Movies at Uturn

Well, we had an incredible night at uturn again last night. We had 16 kids! 16! That is a large group. Again we spoke about hearing God's voice, and that the kids aren't too young to hear His voice, and when we listen to His voice, He blesses us! Bryan (one of our interns) did the worship and gave a message about how God spoke to him about missions and how he has followed that call. Again, the room was still, and the kids were listening.

God is working!

Then I led the response time, and the kids gathered in groups and shared what God was saying to them and prayed for each other. Way cool!

We had a break afterwards and ate ice cream. Marte, one of girls, led the entertainment portion, showing 2 videos that the kids have made along with 2 crazy big group games. Afterward, we watched all the movies we've made the past year with the youth group, and it was like showing our family movies. It was so much fun!

The best part of the evening is that the kids didn't want to go home. They all ended up hanging out at one of the kids' houses that night, watching a movie, and playing soccer until like 1 a.m.

All of what is happening with the youth group right now is what we have been praying and praying and praying and praying for over the last two years. God is really working! Thanks for all your support and prayers.... It couldn't have happened without you!

How the Spirit moves...

I had such a funny opportunity to minister to someone the other day. A couple of the neighborhood kids have been begging me to play soccer the other day, so me and one of the interns went to play soccer on Monday night. I am not the best soccer player in the world, so I was happy that I was only play with a small group of kids. But then a huge group of kids wanted to play with us. And all these kids have been playing soccer probably since they were 3 years old or so, so they were all better than like 100 Americans combined, seriously.

I was playing defense, and I was trying to grab the ball from one of the kids I knew, and I kicked his toe REALLY hard. It hurt him so bad that he actually sat down on the side and took off his shoe. This kid is a trained soccer player, so these things happen all the time, so you know it hurts when he has to actually sit down. Anyway, I felt HORRIBLE worrying that maybe his toe was broken or something, so I asked him where it hurt. He told me which toes hurt, and I placed my hand over his toes and prayed a short prayer -- "Jesus, heal Snorre's toe. Amen." And that was it. About 20 seconds later, he was putting on his shoe again and back in the game.

I am a 100% convinced that God healed those toes because it went so quickly. And I know for a fact that this kid and his family are not Christians, so I thought, "What a testimony to the reality of God in this little boy's life." Isn't that cool the small moments God uses to minister to people? I like to think that this little boy will remember this moment for a long time to come.

God's blessings to you all!

Sunday service!

Sunday service was really cool tonight. Worship was the best. There is one guy that is from Oregon that is an exchange student here for three months and found our church and wants to serve in our church as much as he can, and he is FAITHFUL! So cool. Anyway, he plays violin, and today was his first day on worship team. It was SO beautiful to have him playing the violin. And then another guy from Chicago was playing a conga drum. You could totally tell that the worship was coming from these guys' hearts because I just wanted to worship today with everything inside me. So cool!

Anyway, that's all I have to say. Good night! Be sure to comment. :)

Another great night of Uturn!

Uturn is going through some changes as of late in our church. Terje, our youth pastor, has stepped down, so that he can focus on the children's ministry, and Adam, fellow missionary from the States, has agreed to step in as youth pastor with the intention of training up a Norwegian youth pastor to take over the youth group. We are really going through some good changes. I think I have mentioned before that 4 kids have been saved in our youth group over the past 2 months and a fifth outside of the youth group has been saved through one of our youth group members. The kids are really hungry for more of God and for being trained up and discipled. Adam is all about getting the youth trained and discipled so that they have responsibility and feel the youth group is theirs and at the same time, they grow in Jesus. Today I began to disciple Hansi, one of the boys that has been recently saved, in taking the PowerPoint for youth group. He was really good, and it took him no time to figure out everything. Then Adam asked me to speak tonight in going along with the nature of things happening right now with the youth group -- about listening to the voice of God and being obedient to what He says.

I have to tell you that the Holy Spirit was soooo strong in the room when I was preaching tonight. I could really tell that He was dealing with the kids' hearts about being hungry to hear His voice and being willing to obey what He asks us to do. I have never had the kids so quiet when I've taught before. I have never preached so well in Norwegian. It is truly amazing.

God is truly at work with our kids. It will only be a matter of time before the group grows and more kids are saved and the kids are the ones leading the group while us leaders stand behind them and encourage them with everything we have. God is so good!

