We serve a good Father

Hej hej! Tomorrow, we begin our final week of ministry in Uppsala. So much has been happening here, and I can hardly remember even the most stunning of the things that God is doing here through and in our team, since so much is happening in such a short amount of time. Today, my friend CJ invited me to go with her to meet with one of her contacts, who is a horseback rider. We went out to the stable where she keeps her horse, and spent hours watching her work her horse and chatting with her. She is an amazing rider, and her horse is equally impressive (upper level drassage, for those who know what I'm talking about). After she finished working her horse, she asked if we would like to ride! CJ and I both took turns riding her horse out in the Swedish countryside. What an unexpected blessing! Later, we were able to get into some good conversation with her about Christianity, and the faults that she found with it. It is so frustrating to see walls of belief or thought prevent people from seeing the beauty of the Gospel, but it is a true blessing from the Lord to be a firsthand witness as those walls start to crack. Many Swedes are interested in talking with us, if only because no one ever talks about religion here. This is a great contrast to America, where it is almost over-discussed, and students lose interest as soon as you mention any religious terminology. Because Swedes rarely talk about God or religion, a typical response to a question about either is a simple "I don't really know...". Please pray that the Lord will continue His work here in the lives of Swedes! He has been revealing to us daily the precious nature of His image bearers here in Sweden, and opening our eyes to how He longs for them to know Him and turn to Him. Outside of ministry, life in Sweden is utterly amazing. It is spring here, and the high was 77 degrees today. We have been taking the train to Stockholm about once a week to test the ground there, and each time the city has astonished us with its beauty and history. It is 1:20AM right now, so I am off to bed, but please please pray that the Lord will aid our team in being faithful to what He has brought us here to do, and that the hearts of Swedes will be opened to the Gospel.

Week 2

The Lord is moving in Sweden! Watching His plans unfold is a delight that I have been blessed with experiencing daily. There are countless stories that I could write about on this blog, in which the Lord brought us to someone unexpected in a crazy way. An example of this would be one of our new Swedish friend J, which we met while hosting a bike wash on campus. J didn't even have a bike, yet was brought into conversation by a teammate of mine. As it turns out, J studied in North Carolina three years ago, and became a Christian during her time in the States. When she returned to Sweden, she had no Christian community to grow with, and no ideas about how to live for the Lord or share her faith with her friends or family. Today, J, one of my teammates, and I met up to get fika (talking and drinking coffee). She was initially concerned that we were part of a cult (which is a common stereotype of Christians in Sweden), but was soon talking openly with us about our faith. We were able to discuss the main points of Christianity as well as dive deep into some of the doubts and questions that have been on her heart since she accepted Christ three years ago. The three of us talked for about two hours, discussing Christ, life, and studying the Bible. She is extremely interested in growing in her knowledge of Christ, and had many questions for us about how she can share her faith with her friends and family (people rarely discuss religion or belief in God. Often, best friends do not know each others opinions about God). We purchased J a journal, and are going to be meeting with her every Monday to study the book of Ephesians together. Also, J is interested in meeting the long-term staff here, which will be both a blessing to her and an encouragement to them! Praise the Lord. This story is an example of the Lord allowing us to witness Him answering our team's prayer that He would bring the silent Christians of Uppsala into community. This is so cool to be apart of, and I am daily astonished that the Lord gave me the gift of being here to serve Him. Now, I have to go do laundry! :)

Finally in Sweden!

Hej Hej!
We arrived with in Stockholm safely and hit the ground running! We are staying in a hostel in Uppsala, and there are several other guests here as well. We have spent a ton of time out in the city already, and it is completely stunning. My team and I are still recovering from sleep deprivation, but we have already had some amazing experiences. Today we went onto an area of campus in pairs, and started some conversations with Swedes. It was completely amazing to actually be doing the work that we have been waiting so long to do! My teammate and I had good conversation with two girls, and we plan to meet up with them later this week. Praise the Lord for His the opportunities that He has given us to serve Him here, and for the way that He is guiding us through our time here! It's 11:18pm here, so I need to cut this blog short, but more to come later! -Mere

A Time of Preparation

"Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord." -Psalm 27:14

       This is a large portion of what the Lord is patiently teaching me, as this summer draws near. I am so impatient to have my feet on Swedish soil, and to begin cultivating relationships with Swedes! At the same time, I am so grateful for the time the Lord has provided for the preparation of my heart and mind, before I land in Sweden. Raising support has been such an awesome process, since it has opened my eyes to my deeply-rooted self-reliance, and forced me to bow my head to the supremacy of the Lord. He alone is in control! In addition to how the Lord is using support-raising to work in my heart, He is also using it to reveal the beauty of His body, the church. I lack the words to express how encouraging it is to see so many Christians bind together to share the Gospel with others. It is so strikingly beautiful, and I am so grateful to be both a part and a witness.

A quick story:      
       On Wednesday, I was crossing through the brickyard (a central, heavily trafficked part of campus), when I spotted a table with a banner that said "Ask an Atheist". I immediately knew that the Holy Spirit wanted me to go over to the table, but instead I kept walking to my usual between-classes reading spot. I sat down, read two pages, but have no idea what either of them said, since I could not focus. After all, I am about to travel to another continent to share the Good News with people who do not believe that there is a god, what in the world was I doing avoiding the atheists right in front of me? Dumb. So, I prayed for the Holy Spirit to give me words to say, and walked up to the table. There was already a conversation going on between a "christian" guy and four atheists, and from what I could gather, it was a debate about the existence of Adam, Eve, and something about the animals on the Ark. I will be the first to tell you that I have absolutely no scientific vocabulary, or knowledge for that matter, so I had no intention of starting a scientific debate. Fortunately, one of the atheist guys asked me if I had a question, and I said yes, so he and I stepped away from the Adam-Eve discussion. I asked him how he had reached the decision that there was no god, and from there the conversation flowed from discussing family influence on an individual's religious belief to discussing death and afterlife. It was incredible to watch his wall of defensiveness crumble as I asked genuine questions and listened to his responses. I am so grateful to the Lord for enabling me to keep my mouth shut, and for bringing good questions to my mind. I was able to share the Gospel with him near the end of our conversation, and I pray that the Lord will use our conversation to open his eyes to the truth and sweetness of Christ Jesus. If this conversation was a glimpse of what is to come this summer in Sweden, then I am more eager than ever to sit down with precious Swedish students.

If anyone has any prayer requests, please do not hesitate to email me at mkhaddoc@ncsu.edu.
By His grace alone,
 Meredith