The Changing Face of Europe

by Don Thatcher

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet ring out Americanism. America has been identified as having seemingly endless city streets lined with one fast food chain after another. Most of these fast food restaurants are pretty much American icons. When our family came to Ireland in 2004, fast food consisted mainly of the local fish and chip shop with McDonalds and an occasional Burger King in the major cities. Now, 21 years later, McDonalds has popped up in the small neighbourhood towns. We can also find KFC, Tim Hortons, Subway, Starbucks, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts around the country. This autumn, Taco Bell and Wendy’s have both opened up shop with about a dozen more coming in over the course of the next year. What am I saying? I am saying that what once was an identifying mark of American culture has made its way into rural Ireland. We moved into the city of Waterford in 2007. At the time, I could count the coffee shops in the city on one hand. Ireland was predominantly a tea-drinking nation, but coffee has overtaken the market. Today, there are a good two dozen coffee shops across the city.

Europe, composed of 44 historically distinct nations, is rather quickly being reshaped into a “new” Europe. The old face is evolving and taking on a very different look. The backdrops of history, culture, and individual nationalism are giving way to the influx of migration. The Europe of the past is no longer the Europe of the present. The unique features of Europe’s cultural and national past are becoming diluted, blended, and erased. Consider this statistic referencing citizenship ceremonies from the country of Ireland where we minister: “Six ceremonies are being held over two days for approximately 6,000 people. Applicants from over 138 countries and across all 32 counties on the island will make a declaration of fidelity and loyalty to the State and become Irish citizens.”1

Since 2011, nearly a quarter of a million people from countries all around the globe have legally obtained citizenship in Ireland, a country of now 5.3 million people. This same trend is happening across much of Europe. The growing migration trend—legal or illegal—has also fostered a growing sense of resentment and push back from the national population in many of these receiving countries. Nationals and migrants alike face various difficulties as a result.

All of this migration brings with it the migration of multiple religions. The dominant religious backdrop in most European countries is quickly being eroded to give way to these other religions or even the forsaking of religion as a whole. Europe has been going through a significant makeover, resulting in a new look and voice. This makeover is sourced from over 193 different countries around the globe. That is a massive amount of diversity!

But even with the face of Europe changing, one thing remains the same—all migrating into any one of these European countries comes with the exact same spiritual need. Unless they arrive into their chosen country already born again in Jesus Christ, they arrive with the same spiritual “lostness” as the nationals that we are called to reach in each of our individual countries of service.

The changing face of Europe is bringing people from every cultural backdrop from around the world to European countries such as Ireland. This brings with it different cultural and language challenges but the same spiritual need for the Savior. As Europe is being reshaped, we find that we have a broader range of “clientele” with some very different dynamics. The world at large is coming to a place near you (us). As it does, we must adapt as best we can to these new cultural differences so that we may reach these different people groups for Christ. The Gospel has not and does not change, but those to whom we administer the Gospel message have changed.

Would you make this a matter of prayer? More and more missionaries across Europe find themselves with new and different challenges than when they first arrived on their field of service. In the changeable and volatile times in which we live, may we by God’s grace do all that we can to reach all that we can for Christ’s sake.

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