World news

Allawi urges fast Iraq poll count

The narrow frontrunner in the race to become Iraq's next prime minister says poll results are taking too long to declare.... [+]

UN chief says settlements illegal

UN chief Ban Ki-moon - beginning a Mid-East trip - reiterates international demands for a halt to Israeli settlement building.... [+]

Russians protest against PM Putin

Dozens of people are arrested at a banned rally in Moscow - one of several anti-Putin protests in Russian cities.... [+]

Pope apology for Irish sex abuse

Pope Benedict XVI apologises to victims of child sex abuse by priests in Ireland and says bishops made "serious mistakes".... [+]

History lessons for US policy on Israel?

With US-Israeli ties at a low ebb over plans to build new homes for settlers in disputed East Jerusalem, the BBC's Paul Adams wonders if a former secretary of state offers lessons for Hillary Clinton in taking on Washington's powerful Israel lobby.... [+]
Eyes, smiles and faces

Chile. What can I tell you about this beautiful but sometimes depressing country?

Beautiful? Yes, it sure is. Imagine walking out your front door on your way to the metro, seeing the mountains of the Andes rising up around you, clearer then the clearest picture, more beautiful then the most beautiful words.

Depressing? Yes, it sure can be. Imagine walking into a stuffed metro, where nobody knows who he is pressed against to, where each person is just another face. Where kids are left in orphanages, just because their parents can‘t take care of them.

I have personally loved Chile. It was so good for me to go to, and God really putted so much into me, He grew and stretched me in each and every way. It was depressing at times, but most of all it was beautiful, just like the country itself.

God often brings us in places or situations in live, which are both depressing and beautiful. Most of all beautiful, but at some points in time depressing. And I think in those moments we need to try to clench on to God.

When we feel like God is not stretching us for (in our eyes) useful reasons, when we are in country‘s that are soaked in pain, when we don’t feel in place and so on. How often do we forget to look at the One who makes everything beautiful, the One who takes the deepest pain and eases it with His love?

God wants to heal us, He wants to heal the situations we‘re in, He wants to heal the country‘s that are filled with pain, and He wants to heal us. So we can stop looking at all the depressing things. So we can love that one person on the metro, so we can pray for them. So we can stop looking at the kids in the orphanages and we can start seeing the smiles on their faces. Open the eyes of the heart you gave me Lord.