Uppsala: Day Fifteen
It’s our second last day at Ribbingeback!
We spent the morning cleaning and sending KS off…it was an emotional moment for many of us (well, not us Singaporeans because we’re going to see him back home), especially the guys! Johannes teared a little, and some say that even Justin looked like he was tearing. I don’t believe that though. Matthieu has lost his beloved roommate too.
After that, Joanne and I spent a good part of the day waiting for Pastors’ arrival! We had no idea what time they would come, only that it would be between lunch and dinner, so we simply waited! We fell asleep, woke up, had ice-cream, read books and tried to find cows, horses and sheep (to no avail) while waiting!
Of course, Pastors finally came! It was SO GREAT to see Pastors today, we missed them so much!! Rinnah, Pam and Aunty Lilian were there too! It was so so so good to see all of them again! Brad took Pastors on a tour around Ribbingeback, and the rest of us spent time catching up with Rinnah! And because it’s Rinnah’s birthday tomorrow, we decided to give Rinnah her birthday presents one day early! Charmaine got her a bubble machine, Joanne got her a water gun, face paint and cute stamps, KS and I got her a cute little red bag that looks a little like a lunch box, and Joanne, KS and I got her a playdough ice-cream factory! Rinnah put her water gun, face paint and stamps into her new bag (which she will proudly carry through customs) and she looked so cute walking around with it! Happy birthday Rinnah!!
Pastors left with Pastor Joakim soon after (too soon….) and we had our last supper at Ribbingeback! After that, we had a short meeting about our next few days in Gothenburg, traveling down, luggages, housing etc.
To end off the day, Joanne and I decided to have a worship session in the chapel. It was so good; we spent so much time just dwelling in the presence of God, enjoying the presence of God and sharing our revelations on the bible, on love and on life. We spent so much time worshipping; we realised that we were in the chapel for more than an hour, but it felt like it was less than 30 mins!
I think this trip has really taught us so much. In the hustle and bustle of city life (i.e. Singapore), one can hardly find the time to get away from all the noise and retreat into a quiet place to seek God. While we were out here in the countryside, we found that opportunities to seek God were aplenty! I believe I speak for every single one of us here when I say that our relationship with God has gone up to a whole new level. Now we’re fully refreshed, recharged and regenerated, ready to take on the world in full force!
Well, we’re probably not going to get much of a chance to blog for the next few days, as we will be traveling down to Gothenburg (7 hour ride!!??) on Thursday, and Nordic 07 will be on from Friday to Saturday! Thereafter, we will have the Leaders’ Conference (on a yacht, how cool is that?) before (finally!) flying off to Singapore on 20 Sep and reaching on 21 Sep.
It’s been great blogging about Ribbingeback! Look out for more on Nordic 07!
In searching for a name for next year’s Nordic Conference in London…………
London baby.
Woo.
onsdag 12 september 2007
tisdag 11 september 2007
Uppsala: Day Fourteen
Uppsala: Day Fourteen
It’s been two weeks! Wow…that’s really fast.
We didn’t do much today either, everyone is preparing for the big event in Gothenburg!
Nordic 07!!
Speaking of which, everyone’s in Sweden now.
Pastors, Rinnah, Aunty Lilian, Pammy…
Garrett, Dom, Fifi, Yassy, Jian, Sky…
Woo!!
This is what I call a Singaporean invasion!!
Pastors were at Stockholm today!
AC told us they were in Skansen…that’s gotta be cool!
Anyways, KS will be leaving tomorrow!
He’s become part of the brotherhood here in Sweden, everyone’s gonna miss him.
We did a little farewell thing for him, sang the song ‘Peng You’, got him a flight survival kit (Swedish candy) and had some pie with ice-cream.
Yum.
It was really hilarious to see all the international teamers huddled together, outside the toilet, practicing the song in Chinese! When we finally got down to singing the song after dinner, it was a roaring success…KS wept buckets of tears.
(Actually, he only teared a little.)
We’re going to try to post up the video of us singing, so watch out for that!
Tomorrow, we’re going to embark on a major clean up of Ribbingeback! 30++ youths all gathered in a huge house…your socks can’t even stay clean for more than 10 minutes! It’s gonna be a whole lot of fun! Also, we’ll be meeting up with Pastors when they come over to Ribbingeback!
Then on Thursday, we’ll be going down to Gothenburg to join the rest of the leaders at Nordic! Oh man, that’s gonna be so fun!
Well, that’s a basic run-through of what’s going to be happening the next few days! See you guys again tomorrow!
It’s been two weeks! Wow…that’s really fast.
We didn’t do much today either, everyone is preparing for the big event in Gothenburg!
Nordic 07!!
Speaking of which, everyone’s in Sweden now.
Pastors, Rinnah, Aunty Lilian, Pammy…
Garrett, Dom, Fifi, Yassy, Jian, Sky…
Woo!!
This is what I call a Singaporean invasion!!
Pastors were at Stockholm today!
AC told us they were in Skansen…that’s gotta be cool!
Anyways, KS will be leaving tomorrow!
He’s become part of the brotherhood here in Sweden, everyone’s gonna miss him.
We did a little farewell thing for him, sang the song ‘Peng You’, got him a flight survival kit (Swedish candy) and had some pie with ice-cream.
Yum.
It was really hilarious to see all the international teamers huddled together, outside the toilet, practicing the song in Chinese! When we finally got down to singing the song after dinner, it was a roaring success…KS wept buckets of tears.
(Actually, he only teared a little.)
We’re going to try to post up the video of us singing, so watch out for that!
Tomorrow, we’re going to embark on a major clean up of Ribbingeback! 30++ youths all gathered in a huge house…your socks can’t even stay clean for more than 10 minutes! It’s gonna be a whole lot of fun! Also, we’ll be meeting up with Pastors when they come over to Ribbingeback!
Then on Thursday, we’ll be going down to Gothenburg to join the rest of the leaders at Nordic! Oh man, that’s gonna be so fun!
Well, that’s a basic run-through of what’s going to be happening the next few days! See you guys again tomorrow!
Uppsala: Day Thirteen
Uppsala: Day 13
Today was girls’ sauna day!
Yes, we have a sauna in here.
A few days ago, Saturday, if I’m not mistaken, the guys had their own sauna outing. Not to be beaten, the girls decided to have our own too.
I personally dislike saunas. I don’t see the point of going into a room just to sweat. It was only after a few days of coaxing that Joanne finally managed to convince me to go into the sauna. She says it helps to lose weight. I don’t think so.
