Ready, Set....

Friday was my 5-hour Swedish test. Saturday was marathon clean/prepare/pack day. Now it's 5am Sunday and I can't sleep because of all the butterflies in my tummy! Tomorrow we're leaving for India!

Friday: The test was good, just long, but not so difficult... as usual I was far too anxious for the weeks leading up to it. Last night I had a brief conversation with my neighbor in the hallway and he said "Wow, your Swedish has improved, I can understand everything you say now!" haha. That's a good sign :)

This little smiley-face-guy waited for me outside my car door on my way to the Test.. and I made Samuel wait on me so I could get a pic for the blog :) Love little happy surprises!

Saturday: Laundry. Laundry. Scrubbed bathroom. Mopped floors. Cleaned and prepared camera stuff (My photography things are all ready for India... my backpack on the other hand, empty. Shows where my priorities are I suppose :)) Shopped, or tried to shop, it's so difficult to find things in this country.. there is nothing like Walmart or Target or a drugstore... what I really need is a travel-aisle. (Someone please, where can I find contact solution in Sweden??) Somehow in the midst of all this I managed to bake a chicken and mash some potatoes too :) I felt a bit like a super-mom, minus the children. In the evening Samuel and I sat over a map of India and discussed our plan-A vs. plan-B method. Pray that God shows us whether to start from the East or the West!

There it is.. my life in a red bag for 6 weeks. Although it's empty in the photo :)

Sunday: In a few hours we're having lunch together with Samuel's parents, sister, her-hub and kids... love the Strandbergs. Church starts at 4pm (Pingstkrykan Varberg.. come!) and I'll be leading worship with my hero friends Samuel(his blog is in Swedish) and Lotta and some other wonderful people! I love worshiping!! At some point I really do need to pack that back-pack and Skype with mama and daddy in Hawaii too :)

Monday: Drive to Gothenburg 10 am
Fly to Istanbul 1 pm (we like Istanbul's airport - been there so many times. It was always our first taste of the West when we came out of Africa and Samuel would leave me with all the luggage and run to Burger King for french fries. The way to Samuel's heart?? Fast food.)
Arrive in India 4:15 am Tuesday
... then we have a countless number of train-trips(most of them around the 20-hours), rickshaws, boats, a plane or two... pray for strength, health, rest, favor and wisdom in all of our travels!!!

'To an Unknown God'

India is full of worshipers. Faithful worshipers. They have given their lives to all kinds of gods and spirituality. I weep as I watch this video of the Hindu people bathing, praying and burning their dead at the Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh.

When the Indians meet the Creator and Savior of the world, the one and only God who is alive and active, listening, breathing, moving, loving... they will be the greatest worshipers the world has known. Pray for a shift to happen in the atmosphere of India. Pray for God to sweep through the nation in raw and powerful ways. Pray for the Indians in all of their different religions to come to the truth of the cross.

Paul preached so incredibly when he was in Greece, speaking with people who believed in countless gods.... (Acts 17)

So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,  for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring. And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” That ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers. 

Pioneer

Today I've started preparing our bags for India. Last night Samuel and I skyped with one of our heroes who has been working in India for years.... and I can't even put words to how much my heart is longing to get there!!! I'm also listening to the "Pioneer Conference" with Dutch Sheets that my aunt Illa sent us in the mail this week. Wow wow wow. You can listen to one of Dutch's messages here.

Here is the song Pioneer sung by Rick Pino. It was written by Nancy Honeytree in the 70's during the Jesus People Movement in America. I pray that your spirit would be stirred... to pioneer the lands God is calling you to.

Marathon

Okay people... the marathon season is in full swing! Today we booked our tickets to Ethiopia(Jan/Feb)... and on Monday we're leaving for India(Nov/Dec). Then it's off to the states In March... but more on that later :) And soon after, India again!

