the man on the ferry

We were just traveling a short distance from our last place at the Bye household in Bergen to the Pederson household in Kopervik on Tuesday morning.  I had been interested lately in getting more hungry for God and for the depth of His heart for me.  I have not really been surprised by events such as the one that met me on the boat that day.  As usual we drove the car onto the ferry and then all piled out to go up to the observation deck or to sit inside the passenger area.  I always like to walk to the top and see the view.  We did it together then I pulled away by myself.  I found a little place in the back of the boat, away from the wind and still in the sun shine as it tried to peak through the clouds.  It has been an extraordinary bunch of days in regard to the weather.  Today is the only day that it seemed a bit cold and the wind had picked up over the water.  I stood there behind the smokestack looking out into the expanse of water.  It was a couple of moments to be alone, to not be the leader of the team, and to just hear from God.  I started reading from 2 Corinthians.  I of course sort of wanted Will to wander past me and enjoy the scattered sun and the view, but I knew that I needed to be there alone.  A few minutes later a man came behind me and got my attention.  ‘Excuse me, Jeremiah 33:3…..I feel like the Lord reminded me about Jeremiah 33:3 for you.’  He walked away.  I shouted after him….’Thank you!  Are you a Christian?’  I figured he was but I just did not really understand where in the world he came from.  Did he just see me reading my bible and figure I was a Christian….then pray for me and get a verse for me to find?  I don’t know, but one thing is clear—-the verse he gave me was from the Lord for sure.  As he walked away I had this thought that I should run after him and find out more.  I felt the Holy Spirit slow me down.  I stopped from following him.  This was for me.  The moment was made for me, for my heart alone.  I turned to lean against the smokestack again, resuming my position of great revelation.  I looked up the verse quickly.  It read, ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you did not know.’  Hmm…..wow.  I was inspired by this verse!!!  I have been wondering what the next step for me is.  I have been struggling with some strange things lately—some questions of why I was not improving my skills as a painter, artist, musician, or anything.  I have stopped doing most of those creative things.  I guess in that same regard I have stopped calling to God and hearing His answer.  This was a needed calling out.  BUT THEN>>>>>>>the greatest part of it comes last.  I was looking closer to the verse underlined in my Bible.  Sometimes I underline them when there is an event that brings about a revelation or something.  I then write the date and the place where the verse came to me.  So this is what I looked closer to find.  Written there next to the verse was ‘May 2006 Bye Family Bergen’  REALLY???  Wow!  We just left that house only hours ago!!  I remember that Wenche Bye had given me that verse when I came with a Norwegian team after my DTS outreach.  I had just experience a disengagement relationship and was dealing with the heartbreak of that.  She encouraged me and helped me see forward to what God had planned.  When this reminder about Jeremiah 33:3 came it was like the circle was completed and the restoration had come in my heart.  Only a few days ago (April 18) I remembered the heartbreaking relationship split just 3 years ago.  I was at the Bye house on that day.  So……what a strange man on the ferry would not know was that he was a part of God bringing a completion to my broken heart healing.  Amazing!  God is good and He is doing great things—-do I believe it?  OH YEAH!!!

Oppdaterings ord:)

Har hatt litt problemer med å laste opp videoer..Her er det to linker til et lite glimt av konserten fra Kafè Lyspunktet vi hadde i ålesund..

We had some problems uploading videos…here are the links for a little glimpse of the concert from Cafe Lyspunktet we had in Alesund..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klYQONkUaCc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPQpNtl0WTk

Sandane var koselig med masse fellesskap og lovsang! vi er takknemlige for bål fyring og alt som kan tilberedes på et bål! Nye venner og oppmuntrende samtaler er alltid en god opplevelse! Maria* blei helbreda i fingen sin- halleluja fra ei som spiller gitar!:)

Sandane was very cozy because of the fellowship and worship we had!  We are thankful for campfires and everything you can cook on a camp fire!  New friends and encouraging stories are always a good experience!  Maria was healed in her finger- hallelujah!!  she plays the guitar in the band!

Bergen var flott! vi hadde litt fritid, der vi kunne slappe av og nyte det usedvanlig fine bergensværet! Kreativ evangelisering, i sentrum der Helga Irene* malte et bilde, som hun senere gav til ei dame,hun fikk delt om hva hun tenkte på da hun malte bildet og at Gud kan gjenopprette knuste hjerter! Dama ble kjempe oppmuntra og glad:) takk Gud for gleden!

Bergen was great!  We had a little free time where we could relax and enjoy the extraordinary beautiful Bergen weather!  We had creative evangelism in downtown Bergen city.  Helga Irene painted a picture in which she later gave to a lady on the streets.  She got to share about what she was thinking while she painted it and that God can restore broken hearts!  The lady was incredibly encouraged and happy:)  Thank God for joy!

På reisen fra Bergen til Haugesund, (rettere sagt Koppervik) Opplevde Erika* at Gud brukte en vilt fremmed mann til å snakke rett inn i livet hennes! wow! vi er forundra og oppmuntra! her skal vi ha litt forskjellige tjenester:  I morgen skal vi ut på ungdomsskoler og ha engelsk undervisning! og musikk klasser! Nei..vi satser ikke på en fremtidig karriere som lærere, men vi har ikke lov til å preike til kidza, så vi snakker om livet vårt som uioere som inkluderer både musikk og engelsk, blir kjent med de og får lov til å invitere de til en konsert på kulturhuset her i kopervik! der skal vi spille sangene våre og håpe og be om at Gud sier hva han vil gjennom oss der:)

On our travel from Bergen to Haugesund (otherwise Kopervik) Erika experienced that God used a complete stranger to speak right into her life! wow!!  We are stunned and encouraged!  Here in Kopervik we will have a little different ministry: Tomorrow we will go out to the junior high school and have english class teaching!  and music class too!!  It’s not like we have a future career as teachers or anything…and we are not even allowed to preach to the students!  So we spoke about our lives as YWAMers and included both music and english.  We made sure we invited them all to the concert at the Culture House here in Kopervik.  At the concert we will play and sing our hope and we pray that God says what He will through us 

Dere kan gjerne be om at vi får vist med gjerninger hvem Han er når vi ikke får lov til å snakke!;) uansett snakker handlinger og kjærlighet høyere enn ord!

