Greenland

Before I traveled to Greenland I had only heard that the name, “Greenland”, came from the Norse settler (Eric the red) who tried to convince others to follow him back and populate the island. I guess by telling them it was a “green” land captured their interest and made them want to accompany him there. I knew the island was big and cold, but that’s about all I knew. I recently retuned from a trip there in July. I traveled there with two other people from the mission I work with and a man from the Faeroe Islands, who acted as our guide.

I had met Pall Poulsen (our guide from the Faeroe Islands) a few months ago in Torshamn (the capital city of the Faeroe Islands). At that time we talked about the possibilities of Greater Europe Mission and the Brethren Denomination of the Faeroe Islands working together on a project in Greenland. The idea sounded great because Greater Europe Mission in very interested in collaboration. We are interested in assisting national denominations and Christian organizations in Europe with the work that God is calling them to do.

We traveled in Greenland for 7 days and had a good time learning about the island and the Inuit culture. We saw the work that the Faeroe Islands Christian workers were doing on the island and tried to explore ways that our mission could assist. All and all we had a great time. Make sure you check out the pictures from our trip on the right side of my blog under links. The nature of Greenland is really unique and beautiful, the towns are quaint and colorful and people we met were friendly. Greenland has been under home rule since 1979 and at the same time still has very close connections with Denmark.

I hope to return to Greenland soon and have a part in what the Lord is doing there. All the details are not clear and it will take time to find the best ways of assisting the work there. As a regional director for Greater Europe Mission in the Nordic/Baltic countries I continue to learn about the 8 countries in my region and their contact and impact in other places in Europe and abroad. One thing I know for sure, as I travel and visit in my region, is that God is at work! He loves the peoples of Europe and is drawing them into a relationship with Himself.

Vårberg Festival

Recently we had a great time here in Vårberg. Our Church, Elim in Skärholmen and Christian Family Chapel from Jacksonville Florida joined together to have some real fun in Stockholm. We spent time in Vårberg getting to know many children, teenagers and adults.

From Monday through Friday we had activities at a local recreation center. We started off Monday to Wednesday mornings serving coffee at the Vårberg shopping mall and handing out fliers so that the locals in the community knew what we were up too. Each evening from Monday through Thursday at 5 o’clock in the afternoon we had a children’s program and then later on between 8 to 10 we spent time with teenagers etc… Some of the activities that were participated in was street dancing, a soccer tournament, bicycle repairs, a skateboard demonstration etc… each evening the youth from Jacksonville played music and sang and the rest of us grilled hotdogs and listened to the music and testimonies from the youth about how Jesus Christ has made a difference in their lives.

On Friday we all celebrated a Swedish midsummer with the people from Vårberg. We decorated the midsummer pole with branches and flowers from the woods and danced the midsummer dances. We also had a group of Korean youth come and entertain us with dance and mime.

All in all, the week was a great success. We had fun and we had a chance to get to know many people in the neighborhood. The youth from Jacksonville had a chance to meet youth from Sweden and also youth from several countries in the Middle East. The multicultural community of Vårberg opened up many good conversations and new friendships were made. Check out the pictures in the Link Vårberg Festival.