God is so incredible. He is the reason for every little thing that I do. My Creator, Savior, Healer, Dad and Friend. I'm so full of love for Him! Nothing in life is sacred to me except God... nothing else matters. Lately when people ask me what I do and I start to share... they say, "ooo, so you're religious." And my answer is always no. Religion is what man creates so that they feel they have a formula to follow... a list of to-do's or not-to-do's that will assure them a good place in life and whatever comes after life. There are lots of religions to choose from if you just want to become a better person and have a new hobby. But if you want life, freedom, truth... you will find that through a relationship with God, His Son Jesus and His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. That's my only formula. That is the only way. Lots of paths come with flashy advertisements for pleasure, success... but there is only ONE way to God and that is through His Son Jesus... believing that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and asking Him to forgive you and fill up your life. Not all paths lead to God... but He will walk any path to meet you where you are and show you the way to go.

My life-goal, the thing that makes me come alive, is to follow God and tell people about Him along the way. I left everything just to chase God. And this is the best life I could have ever found :)

Pray for the persecuted Church

I got this email today from Christian Solidarity Worldwide...


Join a worldwide day of prayer for persecuted Christians
More than 25 pastors are killed in Colombia every year, simply because they lead churches. Right now there are over 2,000 Christians in prison in Eritrea, just because they're Christians. In Iran, Pastor Nadarkhani is facing execution for apostasy (abandoning Islam). And this is just the tip of the iceberg. 


On 6 November 2011, there'll be an International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). It's a special opportunity for the global Church to unite in prayer, raising up situations just like the ones above. 

Joelle

This is the picture on my desktop right now. Me and Joelle!

 Joelle is studying at Heidi Baker's Bibleschool in Mozambique! We don't get to talk much these months because we're always on different continents.. but I do believe she just finished up a ministering in the bush somewhere in Africa.... and she will be taking a trip to Nepal after she finishes her term in Mozambique. We just might see each other in Nepal! 

These pictures were taken in Ethiopia... when Joelle stayed with me for one month there!

If you're a prayer person, please don't forget to pray for the people who are working out on the fields!

Voiceless

 I've been meditating on the prophetic chapters at the end of Isaiah all week. Crying for the lost. Proclaiming these promises over the lands that I love... over the people God has burdened me with. Especially over the voiceless: people plagued with diseases, the starving, child prostitutes, victims of violence, those trapped in trafficking, the aborted and their mothers, victims of "honor killings", the horrendous dark sex-world of prostitution and rape...

^{Isaiah 60}

¹⁷ I will exchange your bronze for gold,
      your iron for silver,
   your wood for bronze,
      and your stones for iron.
   I will make peace your leader
      and righteousness your ruler.
 ¹⁸ Violence will disappear from your land;
      the desolation and destruction of war will end.
   Salvation will surround you like city walls,
      and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there.

 ¹⁹ “No longer will you need the sun to shine by day,
      nor the moon to give its light by night,
   for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light,
      and your God will be your glory.
 ²⁰ Your sun will never set;
      your moon will not go down.
   For the Lord will be your everlasting light.
      Your days of mourning will come to an end.
 ²¹ All your people will be righteous.
      They will possess their land forever,
   for I will plant them there with my own hands
      in order to bring myself glory.
 ²² The smallest family will become a thousand people,
      and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation.
      At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”

Legwarmers

It was pouring down rain yesterday on my walk to school... so I brought my waterproof camera out :) 

Tis the season of legwarmers, scarves, hooded-jackets! For the next week and half that is... then it's on to HOT India for us!

The view from my classroom :) Not bad.

national test

I've been waiting all week to find out if I was qualified to take a national Swedish-language test on October 28th. Found out today that I am. :)

Now that I know this sweet fact that I was longing so badly for, I'm realizing the insane amount of hours I have yet to cram in to these next 2 weeks! Many of my classmates that will also take the test have been in school for a year or more... and I've only been there for a month and a half. The test is only 2 days before we're leaving for India as well! Lots lots lots to do.

But, tomorrow... Samuel and I will take the train to Gothenburg for a much needed day of strolling hand-in-hand through the autumn-crisp cobble stoned allies of Scandinavia. Studying can wait for one day. I need a few hours of snapping photos and cuddling with my man!

