Editor’s Note: Terry gives a personal view of life in a small, unique Mediterranean island nation with a couple of big stories that you probably have not seen in U. S. news sources.

Living and doing ministry in the closed environment of an island in the eastern Mediterranean changes your perspective on life. Especially after being so close to the revolts of the Arab Spring and seeing the flood of refugees flock to places like Cyprus, Malta (which is even smaller than Cyprus and closer to North Africa) as well as Italy.

It then became maddening as northern Europe revealed it’s bigotry by not accepting a proportional share of the refugees – and instead opted to leave then “south of the Pyrenees” as the saying goes. So much for Europe’s vaunted liberal multiculturalism.

The financial crisis in Greece has people a bit spooked. Although Cyprus’s banks have been building up a lot of cash reserves they still have a fair amount of exposure to Greece’s debt – i.e. Greece borrowed money from Cyprus…so needless to say folks are worried about what will happen if Greece defaults.

The problem is compounded because the government (with a communist majority) hasn’t reigned in spending and has huge salary and entitlement programs for government workers. The fiscally aware see Cyprus teetering on the edge of disaster…and so do a lot of ordinary people…and their anger is building.

Over the fall & winter Cyprus put a functioning – and almost well managed – mass transit system in place on the island. The fares are more than reasonable, the buses are new and kept clean, it’s amazing! Well, almost. They’ve yet to publish schedules at the bus stops around the city. You can pick up a paper copy in Greek at the Transit Centre at Solomoniou Square …but they’ve yet to put out anything in English as promised.

Interestingly enough the system has worked so well that it’s had a massively negative effect on taxi drivers. So much so they’ve threatened to strike (like that’s going to help them) and/or block access to bus stops (which won’t win them any popular support). They’re in negotiations with the government to curtain bus service on the weekends in resort areas – since that means they can gouge drunk European tourists with exorbitant fares – and to have the government buy back the licenses (which are expensive) of some newer drivers (cabs are individually operated), so there is less competition. It’ll be interesting to see who “wins” this one: Cypriots & tourists that realize we’re in the 21st Century; or the cab drivers that want to go back to the good-ole boy way of doing things.

Tragedy struck Cyprus on Monday, July 11th…approximately 2,000-tons of explosives spontaneously exploded at the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base just outside of Larnaca. Twelve people were killed (the 13th has since died) and 64 people were injured.

Additionally, the explosion destroyed the island’s largest power plant (it produces 50-60% of the island’s electrical power) as well as heavily damaged the homes and buildings in the nearby villages of Mari and Zygi.

What’s sad about this episode is that it was the direct result of negligence & incompetence are the part of the island’s political leaders. The twelve shipping containers were confiscated from a Cypriot-flagged vessel based on an order from the UN. There is a UN embargo in place that prevents the shipment of military hardware & explosives to Syria. After they were confiscated the explosives were stored by being left in an open field at the edge of the naval base – exposed to the weather and the heat for 2-years.

Eventually the explosives broke down and the gas from then began to expand – to the point of causing the containers to noticeably bulge. They exploded on July 11th as a small detachment of sailors and firefighters tried to bring the temperature inside the containers down by dousing them with water.

What’s maddening about this is that the Cypriot Navy had been trying for two years to get the government to move the explosives to an ammunition depot…and would’ve done it themselves, but they were prevented from doing so by senior defense officials acting on orders from the President (at least according to emails released by wiki leaks). The US, France, Germany, Israel all volunteered to either take the explosives or to provide technical assistance for their destruction but they were rebuffed by the foreign ministry and the President.

The aftermath has been predictable. People are angry, shocked, grieving…everything you’d expect. There have been nightly demonstrations every evening since then. So far the foreign minister, defense minister, and CINC of the National Guard (which is what the armed forces here are called) have resigned.

The government’s response has been less than stellar. At first they tried to blame the UN & the US…but the wiki leaks emails proved those allegations to be false. Now they’ve appointed a one-man special investigator to look into the matter. As you’d expect, cynicism and anger toward the government are at a new high. (NEVER thought I’d say this: Thank You Wiki leaks!)