But since we were in the sauna, why not go all out? It was hilarious watching the rest (Sarah Steel, AC, Tanya and Joanna) sweating in the sauna while Joanne and I were happily pouring more water in. But that was not nearly as hilarious as Joanne refusing to wear something light into the sauna (i.e. bathing suits) and insisting on wearing her t-shirt and long pants in. She wanted to wear jeans into the sauna. JEANS?!
We went up to 80 degrees in the sauna. The guys went up to 120 degrees, but that’s because they also had some Russians and a Middle-Eastern guy. We girls only had some Singaporeans. Ask KS how he nearly vaporized in there.
After the sauna, you can walk right out into the blistering cold Swedish night wind and not even give the slightest hint of a shiver. In fact, it felt like good ol’ breezy Singapore.
Honestly, I don’t think saunas help you lose weight. I think they drain all the water and energy out of you, but that’s it.
Well, I guess you would pardon the lack of photos in this particular entry then.
Pastors are finally in Sweden too! They’re currently residing at a hotel in Uppsala, and we’ll get to see them on Wednesday, which is tomorrow! Right now, they’re having a great time sight-seeing and shopping in Stockholm!
Can’t wait to meet Pastors….just one more day….
Today was girls’ sauna day!
Yes, we have a sauna in here.
A few days ago, Saturday, if I’m not mistaken, the guys had their own sauna outing. Not to be beaten, the girls decided to have our own too.
I personally dislike saunas. I don’t see the point of going into a room just to sweat. It was only after a few days of coaxing that Joanne finally managed to convince me to go into the sauna. She says it helps to lose weight. I don’t think so.
But since we were in the sauna, why not go all out? It was hilarious watching the rest (Sarah Steel, AC, Tanya and Joanna) sweating in the sauna while Joanne and I were happily pouring more water in. But that was not nearly as hilarious as Joanne refusing to wear something light into the sauna (i.e. bathing suits) and insisting on wearing her t-shirt and long pants in. She wanted to wear jeans into the sauna. JEANS?!
We went up to 80 degrees in the sauna. The guys went up to 120 degrees, but that’s because they also had some Russians and a Middle-Eastern guy. We girls only had some Singaporeans. Ask KS how he nearly vaporized in there.
After the sauna, you can walk right out into the blistering cold Swedish night wind and not even give the slightest hint of a shiver. In fact, it felt like good ol’ breezy Singapore.
Honestly, I don’t think saunas help you lose weight. I think they drain all the water and energy out of you, but that’s it.
Well, I guess you would pardon the lack of photos in this particular entry then.
Pastors are finally in Sweden too! They’re currently residing at a hotel in Uppsala, and we’ll get to see them on Wednesday, which is tomorrow! Right now, they’re having a great time sight-seeing and shopping in Stockholm!
Can’t wait to meet Pastors….just one more day….
söndag 9 september 2007
Uppsala: Day Twelve
Uppsala: Day Twelve
It was service at Word of Life for us!
We woke up really early today, because we had to leave at 8.45am for service at 10am (there weren’t enough cars, so we had to make a few trips). The four of us were with Mathieu, who was entertaining us throughout the ride.
Service was super anointed. The worship team was so anointed! Our favourite Swedish family was playing today, the drummer, pianist and 14-year-old bassist. After the worship, they brought out the children’s church to perform. They are so adorable! To see the children singing and dancing on stage was awesome!
It was service at Word of Life for us!
We woke up really early today, because we had to leave at 8.45am for service at 10am (there weren’t enough cars, so we had to make a few trips). The four of us were with Mathieu, who was entertaining us throughout the ride.
Service was super anointed. The worship team was so anointed! Our favourite Swedish family was playing today, the drummer, pianist and 14-year-old bassist. After the worship, they brought out the children’s church to perform. They are so adorable! To see the children singing and dancing on stage was awesome!
Word of Life Children's Church!
Pastor Robert Ekh preached a great word about loving others. It’s funny, because we’ve heard the same word from two different churches the past two weeks! Can’t be a coincidence man. We met up with Weena after service too! It’s so great to see a familiar face in Sweden!
After service, we went to the bookstore to grab some books and CDs. I think we spent a bomb there! Some of the books they had aren’t available in Singapore, which explains our expenditure.
We were invited to lunch at Jonathan’s place (Jonathan from Sweden!) and they cooked some Chinese looking food! It was rice and some sort of chicken and vegetable stew with Thai spices, milk and yoghurt. Sounds weird, but it tasted awesome! Their desert was ice cream and fruits coated with melted white chocolate….mmmm yummy. I think the Swedes deserve an A* for hospitality!
Jonathan and KS!
Us at Jonathan's house!
We stopped by at Granby’s to get some cards, gifts and groceries. Joanne was going crazy over the ham there (she really likes ham…) and I went straight to my chocolates. It’s so difficult to survive without them.
Justin Style is going a little nuts because the guys went to play soccer with the Russian teamers and lots of endorphins have been pumped into his system. He just jumped out of nowhere, striked a pose and started singing a worship song! He never fails to crack me up!
Well, we’re all sitting around using the internet now. Trapped by the web. Tsk tsk.
That’s all for tonight! See you again soon!
P.S. Pastors are coming tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!
Uppsala: Day Eleven
Uppsala: Day Eleven
It was a day out with Evelina and Julia for me and Joanne!
We went to Uppsala to do some shopping, and it was great! Managed to get some real steals amidst the very expensive Swedish market. There was nothing much to shop really, because Uppsala isn’t that big, but the company was great.
It was mostly a free day for all of us, so we took the time to use the net and hang out with the teamers. At night, some of us came together and watched a movie, The Painted Veil. It’s an arts film, and I personally hate arts films, so I thought it was boring. Apparently, everyone else liked it.
Quite a relaxed day I’d say, so there’s nothing much to talk about.
But hey, we’re going to Word of Life tomorrow! Looking forward to that!
P.S. Two more days to Pastors coming to Sweden!
It was a day out with Evelina and Julia for me and Joanne!
We went to Uppsala to do some shopping, and it was great! Managed to get some real steals amidst the very expensive Swedish market. There was nothing much to shop really, because Uppsala isn’t that big, but the company was great.
It was mostly a free day for all of us, so we took the time to use the net and hang out with the teamers. At night, some of us came together and watched a movie, The Painted Veil. It’s an arts film, and I personally hate arts films, so I thought it was boring. Apparently, everyone else liked it.
Quite a relaxed day I’d say, so there’s nothing much to talk about.
But hey, we’re going to Word of Life tomorrow! Looking forward to that!
P.S. Two more days to Pastors coming to Sweden!
lördag 8 september 2007
Uppsala: Day Ten
Today was AMAZING!
