21 August
Dear Friends,
One of the advantages (and also disadvantages) of being in temporary exile from your home country is the opportunity to look at it through different eyes. This certainly has been the case in the eight weeks I've been away from Great Britain, and I can't say that the view from abroad has been very attractive. It is almost an embarrassment to hear British politicians speaking of 'America, Britain and the E.U.' as if they were all the same size. Even worse is listening to the self-congratulatory rhetoric of Britain being 'world-beating' when neither dealing with pandemic nor withdrawing from Afghanistan show the United Kingdom in a very flattering light.
It was Nick Baines, the perceptive and bilingual Anglican Bishop of Leeds who noted in a recent radio broadcast that, whereas German leaders spoke of dealing with Covid 19 as 'trying to stem the tide and prevent a flood,' their British equivalents used the military language of battling with and defeating the enemy. It is a pity that the United Kingdom, in both withdrawing from the European Union and Afghanistan has not acknowledged -as the USA has done- that withdrawing from a position of influence elsewhere inevitably changes, and to an extent, diminishes the international profile of a nation.
While I pray for a resolution to the domestic turmoil in Afghanistan, I also hope that my own country will show even a little humility.
Every blessing,
John
Sunday, 10.30 hrs:
Morning Worship
Live-streamed service. You can access this just before 10.30 am:
On YouTube: https://youtu.be/TRY16a2gx9M
Direct through the ERC website: https://www.erc.amsterdam/calendar/worship-service-22-august-2021
Indirect via our website: https://www.erc.amsterdam
Tuesday, 19.30 hrs:
Bible Study on Zoom. All welcome to join us via this link: https://zoom.us/j/96625866681?pwd=MlNucjZxUDVOMVpVWmFJdnJhd05nQT09
Please note that Bible study this weeks takes place on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.
Prayer:
In this time there may be people who feel especially in need of prayer either for themselves or for someone else. In 'normal' times there was a small group of people in the congregation who used to take it in turns on Sundays to be available after the service to pray for anyone in need - so, if you would like prayer or have a particular prayer request please contact Margaret Richards on margaretanne_richards@hotmail.com and she and the others will pray accordingly.
A word about finance….
Please note that in this period when we are not meeting together there is a way of giving to the church on the website, https://www.erc.amsterdam.