Scandinavia

Yesterday, I came back from Scandinavia. I can look back on a very blessed and eventful 2 1/2 weeks there. After 19 years, I finally made it back to Norway. I arrived in Oslo, and the next day, I took a seven-hour train trip to Bergen at the west coast. It was a beautiful trip and this little city is really picturesque. Then I joined a car pool to go to the Living Water camp meeting in the Telemark, which is at the south coast of Norway. It was a spiritual blessing to be there, and I was even able to practise my Norwegian a little bit :-). Then I travelled to Stenshult, Sweden, where my friends Jay and Beathe run a small ministry. They had their annual summer camp meeting with Michael Avaylon from Washington. He gave some interesting talks on the Sanctuary. It was a nice atmosphere and it was good to see my friends again. After that I travelled to Stockholm to do a little sightseeing there. It was quite impressive to see "The Venice of the North", as they call this city.

So now I'm back to my home base in Brussels, but I'm busy getting ready for our annual German camp meeting. I really look forward to another spiritual blessing, and to see many friends again.

Interesting sculptures at Vigelanspark in Oslo

The harbour in Bergen

Beautiful view

At my 20th baptismal anniversary at a lake in Norway

So nice to see the Krueger family again

6 year old Johanna

With Beathe

Stenshult

And finally my sightseeing trip in Stockholm

General Conference

So here I'm back again in Brussels. This past Monday, after an unventful trip from San Antonio, I safely landed in good old Europe. Now I have some time to get over jet lag before I continue my travels this coming Sunday.

I'm thankful for the experience at the GC. It was exciting being together with 60.000+ fellow believers within such a small radius. I especially enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new people. Interpretation of the meetings was challenging at times, but yet a rewarding task. The trip from Uchee Pines took us 18 hours, but on the way back my poor friends were even less lucky, as the vehicle broke down and they had to spend the night at the highway!

Anyway, I'm thankful for the outcome of the business meetings. I'm especially relieved about the no to a more liberal approach towards women's ordination. It's sad to see non-biblical standards as well as influences of Western society creeping in our church more and more. But the Lord is still in control, and He will lead His people to His Kingdom - from whatever denominations they will eventually be composed of. I also appreciate very much the re-election of Elder Ted Wilson. He is definitely the right man to lead our church during such a time as this.

So my next leg will be my trip to Norway and Sweden. I'll be spending a few days in Oslo and Bergen before I travel to the Living Water camp meeting in the Telemark (south west of Norway). From there, I'm going to the camp meeting at Stenshult, which is not too far away from Gothenborg. I look forward to seeing friends and meeting new people. The Lord is good.

At the Hope Channel booth

At my post of duty

Entrance Alamodome

Inside the dome - view from the interpretation floor

With Walter and Sonica Veith

Delegates lining up to speak against or in favor of women's ordination

African choir

With my friend Andrea

Asian choreography

Grand Finale with the Wilson family

Tennessee

Praise God I safely made it back to Uchee Pines yesterday. I'm thankful for some nice fellowship and relaxation during my time in Tennessee. Now I'm getting ready for the trip to the GC session tomorrow, as well as for my two-months stay in Europe. I'm excited!

So here are some pictures of my trip:

Watering the okra in the Humes's garden

Alan & Lorraine in front of their property

Delicious blueberries

At Natchez State Park

Bill and Linda Jennings in Ooltewah

Vilma and Terry Myers

From One Place to Another

At the time of this writing, I'm dwelling in Tennessee visiting some dear friends while recuperating from these past weeks working at Uchee Pines. During the last two lifestyle sessions, I've had some interesting people to work with, including a young lady from Italy who used to work for the United Nations in Rome, as well as an 80-year old retired physician who used to be one of the very first students at Uchee Pines. But it has also been an intense time, with hardly any dull moment.

So I'm grateful I can rest a bit now before I go to the General Conference Session in San Antonio at the beginning of July. It will be a very intense time there as well, as I'm going to be part of the German interpreters. May God help me with that! There will be some interesting discussions during these meetings, and I pray that everything will work out to God's glory and to the advancement of our church.

After that, I'm due to leave the United States again, as my 90-day residence permit will expire once more. The following couple months will be filled with lots of interesting travels, including two camp meetings in Scandinavia, our German camp meeting, juice fasting in Serbia, and the ASI Europe meetings in Budapest. In fact, I'll be visiting six different countries. Well, I have to take advantage of my freedom as long as it lasts!

So if everything works according to plan, I'll be immigrating to the US again in September; and this time on an R1 visa.

Until then, I'm planning to enjoy the next three months to the fullest. I'm sure there will be lots of opportunities to serve; and I found that this is the true key to happiness in life.

"The only way to grow in grace is to be disinterestedly doing the very work which Christ has enjoined upon us—to engage, to the extent of our ability, in helping and blessing those who need the help we can give them. Strength comes by exercise; activity is the very condition of life. Those who endeavor to maintain Christian life by passively accepting the blessings that come through the means of grace, and doing nothing for Christ, are simply trying to live by eating without working. And in the spiritual as in the natural world, this always results in degeneration and decay. A man who would refuse to exercise his limbs would soon lose all power to use them. Thus the Christian who will not exercise his God-given powers not only fails to grow up into Christ, but he loses the strength that he already had." (Steps to Christ, p. 80)

Amen to that! May the Lord help you and me to make this happen in our everyday lives.

Some pictures of my trip will follow shortly :-).

From Rain to Sunshine

Wow - time flies! It's been almost a month already that I returned back from Europe. I've been completely absorbed with my various tasks here, and I don't even know where to start.

Anyway, I came back to Uchee Pines during a week with lots of rain and little sunshine, which made it rather difficult for me to quickly re-adapt to the time zone. About three weeks ago, we even had a tornado watch in the area. So we were encouraged to take shelter, which only some people on campus actually did. Some were not really aware, since they never received the text message saying "take shelter now", or they just didn't think the situation was serious enough. Well, the tornado touched down about 8 miles (12 km) from here; so the Lord really protected us. Anyway, we had fun sitting in the basement of the lifestyle center!

With my former classmate Joella in the basement during tornado watch

The last lifestyle session was very intense, with 14 guests altogether, which is quite a number given the limited staff we currently have. But it was a beautiful group. This session, we have 9 guests, but even more limited staff. However, I feel more relaxed now, as I start to get more and more comfortable with my assignments. Furthermore, I have a very nice lady to work with this session (and also in the last session by the way). It's such a rewarding experience being here, and I thank the Lord every day for this privilege.

In the meantime, the weather is like summer in Europe, with temperatures up to 92 F (33 Celsius) and lots of sunshine. This past weekend, we went on a camp-out to Camp Alamisco, a place run by the Gulf State Conference only about 1 1/2 hours from here. It was so beautiful and relaxing that I didn't want to leave. But duty was calling!

I will now stay here for one more month until June 18. Then I will go on a 12 day trip to Tennessee to visit some friends, after which I'm going to attend the GC session in San Antonio, Texas. So there are lots of interesting events ahead, and I'm truly thankful for the freedom I currently enjoy. Sorry Brussels, but I'm not really missing you right now...

Happy Group 

With the Robinson family from Tanzania

Children learning how to swim

Mother and Daughter

Little Lifeguard

Outdoor Chapel

Sharing Time