I know I say this about every single day, but today was AMAZING!
We came into the chapel for our usual morning prayer, but the presence of God was so strong that we all decided to continue praying and worshipping! It was a very personal moment for all of us; many of us were just being ministered to by the Holy Spirit. It’s so amazing, because there weren’t any loud drums or electric guitars; there wasn’t a worship team, only a piano, but there was the sweet, sweet presence of God and that’s all we needed. We started praying for each other, praying for the teams going to Singapore (that’s us!), Scotland, England, the main international team, and for Brad and Sarah. We were at it for so long, we totally skipped the afternoon session!
I know I say this about every single day, but today was AMAZING!
We came into the chapel for our usual morning prayer, but the presence of God was so strong that we all decided to continue praying and worshipping! It was a very personal moment for all of us; many of us were just being ministered to by the Holy Spirit. It’s so amazing, because there weren’t any loud drums or electric guitars; there wasn’t a worship team, only a piano, but there was the sweet, sweet presence of God and that’s all we needed. We started praying for each other, praying for the teams going to Singapore (that’s us!), Scotland, England, the main international team, and for Brad and Sarah. We were at it for so long, we totally skipped the afternoon session!
Prayer at the chapel
That was really the highlight of the week!
Thereafter, we went about our usual routines and sessions. We have been practicing doing group visits and Pastors’ visits over the past few days, so for today, we practiced calling Pastors! It was so funny, because Arash and Justin were acting as our Pastors and they can be really funny! It was not difficult to make the calls, but it sure was difficult to control our laughter! (Justin was voted the entertainer of the year by his youths. It was supposed to be a youth thing and he isn’t exactly part of the youth…)
Joanne and Arash preparing food!
During the evening, we went to Pastor Joakim’s house! Pastor Joakim’s house is BEAUTIFUL!!! I think I mentioned before that some parts were built in the 18th Century, around 1711!! How cool is that?! Pastor had invited us over for dinner, and all of us had a great time! We were chatting, laughing at what the teamers used to do when they all stayed at Pastor Joakim’s house, laughing at videos we took when we were eating the rotten fish, and then laughing at me because I can bend my fingers and legs backwards and put my legs behind my head! It was absolute fun!
After that, we came together for a short worship and prayer. Sister Maria led us in worship, and it was so good to come together as a team to pray for New Generation! This is truly part of the New Generation heritage, PRAYER!
Our last item of the day was a performance from yours truly. I had refused to bring my flutes over to the house, but AC (Anna-Carolina), one of the teamers, happily took it from my room and brought it over anyway!! That’s terrible. Joanne and I played Alleluia for Christ the Lord, and we worshipped together with Lord, You Are Always Here With Me, before ending it with the Pocahontas theme song, Colours of the Wind.
Me and KS!
KS and AC (Anna Carolina)
KS and Clara!!
By the time we reached home, we were so exhausted, but it was truly a day to remember. :)
Uppsala: Day Nine
Today was awesome. We had the usual Morning Prayer and all. The vision and the all were shared to us Singaporean teamers! It is totally cool to see how the heart for youths and young people is the same here and back in Heart of God church. All of us were blown away by the ‘big-ness’ and the vision of the work that we are going to do. I was at the brink of tears when Pst Joakim was sharing with us about New Generation and all the testimonies. Also, Pst Joakim spoke about uniting the churches, and Pst Ulf going to speak in a Catholic conference! I felt so strongly that God is going to unite the body of Christ together. The left hand should not slap the right hand, they should work together. It was also very powerful when Pst Joakim stated that we do not need compromise our beliefs for doctrinal issues, but we must learn to understand why people think in their way. ‘If I know where I live, I can visit other people’s houses’ is a stated parallel to this issue. Pst Joakim was also sharing some practical issues like how to handle counseling issues and all.
Today, I(umm well I’m KS.) was working on the food team, we had classic Swedish meatballs. Oh man, I tell you it was good. We also had typical salad and cheese and all. It was great. The diet here is healthy with lots of green. Well, some of us might flinch at the bare thought of it, but nonetheless, it is good.
Also, that night we had a practical session with Brad, Sarah and Arash. We were practicing how to handle sticky situations when we are talking to Pastors when we meet them. The night was not so much of getting impacted and blown away, but rather it was a lot of tips and more skills.
The day was a good fruitful day, and we learnt a lot. It was a good time to refresh our vision and fire the youths and the skills.
I just can’t wait to get to get to work, out of army and back into The Army!
Love you peeps.
See you back in Singapore. Live free!
Today, I(umm well I’m KS.) was working on the food team, we had classic Swedish meatballs. Oh man, I tell you it was good. We also had typical salad and cheese and all. It was great. The diet here is healthy with lots of green. Well, some of us might flinch at the bare thought of it, but nonetheless, it is good.
Also, that night we had a practical session with Brad, Sarah and Arash. We were practicing how to handle sticky situations when we are talking to Pastors when we meet them. The night was not so much of getting impacted and blown away, but rather it was a lot of tips and more skills.
The day was a good fruitful day, and we learnt a lot. It was a good time to refresh our vision and fire the youths and the skills.
I just can’t wait to get to get to work, out of army and back into The Army!
Love you peeps.
See you back in Singapore. Live free!
Uppsala: Day Eight
Uppsala: Day Eight
Well, it’s the same routine here at Ribbingeback again. Breakfast, own time with God, morning prayer, sessions, fikka, dinner, testimonies and evening prayer. But there was something that really impacted me today, and I thought I’d just share it with everyone. :)
Attitude:
It is our true self.
The roots are inward, the fruit is outward.
It can be our best friend or worst enemy.
It is more honest than our words.
It is an outward look based on past experiences.
It draws people to us or repels them from us.
It is never content until it is expressed.
It is the librarian of our past.
It is the speaker of our present.
It is the prophet of our future.
Good night everyone. :)
Well, it’s the same routine here at Ribbingeback again. Breakfast, own time with God, morning prayer, sessions, fikka, dinner, testimonies and evening prayer. But there was something that really impacted me today, and I thought I’d just share it with everyone. :)
Attitude:
It is our true self.
The roots are inward, the fruit is outward.
It can be our best friend or worst enemy.
It is more honest than our words.
It is an outward look based on past experiences.
It draws people to us or repels them from us.
It is never content until it is expressed.
It is the librarian of our past.
It is the speaker of our present.
It is the prophet of our future.
Good night everyone. :)
Uppsala: Day Seven
Uppsala: Day Seven
Today, we had sessions with Justin Style and Fredrick Karlsson!