God's blessing to you all. If you read this, be sure to comment. Click on the "comment" link and click on "anonymous," so that you can leave comments without having to sign-up for a Blogger account.

Looking forward to hearing from you, and God bless!

Gretchen

Youth Leaders' Weekend

Hey there! Well, yesterday I came back from a youth leaders' weekend we held at one of our churches in Stathelle (2 hours north of Kristiansand.) All the youth leaders of Foursquare Norway came together, along with the student leaders for each of the groups. We had a fabulous time and talked about the culture in our youth groups and building an environment that is warm and full of Jesus. We also talked about how we can get the youth to attend service on Sundays. In between the teaching and prayers and feedback we shared with each other, we also had a great time of fellowship, eating pizza together and playing silly games. I really felt like "one of the crowd" and in tune with the other youth leaders for Norway for probably one of the first times since I've been here. It is so good to know that you've broken ground and are accepted as a "Norwegian" in the Norwegian society. I am glad to know that every day I am more and more "Norwegian" and able to minister even more to the people here. Many other people have noticed the same in me as well which is a great encouragement.

Have a wonderful evening!

Uturn

Tonight was a great uturn night. We had 14 kids -- 14! Two of them were visitors. There were more girls than boys, BUT I believe that will change.

Tonight we announced the changing of youth pastors. Terje is stepping out of his position to be the children's pastor, and Adam our church worship leader and fellow missionary from LA will be leading the youth group. Adam's role is to lead so that he can train up someone to eventually take his place. We all really sense that this is totally God -- to hear how God was calling both Terje and Adam at the same time is so cool. It was a bit of a bittersweet time when Terje said that he would be stepping out tonight, but we are all genuinely excited as to what God is going to do in the future. Adam has tons of youth group experience under his belt, and I anticipate learning a lot from him.

Tomorrow I go up to Stathelle for national youth leaders' meetings. I can't wait. I should be fun!

Great blessings and good night!

Yes, it's late, I know...

But I love to write in the moment something is happening or has just happened!

Tonight we had a "Piano Night" at the church. We need an electric piano for the church, so we thought it would be cool to have a night to fundraise money for the new piano. Everyone dressed in their best -- men in suits and women in nice evening dresses. And we had some wonderful food. We had some really fun entertainment like a "first round" Idol competition where everyone sings completely horrible, and we had totally mean judges too! I was one of the contestants -- a complete diva who thought she was something else and sang so well. It was so much fun! Also we had a video from our resident drama major which was hilarious. And, of course, John Henry "played" the piano. We just laughed and laughed. Anyway, we made a piano on some poster board, and people could buy a piano key from 50 kroner ($8) up to 2000 kroner ($325). And the best part is that when all the keys have been bought, we will have a drawing for people to win really cool prizes like a "culture night" for two in the city -- dinner and a play, or a weekend in Oslo, etc. Not all the keys were bought, but we raised over 13,000 kroner ($2,000) for a new piano... we're over halfway there! And only 33 people were there! So there will surely be many more at church tomorrow that will buy more keys. So exciting!

Then afterward, I was invited to Britt-Ellen's house for a movie with some other girls from the church. It was a really nice time. And so I have just come home and taken a shower and will go to bed...

I hope to get some pictures from someone from this evening because I didn't have my camera with me. It was SO MUCH fun!

Uturn and Obedience

Hey there! Last night we had Uturn and had ten kids with us -- six girls and four boys. I was feeling really low on energy, but then when it came time for Uturn, I had all the energy in the world. We began with a video devotion. I forget the name of the video, but it was from Nooma publishers. It started by going through the door of a restaurant with really cool music and then it focused in on the speaker, who was sitting in a restaurant with all kinds of people eating around him. He then spoke a message about letting our lives be about loving Jesus and not about a bunch of rituals. It really was a great video, and the kids loved it. We had some good discussion right after the video. Then half of the group went with Terje to Harvest Cry -- youth evangelism meetings that have been going on this week in Kristiansand since Wednesday. (By the way over 100 have been saved because of these meetings! Praise God!) The other half stayed behind with David and me, and we bought some pizzas and chips and chocolate and soda. Without David or I directing any of the conversation, we suddenly found ourselves talking about the video we saw earlier or about being filled with the Holy Spirit and other things to do with God. Very cool. By the way, have I mentioned that two of our kids have been saved in the past year? Isn't that exciting?

