Time To Serve Update 1
THE international Time to be Holy team morphed into an evangelistic brigade and invaded Denmark this week. They broke into four groups and these are first-person dispatches from the front lines.
Group 1
We've now had two days in Aalborg, Denmark. In that time we have held four open-air meetings, filled with singing and testimonies. We have also held a service at the Skagen Corps with the corps folk. At our open airs we have been giving out pamphlets with Bible verses and the Salvation Army's contact details. We've had a good response to the open-airs, quite a number of people have stopped to listen to us, and have actually stayed for the whole time. Quite a few young people have stayed to listen too, and we have been able to talk to them at the end of the meetings. We are now preparing for an international worship night tomorrow in which we hope and pray that people that we have met in the streets will come to and feel welcome.
Blessings from Aalborg!
Group 2
We’re in Ordense. And the reason our presence has been helpful is that it's a much older corps, so there's a need for new people to come in and not many hands to do the outreach, e.g. letter box drop.
We've spent a lot of our days so far walking the streets around the corps, praying and dropping fliers for the bbq tomorrow. The 'Garden Party' will be a way of engaging new people and letting them know the church is there in their community. We're believing for a great response as there is so much potential in the area.
We also had a night with the youth of the corps. There were about 10 young people who showed up, most of whom are from Africa. We shared food and and some info about ourselves. The kids then decided tgo get up and share about themselves. We spent some time in worship and Teja shared his testimony. It was a good opportunity to build relationship and encourage them in their participation with the corps.
We've really valued the time spent with our officers, Frank and Elsebeth. They are amazing people with and inspiring heart for their community. We're learning a lot from them, while doing the letter box drop has been a huge help for them as they wouldn’t have been able to do it alone.
Tomorrow we attend a kindergarten, then prepare for the community bbq in the afternoon.
Group 3
We are in Copenhagen now...
We arrived on Tuesday, we met Major Kurt Pederson, his wife Helle Lehim Pederson and his son Matthias Lehim Pederson, Check in @ Hotel Selandia, ate dinner, walked around the city. (Serving Oneself)
On Wednesday: Serving People at home
We went to Omsorgstjenesten (Service Centre) in Grundtvigsvej, helped major to feed the people (around 25 people). During breakfast we talked and shared stories with those people. After that we had morning prayers (sing songs and pray), then there was one woman who open her heart to the Lord and felt His presence and want to come more. Then they divided us into 3 groups and we went to three different houses to help, to clean and tidy. The people that we helped are so happy and blessed. Many of the people helped were also open to prayer.
On Thursday: Serving in Open Air (in Fælledparken)
We met Captain Lone Lehim in Helgesensgade. Then we went to the park to give out leaflets and asked people to try free spiritual reading. Spiritual readings are a technique where we use different language (‘spiritual reading’ instead of prayer) and listening prayer to get people to meet Jesus. This is very important in Denmark because so many people are biased against religion. 10 people came to try, no confirmation that they are saved, but we definitely changed their hearts. All of them were very open to receive prayer and guidance after the time we were able to share asking God for specific words for their lives. Many were visibly moved by God's love. We had a bouncy castle and other games for the kids as well. We talked and prayed with many people (over a hundred) in that park.
Friday: Serving in community church
Friday finds the team preparing and conducting the meetings at the community gathering in Grundtvigsvej. Nchimunya will preach, Bryony will testify, Natalia and Laura will be singing and teaching a song in spanish. All of us will be on duty in offering prayer and spiritual readings to all present (in the room next door). Many of the community members will have already met and been impacted by the teams service so we are expecting a harvest of souls. The evening will be the leadership of the camp service in Baggersminde.
Group 4
Things in Helsingør have been going well. For the past two days we have had a bounce castle set up in the main plaza of town. We've been doing free face paint as well and its been very popular in the town. While we have been able to meet many people, we are challenged in overcoming the language barrier. Many people can speak some English, but many cannot, or it is very limited. We've been able to explain simply what the Salvation Army is to many people and how we are tying to show God's love to people in a practical way. We also invited many of the families from the plaza to an 'international day' at the corps. We're planning a short meeting to highlight things from our respective countries. Within we will testify to the Lord's saving and sanctifying work in our lives. With a clear gospel presentation hopefully we will see some give their lives to the Lord as a result.
We also had a showing of the movie 'facing the giants' and some discussion of the movie after. One man who volunteers at the corps has declared as a result of the movie and discussion that he is finally ready to say that he is a Christian. He says that this is the first time he has really trusted God. Hallelujah.
From Helsingør Brigade.
Group 5
This group stayed at the National Camp to participate with 150 young people and a great team of dedicated leaders in music, dance, arts and crafts, and the Gospel. The camp is notable also for mixing the traditional music camp clientele with the group that normally accesses Salvation Army social services.
Praise God that about 20 people have been saved and many more have responded to an invitation for holiness. One small group of campers had planned to interrupt a voluntary devotional meeting and mock the worshippers but when they entered the room the power of God convicted them and they found themselves at the front of the hall in tears responding to the salvation appeal. Hallelujah. There are victories being one each day and we give all glory to God!