They were teaching us about the media aspects of New Generations, which are really cool! The websites have loads of stuff about New Generations, resources we can use to reach out to the schools, forums, newsletters, idea banks…the full works! It’s really cool!
I was on the cooking team today! I’m just so amazed at how everyone here can cook! I told them that I could probably cook something too, but we don’t have the ingredients like rice available. Oh well..another time then. Maybe when they come over to Singapore!
It was really more laid back today. After the sessions, we had filming to do for the Nordic Conference. I was just standing there, in my New Generations t-shirt, and doing whatever Justin and Johannes were telling me to do. When I saw the video though, I think I looked terrible. Nothing I can do to change my physical features though.
We had the internet connection set up in the chapel today too! It was so funny to see everyone sitting in the CHAPEL, typing away, updating facebook accounts, emails, Skype etc. I think people forgot that it was time to eat! Internet…how much are we hooked on to it…
We had another great testimony night! Justin was so funny though. He has this dry humour thing going on, and it’s so funny with his English accent, you know? He had us laughing to tears when he was sharing his testimony. I realised that many of the people here come from broken families, having a rough background…we are really very blessed in Singapore. It really made us see how every single person has a different story to tell and a different experience with God. But what is really the most amazing is how God touched every single life and turned it around for him.
Another great day out here in Sweden. Nordic is coming up really soon! It’s gonna get busy!
Today, we had sessions with Justin Style and Fredrick Karlsson!
They were teaching us about the media aspects of New Generations, which are really cool! The websites have loads of stuff about New Generations, resources we can use to reach out to the schools, forums, newsletters, idea banks…the full works! It’s really cool!
I was on the cooking team today! I’m just so amazed at how everyone here can cook! I told them that I could probably cook something too, but we don’t have the ingredients like rice available. Oh well..another time then. Maybe when they come over to Singapore!
It was really more laid back today. After the sessions, we had filming to do for the Nordic Conference. I was just standing there, in my New Generations t-shirt, and doing whatever Justin and Johannes were telling me to do. When I saw the video though, I think I looked terrible. Nothing I can do to change my physical features though.
We had the internet connection set up in the chapel today too! It was so funny to see everyone sitting in the CHAPEL, typing away, updating facebook accounts, emails, Skype etc. I think people forgot that it was time to eat! Internet…how much are we hooked on to it…
We had another great testimony night! Justin was so funny though. He has this dry humour thing going on, and it’s so funny with his English accent, you know? He had us laughing to tears when he was sharing his testimony. I realised that many of the people here come from broken families, having a rough background…we are really very blessed in Singapore. It really made us see how every single person has a different story to tell and a different experience with God. But what is really the most amazing is how God touched every single life and turned it around for him.
Another great day out here in Sweden. Nordic is coming up really soon! It’s gonna get busy!
tisdag 4 september 2007
Uppsala: Day Six
Uppsala: Day Six
We all had breakfast in the boys’ dorm again, because they’re still doing renovations in the kitchen. I’m not sure if I mentioned that we moved over to the boys’ dorm, but if I didn’t, well, here it is! Only for meals of course.
We had our usual routine, breakfast, own time with God, corporate prayer and sessions with Brad Hawkes and Sarah Steel. Of course, we had our usual fikka in between, but we all made a decision to lay off the food and avoid the pounds. I don’t know how they do it here in Sweden; they manage to stay so slim at the same time! I’m so afraid I’ll have to roll myself home at the end of 3 weeks!
Brad told us about the history of New Generations, and it was really interesting! It all started in Norway, from a student in the university (I can’t spell the name again!), and it triggered a movement across Europe. However, it was only when it came to Sweden that things started boiling! Sweden was to be the hub of Europe and the centre of revival. It’s just like how we hear about revivals in Singapore, China, Taiwan and all nations across Asia. It was so cool to hear about how God is working His way all around the world!
Sarah was talking to the international teamers about their stay in England for the year. Most of the teamers would be in England, but the rest would be in Scotland and Switzerland. It’s so amazing because they’re all so young, around 20 – 29 years of age, and they are all so independent, living out of their home towns for a whole year to spread revival! I think that’s just amazing.
After that, Brad talked to us about Nordic 07! Joanne, Charmaine and I will be USHERING at Nordic, so for the leaders who will be joining us in less than a week, do catch us then! Nordic 07 is going to be so awesome!
Dinner was really hilarious. Joanna and Sarah were using the oven to cook the potatoes, and because they left it there for so long, it started smoking when they took it out and the fire alarm was set off! It was so funny because the next time they wanted to take something out of the oven, Clara had to stand on a stool to fan the smoke away from the smoke detectors!
After our very interesting dinner, we gathered together for the highlight of the evening: testimony night! 6 of us shared our testimonies tonight, myself, Mathieu, Johannes, Joanne, Charmaine and Linn. I was the first to start, and my testimony felt so short compared to theirs! But the testimonies were amazing. Some of us shared stories about how God touched us since we were as young as 4 – 6 years old, and about our experiences with God, about when we turned away from God and He pulled us right back to Him, about how God is always there, even in the midst of our troubles. All of us were so blessed by the testimonies that were shared tonight. (P.S. Everyone came over to check out my tattoo after the sharing.)
We ended our day with our evening prayer, led by Tanya. Things are very much quieter here, it’s not like in Singapore, with all the enthuse, loud rock music, electric guitars and drums, but God’s presence is as strong as ever.
Pastors and the leaders will be coming over to Sweden really soon, we just can’t wait for our big reunion!
We all had breakfast in the boys’ dorm again, because they’re still doing renovations in the kitchen. I’m not sure if I mentioned that we moved over to the boys’ dorm, but if I didn’t, well, here it is! Only for meals of course.
We had our usual routine, breakfast, own time with God, corporate prayer and sessions with Brad Hawkes and Sarah Steel. Of course, we had our usual fikka in between, but we all made a decision to lay off the food and avoid the pounds. I don’t know how they do it here in Sweden; they manage to stay so slim at the same time! I’m so afraid I’ll have to roll myself home at the end of 3 weeks!
Brad told us about the history of New Generations, and it was really interesting! It all started in Norway, from a student in the university (I can’t spell the name again!), and it triggered a movement across Europe. However, it was only when it came to Sweden that things started boiling! Sweden was to be the hub of Europe and the centre of revival. It’s just like how we hear about revivals in Singapore, China, Taiwan and all nations across Asia. It was so cool to hear about how God is working His way all around the world!
Sarah was talking to the international teamers about their stay in England for the year. Most of the teamers would be in England, but the rest would be in Scotland and Switzerland. It’s so amazing because they’re all so young, around 20 – 29 years of age, and they are all so independent, living out of their home towns for a whole year to spread revival! I think that’s just amazing.