Missionary

A missionary isn’t a missionary because they have the ability to sacrifice more than the other Christians. Missionaries that become missionaries for the glam and the save the world ministries they think up on paper will quickly fade. Glam looks more like dust on the mission field. Agendas melt and mix with those preconceived notions into mud at your feet. A missionary is simply a missionary because they love Jesus. Maybe that’s cliché. I like cliché. Maybe it’s not complex enough for fundraisers and conferences. But it is what it is. Love. Pure, undefiled, radical love for Jesus that absolutely must touch someone else. A missionary has the ability to take their intimacy with God to the streets with power. They have the ability to be transformed in their minds to mold into any culture at anytime, no matter the speech, the food, the living conditions, the dress, the danger or the hard soil in which they have been called to sow.

From my Diary a little over one year ago....

Today in Ethiopia, I was in search of fresh "bortocan" or oranges if you don’t speak Amerinja. While thinking how strange it was that I had been searching for this typically common fruit for two days, I remembered that the city had also been out of gas for several weeks and back at home we had no electricity or water. When you’re a missionary, your entire life changes. The topics of a typical day in the western hemisphere become culture shock when you live in Africa. Despite my scattered thoughts though, I was walking next to Holy Spirit so I wasn’t surprised when my spirit-woman fluttered inside me. Before I knew it, I found myself sitting in the sand.

“Selamnacho..” I began with my typical Ethiopian cheeriness. To any other group of women, my cheeks would have been dripping with kisses and my lips stiff from smiling with such extroverted joy… but these women were different. They were the hardest women I’ve seen on this continent, sitting on the dirty ground beneath the fruit stands and the big walls leading to the old city. They were completely inebriated from the drug kat, which proved its power over them by the bright green stains still clinging to their teeth. Brutal scars outlined their faces like a map displaying the course of their lives. Most of the marks were still fresh. Their legs were fully exposed in the late afternoon glow of sunshine, a sight you never see when you live in the fourth holiest Islamic city in the world. A tabletop of torn cardboard centered itself between them as they played some unrecognizable card game and passed a cigarette between themselves. Only one woman responded to my greeting, the rest never even lifted their eyes.

I felt like I belonged. I longed so badly to pick up some spades and hearts and nestle my way between them. I didn’t need to say so many words, I just wanted to be close. They were the most beautiful women with all their flaws, bloodshot eyes and missing teeth. They must have been teenagers somewhere inside their aged exteriors. They had been through too much to merely be a group of young women. As I did my best to squeeze into their lives for just a moment, a small street boy took the mobile from my hand. He apparently belonged to this group of girls. Another woman with the biggest open wound of them all, just on the corner of her eye, explained emotionlessly that she also had a baby. I wondered where that sweet homeless infant must have been. She didn’t look so concerned though.

For a moment I fought back tears as I imagined where they would be in less than an hour when the sun disappeared. I wondered if their hearts filled with dread the way mine did or was it just “clock-in” for them. I felt like I was under water as I searched for words in their language but none of them held enough love in their definitions to speak out clearly. None of them gave me the ability to open my mouth. I wondered if they had ever heard the name of Jesus. Jesus the Son of God. The sinless Man. The One who would only love them, never take advantage of their souls and bodies. The One full of healing and restoration. The true Creator and Lover of the dreadful lives they sat in.

As I walked away, I let the tears flow freely. Many religious Muslim and Orthodox women stared at me, shocked that I had lowered myself to the “bad girls” level. I only continued with pride. I was overflowing with love and desperation all at once… like Romeo and Juliet must have felt, or a best friend who loses their only confinement. It was the love, desperation and heart of the Father for the unreached. For the ones who don’t care enough to even hide who they are or what they do… the ones who reek of sin, rage and pain.

Evangelism is not a complex to-do list. It doesn’t take 2 years of studying a language followed by 10 years of learning a culture before you are ready to reach someone. It’s very simple.  Incorporate the Gospel into your everyday life. When you play a game with, give a gift to, study with a classmate or buy someone coffee, you squeeze yourself into other’s hearts. When this happens, it’s only a matter of time before Jesus squeezes His way in there too.

I've heard it only takes 30 days to make something a habit in your life. Imagine if you share Jesus someway, somehow, with someone everyday. In just one month, you'll be an addict! It will flow naturally.  

“Today it is very fashionable to talk about the poor.  Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them.” -Mother Teresa

God adventurers aren’t afraid to get dirty. They have no problem sitting with smelly sinners or holding the unclean.  They have calloused knees from hours in prayer, dirt under their nails, dust in their hair. They're raw and real. They mirror Jesus.

