Together For Europe

Highlight Reels

 

 

 

What's New?

Ministry

Our bi-weekly spiritual gathering called Impressions had good success in the Fall going through the Spiritual Pathways, exploring different ways we worship God.  This Spring, we are moving through the Sermon on the Mount. As we said, more and more people are coming. 

Expressions, our monthly low-threshold gathering is also finding success.  We had a great Quiz night a few weeks ago!  This Spring we will have another film night (The Adjustment Bureau), a YouTube night on Heroes, a forum on "Swedishness", an outdoor-games time, and a Luau.   The latter should be the most interesting!!  :-)  Hopefully it's warm in June!

Faith Factory has been starting slower that we want.  This Spring, we are trying a different tactic to connect with young people in the area.  We'd appreciate your prayers so that we can make the right connections and build up this ministry. 

In addition to the regular rhythm of Impressions, Expressions, Medvandrarna, Faith Factory, football nights, and Serve the City, the initiatives that our team members have started have found good success as well.  

Finally, a neat development has been a Swedish family moving from another part of Sweden to be a part of our team.  They arrive in April and will move directly into the area we are ministering in.  Very cool!

Family

In addition to my ministry responsibilities, my (Luke’s) teaching continues to be enjoyable and help us financially!  It’s fun and fulfilling.  Kirsten continues to play a strong supporting roll for the family and our team.   She has spent countless hours helping the kids with homework, cooking for our ministry events, and interacting with our connections. 

Jonathan recently was in Malmö for the national gymnastic test.  It's a vigorous three-day event testing the gymnasts flexibility, technical abilities, and strength.  He did very well, placing fourth!  We also went to the doctor recently (oddly, the same one who took care of Wayne Rooney before the last world cup) for his elbow.  It has been bothering him for about two years.  Fortunately, it doesn't look like there is a need for surgery but we'd appreciate your prayers for its full healing.  In addition to gymnastics, his strong interests are movies, music, and chocolate.  

Lilia is doing really well at gymnastics as well.  She has not had any competitions this year yet but in the Winter did very, very well!  Her development is incredible!  She also loves movies, music, and American Girl dolls. 

Owen is quite busy with gymnastics, soccer, and swimming.  He is doing very well and continues to make those around him smile.  His recent Christmas present making electrical circuits has been a hit!

Finally Oliver, continues to have fun coloring, doing playdough, and playing with his siblings.  His favorite themes are castles and pirates. 

The Flying Squirrel

When was the last time when you launched yourself from a diving board or rock into a pool or lake? How did you do it? A simple jump? Swan-dive?  Maybe the cannonball?   

 

When I was younger, a friend of mine employed a trademark dive called "the Flying Squirrel". It was a reckless grab-your-legs-behind-your-back, full-chested flying deathwish, followed by a last minute water-entrance. If not executed properly, flames would certainly rise from the wreckage of one's fully extended front. Spectators' were both horrified and delighted. Not a minimal splash, mind you, but always a crowd-pleaser!

In our last update, we spoke of two seemingly contradictory elements in our life right now - ministry growth and significant family challenges. On one side, it can feel like drowning. On the other, flying.  A bit odd.   

 

The flying squirrel seems to summarize our current situation. A full-on, mid-air commitment to our ministry and family, the rush of wind in our hair, anticipating the water landing. Flames to come? Panache? Certainly, this is not a show but it might give you a picture (albeit too dramatic) of where we are standing...or, er...flying.

 

That being said, thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, and support. We've made many strides since our last update. Obtaining better support for Jonathan and our family has been our most important task. In addition to gathering a dedicated team to pray for Jonathan, we've worked with local organizations and people to help us in our situation. We've never had so many meetings, Skypes, emails, and phone calls! However, each contact has been so helpful to piece together an evolving puzzle.  

 

On the ministry front, our project continues to make very nice strides and connections in the area.  Our regular activities are becoming better known and our contacts seem to finally trust that we are here to invest in them and their community. It takes a long time in the Swedish culture!  

 

We continue to fly and appreciate your prayers for the following:

 

Jonathan's schooling: that together with the teachers, we can help Jonathan feel safe and successful at school.  

 

Local Support: that the local organizations will be able to pair us with the right people to help.   

 

Family: that we and the kids will be able to find some periods of rest, encouragement, and healing.   

 

Ministry Connections: that our investment with our contacts will begin to blossom into followers of Christ.  

Surprises and A Prayer Request

 

Greetings from Sweden!  Last update, we spoke of some interesting surprises and that God is doing something here. In the past couple of months, we have continued to be surprised and wanted to share with you.  We also wanted to mention a very specific prayer request.