After that, Brad talked to us about Nordic 07! Joanne, Charmaine and I will be USHERING at Nordic, so for the leaders who will be joining us in less than a week, do catch us then! Nordic 07 is going to be so awesome!
Dinner was really hilarious. Joanna and Sarah were using the oven to cook the potatoes, and because they left it there for so long, it started smoking when they took it out and the fire alarm was set off! It was so funny because the next time they wanted to take something out of the oven, Clara had to stand on a stool to fan the smoke away from the smoke detectors!
After our very interesting dinner, we gathered together for the highlight of the evening: testimony night! 6 of us shared our testimonies tonight, myself, Mathieu, Johannes, Joanne, Charmaine and Linn. I was the first to start, and my testimony felt so short compared to theirs! But the testimonies were amazing. Some of us shared stories about how God touched us since we were as young as 4 – 6 years old, and about our experiences with God, about when we turned away from God and He pulled us right back to Him, about how God is always there, even in the midst of our troubles. All of us were so blessed by the testimonies that were shared tonight. (P.S. Everyone came over to check out my tattoo after the sharing.)
We ended our day with our evening prayer, led by Tanya. Things are very much quieter here, it’s not like in Singapore, with all the enthuse, loud rock music, electric guitars and drums, but God’s presence is as strong as ever.
Pastors and the leaders will be coming over to Sweden really soon, we just can’t wait for our big reunion!
Uppsala: Day Five
Uppsala: Day Five
Today, we went to a Lutheran church in Uppsala. This is the same church that Pastor Joakim brought us to on our first day. It is a BEAUTIFUL church. Really tall and all. I’m not sure if I shared about the history of this church, but I’ll share it anyhow.
Kings and martyrs are (yes, present tense) buried in this church. Quite creepy when you come to think about it you know, you could be walking around and all these people are buried just under your feet! But these guys are really cool. One of them was the former king of Sweden, and as he was preaching about Jesus in the church, some guys from the occult were waiting outside the church for him to take him away and kill him. The king’s servant tried to get him to flee, but the king refused to do so, insisting on ending the service and walking out the front door because he was not ashamed of following Jesus. In the end, he was captured and beheaded (right in the present carpark outside the church). Also, if you look at the top of the tower, there is a statue of a rooster erected on it. This rooster is a reminder of how Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, and is a reminder to us that we should never deny Jesus. Isn’t that amazing?
So, the experience at the Lutheran church was, interesting. It’s very traditional, so they had priests and the choir dressed in robes, ceremonies, communion, the full works. But we were equally blessed with the message about how we should love our neighbours as ourselves. A bit difficult to catch because we had to have Arash translate for us, but other than that, it was good.
We headed into Uppsala town for lunch after service. Lunch was fantastic, this time, we had kebab! The chicken kebab was delicious; it was breakfast, lunch and dinner all served on one plate! One of the teamers, Justin, was amusing us with his imitations of Scottish, Irish and all the English accents (from Liverpool to Newcastle to Manchester). He’s a funny guy. After lunch, we headed into the New Gen office! It’s quite a small office, nonetheless quite cosy. There, we had our highlight of the week: Skyping with Pastors!! We’ve missed Pastors so much over this week (it seemed like eternity!!) and it was so good to meet Pastors over webcam! Oh, what would we do without technology? We met some of the leaders as well, Charleston, Leonard, Ivan, Roy, Daniel, Xinyi, Jieru and Nicholas to name a few. Pastors met Justin and Linn, who is Joanne’s bunk mate. It was really funny to see everyone exchange cyber hugs and handshakes!
Well, time was running short, so we headed back to the carpark and got ourselves pre paid cards, candy and chocolates along the way. Oh, I must tell you about the culture of car parking here in Sweden. One would take a good 15 minutes to walk to your car because everyone here parks so far away! It’s the equivalent of parking in Park Mall and walking to Far East to shop! Also, it’s really cute how in Singapore, they tell you the spaces you can park in and everywhere else you can’t, while in Sweden, they tell you where you can’t park and everywhere else is free for parking!
The rest of the day was pretty much freed up for us. We started doing our laundry at 5pm, and only ended at 12am because 6 people were doing laundry all at the same time! It was the first time in my life I’m actually doing my own laundry! Mum would be proud. In the meantime, we had dinner, watched a movie and snacked. Linn, Joanne and I were watching ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, but Joanne was so tired she knocked out halfway through the movie!
Laundy, laundry, laundry. The chore.
The concert team should be coming in tomorrow, so let’s wait up for that!
In the meantime…
Jesus alskar dej. :)
Today, we went to a Lutheran church in Uppsala. This is the same church that Pastor Joakim brought us to on our first day. It is a BEAUTIFUL church. Really tall and all. I’m not sure if I shared about the history of this church, but I’ll share it anyhow.
Church
Kings and martyrs are (yes, present tense) buried in this church. Quite creepy when you come to think about it you know, you could be walking around and all these people are buried just under your feet! But these guys are really cool. One of them was the former king of Sweden, and as he was preaching about Jesus in the church, some guys from the occult were waiting outside the church for him to take him away and kill him. The king’s servant tried to get him to flee, but the king refused to do so, insisting on ending the service and walking out the front door because he was not ashamed of following Jesus. In the end, he was captured and beheaded (right in the present carpark outside the church). Also, if you look at the top of the tower, there is a statue of a rooster erected on it. This rooster is a reminder of how Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, and is a reminder to us that we should never deny Jesus. Isn’t that amazing?
Rooster!
So, the experience at the Lutheran church was, interesting. It’s very traditional, so they had priests and the choir dressed in robes, ceremonies, communion, the full works. But we were equally blessed with the message about how we should love our neighbours as ourselves. A bit difficult to catch because we had to have Arash translate for us, but other than that, it was good.
We headed into Uppsala town for lunch after service. Lunch was fantastic, this time, we had kebab! The chicken kebab was delicious; it was breakfast, lunch and dinner all served on one plate! One of the teamers, Justin, was amusing us with his imitations of Scottish, Irish and all the English accents (from Liverpool to Newcastle to Manchester). He’s a funny guy. After lunch, we headed into the New Gen office! It’s quite a small office, nonetheless quite cosy. There, we had our highlight of the week: Skyping with Pastors!! We’ve missed Pastors so much over this week (it seemed like eternity!!) and it was so good to meet Pastors over webcam! Oh, what would we do without technology? We met some of the leaders as well, Charleston, Leonard, Ivan, Roy, Daniel, Xinyi, Jieru and Nicholas to name a few. Pastors met Justin and Linn, who is Joanne’s bunk mate. It was really funny to see everyone exchange cyber hugs and handshakes!
