life as they understand it. It was an invigorating and humbling experience. 

In these sacred days I met Samir, who works with refugees in France. Eating lunch under a pergola with alpine light setting our table aglow, I listened with rapt interest as Samir described the plight of refugees matched by the compassion, sensitivity, and determination of people in his French-Arabic church. When he finished talking, I realized I hadn’t touched my lunch. And, without a wit of exaggeration, my soul burned with a sense that I had to see Samir and his church at work. I had to write their story. 1

I also met a couple who walk with women escaping the sex trafficking industry in Berlin. They assist these women as they seek God’s healing and strive to build new and free lives. In case you don’t know, I’m an amateur historian. My fire for history began, in part, with studying Christian abolitionists who struggled tirelessly to defame and end American slavery. Here stood modern-day abolitionists—their cause just as dire and their resolve just as sturdy. And so I longed to offer the gift of my pen to them as well.2

It may take a while but expect future blogs and other pieces to follow. Our news cycle tends to rotate between bad and worse stories, but there are determined servants out there doing their best to see that God’s light rises in triumph over evil's darkest shadows. I pray that at the very least, this journey and the subsequent writing will remind us all of that. And perhaps reinvigorate our hope and our own capacity to join God as he dispels the evil in our own slice of the world.  

And, if you will, pray for my family and I. Taking two crazy boys on a rather short trip to Europe should prove somewhere between disastrous and challenging.

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1. In the meantime, you can learn more about Samir’s church’s ministry here.

2. You can see their organization’s website here: https://www.pinkdoorberlin.org/en/