Evangelical Focus - five months old

May is over. We launched Evangelical Focus five months ago. There were elections here in Spain recently, just as in Poland and the UK. On June 7^th it will be the turn of the Turks to go the polls, and many people are asking which direction their country will take after the election.

A lot more has happened in Europe since Evangelical Focus started as a platform for observing and analysing the news from the perspective of an evangelical, Christian worldview.

The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean has forced nations to act, freedom of speech continues to be a subject of intense debate in increasingly secularised environments such as France, armed conflict puts even more pressure on minorities such as evangelical Christians in Eastern Europe, homosexuality is back in the spotlight following the Irish referendum, the erratic behaviour of liberal Protestant churches in places such as Denmark or France contrasts greatly with that of other Christians on the continent who put their faith into practice by fighting against sex trafficking...

MORE THAN 500 ARTICLES, 31 AUTHORS

So far we have published more than 340 news items and reports. Some are written by correspondents for Evangelical Focus in their home countries. We have also reached agreement with some evangelical media outlets in other countries to exchange information so as to reach more people, and in more languages.

Reflection and analysis are very important to us. To date, we have published 170 opinion articles written by 31 different authors, which have been particularly well received by you, our readers. For instance, the top five most-read articles in May were three blogs and two on-site reports:

1. “Patti Smith: The childhood dreams of a Jehovah’s Witness”, by José de Segovia.

2. “Kurt Cobain, the weight of life”, by José de Segovia.
3. “Bridge to freedom, and initiative fighting human trafficking across Europe”, by Anna Armitage.
4. “Karl Barth on homosexuality”, by Will Graham.
5. “More than 1,700 people filled their hearts with hope in Barcelona”, by Gabriela Pérez.

We also have a section called Reader’s Blog, where we select articles sent in by our readers. So far we have received items from as far away as the Philippines and Mexico!

Finally, we are delighted to find new contributors - people who tell us first hand what is going on in their countries. Would you like to be a correspondent for EF? Do you have news to share? (Contact us at: [email protected])

THE MISSION, BUILDING BRIDGES

We are grateful to the hundreds of people who have identified with the project and have used EF as a resource (more than 70,000 page views since we began). We want EF to continue to pick up people who have a clear vision for connecting biblical faith with what is happening in our society and culture.

We are on a mission which in reality is God’s mission. We are greatly encouraged by the conviction that God, more than anyone, wants us - His church - to build bridges that connect people with him and the good news of Jesus Christ.