Myself, KS and Jonathan from Taiwan!
Streets of Uppsala!
Well, time was running short, so we headed back to the carpark and got ourselves pre paid cards, candy and chocolates along the way. Oh, I must tell you about the culture of car parking here in Sweden. One would take a good 15 minutes to walk to your car because everyone here parks so far away! It’s the equivalent of parking in Park Mall and walking to Far East to shop! Also, it’s really cute how in Singapore, they tell you the spaces you can park in and everywhere else you can’t, while in Sweden, they tell you where you can’t park and everywhere else is free for parking!
The rest of the day was pretty much freed up for us. We started doing our laundry at 5pm, and only ended at 12am because 6 people were doing laundry all at the same time! It was the first time in my life I’m actually doing my own laundry! Mum would be proud. In the meantime, we had dinner, watched a movie and snacked. Linn, Joanne and I were watching ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, but Joanne was so tired she knocked out halfway through the movie!
Laundy, laundry, laundry. The chore.
The concert team should be coming in tomorrow, so let’s wait up for that!
In the meantime…
Jesus alskar dej. :)
söndag 2 september 2007
Uppsala: Day Four
Uppsala: Day Four
Today, KS touched down in Sweden! So now we’ve four in our team!
Today, KS touched down in Sweden! So now we’ve four in our team!
KS, Johannes and Mathieu (from Le France!)
It was great to have KS here. It was so funny when KS was freezing to death and the rest of us were telling him that it was actually quite warm.
We went to Skansen, which is like little Sweden. Everything you can find in Sweden can be found in Skansen! It was super cool because it’s almost like a little zoo, there’re bears and moose and otters and owls and wolves and foxes and such. And you can find little houses, traditional Swedish houses and all.
Super unglam shot of KS, myself, Tanya and Clara
Little house in Skansen
Duck!!
Horse!!
Bear!!
Moose!
(Do you know, they are actually a real threat in Sweden? They can cause major car accidents and all! Just a little moose!)
Fox!!
Seal!!
View of Stockholm from Skansen
Joanne, myself and Clara!
Stockholm...is beautiful.
Streets of Stockholm (shopping!)
Oh come to Singapore quick...
Cafe in Stockholm (coffee is reaallly good..)
After that we headed downtown to Stockholm!! Stockholm was amazing, it was so beautiful! You’d be amazed, because everyone dresses so well here! We did some shopping (in fact, we shopped the whole day!), bought great stuff from H&M! Joanne bought some earrings and a pair of sunglasses, and I bought a nice pink coat! A beauty.
Well, not much to say except that we shopped a lot!!
See you soon, so wait up for Day Five!!
fredag 31 augusti 2007
Uppsala: Day Three
Uppsala, Day Three.
This morning, I couldn’t really wake up. I had noble intentions of waking up at 6am in the morning, but could only pry my eyes open at 7am. Nonetheless, it was good to know that I wasn’t the only one. After taking my shower, 7.30am at that time, I was encouraged to see that Joanne was still cosy in dream land.
Well, to be fair, Joanne was working hard at night when I was busy snoring away.
After our breakfast, quiet time, prayer and worship session, we stayed in the chapel for our combined (both international and Swedish teamers) session of oral communication. Our speaker, Annie, taught us the basics of public speaking, and we learnt quite a lot about it! This is really crucial because we will be doing a lot of public speaking once we get back to Singapore.
Today’s fikka was interesting. We had cake! The cake was absolutely delicious, I must say! Very sweet and creamy…yum.
After the session, the international teamers headed upstairs for individual presentations. The rest of the international teamers, not including us, had to make a short presentation about New Generations, and this particular presentation was to the pastors they will be sharing New Generations to. Everyone did such a great job (really set the standards for us to follow!), they were all so confident and passionate about what they were sharing! Definitely something that all of us can learn!
And so, more fikka and free time! In fact, it’s free time now, that’s why we’re blogging. We will be visiting Word of Life church tonight for a youth meeting, where Pastor Ulf Ekman is preaching! This is an opportunity of a lifetime, because Pastor Ulf only preaches here twice a year, and this year, it was specially arranged so that we can meet the man of God in person! We’re looking forward to having KS over here too; he’s arriving tomorrow morning! Also, tomorrow we’ll be going to Stockholm to do some sight-seeing and shopping!
This morning, I couldn’t really wake up. I had noble intentions of waking up at 6am in the morning, but could only pry my eyes open at 7am. Nonetheless, it was good to know that I wasn’t the only one. After taking my shower, 7.30am at that time, I was encouraged to see that Joanne was still cosy in dream land.
Well, to be fair, Joanne was working hard at night when I was busy snoring away.
After our breakfast, quiet time, prayer and worship session, we stayed in the chapel for our combined (both international and Swedish teamers) session of oral communication. Our speaker, Annie, taught us the basics of public speaking, and we learnt quite a lot about it! This is really crucial because we will be doing a lot of public speaking once we get back to Singapore.
Today’s fikka was interesting. We had cake! The cake was absolutely delicious, I must say! Very sweet and creamy…yum.
After the session, the international teamers headed upstairs for individual presentations. The rest of the international teamers, not including us, had to make a short presentation about New Generations, and this particular presentation was to the pastors they will be sharing New Generations to. Everyone did such a great job (really set the standards for us to follow!), they were all so confident and passionate about what they were sharing! Definitely something that all of us can learn!
And so, more fikka and free time! In fact, it’s free time now, that’s why we’re blogging. We will be visiting Word of Life church tonight for a youth meeting, where Pastor Ulf Ekman is preaching! This is an opportunity of a lifetime, because Pastor Ulf only preaches here twice a year, and this year, it was specially arranged so that we can meet the man of God in person! We’re looking forward to having KS over here too; he’s arriving tomorrow morning! Also, tomorrow we’ll be going to Stockholm to do some sight-seeing and shopping!
I guess this is going to be all for today, so look forward to our next entry tomorrow! Love and miss everyone in Singapore!
Uppsala: Day 3 (Livets Ord)
Last night’s meeting with Pastor Ulf Ekman was AWESOME! We were at Livets Ord (a.k.a Word of Life Church) for the youth conference, seated at the second row right behind Pastor Ulf!
