How Do You Recognise A Christian?

Recently I heard about two Christians, one from Jordan and one from Iran. Both had to flee their countries, because they had converted from Islam, and had asked for asylum in Germany. Even though our asylum laws include people like them and even though Christians in Germany spoke in their favour, they had trouble being granted asylum – simply because the people involved in the decisions didn’t know whether to believe they had really become Christians or not. They had conversations with them on how they converted, their beliefs etc., but couldn’t really tell if they were telling the truth or just faking to reach their aim of a life in Germany. About the man from Jordan the authorities said he wasn’t telling his story credible enough.

These two cases – two of many, I suppose – gave me much food for thought. First I wondered what I would do if I had to decide on their asylum applications. Would I, being a Christian myself, be able to distinguish real from fake Christians? I’m not sure, but then I could always pray about it and trust that God would show me what to do. However, how is it possible for non-Christians or nominal Christians to distinguish? They are almost unable to decide properly, I guess. After all, it is possible to fake faith – at least for a while. Many oppressive governments send their spies into “illegal” churches in their countries and these spies are obviously able to disguise as Christians, deceiving even genuine believers. So how is it possible to distinguish the true from the false ones?

The other question I asked myself was – if I was in the situation of these asylum seekers, meaning if I had to ask for asylum in a foreign country because of my faith – would I be “credible” enough for the authorities? How could I prove to them that I was a genuine Christian and not someone who just had practised the right words and behaviour? I thought a lot about that, but haven’t found an answer yet.

London 2014 Day 10 Part 2 – Between Regent’s Park and Regent Street / Along the Thames

In the area between Regent’s Park and Regent Street many countries have got their embassies or consulates.

We also took another walk along the Thames.

Bags For Freedom

“For Freedom” is printed on my new bag. One might think that this is just an ornament like the buttons, but this is not the case. “For Freedom” bags and accessories are created by people (mostly women) at Sak Saum in Cambodia who have escaped human trafficking or other abuse and poverty.

I had read about Sak Saum in the German Christian woman’s magazine Lydia and immediately thought that it was a wonderful cause to support. I browsed their website and fell in love with a bag which wasn’t offered in the German online shop where a smaller range of their items is being sold. So I started the order procedure directly on the Sak Saum website, but got stuck when it came to entering my home address – it didn’t accept any addresses outside the USA. However, with a bit of patience (from my first e-mail until I got the bag it took 27 days), a PayPal account and the kind help of Sak Saum staff mainly in the USA the beautiful bag is now mine :)

Shortly after this first order I bought a messenger bag for Hermann at the German online shop. Both bags are of excellent quality and certainly worth their price! If you would like to buy bags or accessories from them you find the list of (online) shops on the “Where to buy” page on their website. Unfortunately there are not many shops outside the USA yet, but I hope for all bag lovers around the world that this will change by and by!

Our London Trip 2013 Day 2 – Little Venice and Walthamstow

On this day my migraine, which had started the day before, got worse, so that we had to take it slow. The weather was lovely and we decided to go to Little Venice. We got off the tube at Warwick Avenue Station (Bakerloo Line). From there it is just a short walk to the canal with the many house boats. I felt relatively well in the open air despite the nagging headache, so I was able to enjoy it, even though I used a lot of my spoons for that day.

Therefore in the afternoon I was only able to take a little walk around the area in Walthamstow where our holiday flat was. It is a very multicultural area, as you can see from the shops.