Return to Sweden

I was overjoyed when I learned I would be returning to Sweden for another Challenge Team! This time I headed for Malmö, which is located in the southwest corner of the country right next to Denmark. I have fallen in love with Sweden, the people, the culture, nature and the language. It's not very often I find a country that I could say I would like to live in. In fact the last country I wanted to live in was Germany. God answered that request and taught me that I didn't like Germany as much as I thought I was going to.
But now I am in Sweden. I'm with a very different team and we are doing different ministries then the ones I participated with in Stockholm.

Street Church
On Friday nights groups of local Christians from various churches set up tables in the busiest pedestrian areas of the city. Passing out free coffee, cookies and bibles to people on the way to or from the restaurants and clubs. The amazing thing is, that people in Sweden actually stop. They accept the free coffee, free cookies, and even the free bibles with no hesitation. Some people ask "Why?" and the response is always honest. "We want to bless you and tell you about Jesus".
If we were in the states, that's when the people would scoff, walk away, start an argument, or ignore us. But we aren't in the states. We are in Sweden where the people who have had a rich history with Christan influence, have come to be tolerant, accepting, self-reliant and at the same time lost. The Swedish instead answer with, "OK, tell me about Jesus."
It's that simple. We open the bible, we share what Jesus did for us on the cross, no trying to cover up our faith or beliefs, just straight "this is who we are and this is why we believe it". Everyone is polite, thanking us for the coffee, the conversation and the free bibles.
A man accepted Christ last week. He walked by the table a couple times, and returning for a third time shared his hurt and struggles. After walking past the table 2 times, he felt compelled to return and talk to someone. He could no longer resist the Spirit. This isn't a once in while thing, every week seeds are being planted and Swedish people are being saved.

Rosengård
Rosengård, the poorest district in all of Scandinavia, it's where 92% of the residents are unemployed, and 60% of the residents were born in another country. Those aren't exactly the statistics you want to hear when you decide to move to a new part of town. But that's exactly what the members of Thomas Church knew when they chose to move into the heart of Rosengård.
Of the 22,000 people that call Rosengård home, most are immigrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia and Lebanon to name a few, making Muslims the number one people group here. Church members are their neighbors, praying for them, holding outreaches for the women and children, teaching them Swedish, and handing out free coffee. The people here are open to discuss religion daily because it's part of their culture.
While helping with Thomas Church, our team has been able to pass out "fika" (coffee and cookies... in case you haven't figured it out yet, Swedish people LOVE coffee breaks). We also cleaned a neighborhood park and played sports and games with the kids. It's all about relationships and letting your life be a witness to God's grace. It's exciting to be a part of what God is doing in Rosengård.

Prayer Request:
That God can continue to unify our team, as we have one week still together.
For the seeds that have been planted. That people will be moved by the Spirit to find meaning and purpose for life in Christ Jesus.
That, through all our words and actions, Christ will be glorified and hearts transformed.

Another Year Older

Nothing big was planned for my birthday. The events team I work with threw me a little party complete with funny videos and a cake. They wanted to put my face IN the cake, but they know me too well, so settled for putting my face ON the cake.
That evening I had dinner with some special friends. It was a Monday night, which meant "Monday Night Worship". I had expected to go out with a few friends after dinner, but they surprised me with a game.
I had to put on a blindfold, a silly hat and follow a string around the whole ship! What fun.... for everyone else. My friends were not very good leaders, as they let me bump into walls and strangers, who, along with their giggles, were wishing me Happy Birthday. The string lead me back to my own cabin and inside was confetti and friends waiting to surprise me.
It meant so much to celebrate with friends and have a good time. I told them their surprise party was great... but not quite as great as the one I had the previous year :)

Leaving Kiel!

We are leaving Kiel!!! The ship is heading for dry dock in Sweden, and the ship's company will soon be following. Because the ship doesn't have her Passenger Certificate only 75 crew members can sail with her. So tonight, 100 of us will be having a "slumber party" as a local church then bussing to Sweden in the morning. It's exciting to be leaving a port we have called home for the past 9 months. Most of us joined the ships to bring the word of God to people around the world, it's neat to finally be leaving for another country.

