The Church – to the ends of the earth!

I am on my way home from a fantastic weekend in the vibrant Word of Life Church in Moscow. It is always great to be back in my old home city where we lived 1995-1998, and even more so in the church which we were a part of planting. It has grown to 5000 members over the years and now has 27 services every weekend. They have over 1000 youth, and besides the ordinary Russian services, they also minster to Vietnamese, Chinese, Armenians, Central Asians and Malaysians.

I was invited to speak the four main weekend services on The church – to the ends of the earth. It starts in “our Jerusalem”, but should reach to the ends of the earth.

I usually define the Great Commission as “The preaching of the gospel in and the expansion of the Church into all nations and cultures”.  We are called to introduce people of all nations and cultures to a personal faith in Jesus Christ. We are also called to introduce the new believers into a fellowship with other Christians. If there is no church there, we need to plant it.

The Church is the base of the missions work. A planted, self-sustaining church on the targeted field, is also the goal of the missions work. This marks our mission’s history and we have great opportunities ahead that are opening up.

In the Word of Life movement, we now see signs of a looming new wave of foreign missions, which is really exciting. We are also joining forces stronger than before in order to increase our impact. A joint focus will produce results. A steadily growing stream of mission’s teams and volunteers go to the mission’s fields. We partner in running mission bible schools, and in sending teachers and preachers.

Together, to get there!

Красные холмы Руанды и три месяца трагических событий

Я нахожусь в Руанде, которую называют Землей тысячи холмов, и я здесь в первый раз. Мы только что прибыли в столицу государства Кигали. Кигали - город довольно провинциальный, как для столицы, темп жизни размеренный, атмосфера спокойная.

Как только мы выехали за черту города, первое, что поразило меня – это цвет почвы. Почва здесь очень красная из-за высокого содержания в ней железа.  Невольно вспоминаешь слова из знаменитой речи Мартина Лютера Кинга: «У меня есть мечта, что настанет день, когда на красных холмах Джорджии сыновья бывших рабов и сыновья бывших рабовладельцев смогут усесться вместе за столом братства…» Красные холмы, расовая дискриминация и насилие…ужас событий, произошедших  в Руанде.

Мемориал и место захоронения 10000 человек, убитых в церкви. 

Апрель 1994 года стал в Руанде началом геноцида. Предпосылкой к этим событиям послужила деятельность бельгийских колонизаторов, которым в 1916 году эти земли достались от немцев.  Все началось с увлечения популярной на то время в Европе расовой биологией. Бельгийский антрополог искусственно вызвал расовый конфликт, разделив единый дотоле народ Руанды на два племени: хуту и  ​​тутси. И одно и другое племя имели общий язык и традиции, однако ученые нашли и подчеркнули различия.  То, что, возможно, было увлекательно для ученых, имело катастрофические последствия для народа Руанды - как краткосрочные, так и долгосрочные. Племени тутси, которое находилось в меньшинстве, и кого бельгийцы считали ближе к европейцам, отдавалось предпочтение и более заметное место в обществе, что в будущем привело к вражде и социальным проблемам.

Бельгийцы ушли в 1959 году.  Начались массовые беспорядки и 20 000 тутси были убиты и еще 300 000 были вынуждены бежать за границу. Перенесемся в 90-е. Беженцы тутси приняли решение вернуться на родину. Им пришлось встретиться с националистической пропагандой хуту, очень напоминавшей нацистскую пропаганду против евреев в 30-х. Националисты решили покончить с проблемой тутси раз и навсегда. 6 апреля по этому вопросу было принято окончательное решение и в течение трех месяцев более 800 000 человек были убиты самыми зверскими способами. Излюбленным инструментом уничтожения стал мачете. Земля тысячи холмов была пропитана кровью.

Массовые захоронения 280 000 человек, мемориалы памяти жертв геноцида, где ровными рядами лежат тысячи черепов со следами пыток, пятна крови на алтарях и стенах церквей, превращенных в бойни и места изнасилования – смотреть на все это очень тяжело. Сможет ли эта земля исцелиться снова?

