Days Two - Three

The last two days have been a whirlwind of activity.  I'm sure I'll miss parts, but I will try to put down most of it here. 

During Wednesday, we spent the day praying for Oslo and the Global Leadership Summit at Holmenkollen and made our way to he Royal Castle and Oslo City Hall where we prayed for the leadership of the country and city respectively.  Afterwards, when we went to the Akerhus Fortress I was struck not only withe beauty of it all, but of how God serves as a fortress for us.  Later that evening we met up with two of the managers of the Oslo Norwegian GLS who met us for dinner.  During dinner with Elin Marie and Birgitte we found out that they had no volunteers for the Friday GLS.  Walking back to the hotel after dinner, we struck by the scene of two women looking over a Bible in the middle of the streets of Oslo - a sight that is quite rare. 

Up until that point in time, part of me questioned my usefulness and what I could/would be doing here for the church.  We have so many volunteers at Eagle Brook that it was hard to understand and/or comprehend not having ANY volunteers to help with the GLS.  It's interesting, Elin Marie and Birgitte both seemed very concerned about working us too hard, or that we were there to serve them and to help them put on a successful GLS.  I think the "Tenets of Jante Law" which are similar to the cultural concept of the "American Dream" were really being challenged.  

The Tenets of Jante Law are as follows: 

- You shall not think you are special. 

- You shall not believe you are smarter than others. 

- You shall not believe you are wiser than others. 

- You shall not behave as if you are better than others. 

- You shall not believe that you know more than others. 

- You shall not believe that you can fix things better than others. 

- You shall not laugh at others. 

- You shall not believe that others care about you. 

- You shall not believe that you can teach others anything. 

There are approximately 270 people attending the GLS in Oslo (they are preparing for 300).  There are 7 of us.  Much of their limitations are based on the size of the church. 

So, this afternoon, we started setting up the church.  We set up the gymnasium for lunch with approximately 152 tables and chairs.  We set up 300 chairs in the sanctuary for the GLS attenders, we put together name tags, set up the resource table.  There were a couple of things that really struck me this evening.  The first was how well our team (from the States) worked together without ever really working together before.  The second was that everyone that was there had a job and knew what to do (well, except for us sometimes... we needed a little more direction!), but that no matter who we asked, we were pointed in the right direction without any attitude or annoyance.  A lot of time, in the United States, we give of an attitude that I can do it better than you or that you are annoying me, or that I have to be in first place in order to be the best.  There was absolutely none of that today.  While I was helping Lise set up the resource table (she has done this several years) she kept diverting to any ideas that those of us helping her might have as far as organization and appearance.  

But most of all, what struck me was when the worship team was beginning their sound check.  I immediately remembered how I felt attending the GLS, the powerful impact it had on me and in encouraging me to continue living out my faith in every aspect of my life.  I was struck by the fact that I was standing in a church in Oslo, listening to people prepare to worship the same God that I worship on a regular basis.  I was struck by how big our God is and how powerful he is.  I was overwhelmed by having been given this opportunity to serve others.  

After working at the church tonight for almost six hours, I was reminded of Galatians 6:9-10, our team verse; "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Please continue to keep the team in your prayers.  We have a couple of very long days ahead of us.  Tomorrow we will have to be at breakfast around 6:30am in order to catch the bus and be at the church by 8:00am ... not returning until after we tear down all of the tables and chairs in the gymansium at the church because of a double-booking.  [The churches often rent out their gymnasiums for additional income.] And then back at it very early on Saturday morning as well.