sweden update.

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for your prayers over this past week or two. Everyone has arrived safely home from outreach trips, and each person is encouraged by what the Lord has done in each place and in each heart. I've heard some great stories from the other students and staff members.

Our Sweden trip was absolutely amazing! We stayed with Mike and Sofia Ortiz and Joel Wickstrom, who are leading a Bible study in Stockholm. It was a sweet time of fellowship, laughing, cooking, eating, walking, exploring Stockholm, and hanging out together. We flew in on Tuesday, and hung out at their house all evening. Wednesday and Thursday we spent walking all over Stockholm, having coffee, doing a little shopping, and enjoying the beautiful weather! The entire week was sunny and bright and warm. It was so refreshing! On Wednesday night we met up with Joel and another friend for a prayer time. We climbed uphill to a tower that overlooks the city [Stockholm is city made up of 14 islands], and saw the city at sunset as we prayed. It was really cool!

Friday was spent getting ready for the women's retreat. Sofia, Rebecka [a Swedish girl who goes to school with Sofia], and Chiara went grocery shopping, while Inga-Lill and I stayed home and made "bullar"- Swedish cinnamon rolls. We ran out of flour and had to improvise with oatmeal and graham flour, but ooh, were they good! :)

The retreat was at a large house/retreat center in the outskirts of Stockholm. It was beautiful countryside to walk through, and a nice cozy house for us to stay in. There were 12 of us altogether at the retreat: 6 in our twenties, and 6 a little older! One lady was actually in her 70's. It was a wonderful group, and as we spent time together all weekend, we were really blessed! Inga-Lill taught several different times, Chiara and I led worship, and we all helped cook and clean up after each meal. The Swedes amazed me with their excellent English- all of the worship and teachings were in English, and only rarely did Inga-Lill have to explain things in Swedish. What a blessing for Chiara and I to be able to understand what was going on [most of the time]!

We really enjoyed our times with the younger girls- Sofia, Rebecka, Evelina, and Erica- it was so encouraging to see that there are sincere believers who truly love the Lord and desire to serve Him, no matter where you go!! All of the ladies were from different churches and backgrounds, but it was sweet to see the fellowship we had together. We also learned a great Swedish tradition- Fika! Fika is what Minnesotans would call "a little lunch." :) It takes place about 2 hours after a meal, and consists of coffee, tea, fruit, cookies, candies, and Bullar! It's a great little time of hanging out. Basically, we ate all weekend. But hey, it's a women's retreat- what else could we expect?

We came home Sunday after an interesting adventure around the greater Stockholm vicinity [got a little lost], pretty tired and a bit carsick- and hopped onto the train almost right away to head into town for Sunday night Bible Study. On the train ride into town [about 30 minutes or so] Chiara and I picked out songs to lead for worship during the Bible study. We decided we should learn a Swedish song, so we had about 20 minutes to get down the pronunciation before our stop at t-Centralen [Central Station]. We hurried through the streets to get to the Bible study, said our hellos, listened to a beautiful song written by our friend Evelina, and led a group of Swedes [and Swedish speakers] in our very first Swedish song, Ära Till Ditt Namn [Blessed Be Your Name]. It's always a trip singing in a different languages, especially when you're leading a group! It's so amazing though, and it really is a huge blessing to the people who speak that language.

We didn't learn too much Swedish, but we could say thank you [Tak!], hello and goodbye [Hej!], Fika, and Rebecka taught me how to count to ten [I think I can remember 1-7]. Swedish is a beautiful language though! It sounds like they're little birds chirping. :)

Monday we went into town with Sofia and Rebecka, and met up with Evelina for some fika and a little shopping. Then we headed for the bus, plane, and car ride home!

So- our trip was great! Thanks for praying!! We were so blessed to hang out with the believers up there in Stockholm. I've been learning a lot about ministry this semester, so it was great to be able to talk with Mike and Sofia and Joel, and see that ministry really is about people, and about being a light in a dark world!

Now we're heading into the last 2.5 weeks of the semester. Pray that we'll have diligence in finishing well! Hebrews 6:10-12 was read this afternoon in our staff meeting- a fitting encouragement for us in these last weeks! Springtime is finally here- everything is green and blossoming! That makes everything even better. :)

Also, please pray for one of our students, Faith. She's been in the hospital since Monday, and they just discovered she had a blood clot in her lung- it's pretty serious! Praise the Lord they found it today, and she's being treated through next Monday. She's doing well. Pray that she'll be encouraged while in the hospital too, and have good time spent with the Lord- it can be a boring and lonely place sometimes!

God bless you all! Thanks for reading, and for praying. God is so good!! Let us rest upon His everlasting arms.
Kram! [hugs]
annie.