Ministry Update: Sweden (Part 2)

We’ve continued to minister in Europe and will be sharing music and testimonies this weekend at Tubestation Church in Cornwall, England. Tubestation is an outreach to the surf and beach community in Cornwall so a good fit for our background.  Also we’ll be ministering in France  shortly, starting off at an evangelistic outreach which has featured the surfing aspect of our background as a way of attraction.  In light of the terrorist attacks that just took place we appreciate your prayers for continued protection and provision as we travel.

We’ve been a bit behind with a lack of Internet, so here is a further update from our ministry in Scandinavia, in the country of Sweden.  After ministering on the east coast in Småland we were ministering in the south in the region of Skane, in the city of Hässleholm, and then after that in the city of Varberg on the West Coast.

We did a meeting first for the leaders of New Life Church in Hässleholm where we did some teaching and then prayed over them. The Lord came over them in power, some who were overcome by the Spirit ended up on the floor.  One of the men touched said he had not experienced a move of God like that in many, many, years. He was greatly rejoicing to see the Lord pour out His Spirit like this after such a long time. 

Hanging out after a meeting
with friends from Hässleholm, Sweden.

We saw the Lord continue to move as we ministered in some of the home groups during the week where we taught and activated them towards the “priesthood of all believers” and practicing the gifts of the Spirit and praying for one another. It was a blessed time in Hässleholm as we had a great time of fellowship with the pastor Daniel and his family, and with the people at the church there, while enjoying many great meals including a traditional Swedish meal of roasted pork with lingonberries, caramelized onions and pickled cucumbers.  We got to share a lot of Holy Ghost stories as well as teach in some intimate setting, and experienced the Lord empowering His people.

Checking out a car at the American Car Festival
where we did an evangelistic outreach with Biker Church in Sweden.

We also did an outreach with a group called “Biker Church” at an event held by “The American Car Club of Sweden.”  This type of event is really popular here: classic American muscle cars where everywhere, along with people dressing in Rockabilly style. We did some music and helped share where we could (many spoke only Swedish there at this particular event) and gave out Bibles.  We also had a divine appointment with a guy that spoke good English and after sharing with him for some time we ended up praying with him as he opened his heart to receive Jesus. We were quite stoked, as people getting saved in Sweden isn’t all that much of a common thing.

Preaching and ministering at New Life Church in Sweden.

We had a powerful meeting at New Life Church on Sweden’s Mother's Day.  God did so much—some highlights follow: We shared about Lonnie Frisbee and the outpouring that happened on Mother's Day years back at what would become the Vineyard Movement.  God showed up in power and poured out His presence for us on “Swedish Mother's Day.” Many were filled and empowered as the Holy Spirit poured out His power, some were brought to the floor as God filled them. There was a teenager named Noah who was filled powerfully as tears streamed down his face, as were others.  I had a word for a shoulder condition while a woman named Daisy was actually already overcome by the Spirit and on the floor and healed of a frozen shoulder by the time she got up.  The worship leader had a powerful encounter with God and was touched deeply by the Lord’s presence as waves of the Lord’s presence came over her as we prayed for her. As we came to a seeming close the Spirit of God suddenly broke out again,  the Holy Spirit just kept things going as He filled a twelve year old boy with His power for the first time in his life and came upon his father who just kept shaking under God’s power.  One of the workers of the church was knocked to the ground and couldn't stop laughing as God released His joy over him, the fruit of the Spirit made manifest! It was an awesome renewing time in God’s presence and power and we were told by some that it was just what they needed living in such a secularized humanistic country in Europe.  It is always awesome when the Lord moves, but even more so in such spiritually challenging places.

We then ministered in the city of Varberg on the West Coast in a Pentecostal church.  We felt led to give a message on evangelism and reaching out to the lost. The pastor shared afterwards that he had just began a program to train people for evangelism and reaching out to the lost so the timing was clearly from the Holy Spirit. 

Taking in the sights with our friend Christopher in Varberg,
where we had a powerful meeting at the Pentecostal church.

The Lord empowered many with the Holy Spirit and was releasing a burden for the lost.  A woman began praying in Spanish quite strongly, it happened that Mercedes talked to her afterwards and we found out she didn't speak Spanish…she was suddenly speaking in tongues in Spanish, which of course was quite a sign and wonder.  With Sweden being one of the most secularized and humanistic countries in Europe it is all the more awesome to see the light shine in the darkness.

Please pray for this evangelistic outreach
coming up in France.

                 How We Connected With the Pastor in Hässleholm

One time, some years back, as we were coming into Sweden, where we’d be staying at a friend’s house, something happened with coordinating our arrival.  Instead of finding our old friends there, we instead arrived to a locked up empty house. A little error on the schedule, so we figured our hosts would probably be back in a few hours, and so we looked for something to do and found that the garage was open (one of those old kind that was separated from the house out in the yard), and decided to go in there to hang out.

           

We were just tooling around – so to speak—and killing time, when an old phone on a work bench in there rang.  I picked it up and said hello and I got a Swedish voice back. 

           

It turned out to be a friend of our hosts named Daniel on the phone, who we had not met before, so I talked with Daniel on the garage phone for a bit.

           

We communicated as best we could, his English was still developing, and we set up a time to come and have dinner with him and his wife.

            

I was just telling him we we're locked out of Steve’s house at the moment and maybe he could come by, when he suddenly said, “See you when you come for dinner,” and hung up. 

“I guess he didn't catch that,” I thought as I laid the phone down.

Meanwhile our friends showed up and found us hanging out in the garage. 

“So how long you been here?” Steve asked.

“Oh, a while but it didn’t feel like that long because your friend Daniel called while we were hanging out in the garage and I talked with him a bit,” I told him. 

“Called?  Called where?” our friend Steve asked. (This was before the ubiquitous cell phone took over all of our lives, if you can remember such a time some years back.)

“Right here in the garage on this old phone.” I replied.

“What? Are you sure?”  Steve said.

“Yeah, it was that phone,” I said.

 “Hey dude, that garage phone doesn’t work at all, it isn’t even hooked up.”

 

“What? Are you sure?” I replied.

Steve went in and grabbed the line and showed us.  It just went over to an old transponder thing but the transponder wasn't connected to a line out or anything else. “See, look, it is dead, no dial tone, nothing. I am not able to dial out or receive anything in, it is dead.” 

“Wow! That is crazy!” I said.  “That is miraculous, a definite sign and wonder!”

Well, after a bit of musing on what kind of wild miraculous goings on were happening, we eventually made it to dinner with Daniel and his wife Camilla.

            

It turned out to be a very supernatural dinner itself. After enjoying some wonderful fondue, which you would expect to find more in Switzerland than Sweden, we ended up having some prophetic words over Daniel about his call into ministry.  The Spirit of God fell on him and us in power as we prayed for him and then prayed together. Daniel has been in ministry many years now since that time, and that time was a confirmation of God’s direction and purposes for him.

           

We have ministered with him and his family and church many times down in the south of Sweden as well as having some wild miraculous encounters too.

So, as we ate dinner with him that first time, Daniel asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were out-locked?”

“What is out-locked?” I said.  Then it hit me.  “Oh why didn’t I tell you that we were locked out?” I exclaimed after figuring out what he was trying to say. “Well you hung up before I could fully explain,” I said.  “Then the phone didn’t work after that. I tried calling back but it wouldn’t work.” I explained what Steve had told me about that garage phone not being connected and we were both blown away at such a supernatural connection.