From the picture above, you can see one surprise: we have had some visitors to our front yard!  Luckily, they were not like another moose here in Sweden who was so intoxicated by fermenting apples that he got stuck in a tree.  :-)  This female and her calves were in our neighborhood for a few days!  Very cool! 

Another surprise (delightful, we might add) is that our team is finally seeing some growth.  With church-like services every other Sunday, low-threshold connecting events the other, and other ongoing ministries, our team is making  more connections than ever.  In a country where commitment is rare outside work, family, and close friendships, we are interacting with more who are close to joining our faith community on a regular basis! You can read more on our site.  The link is below. 

The specific prayer request we mentioned is for our family.  We have asked for prayer for Jonathan over the years.  After two years of psychologists, he recently received a diagnosis that he deals with "atypical autism".  Briefly, it's much like Asperger's Syndrome. If you would like to know more, here are some links: About.com  Wikipedia

  

Because the challenges with him have affected our ministry, we have been asked by our mission agency to assess our ministry effectiveness. The question they are posing is "how effective is a pioneer church-planting ministry with an autistic child?"

It's a sobering but great question.  With a great deal of our work being contact work, invitations to our home, and meeting with others in socials contexts, it poses a significant challenge for Jonathan.  Because of this, our ministry can sometimes be inconsistent.  By ourselves, it's not as effective as we or our mission agency would like it to be. 

As difficult as it is to admit, we need your help again.  Would you pray for us?  Our prayer request is that we can find the right support and help so that we can continue to minister effectively in Sweden.  Among other local helps, we are considering a live-in intern or an Au-pair to help make this possible.  If you know of someone who might consider this, could you please contact us?

While we have invested a great deal of time, energy, and finances to embed into Swedish culture, we want to be in the right situation for our family to thrive.  With a great team, a ministry with tremendous potential, and profound spiritual poverty in Sweden, we feel called to continue here.  We appreciate your prayers as we work to find better support for us and for Jonathan.   

Other Developments

Ministry

Our bi-weekly spiritual gathering is called Impressions.  We are working through the Gary Thomas’ Sacred Pathways.  This Sunday night, we will practice loving God through solitude and simplicity - asceticism.  Our other bi-weekly gathering is called Expressions.  It is more of a low-threshold time to invite those to our community center for the first time.  Last Sunday we had a You-Tube Night where we shared memorable broadcast events and significant videos. 

New

In addition to the regular rhythm of Impressions, Expressions, Medvandrarna, Faith Factory (youth), and football nights, our team members have initiated a number of “out in the community” groups.   One is a wine and discussion night, another is an evening in the Sauna - I’d say cool but the latter is anything but! Finally, they’ve begun a women’s breakfast as well.   

Team-Building Weekend

We recently had a great team-building weekend with several members of Christian Associates from around Europe.  While it was a busy time, it was an excellent time to focus, affirm, and set goals. 

Thanksgiving

In two weeks, we will have two new families over to our house for Thanksgiving!  It’s a great event to reach out to our contacts.  They come curious and hungry and leave satisfied and with a new perspective on thankfulness. 

Family

In our recent update, we mentioned some issues that have been challenging to us.  We would appreciate your prayers.  However, we do have some good news in a few areas. 

My (Luke’s) teaching is going great!  It’s great fun and fulfilling.  Kirsten continues to wow the neighborhood with her cooking, hold us all together, and has flown way past me in her Swedish!  Jonathan recently won the last two competitions he competed in.  This weekend he competes in Stockholm against all those in Sweden.  It will be a tough competition! Lilia continues to make great friends and to grow in leaps and bounds (literally) with her gymnastics.  Interestingly enough, so does Owen!  He’s just had his first couple of competitions. He also excels at football (soccer) and making people laugh.  Finally Oliver, the one who comes to all these activities, is still the burgeoning artist and dancer. 

Elvis, Sun Storms, and Surprises

It's wonderful when God surprises us, isn't it? Before the summer, life was so busy that it seemed difficult to even breathe. While life has not slowed down very much, something is different. God seems to be in the neighborhood.

I know this might be a strange statement; still that's how it feels. In Sweden, one of the most secular societies in the world, it's hard to imagine this. There are very few surprises here. God seems to be buried under a blanket of materialism, denial, depression, and loneliness. It's much like being in the middle of a rainy day - no end in sight. Of course, we have known that God has been there theoretically. Yet until now, we've not seen the clouds parting and sunshine envelop the landscape.

We've been having some weeks of passing storms, torrential rains, wind, and darkness. However, punctuating these are brilliant "sun storms". Several times a day there is a bright revival. It's not unusual in Gothenburg to see a woman on her way to the market buffeted by the wind and rain. It is however unusual to see her bathed in glowing warm light at the same time. Everything and everyone glistens. As we scratch our heads, the kids point out the multiple rainbows.

