Monday, March 25, 2013
Hej guys!
I wish I was better at keeping you updated with what has been going on these past few months. Very often I lack inspiration to write down the many things I have done. To update you quickly this is what is going on. I have two weeks left of working with the UMU team. This is because in April 4 I will start my new school/ class "School of Worship" (SOW). If you have no idea why I am doing this you can check out this blogpost. I am very nervous and excited to do this school, and learn more about worship.
Not so many people know but I have actually started to learn how to play the guitar! Yes it is so exciting! Haha. Funny story to share, I have been trying to push away the idea of me being involved in worship. At the beginning of the year I had very beautiful long nails, if you play the guitar you know that it is fairly impossible to play the guitar with long nails. My problem was that I knew I had to practice guitar, but my nails were so cute I did not want to clip them, (I know I am such a girl! Haha) It was a bright morning in Sweden, I lay in my bed, took a look at my left hand, and it happened. One of my fingernails was broken! The funny thing is that I immediately knew that it was no coincidence, I knew God had done this. Yeah it may sound ridiculous but I know Him so well, that I knew it was Him. I look up and say, "Ok God I get it, I will start practicing playing guitar.” I have been practicing ever since; I use the guitar we have in the prayer room since I don't have my own. I am not the greatest but I can actually play a few songs now!
So, here are small updates on what I have been doing in Sweden for the past few months.
Mission Possible
Towards the end of January, youth pastors from the Gothenburg area had a gathering, called “Mission Possible”. Being part of the UMU team we got to receive the teachings that were given, and we also got to promote DTS! It was very nice to see so many young leaders get together and to get the youth in Sweden motivated to rise up. This time was special to me because my loved grandmother had just died and I was in deep pain. The main speaker of the conference prayed for me and after that I felt way better. It was nice to get off of base and get closer to actual Swedish culture.
Youth Group in Torslanda
With the UMU team, we visit youth groups regularly. To me as a foreigner in Sweden, there are two kinds of youth groups, those who want to speak in English and those that don’t. The youth group in Torslanda is definitively a group that does speak in English, which is great to me since I can actually communicate and feel useful. This group is a led by Dan Olofsson a former DTS student from Restenäs, who is doing a great job at leading this group into a real encounter with Jesus. Being in this group was amazing, I had a lot of fun being able to talk and be funny. I also got to share about being real with God. Talking to Him as a friend and not being afraid to tell him how you feel, if you are angry, frustrated, happy or sad. Overall how important and how great it is to know God, and how as you get to know Him, you start to know His voice and how even the little things in life come from Him. I really enjoyed sharing about that, but I think my favorite time was in the end where we got in group of 3 to pray. I was talking to Emilia and Viktor, they had no about how to pray. I told them it was a conversation, just like you would talk to a friend. I was so excited to tell them how I talk to God. In the end I encouraged them to pray for each other. They gave a small prayer, nothing too fancy, but simple. I thought it was beautiful. After we left the group I found out that Viktor is actually a new believer! It was so good that we got to be there to teach the basics about a relationship with God. God knew that we had to give that message, wow!
Weekend in Tidaholm
I think one of the greatest things about the UMU team is that we are a mobile team. Every once in a while we get to travel to different parts of Sweden and be speak at churches and Youth groups about missions, and whatever God tells us to talk about. This weekend we got to go to one of our team member’s home church. It was very nice to visit the church. It was a bit of a challenge for me. Before every event, we pray to see who will do what. We decided that I was going to speak on Surrender on Saturday night. It was a bit of a challenge since it has been so long since I have prepared a sermon, and my relationship with God was not at its greatest point. I was going to speak on surrender though, haha. I had to surrender my nerves, my emotions my actions to God. I spend a good time with Him before giving the sermon and it was nice. Just like the good ol’ times when you surrender and let God do what you cannot do. It is always best to let Him to what He does best…be God.
School in Gothenburg
Many times it is great to be able to work with the local churches, it is few times you get an opportunity to actually speak about God to a group of students from many religious backgrounds, including Muslims. Two times a month, every Wednesday, we get the opportunity to visit a school in the city of Gothenburg. We have a whole school day with students that are around 15-16 years old. We give the students talks on topics that they have expressed interest in. The times I have been there we have talked about the Holy Spirit and about Relationships. Anna, the elder of our team gave an amazing teaching, explaining God’s view on relationships and sex. For the very first time I got to share a testimony of my hurtful experience with my ex-boyfriend. God had once said before I came to Sweden that He knew that I had been in pain because of that relationship, and that it will not be in vain. I can see why He said that, now others can learn from my mistakes. My friends said it was exactly the kind of testimony teenagers need to listen to. I am not sure how my testimony affected the group of girls especially, but I know that they will remember what I said.
So, what now Steph?
I only have one more week left in the UMU team. I have enjoyed being part of this amazing group of people. Please pray for us, on Wednesday we will be going to the school in Gothenburg again. This time we will have the students do personality tests, learning styles tests etc… This is so that they can find out how they are wired, and figure out that we are all wired differently and that is ok. Pray that God will give us words of encouragement for them and that we may be able to guide them well.
I wish I was better at keeping you updated with what has been going on these past few months. Very often I lack inspiration to write down the many things I have done. To update you quickly this is what is going on. I have two weeks left of working with the UMU team. This is because in April 4 I will start my new school/ class "School of Worship" (SOW). If you have no idea why I am doing this you can check out this blogpost. I am very nervous and excited to do this school, and learn more about worship.
