Daniel Norén (Sweden)
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a library overhearing a gospel concert at the Gothenburg gay pride festival. There are so many people that are misled. Church leaders are openly blessing what God is judging, and it feels like we are living in Sodom and Gomorrah. Please pray that God would still be merciful, even in the face of this rebellion, and call a people to repentance.
Over the summer we had 10 grill nights, where we invited friends and contacts together for an evangelistic sermon about the life of Christ. We combined one of those evenings with a baptism. The sister who publicly testified of her faith in baptism has a wonderful testimony. She was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, but left that teaching and started listening to sermons on the Internet. It was through the Internet that she heard the true gospel and was brought to Christ. For me, there is just something special in witnessing someone declare that they want to follow Christ for the rest for their lives. It is the gospel made visible. It was powerful. Please pray for her.
Reformedia: By the end of this month, we will have two new books published: Expositional Preachingby David Helm andListen up!by Christopher Ash. These resources will be distributed at the upcoming expositional preaching conference that we are hosting here in Gothenburg. Christopher Ash will be the main speaker. The first day will be for preachers and teachers, and the second day for the public. Pray for the Lord to work through this, and that we would see an army of preachers raised up.
Kyle McCartan (Finland)
Let me first say how honored and humbled I am by your ongoing support. It continues to encourage and strengthen us. You have my sincere and heart felt gratitude.
This month, our church hosted the 3rd annual 5 Solas/Reformation conference. We had 60 attendees who traveled from Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. This conference serves as an opportunity for the newly reforming community in the area to gather together, build friendships, and encourage one another. Many of those in attendance do not have a local church. Therefore, our hope was that this time would provide much needed fellowship as well as sound teaching and preaching for them. This conference is the highlight of the year for many who attend. It is a beautiful thing to watch the members of our church organize, host, and staff the conference. They all give generously and freely of themselves, their finances, and their time. It is really inspiring to witness their love and commitment as they labor to serve the Savior, by serving His body.
Phil Johnson (from Grace to You) was our speaker, and our theme was, “Sola Scriptura.” Phil did a brilliant job opening up the Scriptures. He really is a lovely fella, and also very wise and insightful. The Lord really seemed to richly bless us, and we trust it blessed those who listened to the live stream over Facebook. It is hard to believe that each message received several thousand viewers from around the world. All who attended this event expressed their gratitude. The only complaint was that they wished that we could have a conference like this more often! It is quite remarkable what the Lord can do in this world, even through the efforts of a tiny fellowship of 13.
This month, we also released the Finnish translation of the 9Marks book, “What is a Healthy Church?”I had this book translated because of the lack of understanding Finland has concerning the church and church life. I desired to provide an easy to read resource for the Finnish people. Pray this resource meets the need, and His church is strengthened through it.
Stephen began working for HeartCry in 2015. As coordinator for Asia, North America, and Western Europe, he currently oversees the missionaries over 10 countries. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife and four children.
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