You can please pray that we get to show them through our actions who He is when we can’t preach or talk about Him Anyway….action and love speaks louder than words!

I kveld skal vi ha lovsangs samling i hjemmet til Anne Marit og Espen, de åpner opp hjemmet sitt for at vi kan komme å bo her mens vi er i koppervik, og de har invitert en skokk med folk hjem til seg for å lovprise Gud i kveld! Vi gleder oss og har store forventninger til hva Gud gjør,midt i blandt oss:)

Tonight we will have a worship gathering at the home of Anne Marit and Espen, they have opened thier home to us while we are in Kopervik.  They have invited a bunch of people to thier home to worship God tonight!!  We will surely enjoy ourselves as we have big expectations about what God will do in the midst and among us.

*Nermere om vitnesbyrdene våre kommer litt seinere! må stikke på lovsangs kveld!

*A closer look into our testimonies will come a little later!  I gotta go to the worship night!

Hilsen Maria:)

Translation by ERIKA!!!

Vi har det morsomt i bilen! hit the road!

Kafè Lyspunktet i Ålesund

Spiller på Kafè Lyspunktet i Ålesund

Andres kjøre stil!

Kjærestepar:)

Kafè Lyspunktet, Ålesund

Øvelse, Ålesund

Så lang Har Vi Komt!

Så langt på reisen vår har vi kommet oss til Bergen by! Sola skinner og Gud er god mot oss!

Her kommer det litt bilder fra Touren so far:

Vi er velsigna med mye vakker natur på reisa vår!

Øvelse i Blindheim Bedehus, Ålesund

Øvelse i Blindheim Bedehus, Ålesund

Spiller på Kafè Lyspunktet i Ålesund!

Spiller på Kafè Lyspunktet i Ålesund!

On the road again, Til Sandane!

Fellesskap og lovsang i Naturen, Til fjells det bar!

Gøy med nye og gamle venner!

The Touring Team

Wellspring on the Road: Maria, Will, Helina, Helga, and Erika

Wellspring is touring on the west coast very soon! The last minute preparations are being put into place. Monday, Will, Erika and Helina depart and drive up to 10 hours to Ålesund with all the instruments and bags. Maria and Helga will meet us at our host’s house in the evening. It’s going to just be a flowing time!!

We have been really enjoying the week here in Skien before leaving. Don’t we look nice in this photo? We are all really fresh. I pray that God will continue to refresh us even more as we go out into the line of love in His name! It looks like we have some really great contacts with people on the west side of Norway. The people over there have a certain spunk to them…a flair…a uniqueness. I love it! Check out our tour plans. They have gotten a bit more specific as we get closer to the dates…but likewise the Holy Spirit will still be changing and shifting things for His glory. That’s okay. Pray for the drive. oi….long way. But nothing better than friends in a car and an ipod adapter to a tape deck! beautiful.

Up from the well he arose!

wellspringer will

Welcome to the team Will! He has officially joined Wellspring and is more than welcome to be with us for these next three months in Skien. Will is from YWAM Denver, Colorado and works with worship at the YWAM base there. The staff leaders at that base allowed him to come and join us in Norway for this short season. It is very fun to have another experienced YWAMer from a different community to spend time with us. I am very surprised that he is getting along so quickly with the time change, the food, and the culture. Will is an experienced musician with a lot of background in vocal training and piano! But if you ask me he is an all around champ! Seriously, he plays drum and guitar, knows about sound engineering, can paint, loves to travel, and is amazing with people—especially this! So….to the team in which our hope is to refresh others—-we are refreshed first. Praise God for Will. Wellspring will do some fantastic things this spring. With the help of the Holy Spirit. Only through His leading. Amen.

maiden voyage

Wellspring is for sure on the move! We have in fact pulled the little Toyota Corolla out of the prison gates to drive to the south of Norway for a weekend youth gathering in Mandal. We gathered our instruments and our hearts together….plus a stow-away- Ragnhild! It was a great trip with anticipation of things that God had in mind. Hanne Fiddan (my fellow DTSer) let us stay in her home and prepare ourselves by eating her food and sleeping in her bed!! What a delight!

In our ministry here with Wellspring we really want to reach people with a teaching and approach to worship with lifestyle focus. We can not be worshipers when we don’t have the life that goes with it. I was sort of shocked that only 5 people came to our seminar on worship, but pleasantly surprised that we really go ALOT out of it. The whole team had a chance to share something and I was there right with everyone else…taking notes!

Ragnhild has decided that she is a Wellspring-wannabe and we welcome her into our lives quickly. I saw that in this ministry we are called to not always be perfect but to be available. That is a relief! I love to be ready…but maybe not perfect. God is going to use us in a big way this spring. I know it! Keep praying for Wellspring as we get more contacts and we are looking to bring a refreshment to God’s people.

Where do we go God?

Who do we reach?

Please use us.

our maiden voyage

Wellspring Team is on the move!

Keep your ears open for hearing the Wellspring Creative Team in the next couple of months. We are from YWAM Skien, Norway. Soon we will get more members—welcome Will Strickland!