Not so many people know but I have actually started to learn how to play the guitar! Yes it is so exciting! Haha. Funny story to share, I have been trying to push away the idea of me being involved in worship. At the beginning of the year I had very beautiful long nails, if you play the guitar you know that it is fairly impossible to play the guitar with long nails. My problem was that I knew I had to practice guitar, but my nails were so cute I did not want to clip them, (I know I am such a girl! Haha) It was a bright morning in Sweden, I lay in my bed, took a look at my left hand, and it happened. One of my fingernails was broken! The funny thing is that I immediately knew that it was no coincidence, I knew God had done this. Yeah it may sound ridiculous but I know Him so well, that I knew it was Him. I look up and say, "Ok God I get it, I will start practicing playing guitar.” I have been practicing ever since; I use the guitar we have in the prayer room since I don't have my own. I am not the greatest but I can actually play a few songs now!
So, here are small updates on what I have been doing in Sweden for the past few months.
Mission Possible
Towards the end of January, youth pastors from the Gothenburg area had a gathering, called “Mission Possible”. Being part of the UMU team we got to receive the teachings that were given, and we also got to promote DTS! It was very nice to see so many young leaders get together and to get the youth in Sweden motivated to rise up. This time was special to me because my loved grandmother had just died and I was in deep pain. The main speaker of the conference prayed for me and after that I felt way better. It was nice to get off of base and get closer to actual Swedish culture.
Youth Group in Torslanda
With the UMU team, we visit youth groups regularly. To me as a foreigner in Sweden, there are two kinds of youth groups, those who want to speak in English and those that don’t. The youth group in Torslanda is definitively a group that does speak in English, which is great to me since I can actually communicate and feel useful. This group is a led by Dan Olofsson a former DTS student from Restenäs, who is doing a great job at leading this group into a real encounter with Jesus. Being in this group was amazing, I had a lot of fun being able to talk and be funny. I also got to share about being real with God. Talking to Him as a friend and not being afraid to tell him how you feel, if you are angry, frustrated, happy or sad. Overall how important and how great it is to know God, and how as you get to know Him, you start to know His voice and how even the little things in life come from Him. I really enjoyed sharing about that, but I think my favorite time was in the end where we got in group of 3 to pray. I was talking to Emilia and Viktor, they had no about how to pray. I told them it was a conversation, just like you would talk to a friend. I was so excited to tell them how I talk to God. In the end I encouraged them to pray for each other. They gave a small prayer, nothing too fancy, but simple. I thought it was beautiful. After we left the group I found out that Viktor is actually a new believer! It was so good that we got to be there to teach the basics about a relationship with God. God knew that we had to give that message, wow!
Weekend in Tidaholm
I think one of the greatest things about the UMU team is that we are a mobile team. Every once in a while we get to travel to different parts of Sweden and be speak at churches and Youth groups about missions, and whatever God tells us to talk about. This weekend we got to go to one of our team member’s home church. It was very nice to visit the church. It was a bit of a challenge for me. Before every event, we pray to see who will do what. We decided that I was going to speak on Surrender on Saturday night. It was a bit of a challenge since it has been so long since I have prepared a sermon, and my relationship with God was not at its greatest point. I was going to speak on surrender though, haha. I had to surrender my nerves, my emotions my actions to God. I spend a good time with Him before giving the sermon and it was nice. Just like the good ol’ times when you surrender and let God do what you cannot do. It is always best to let Him to what He does best…be God.
School in Gothenburg
Many times it is great to be able to work with the local churches, it is few times you get an opportunity to actually speak about God to a group of students from many religious backgrounds, including Muslims. Two times a month, every Wednesday, we get the opportunity to visit a school in the city of Gothenburg. We have a whole school day with students that are around 15-16 years old. We give the students talks on topics that they have expressed interest in. The times I have been there we have talked about the Holy Spirit and about Relationships. Anna, the elder of our team gave an amazing teaching, explaining God’s view on relationships and sex. For the very first time I got to share a testimony of my hurtful experience with my ex-boyfriend. God had once said before I came to Sweden that He knew that I had been in pain because of that relationship, and that it will not be in vain. I can see why He said that, now others can learn from my mistakes. My friends said it was exactly the kind of testimony teenagers need to listen to. I am not sure how my testimony affected the group of girls especially, but I know that they will remember what I said.
So, what now Steph?
I only have one more week left in the UMU team. I have enjoyed being part of this amazing group of people. Please pray for us, on Wednesday we will be going to the school in Gothenburg again. This time we will have the students do personality tests, learning styles tests etc… This is so that they can find out how they are wired, and figure out that we are all wired differently and that is ok. Pray that God will give us words of encouragement for them and that we may be able to guide them well.
In April 4, I start my
next season in the School of Worship. I have a large mix of emotions for this
next school. People ask me how I feel about it and I am not sure what to say. I
am excited yet a little nervous for the challenges that are about to come for
me. I love singing, I love worship, and I love Jesus so much. I am very glad
that God has been asking me to be involved in worship. I want to sing with all
of my heart to Him. I can’t wait to tell you stories of what God will do in my
school. Please pray for me in this time, it will definitively be a challenge
for me and I also still need finances to pay for the school.
All the best to you guys! Thank you for reading my long update! Thank you so, so much for praying for me, I greatly appreciate it. Please keep on praying for me. J
All the best to you guys! Thank you for reading my long update! Thank you so, so much for praying for me, I greatly appreciate it. Please keep on praying for me. J
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