  In the middle of these storms, Elvis has shown up. Don't worry, the Swedish language hasn't made me too crazy. Not "the King". No, Elvis is a feline who came sauntering up our road a few weeks ago. A short-hair, has four legs, black and white fur, and a purr that is audibly heard.  He's a charmer with incredible affection, people skills, and loyalty. Named by our neighbor, he spends his days sleeping on our porch, getting food from down the road, and rolling around under the loving hands of our children.

The reason I mention Elvis is that we are beginning to expect the unexpected. Surprise is becoming the norm. Not just in our neighborhood but in our project. I won't go into detail now but unique events and "coincidences" are putting shivers down our spines. They suggest that God is either trying to get our attention or we have our eyes and ears more open. Maybe both! It's an exciting and messy time. We don't know what coat to wear out each day, who's going to come up the drive, or what will happen next.

For now, we wanted to say hello, let you know we are doing well and we'll keep you updated.

Blessings in Christ,

Luke & Kirsten Meisel

News

Ministry

Last weekend, we spent a few hours practicing a special spiritual exercise.  We are studying Gary Thomas’ Sacred Pathways and have spent each Impressions (our bi-weekly “church” service) practicing different ways of approaching God.  Last time it was meeting God through the senses.  This time it was meeting God in nature.  Together, we walked out to a beautiful lake, grilled hotdogs and bread, and spent some great time with God and each other.  It was a marvelous time! Here’s a look. 

 

Looks fun, doesn't it?

This term, we have a very busy schedule.  As we have some excellent structures in place and many missional contacts, we’ve been working to provide more opportunities to invite them to become part of our community.  Here are just a few of them:

• A bi-weekly Sunday gathering
• A bi-weekly Sunday social event
• Frequent events watching soccer together
• A bi-weekly youth event
• Weekly Saturday-morning outreach
• Quarterly marriage and pre-marriage courses
• An annual Serve the City week
• We would really appreciate your partnership in prayer as we move through this term!

Summer

How was our summer?  Well, thanks for asking! :-)  Surprisingly (again) it went quite well.  We had a great time with my parents and my youngest brother Seth.  We traveled to Stockholm and enjoyed a beautiful week. We also had many weeks at home.  Overall, they went well.  Towards the end of the summer, we had a nice trip to Hungary for our annual conference which was extremely encouraging!

Kirsten & I

This term I will continue to work mainly with Faith Factory, making missional contacts, playing and watching soccer, and teaching English part-time.  The biggest change for me is that I’ve been find time in my schedule for a concentrated time of prayer, scripture, and worship.  It’s done wonders for me, my sanity, and I think for my family.   :-)

Kirsten continues to have her hands full with running kids around, holding down the fort, keeping us fed, and doing a million other things.  In addition to this, she has begun contributing in our team more having finished Swedish school.   

Kids

• Jonathan continues to both do well and struggle, a real picture of the sunlight amidst the storm.   We will elaborate in a future email.  For now, we would appreciate your prayers for him and for us.
• Lilia is enjoying life as always.  Busy with school, gymnastics, and swimming, she is really starting to mature into a beautiful young woman. 
• Owen continues to love life as well.  Kirsten has been working with him extensively and it is starting to really show.  He is constantly reading things around him.  He also plays soccer, does gymnastics, and swims. 
• Oliver continues to try to keep up with everyone.  Biking, coloring, doing IPad…you name it…he’s always in the middle of things. 

 

Prayer Requests: September

We covet your prayers!  Thank you!

Community – pray that we would honor God with our concerted attempts to gather our missional contacts together to form a stable community of spiritual seekers and Jesus-followers.  

Team – pray that as our team grows we can continue to work well together and value people as much as programs. Pray that we will find time for each other in our busy schedules as well. 

Family – pray that we would be filled with God’s strength, patience, in working together as a family.  Please pray especially for Jonathan and our relationship with him.

Marriage - pray for Kirsten and I this term to be able to focus on God and on each other. 

 

Home Exchange?

Interested in coming to Sweden?  We have friends who are looking to either do a house exchange or rent someplace in the United States that is warm. 

While we don't have too many contacts in warm US locations (though there are a few of you!), we thought we would pass the word along for them.  They have a lovely home near Gothenburg and would be either willing to exchange homes for a vacation or rent your place while you are on vacation.  They would love a place in Florida, California, or Hawaii.  Drop us a line if this is of any interest to you. Thanks!

What is Serve the City?

Here is a quick video from last years' Serve the City!  It illustrates well what we do during the project.