“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thank you for your support and your prayers. This time of the year is one of my favorites. We have so many evangelistic opportunities, both through natural contacts and planned outreaches. Today we evangelized at the international market, where we passed out New Testaments and gospel resources in around 60 languages. Each year we give out around 1,000 gospel portions with other evangelistic materials. Many of the people we meet speak very little Swedish or English, and in those cases it’s very hard to communicate. At the same time, it’s such a joy to see people receive a New Testament, and then later return to point at it, indicating that they are reading it. This happened today. Another encouraging meeting was with a young man who had received the book 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die, which we translated into Swedish. This young man said that he was reading it in his bed and found it very interesting.
We also sang Christmas carols at the market and in the town, and we passed out evangelistic materials to those passing by. The highlight of the year will be the evangelistic service, followed by an international potluck. This service usually sees a doubling of our normal attendance, with many non-believers. Last year we had almost 20 nationalities represented. This service is such a good opportunity to invite our contacts so they can hear the gospel and be introduced to other Christians. You might read this after it has happened, but please pray for some of the Middle Eastern contacts, especially a man that has been reading the whole Bible by himself, but is still not a believer. Pray for an open door to help him and that God would open his heart to the gospel.
My wife has enjoyed going to the refugee center once a week to minister to the refugees. There are so many heartbreaking stories that make you wonder why some do not believe in the depravity of man. It’s a great opportunity to minister both to those who are arriving into the country, and for those who are being deported, as it is the last opportunity to share the gospel with them and give them a New Testament in their language.
Reformedia:
The final editing of God’s Big Pictureby Vaughan Roberts is currently being completed. This project will be finished before Vaughan visits us at the end of March for a two-day conference. The first day of the conference will be for preachers, and the teaching will be on how to preach the Bible within its storyline. The next day will be open for the public. In January, we will start to translate Michael Reeves fantastic book: The Unquenchable Flame: Rediscovering the Heart of the Reformation.
The latest two books that we’ve translated, Expositional Preachingby David Helm and Listen Up! by Christopher Ash have been received well. I was in contact this week with a traveling evangelist who helps us distribute these resources, and he was encouraged with the interest he sees concerning expository preaching in Sweden. He has personally been able to distribute a whole box of Expositional Preachingbooks and is coming to pick up another box tomorrow. This is really an answer to our prayers. In February, we’ll host another training course on expository preaching. Pray for good attendance and that God would continue to raise up more expositors who preach the gospel. This is still very rare in the country.
In the midst of many discouraging trends and reports about the de-Christianization in this country there are many rays of hope. Almost 3000 copies of What is the Gospel?by Greg Gilbert, which was one of the first books that we published, has now been sold or given away. Some churches have reported how they have gone through it with their members or leaders. It’s great to see that there is a hunger for the truth. Please pray that the books would get a wider spreading and for great gospel fruit.
Family:
Last time I wrote, I mentioned how it had been a challenging time for my family health wise. This challenge has continued. The cold has turned into bronchitis- and two doctor visits later, I still have it. I probably have myself partly to blame, as I haven’t rested enough due to all the exciting ministry opportunities. We still have the stomach flu making its way through the children. Please pray for all to recover.
Thank you for partnering with us.
In Christ and for His glory,
