The seeds that are being planted

People are always asking what it is that we are doing here in Malmö.  And since we’re updating today in the summer (and the sun is shining, hurrah!), we’ve been spending time working in the garden.  Actually, “working” is a casual term.  We’ve been pouring ourselves into the garden, as the weeds threaten to take over and we are longing for a bit of summer color to burst forth.

When the sun shines and we've had some rain ~

 

Wish you could appreciate the little pond that is to the left near the fence

There has been plenty of time to reflect while tearing up the weeds, cutting the grass, cutting the weeds (yes, they are everywhere!), preparing the soil, planting the seeds, pruning the flowers that are already growing, and looking for those nasty slugs and snails that are making their presence known by the sections of our beautiful hostas that are slowly disappearing this summer, thanks to their munching on the leaves!

 

Tearing up the weeds?? You might wonder what that looks like in ministry, and for this we offer the example of our prayer walks.  It’s so important as we move about in ministry, that we gather a team that prays faithfully in our local church but also out on the streets of our city.

Getting our steps in while we explore the neighbors in our city and pray for God's peace to reign in the hearts of those who call Malmö home.

 

The seeds that are being planted ~ in the lives of our teenagers and young adults.  This phone represents a young adult event we have started monthly on a Saturday morning.  Gathering around brunch and a guest speaker, and one Sunday evening with a special concert by Terese Fredenwall (click here to enjoy one of her songs in English, which she played in the Swedish qualifying competition known as Melodifestivalen, which is the pathway to choosing Sweden’s candidate to compete in the Eurovision music festival).  Her testimony is powerful!  Never and now I can forgive were important words that she shared with our young adults.

We ask everyone to leave their cell phones on the piano so that we can have their attention ~ and it works!

If you have followed our story thru the years, you know that språkcafé (our weekly Swedish language café) has been a highlight of our week.  We always gather in the Café Oasen (the Oasis Café) on a Thursday evening, though now in the summer we take a casual break from a “formal” structured language café and are offering Thursday evenings as movie nights at church.  Our group of 22 who gathered last week to watch an episode of The Chosen series about the life of Jesus included people from all ages and all generations, all nationalities, all walks of life:  some seasoned church goers, some curious souls just from our contacts at church (from a taco event or our language café) and some of us just looking to have fun and gather together on a Thursday summer evening in Malmö.

Café oasen ~ where so much of ministry happens, where untruths (weeds) are uprooted, where seeds (truth)are planted, and lots of coffee is consumed!

 

 

Building up others in their knowledge of Jesus and how to share Jesus in this increasingly secular world we live in has been a top priority for us, as well as equipping the church with the skills to share their faith with their neighbor.  In this past year, we participated  (both as students but also as leaders with cross cultural experience and a sensitivity to our immigrant brothers and sisters) in a course known as Till Jordens Ytterste Gräns (in English “to the ends of the earth").  Here you see Steve catching a breath before our classes in Jönköping while visiting the Swedish match museum (Tändsticksmuseet). 

 

It was a rainy day, but a great moment for us to catch our breath and enjoy a pause...and a bit of important Swedish history ~

 

Skip Bo.  Skip Bo.  Skip Bo!  For security reasons we can’t introduce you to our favorite Skip Bo partner, who also is known as a local champion in the circles that we hang with in Malmö!  Table games are way too much fun, in any language, with as few as 3 and as many as 8.  I suppose, in going back to the garden analogy, this might be the watering of the seeds that have been planted.  Spending time together, with someone who has made their journey to Europe and Sweden unaccompanied by family, or with Swedes who have all their family just within a day’s journey apart ~ hanging out is a part of the watering and maturing process of the seeds being planted.

Choose your game: SkipBo, SkyJo, 99, Phase 10 ~ it's all about learning language, game skills and just plain having fun as we hang out and work in God's garden ~

 

 

Go grow your garden.  See what God can do!