Ironman in my island hometown!

The Ironman triathlon took place yesterday on my very street in Kailua Kona Hawaii! Mom said the island is packed with people from all over the world. Tens of thousands of athletes applied to be a part of the race, but only 1800 were selected. This video shows the top athletes and a glimpse of the course(watch that at around 8:20 in the clip)... amazing!

2.4 miles swim

112 miles on the bike

26.2 mile run

Happy saturday

I'm not a huge fan of baking. I think it has to do with the fact that I've had so many traumatic experiences. Cooking, I love. Especially ethnic things with lots and lots of spice. When I was in Hawaii cooking for mom and dad, I fixed a lot of Ethiopian and Indian dishes... finally mom said, "You're not cooking anymore. Too many beans.."

My little chocolate rings and pretzels [notice the leopard apron - favorite:) ]

Well, Samuel's working an enormous amount of hours this weekend, so I've forced myself to s-t-o-p studying for a while and do some house-wifey things. First I baked a loaf of homemade, really dark and grainy bread... braided. But it didn't rise. Even though I added two packages of yeast and let it sit for 1.5hr! Something always goes wrong when I touch an oven :( Secondly, I made some chocolate pretzels. They're okay. I'll make up for the not-so-incredible baked goods with a big pot of spicy mexican soup(with beans of course). Happy Saturday.

ps- A cool thing that happened this week: I was talking to a guy in my class on Thursday. He's from Palestine and has a wife and 5 children there that have not gotten their immigration papers approved so they too can move to Sweden. He was so sad and helpless. He's a Muslim and he knows that I'm a Christian... I said that I would pray to my God for him and his family to be reunited soon. I did. And the next day in class... he ran up to me with all the papers... they all got their permanent residency to be here in Sweden and will be on their way shortly.. after one year of separation! I told him it's because I prayed for him! So fun to work as an ambassador for Christ.. just daily sowing seeds and cracking open old creaky doors so the love and light of God can sneak in take over :)

Stomp

S.t.u.d.y.i.n.g. today. A lot. I have a big test coming up in Swedish. But then Stomp started playing through my itunes! I don't think the brief dancing/distraction hurt my efforts too much :) Fling back to some old school Gospel goodness :)

And another good one just for fun :)

Wild Appetite

"A worker's appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him on."

-Proverbs 16:26

Hunger in its entirety is truly unbearable.  It's an invisible force that eats away at a person so deeply that they find themselves unable to function.  It's urgent, wild, hopeless, aching, and deadly if not filled.

You may think you understand hunger but our temporary roller coaster rides of growling tummies and quick-fixes have watered down the true and perfect desperation we need to find when it comes to the things of God.  Pudding and pretzels will never translate our spirit’s appetite.  The rumbling of a spirit is a quake that cannot be ignored.  It can never be quenched with snacky devotionals, sing-a-longs or pictures of someone else’s smorgasbord… those excuses of sustenance still leave you malnourished.  The Bible is described in Matthew 4:4 as bread for our spirits.  We can’t find that in the fast food lane as we run out the door to begin our busy days.  Jesus Himself was wildly hungry saying “my food is to do the will of my Father who sent Me”!

Sometimes you don't know how hungry you are for the supernatural and adventurous kingdom of God until you take your first bite.  Reading about the wonders in Acts and the pursuit of the apostles is astounding, but when you begin writing your own pages based upon the events of your day, you obtain an appetite that exceeds any amount of desire you've ever felt.  This appetite, in turn, makes you an addict of seeing people pray the prayer of salvation, being delivered from demons, beginning to walk in new lives and receive Holy Spirit.

A wild appetite settled securely in the hand of God has no limits.

How do you know when your life and your spirit are yearning for more?  How can you tell when your insides are trying to run out of your skin for an adventure? Hunger is a natural and invisible anticipation that pulsates so vividly within your veins, making it hard to think.  When you can’t give justice to the screaming adjectives that are blurrily muttered in tangled chaos while you sit alone praying in your room, you’re hungry.  When you feel fidgety even in the midst of success and opportunity, you’re really just hungry.  God has created you with this burning desire for thrill and the adventurous journey that comes along.  Will you let that desire be satisfied?