While the ship is in dry dock there will be 10 land teams to 5 different countries sent out to work with churches and other Christian organizations. I'll be going back to Sweden, but this time to a city named Malmo. It has the one of largest immigrant populations in all of Europe. Please pray for team unity and opportunities for us to share Jesus with local youth.

All the teams will be rejoining the ship on June 17 in Koge, Denmark. While away I won't be able to check my gbaships.org address, but you can still email to it, or find me on Facebook.



I can't wait to tell you all what the future holds after dry dock. I still don't know the details, but hope to learn some plans when everyone rejoins the ship! In the meantime, I had a birthday and will share that with you in my next blog, along with photos.

HopeFest

Our time in Kiel is coming to an end. We have been in this city for 9 months and have been blessed by the churches and people we have grown to love. For a special Thank You to all the members of our new community we opened Deck 4 up to the public for a special two day program we called "HopeFest". I was in charge of orchestrating the open ship and everything that was to happen on Deck 4.

















For those who don't know, Deck 4 will be our EXPERIENCE DECK. The entire deck will be used for the public. It will include the book fair, an international cafe, along with gospel presentations and an area about life onboard. Right now, it's just an empty deck with really nice flooring.


















The weekend was a great success and over 1,000 people came to experience HopeFest. There were clowns, cultural tables, a magic show, dramas, and lots of people. It was so overwhelming to see how much effort the crew members put into making this day all about God and letting his Spirit shine through them to befriend the public, (along with showing off their cultures). God is good and filled an empty deck with his goodness.

New email

My new and final email is:

jessica.edwards@gbaships.org

Besides getting email, I also like to get snail mail and packages. The address for those is:

Jessica Edwards
LOGOS HOPE
Alte Neckarelzer Str. 2
D-4821 Mosbach, Germany

Sweden Pictures

Our Sweden Team, leaving, Emma (USA), SoHee (S. Korea), Me, Mateus (Brazil)


Some of the youth we hung out with at a local church.

















There was a main stage and 6 other stages set up around the city for Jesus Manifestation. All the venues marched together and joined in the main square, "King's Garden".


Marching with 15,000 at Jesus Manifestation, in Stockholm. "Jesus says: 'I am the way, the truth and the life'"





Views of Sweden

Sweden Summary

We prayed with a young pastor named David. He is starting a home fellowship in a suburb near the church we were staying. He is excited to have a small group of believers praying weekly, in hopes that more of their friends and co-workers will come to know the Lord. It was exciting to share this time of prayer with them and see the enthusiasm that Christ has given them for this church plant.

Jesus Manifestation
Being in the midst of 15,000 people was overwhelming, but when you realize that all those people were in downtown Stockholm to come together, praise Jesus and shout his name publicly, it's thrilling. Words can not express the emotions felt as we were able to participate in a city-wide march, that stopped traffic and had people asking questions. The march ended in the main park, King's Garden where there were speakers, music and booths from various Christian organizations. All the Churches of Sweden had come together, putting aside denominations or ethnic backgrounds, but in togetherness manifested Jesus'name!

Team Work
The trip was blessed to start off with a calmness and carried that theme all the way through. The programs we lead challenged youth to step out and be missionaries to their friends. We also filled many days with practical help. Helping to spread the word for the Elvacaffe. This cafe was started by the church, whose whole purpose is to connect with individuals and share Jesus through love, friendship and "fika". Good conversations were had, Jesus was at work. Each one of us in the team had different strengths and weaknesses, but with God's help and amazing grace, we worked together and He recieved the glory. The people of Sweden will remain in our hearts, as we now have a better understanding of how to pray for them.

Prayer Requests
*Much fruit for the numerous friendship ministries that many of the churches have begun.
*More and more people will accept Jesus and live lives glorifying him.
*Pray for the seeking and the lonely, many in Sweden live comfortable lives with no purpose.
*The Christian brothers and sisters, who took a stand for Jesus, will let their light shine everyday, not just when they march together.