Thursday, October 28, 2010

Our Branches Run Over the Wall




     The last few weeks have been some of the deepest, funniest, craziest, and powerful weeks that I have ever experienced in my short Christian life. We went to Stockholm, Sweden with twenty of our awesome young people from the church here in Helsinki. It is amazing to see how bright our light shines amidst the thick darkness of this sick Western pseudo-culture. As we traveled from Helsinki, we had a Bible study on one of the main floors of the ship. It was amazing to see all the distractions that came immediately when the Bible was opened. It was just further clarification of how real the kingdom warfare is and how vital the trip was going to be for us. The first day we were there, we gathered for what was supposed to be a small meeting in Pastor Toll's apartment. When we arrived, we suddenly realized that there were over 35 people packed into the small living room. You could taste the presence of God there, it was so tangible. It is moving to see how God blesses His people when they take steps of faith and are available to allow His Throne ministry to flow. We spent the rest of the night there in worship, engaging in the Word, and fellowshipping together. The rest of the weekend flew by with meetings, Bible studies, outreach, and a lot of laughter. It was amazing to see some of our young people go soul-winning for the first time. One thirteen year-old boy came to me, holding a track in his hand and said, "How do I do this?" Haha! How angry could the old serpent be at that moment!    
     We finished the weekend on Saturday night with the teens by having a youth meeting at a church located nearby one of the families in our church there in Stockholm. It was so amazing to see over forty-five Swedish and Finnish young people together worshiping God and listening carefully to His Word as it was dished out like fresh manna from heaven. We were all astonished how the young people in Sweden invited their friends from their schools and neighborhoods to come and listen to the gospel. There were no frills, no skits, no real sources of entertainment, just the pure gospel and the presence of God. I really felt like It was a night I'm sure none of us will forget.
    On this trip I really felt that we experienced what it says in Genesis 49:22  "Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall."  We have been rooted and grounded by a well-spring of living water. It's a well that constantly provides us with a source of joy and motivation. We always have something to receive and we always have something to give because we live off of the well which is self-sustaining. God is keeping His garden, watering it every moment. And when we are nourished with that life, we cannot help but to grow. As we grow, our branches begin to run out over the walls in this world, bringing fruit to hungry people.This is what our trip was like to Sweden, and this is how our life is in this ministry.
     Keep the youth in Sweden in prayer as many of them continue to make tough decisions to follow God and some maybe even heading to Baltimore to go to Bible school. God knows.



Turku Youth

1 comment:

Heart said...

Inspiring! Thank You!
Michelle Benoit