So for now we live with rolling 2-3 blackouts during the day…which would be, bearable if the Electrical Authority published a schedule and stuck to it. As usual with our great communist-led government they can’t even get that right…so you don’t know when the power is going to go out. This means stay away from elevators – which isn’t fun if you live on the 5th floor like we do. It’s particularly difficult for the young and the elderly because summer temperatures are unusually high already. Normally we don’t see 40+ Centigrade (104F) until mid-August…but those days are already here this year.

Oh I forgot – the Electrical Authority estimates it will take a minimum of 6-months to regain even partial use of the destroyed power plant. (Oh goody!)

Please pray for the families of those who died or were injured in the explosion; as well as for the rebuilding of the villages of Mari and Zygi. Also pray that the investigation be conducted with real integrity and that the truth would be revealed…and that punishment would not be dished out to some mid-level scapegoat(s).

Pray also for the people of Cyprus as they deal with this. This is an opportunity for the Gospel to work…but so far the Orthodox Church hasn’t said much about that.

Pray that God would use NCC and other evangelical churches to minister to people, and to help them find our door…which is difficult in a culturally Orthodox world.

Speaking of prayer, we also need your prayers for Cindy’s visa (more on that way below), our church’s mid/long-term finances, and for God to open door/find ways to make the English-speaking population aware that we’re here. You can also pray for Frank & Beth Beaver and Hatem & Lisa Botros as they finish fund raising and prepare to move to Cyprus. They are the lead team for a group of PCA missionaries that are going to base themselves on Cyprus, and use it as a center to train Christian journalists and videographers in the region.

One of the groups I’d like to reach on this island is the 20-30 something couples like the two I have at NCC. One is a Cypriot-American couple and the other is a British-Cypriot couple. Both are university educated, both are professional, and both Cypriots were disaffected members of the Orthodox Church…and they are only the tip of the iceberg. The problem is, if we openly seek them, family pressure – and pressure from the Orthodox Church – would have the opposite result. Ask the Holy Spirit to open the door for these couples to bring others like them to our church…and back to an active faith. Also pray that the Holy Spirit would touch young couples in Nicosia to seek us out on their own as they wrestle with faith.

After 20-months I finally have a visa…it’s only good until the end of the year when I need to renew it, but at least I have one. I got it the day before I left for the states…immigration asked to me to drop by to talk about my wife’s status…so I used the opportunity to remind them that I still hadn’t received my visa – which shocked them, since they had mailed it. Then I saw why I hadn’t received…as I looked at the desk I saw the copy of my visa…the address was wrong – despite the fact the correct address was on the application. So, did they bother to correct my address and re-issue my visa…yes and no. Yes I got my visa, no they didn’t correct my address: “Let’s wait until you renew it.” I can hardly wait for that experience.

As for my wife…after some low-level clerk sent us a letter at the end of April demanding that we get blood tests and chest x-rays to prove we didn’t have a sexually transmitted disease, TB, or cancer…there was also a paragraph saying Cindy may not be able to stay in the country because the church hadn’t specifically “authorized” Cindy to accompany me to Cyprus. After getting the test and having NCC write a letter to the Ministry of Interior saying she could stay; we resubmitted the paperwork to the Office of Migration – just before we left on vacation. So I asked about it while I was there – big mistake, kind of.

Once the case officer saw the letters from Migration and our response, she called the clerk in and went off on her while I was standing there. Seems that since I don’t come from a third world country that lacks medical care and immunization…not to mention having a thriving sex trade…that I didn’t need to spend 300-euros for those tests…or write the letter to the Ministry of Interior, since Cindy was listed on the original application as an “Accompanying Family Member.” We’re supposed to go back next week to see if they’ll finally issue Cindy a visa. RE: I can hardly wait above…ohhh, goody!!

Terry Burns is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and serves as Pastor of the Nicosia Community Church, and independent evangelical congregation in Cyprus. He writes (sporadically) about the life of the church and people in Cyprus.