Netherlands
Summary
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830, Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered German invasion and occupation in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU) and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba – became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In February 2018, the Sint Eustatius island council (governing body) was dissolved and replaced by a government commissioner to restore the integrity of public administration. According to the Dutch Government, the intervention will be as “short as possible and as long as needed.” [1]
📷: Wikipedia
Statistics
From the The Joshua Project [2]
In the News
📷: GoodFreePhoto.com
Prayer Guide
There are signs of hope amid the decline. Pray for:
a) Growth in the number and strength of many independent churches, and continued vitality among charismatic Pentecostal Christians. Pray that spiritual depth, lasting discipleship and effective outreach might be strengthened. There are new international churches and small congregations being planted which demonstrate the openness of some hearts to receive the good news.
b) Immigrant churches bring diversity, vitality and a new sense of hope to the Netherlands. Pray for the effective integration of these 700,000 immigrant Christians into Dutch church life. Pray also that they might have dynamic partnerships with indigenous congregations and a burden for cross-cultural church outreach to their host nationality and to other immigrant groups.
c) The Gereformeerde Bond and Evangelisch Werkverband are growing evangelical expressions in the PKN (Protestant National Church) with over 500 pastors involved. These movements are increasingly respected and instrumental in sending missionaries, fostering unity and planting new churches using new models.
d) Unity within evangelicalism sees progress, but remains a challenge. The Evangelische Omroep and the Evangelical Alliance are important in this regard. Evangelicals come from a very wide spectrum and are often fragmented and isolated. SKIN is an interdenominational network bringing together the growing number and diversity of migrant churches. Pray for spiritual unity that draws denominations, institutions, agencies and ethnic groups into a single vision for reaching the nation and the world, and for their willingness to financially support this with generosity.
[3]