News Archive
Interns in Norway
The Interns, Clare and Stephen are in Norway for ten days on a mission with a group of RadNets from Ichthus in London. Ichthus have an ongoing relationship with a church in Arna…Arna Misjonsmenighet which is led by Terje Breivik.
There is lots going on in the Arna church and in their new church plant in Espeland, especially amongst the youth. We’ve been able to get involved in all the normal activities of the church, as well as some of the more unusual ones! We’ve been giving out free teas and coffees at the railway station and ‘Gratis Waffle’ at the shopping centre, as well as inviting people to services and the ‘Gratis Grillfest’ on Saturday night. The Grillfest (free BBQ!) was the main focus of last week, and many non-Christians turned up to eat free burgers and hear a Gospel talk. Six people gave their lives to Christ and there was much partying!
The Interns have each written something below. See if you can work out which belongs to whom!
Since we arrived on Wednesday, it’s been quite a big step getting used to being surrounded by people praying and worshipping in Norwegian. It was quite difficult to worship at first, but God has been gracious and it doesn’t bother me now. I’ve even learnt some Norwegian phrases! Quite a lot is translated for us (and likewise all our testimonies and talks are translated into ‘Norske’). On Sunday morning we went to Bergen for the first of three services on Sunday. Somehow… (Stephen Light was involved!)… I ended up signing Clare’s sermon, Cassie and Catherine’s testimonies, and the English songs into British Sign Language for a deaf lad! It’s amazing how I started off being quite anxious about the language barrier thing and ended up signing for someone – God has a sense of humour!
I can’t believe how exciting this all is, I’m in danger of exploding! Yesterday we went to 3 church services – Bergen in the morning, followed by Espeland, and Arna in the evening. The church in Espeland was planted in February and the worship was amazing. I can’t really describe it, it was just awesome. Everyone started praying for each other and it was really exciting! I didn’t want to stop praying – which is unusual for me because usually I struggle! Woohooo! The rest of the week has been spent painting houses, getting excited, giving out (and drinking) coffees, getting excited, giving out (and eating) waffles and praying excitedly yippiddydee :-) I’m so excited (Ed: can you tell?) about what God’s going to do this week! Nor-way man!
P.S. Stephen Light should come with a health warning :-)
The church here is fantastic – they are so keen to reach all sorts of people. They have kids’ Popcorn church, very popular Scout groups and fantastic youth groups. I have been particularly excited by the 13-18 youth group, Casa Feliz. Unlike any other Friday night Youth Club I know, Casa Feliz is totally focussed on Christ. There is a mix of Christians and non-Christians but as well as just having social time otgether there is also basically a whole service, with lively worship, a talk and an opportunity to respond. And most exciting of all is that it is pretty much totally led by some of the young Christians themselves. God really is raising up some fantastic young leaders – please pray for them, that God will keep them close to him and give them many opportunities to move on in their gifting and relationship with him.
The other day a few of us went to a local secondary school, to a Christian Union that was starting for the first time this term. A few of us shared testimonies and spoke about Jesus, and of the 20 or so teenagers who were there, 4 of them made commitments…Yay! It challenged me not to undervalue what God has done in our lives and to not underestimate what He can do. So the bar has been set incredibly high this last week and we're expecting God to be doing immensely fantastic things in this coming week too!
The first thing to say about our mission in Norway is the beauty of the area we’re staying in. A few of us walked up a nearby hill on Saturday evening and arrived on the top as the sun was setting. We all felt a little closer to God in that place!
I arrived late in Norway, so I missed the church youth group last week, but having met a few of the youth over the last few days I’m really looking forward to it this week. There are about 30-40 youth between the ages of 14 and 18, which for a small church is unbelievable. So I can’t wait to meet some more of them and invest in them, even in a small way.
Before coming to Norway, Catherine had a picture of me finding different tools at the bottom of a toolbox – representing new gifts that God would give me in Norway. One example of this is when I was praying one evening last week with some Norwegian people. They were praying in Norwegian and I didn’t understand what they were saying. I wanted to pray with them, so I asked God to help me. Suddenly I started speaking in tongues for the first time! It is very exciting to have this new gift! Since then I’ve found it really useful, for praying when English fails me and praising God in a deeper way than I could with words. It’s so amazing that God provides what we need, when we need it!
So many things have happened, but I’m too drunk to remember clearly. Drunk on the Holy Spirit, that is :-) (the beer is so expensive we can’t afjord it!)
Stephen’s sermon on Sunday night was ‘fantastique’! He preached on the kingdom of God and the congregation was visibly moved. We could really feel the Holy Spirit move last night in power. We’ve seen eleven people make commitments to Jesus!
I suppose the thing that’s struck me most so far has been God’s abounding strength in our weakness. To quote Isaiah 40:30 and 31 (and also Kings’ newest favourite song):
“Even youths shall faint and be weary,
And young men shall fall exhausted;
But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
They shall mount up with wings like eagles;
They shall run and not be weary;
They shall walk and not faint."
God is good! So far we know of 11 people who have professed faith, we are praying for many more and for lasting and radical change in these lives. God is at work here and it is such a privilege to join in! It is so clear that God has poured out his Spirit on the church leaders we have met. Let’s keep praying for more of God and less of us, that we might renew our strength and see Jesus glorified as many in this country come to profess him King!
Prayer Points
- The church in Arna – for the leaders and the youth team
- The new church plant in Espeland – for strength and faith, for the leaders and for more people to come.
- Casa Feliz youth group – for the young leaders
- New Christians – to find a church home, to grow in discipleship
- Mission this week – that we would see more people come to faith!
- The team – for energy, passion and faith