In the midst of all of this, I am learning about obedience. I have been struggling and struggling and struggling to hear God's voice when He really is speaking loud and clear to me, I am just not obeying. I liken it to when Jacob was wrestling with God -- He wrestled and wrestled and wrestled all night until God put his hip out of place. It's like I have been wrestling with God so much wanting Him to speak to me, but all along He is speaking. I am not willing to stop and listen. So God I just need you to dislocate my hip and keep me here until I actually learn to hear and obey your voice! Hearing God's voice is two-fold- it is the listening and the obedience. If we aren't willing to obey what we've heard, then we will never hear God's voice. Often we are so distressed because we can't hear His voice. Well, then I think it is time for us to sit down and be honest with ourselves. Are we truly following what He says when He speaks?

As you go throughout your day, I encourage you to truly HEAR His voice. I am say the same to myself.

Jentekveld!

That's Norwegian for "girl's night!"

I received a large shipment of American junk food about a week ago from one of my professors from Bible College. The story goes is that he sent it in April, and we thought it got lost in the mail. So he sent another package to replace the other one. Well, I finally received the first package, and it was packed full of all the American delights we have such as Doritos, Oreos, Ritz Bits, Chips o'hoy, etc, etc, etc... And knowing that another shipment was on its way, I thought, "I need to eat up this food so I have room for the coming shipment!" So I had the idea, "American junk food night!"

Yesterday on the way to church, I asked Julia, John Henry's youngest daughter, "I want to do an American junk food night with just the girls in the youth group. When should we do it?" And she said, "Um, TONIGHT!" I said, "It doesn't work, maybe another night during the week?" And she said," TOMORROW NIGHT!" haha She couldn't wait. So the girls in Uturn invited their friends, and there were thirteen girls at the WorldBase house tonight! That's more than we have on Friday nights in youth group sometimes. And three of them that came tonight haven't come to Uturn at all. Cool!

So we sat together, ate junk food, and I gave a devotion from Psalm 139, and said that God has made us, and we are all beautiful and that we need to encourage one another in that. Then we ate some more junk food and watched "Charlie's Angels." Girl power!

It was a wonderful night... no hidden agenda, just the love of Jesus and building a safe environment for the girls where they are loved and accepted for the beautiful creation they are. One of the girls said, "Gretchen, thank you so much. It was so much fun and just what I needed tonight." Mission accomplished.

For more photos see: http://gepik.photosite.com

Rudi Myntevik Concert!

I just came home from a Rudi Myntevik concert. At only twenty-six years old, he is one of the most popular worship leaders in Norway. I have always wanted to go to one of his concerts, but everytime it was at either at a time I couldn't go or I didn't have the money to pay for the concert.



I don't remember how long ago it was, but I prayed, "God I would love to see Rudi Myntevik in concert. Please, next time he is in town, let it be at a time I can attend and something I can afford -- maybe even free if possible." Tonight I had no idea what we were doing for youth group since I've been gone the first few Fridays this Fall, and Terje came to me (our youth pastor) and said that everyone was going to the Rudi Myntevik concert at Filadelfia (local Assemblies of God church) tonight at 8 p.m. and that it was FREE! And come to find out, later Rudi said that he will be moving to London soon which means that we probably won't see him in concert for a long while.

Talk about an answered prayer!

I was feeling really tired though today after work, and I thought, "Maybe I will just stay home." But then I thought, first of all, I can't just not enjoy a blessing that God has given me in response to a prayer, and second of all, I can't just not be with the youth group because I am tired. Ministry happens even when you are tired!

So I took a nap and went to the concert. It was just FABULOUS! Rudi is a worshipper and his songs are simple and full of meaning all at the same time. One song tonight just swept me again... It goes:

Igjen og igjen og igjen og igjen (Again and again and again and again)
Kan vi synger (Can we sing)
Du er trofast (You are faithful)
Du er Gud (You are God)

Igjen og igjen og igjen og igjen (Again and again and again and again)
Ja vi sa (Yes, we said)
Du er trofast (You are faithful)
Du er Gud (You are God)

Then at another point, Rudi was just singing "Jeg lengter etter deg" (I long after you). And I broke. "I long after You, Father."

I was blessed tonight and brought a little bit closer to His heart.