Friends! We are overwhelmed by the response of people on the Harvest Field Tour… (search on Facebook for more information). To speak about the spiritual situation in Sweden and to awaken awareness about it is one of the major objectives of the tour… Our desire is to build partnerships with individuals, churches and organizations to further the cause of church planting and missions in Sweden.

As I reflect on the first two weeks of the tour I am touched by the encounters with many individuals from the young men and women which we met at our first day at Bethel Seminary to older folks out there (70-90+ years) with their connections to the old homeland Sweden, how precious they are; many of them are praying for the nation of their forefathers. I remember a young man with Down Syndrome who I met at one of the churches where we ministered and who asked me how he could get involved in Sweden as he felt that he (only having been a Christian for two years) was tired of not getting involved in missions! What a man!

From the left Jenny Wahlström, John van Dinther, Bill Ankerberg (a great man and friend of Interact-EFK, New Life and Sweden), Mattias Ristholm and Stewart Webster. Not on the picture is Emil Lundaahl, but if you follow the link you will find a great worship service here… (Click on watch service)

I think of others who facilitated our tour and who have been such a blessing as relationships were build and some understood the depth of the need in Sweden. Whether having big meetings with large crowds or small meetings with a handful of people I feel that at every occasion the Lord has been releasing new and open doors.  It is important to realize though that it is not enough for people to be touched in just one meeting. Let’s be honest about it with the challenges of communication and the amount of input and information that we get every day about the needs in our world easily removes the focus on the matter and needs which we present. It is not enough to be touched emotionally… emotions go up and down and are deceptive. We need to pray that God’s Spirit will remind people of that what He spoke so that it will bear lasting fruit!

Please pray with us for that; that the hundreds, thousands of people whom we have met and were able to share with that they will hear the voice of God to make a difference through engagement in prayer, through partnerships, by going either short or long term and by releasing resources for the cause!

I am sure that you will like the worship service in Whittier Community Church with great music and footage of the team… go and enjoy the folk music from Mattias and friends and also Jenny’s great new song!

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

John