We had to put on headsets for the translation, but the service was simply fantastic. We were busy scribbling notes (5 – 6 pages worth!) and received so much from him! After the service, Arash, one of the New Generation team leaders, introduced us to Pastor Ulf! Like, WOAH. We had a tour around Livets Ord, and finally settled in the cafeteria for (more) fikka. It was really cool; they had a foosball table, a pool table and even a live band playing! The bassist of this band is a 14-year-old girl, who was also playing on the worship team earlier on! Joanne and I were so stunned by this girl, we went up to her to say hi and tell her how awesome she was earlier on. It turns out that her whole family’s into music! Her brother plays the keyboard, with her other relatives on the drums and doing the sound.
The Legendary: Livets Ord
Main lobby
Overview of the auditorium
Worship team
Pastor Ulf Ekman! In Person!
Media room
Bible school graduates!
From left to right: Tanya and Sarah Steel in the cafeteria!
So it was a long ride back home (I can’t blog much about the long rides, I’m asleep most of the time) and there was fog! The fog was quite cool..because in Singapore if you see mist, it’s mostly just the haze.
The next day’s gonna be even more exciting.
Uppsala: Day Two
Uppsala, Day Two
If there’s a culture apart from fikka that one needs to get used to in Sweden, it’s waking up early in the morning. Early, being 6 – 7am in the morning.
Gasp.
But it’s not that difficult really (I personally woke up at 6.30am in the morning, on ONE ring of my alarm clock, to get a nice hot shower), because the sun rises at around 6 am in the morning. The day stretches much longer here, and the sun only sets at around 8 – 8.30pm maybe? Everyone goes to sleep at around 10pm here (also completely unheard of in Singapore).
The programme for the day would be the same for the rest of the trip; breakfast in the morning, own time with God, prayer and worship then the first session of the day. For today, we had sessions with Pastor Joakim! We went through the 7 reasons why youths are important, and then practical tips on how to keep New Generations a neutral body when it comes to Christian issues of doctrine and baptism. We realised how important it is to keep New Generations as such, because this prevents conflict amongst churches, and also keeps us focused on our two main aims of prayer and outreach.
The last programme for the day was the prayer and worship session for Nordic. We went to the small chapel and had a quiet worship session; but make no mistake, though it was not something that we at Heart of God church are used to (loud music, full band etc), it is equally anointed and powerful. With just one guitar, a piano and two main singers, all the New Generation teamers came together to worship one God and pray for Nordic. The atmosphere of worship was so strong, Joanne, Charmaine and I retreated to our bunks after the session to continue praying and worshipping in the presence of God. Our physical bodies are so far away from home, but our spirits remain rooted at home all the same. J
Of course, we had much fikka in between. One would be amazed at how much we eat around here! We have about 5 meals a day! But no complaints here, the food is really good. And to think I actually packed a whole luggage of food…
Speaking of which, my food DID come in handy at the end of the day. I brought instant noodles (two packets of 8 instant noodles each), so Joanne and I decided to have them for supper. Two of the teamers, Anna and Sofia, were quite intrigued by our noodles so we had a mini cultural exchange programme right there in our humble kitchen. It was quite hilarious to see their reaction towards spicy food! So we stayed and talked to them over supper, and really had a good time.
It was 11pm by the time everything ended…so that’s it. Nothing else TOO interesting happened…no more midnight treks into the forest…it was a good night’s sleep.
If there’s a culture apart from fikka that one needs to get used to in Sweden, it’s waking up early in the morning. Early, being 6 – 7am in the morning.
Gasp.
But it’s not that difficult really (I personally woke up at 6.30am in the morning, on ONE ring of my alarm clock, to get a nice hot shower), because the sun rises at around 6 am in the morning. The day stretches much longer here, and the sun only sets at around 8 – 8.30pm maybe? Everyone goes to sleep at around 10pm here (also completely unheard of in Singapore).
The programme for the day would be the same for the rest of the trip; breakfast in the morning, own time with God, prayer and worship then the first session of the day. For today, we had sessions with Pastor Joakim! We went through the 7 reasons why youths are important, and then practical tips on how to keep New Generations a neutral body when it comes to Christian issues of doctrine and baptism. We realised how important it is to keep New Generations as such, because this prevents conflict amongst churches, and also keeps us focused on our two main aims of prayer and outreach.
The last programme for the day was the prayer and worship session for Nordic. We went to the small chapel and had a quiet worship session; but make no mistake, though it was not something that we at Heart of God church are used to (loud music, full band etc), it is equally anointed and powerful. With just one guitar, a piano and two main singers, all the New Generation teamers came together to worship one God and pray for Nordic. The atmosphere of worship was so strong, Joanne, Charmaine and I retreated to our bunks after the session to continue praying and worshipping in the presence of God. Our physical bodies are so far away from home, but our spirits remain rooted at home all the same. J
Of course, we had much fikka in between. One would be amazed at how much we eat around here! We have about 5 meals a day! But no complaints here, the food is really good. And to think I actually packed a whole luggage of food…
Speaking of which, my food DID come in handy at the end of the day. I brought instant noodles (two packets of 8 instant noodles each), so Joanne and I decided to have them for supper. Two of the teamers, Anna and Sofia, were quite intrigued by our noodles so we had a mini cultural exchange programme right there in our humble kitchen. It was quite hilarious to see their reaction towards spicy food! So we stayed and talked to them over supper, and really had a good time.
It was 11pm by the time everything ended…so that’s it. Nothing else TOO interesting happened…no more midnight treks into the forest…it was a good night’s sleep.
torsdag 30 augusti 2007
Uppsala: Day One
Hey Everyone!
Here’s us, Joanne, Charmaine and Liane, blogging after a lovely day out in Uppsala, Sweden!
We’ve just ended DAY ONE of our training here in Sweden, and we’ve had an AWESOME time. This entry promises a blow by blow account of our day, armed with pictures of all the places we’ve visited, the house we’re staying in, and of course, our friendly grass-chewing neighbours out in the fields.
Here’s us, Joanne, Charmaine and Liane, blogging after a lovely day out in Uppsala, Sweden!
We’ve just ended DAY ONE of our training here in Sweden, and we’ve had an AWESOME time. This entry promises a blow by blow account of our day, armed with pictures of all the places we’ve visited, the house we’re staying in, and of course, our friendly grass-chewing neighbours out in the fields.
So, here goes!
The first thing that struck us when we touched down at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm was how everything looked like it was from IKEA!
And then the chill autumn wind set in, which made us thank God we were armed with enough sweaters for the whole trip. We were soon picked up by two of the teamers, and began our long car ride to our lodging place at Ribbingeback (rib-bing-a-back), a short distance from Uppsala city.