My hungry hero friend Sarah!

Hungry appetites usher in the kind of anticipation that steals away one’s oxygen just before Jack pops out of his box, the anticipation of an expected phone call just before your adrenalin launches you into the air at the sound of ringing.  It’s like the burst of a balloon or the terrible sensation of slamming on brakes.  It’s overwhelming and all consuming. 

Hunger can strike at any age, any location.  It strikes within transition periods between one season and the next, when you least expect it and when you’ve been waiting for it with opened arms.  It calls to you with screaming whispers saying, “Is this all there is to life?  God, there has to be more!” Short bites of God’s presence will begin to make you sick, squirmy, unhappy and uncomfortable because your spirit man is crying out for intimacy, your heart is longing for the deep-end of His Kingdom. 

I believe this hunger hits all of us at one point in our lives, whether we learn to recognize and respond to it or not.  God is a God of greatness and adventure and we are made in His image.

When it does hit you, you will automatically begin a search for fulfillment.  God brings true satisfaction but beware of the fast-pass billboards along the way. 

The sum of life is meant to go beyond the status quo of white picket fences and degrees.  America especially has a trend of making everything about self-promotion and self-reliance.  Nonetheless, true beauty and fulfillment comes not when you are looking into the eyes of your mirror but when you are looking into the eyes of the nations, the faces of the world.

It’s wonderful to pursue dreams and diverse successes but there is something really special about the pursuit of giving yourself away, pouring the substance of your existence into others.  It’s simple.   After all, this was the very core of Jesus’ life on earth.  Spreading His gospel to the unreached world will fill even the deepest and most agonizing cravings you may encounter.  Eating is simple yet profound.

Hunger brings expectancy for greatness, urgency for excellence.  It screams for salvation, signs, wonders, miracles and revival.  Hunger is lustful, raw, unthinkable.  It is the Kingdom of Heaven bottled up inside of you, shaken and near the point of explosion! 

Be Happy

Hello October

This morning, Samuel and I drove out to the Swedish countryside with a breakfast picnic and big thermos of coffee. We found this quiet little lake on the backside of a big, old church and cemetery... and listened to the leaves falling all around us. My lonely camera hasn't been out in a while because I've been too busy with school... it enjoyed the fresh air too :)

Baptize!!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit…”

- Matthew 28:19

Being a God adventurer means that you sign up for the scavenger hunt of a lifetime, the treasure hunt of existence.  It means that you live to search out the beauty of souls coming back to their creator for freedom, restoration and life. 

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 

- 2 Corinthians 5:17

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” 

- Galatians 3:27

When a newly saved disciple decides to symbolically lay their former life down in water and rise up as this new creature, they become the object of a treasure hunt.  I have found some of the world’s most radiant, priceless and breathtaking diamonds and pearls in shallow kiddy pools.  They are immediately transformed into priceless gems, sons and daughters of the King, glimmering radiantly in their new royal apparel!

This video is from 2008, during the week of Christmas in Ethiopia, five young men met Jesus in our Saturday night Church meeting.  That next brilliantly sunny afternoon, after Samuel had spent time discipling them about baptism in water, they were ready to symbolically lay their lives down and begin walking the rest of their existence and eternity thereafter with Jesus.  However, our base was without water... some missionaries, translators and other disciples set out on a quest to obtain jugs which would eventually fill the homemade baptismal we had constructed from 4 benches, a tarp and a few bricks.  The compound erupted in “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!” when these newly baptized young people rose from the water! (We even reused that water for washing dishes and clothes sometimes!)

(It was really cold water.. but worth it!)

My hub wrote a great [blog] about baptism in the Holy Spirit and water ... actually the majority of his blogs has something to do with baptism! So check it out!

My first time baptizing in Bulgaria!
At the hot springs - organically brewed, spa-treatment, baptismal tank!

A group of new-saved disciples from a nearby village... getting ready to be baptized together with the pastors of Harar Church of Joy! Pastor Ashagre in white and Pastor Mohammed in plaid!

Me baptizing in Ethiopia!

Mohammed and a newly clothed-in-Christ Jesus lover!

Here, Ashagre is baptizing an incredible man - Dawit!