As we drove to our destination, we were amazed at just how much sparse land there is in the country! There were empty fields, sign posts scattered along the sides of the roads reminding drivers to be wary of the occasional moose, horses and cows in the fields…it was a beautiful sight to behold. The houses in Sweden are vastly different from those in Singapore; most of them are out in the fields, located a substantial distance from one another, and many are self-sustaining with their own farms with cows and horses. We drove past IKEA (this is the real deal!), Subway, McDonalds and other small shops too, but no shopping malls! I found my right arm aching a little after a while, which could be attributed to Joanne’s very frequent lunging across me to snap random shots of cows, horses and grass.
Swedish architecture!
After a long drive, we finally arrived at Ribbingeback, where we will be lodging for the next couple of weeks. This place is absolutely gorgeous; we’ll let the photos speak for themselves. There’s one big house where we eat and have our sessions, and two separate ones for the guys and the girls to sleep in separately. We were introduced to all the teamers in the house, both Swedish and international teamers, then ushered to our bedrooms. After which, we had a short prayer and worship session at the chapel within the compounds of the house.
Main house at Ribbingeback
Girls' Dorm!
If there’s one thing we learnt about the Swedish culture today, it’s fikka (fee-ka), where one takes a short break and has coffee and some light snacks in between meals. We had a meal of bread (the bread is delicious), butter, cheese and ham, before heading for our first introductory session with Brad Hawkes, who is in charge of all the international teamers (that’s us!). We then had a short tour of the house, from the halls, to the dining room, the basement, the kitchen, toilets etc.
We had our first formal session with Brad Hawkes and Sarah short after, which really served to introduce us to the work and life of a typical New Gen teamer. This really gave us some insight to what is would be like to travel from school to school, bringing all the different denominations together for a single purpose – to reach out to youths!
The next part of the day was probably the highlight – a ride downtown with Pastor Joakim!
We had our first formal session with Brad Hawkes and Sarah short after, which really served to introduce us to the work and life of a typical New Gen teamer. This really gave us some insight to what is would be like to travel from school to school, bringing all the different denominations together for a single purpose – to reach out to youths!
The next part of the day was probably the highlight – a ride downtown with Pastor Joakim!
Streets of Uppsala City
We had expected another session, but Pastor Joakim brought us down to Uppsala city instead. Along the way, he also showed us his house, where some parts were built in the 18th Century! Our first stop was the cathedrals, the oldest built around the 11th Century. The cathedrals are nothing like that of St Andrew’s Cathedral, or Orchard Presbytarian Church; these are huge, towering buildings almost 10 stories high; a breath-taking scene. The history behind these cathedrals are really cool too; we learnt much about the many Swedish martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the name of bringing Jesus to Sweden.
Outside the church
Beautiful ain't it?
Hallway of the church
Martyrs
We trekked up a hill to take a look at the library, which also overlooked the castle where the King of Sweden used to live. It was a lovely sight, and whilst we were looking at all the buildings across Sweden, Pastor Joakim told us that no building was above 5 stories high! Unheard of in Singapore.
View from the hill!
Pastor Joakim then drove us to the main shopping area, where we sat down for a cup of coffee and some more snacks. What really struck us was the culture of the place; most people would be cycling around rather than taking public transport, and everything was very quiet, even if there were many people around. It’s almost like we were in the outskirts of the country again, only this time, there were more buildings and people.
The three of us have already been stuffed with food by then, but guess what? By the time we headed back, it was time for fikka again! It was then that we realised that we are definitely not going to lose any pounds in Sweden. Well, we had some good fellowship with the teamers, and then the last bomb fell on us. It was time for the much-awaited Swedish delight...
Surströmming [aka Rotten Fish].
With much apprehension on our side, and lots of cheering on the end of the Swedish teamers, we ventured outside for our dessert. One brave Taiwanese teamer took on the task of opening the can of rotten fish. When it was open, the smell that emerged from that tiny can was enough to rocket us a good 3 metres away! It was absolutely unbearable; a fridgeful of durians would have smelt like a bed of roses at that point in time. Unfortunately, no amount of screams and cries of despair could free us from the ominous prospect of having to actually eat the rotten fish. So, in the noble spirit of unity and good sportsmanship, the three of us swallowed a piece of that rotten fish precariously wrapped in pita bread.
It wasn’t too bad actually. You see, the trick is to quickly chew on it and let all the bad smell out, then quickly chew on it again. Chew for dear life and imagine sashimi. It was very smelly, and very salty. But trust me, you DO NOT want to have to repeat this experience. It was hilarious watching everyone’s reaction to the rotten fish; some chewed them down like champs (ahem), while others spat the rest out into a specially-prepared empty bucket. No one can blame them, the smell speaks for itself. Made all of us, Swedish teamers included, wonder how people up in the north of Sweden actually LIKE eating rotten fish, so much so that they have a day dedicated to eating rotten fish!
Apprehensive crowd.
Well, the excitement died down a little from there, and we all proceeded to the main hall, where we sang songs and worshipped together for a while. It was so cool seeing how all of us can come together, in spite of our backgrounds and cultural differences, to worship one God. It was so powerful; really reminding us that God is doing a work in every corner of this earth, that we can all come and worship together because we are worshipping the same God. After some time, we headed back into the chapel, where two people read from the bible and the rest of us could listen and gain revelation from the word of God.
Today was great, and no matter how tired our bodies are due to uncomfortable seats on the plane and jet lag (we are 6 hours behind Singapore, so it would be 6 am in Singapore and 12am in Sweden), we are totally looking forward to tomorrow.
Apparently, the above ending was not to be.
Just as we were about to get some shut-eye, teamers were streaming into our rooms, yelling to wake everyone up. For some bizarre reason, we were told to gather outside, cold, freezing and terribly jet-lagged (body aching, eyes begging for mercy…). It was rather hilarious actually, because we all knew what was going to happen next…
Charmaine and I were put in the same team, and our team was the first to embark on a lovely trek into the forest. Please note that in Sweden, forests are really forests, not a piece of empty land that CapitaLand has set her eyes on for her next condominium project.
Our first task was to follow a length of rope and remembering the items which hung on it, some of which were liver, bacon, kidney…you get the idea. After that very disturbing trek, we ventured further in for our second task. This time, we had to sink our hands into 4 buckets filled with what looked like yesterday’s leftovers to find 5 (very small) stones in each bucket. I don’t know about the rest, but my fingers were so numb, I couldn’t differentiate stone from pear. It was disgusting, but really funny to watch! The third and last task was a lot simpler; we had to get each group member across a tangled web of twice (or rope).
If anything, that very unexpected activity taught us all a lot more about Swedish forests and embraced us into Swedish culture like never before. We might want to bring a little of this Swedish flavour back to Singapore…you never know…
Atta Sweden.
Hejdå [bye!]
Joann, Charmaine & Liane
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