Деревня, где сегодня через Христа правит мир 

Мы стали свидетелями одного из чудес наших дней, когда побывали в деревне, где жертвы геноцида живут бок о бок с убийцами членов их семей. Все началось с пасторов, посещавших убийц в тюрьме и приведших их к принятию прощения от Бога. Те же пасторы посетили оставшихся в живых и помогли им простить убийц. Следующим шагом стало помочь обеим группам встретиться. Первый раз это было ужасно. Столько страха и взаимной подозрительности! Но постепенно, шаг за шагом доверие росло. Убийцы просили прощения, и постепенно оно было дано им.

Сегодня они живут бок о бок в одной деревне. Их дети лучшие друзья, их семьи помогают друг другу, молятся вместе. Когда речь заходит об Иисусе, лица этих людей светлеют. Они все очень хорошо понимают, что Он вывел их из бездны, из глубокого рва тьмы. Теперь их поселение стало маяком света и надежды и всем нам это говорит о том, что прощение и примирение возможно в любой ситуации.

Я спросил одного из бывших осужденных убийц: Как произошло, что из обычного гражданина вы превратились в кровожадного убийцу? Он ответил: Пропаганда против тутси превратил меня в животное. Сегодня, двадцать лет спустя, этот человек и его соседка Жаклин, отца и двух членов семьи которой он убил, хорошие друзья. Они помогают друг другу смотреть за детьми. Интересно наблюдать, с какой теплотой эти люди относятся друг ко другу. Они прикасаются друг ко другу, они улыбаются.

 У пастора Мартина Лютера Кинга была мечта: "… что настанет день, когда всякий дол да наполнится, и всякая гора и холм да понизятся, кривизны выпрямятся и неровные пути сделаются гладкими; и узрит всякая плоть спасение Божие".

Здесь и сегодня эта мечта становится явью. На красных и обагренных кровью холмах Руанды убийцы и их жертвы вместе садятся за стол братства. Тяжело понять глубину произошедшего здесь геноцида. И еще труднее понять чудо примирения, укоренившегося так быстро и так глубоко. Очевидно, что вера в Божью любовь и крест - место ужасной смерти Иисуса, где Он взял на Себя грех и зло мира, принесла примирение не только между грешниками и Богом, но также между убийцей и жертвой! Есть надежда!

The red hills of Rwanda and three months of horror

I am in Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills, and am here for the first time. We just arrived to the capital Kigali. For being a capital it is very provincial, the tempo is laid back and the atmosphere calm.

One of the first things that struck me as we went out into rural areas, was the red soil. It is red due to its iron content. One's thoughts therefore go to Martin Luther King's famous speech - I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. Red hills and race based discrimination and violence. That would have a horrendous repetion in Rwanda. 

Memorial and grave of 10 000 slaughtered in a church.

In April 1994 the Rwandan genocide started.  The ground work had been made by Belgian colonizers as they took over the area after the Germans 1916. It started with fascination for race biology, which was in sway in Europe at the time. Their anthropologist artificially caused a race conflict by dividing the one people that inhabited Rwanda into hutu and tutsi. They had the same language and traditions, but the scientists looked for and emphasized differences. Fascinating for scientists, maybe, but catastrophic for the people of Rwanda both short term and long term. The tutsi who were in minority, and whom the Belgians thought to be closer to the Europeans, were favored and given a more prominent place in society. This would cause enmity and future problems.


The Belgians left 1959. Violence erupted, 20 000 tutsi were killed and 300 000 had to flee abroad. Fast forward to the 90:s. The tutsi refugees wanted to return and were met with hutu nationalist propaganda the was very similar to the Nazi propaganda against the Jews during the 30:s. The nationalists decided to solve the tutsi problem once a for all. April 6th the Rwandan final solution was launched and in three months over 800 000 people were killed in the most horrible ways. Machete was the favored tool of slaughter. The Land of a thousand hills was drenched in blood.


Visiting mass graves with 280 000 peoples, genocide memorials where thousands of skulls that bear marks of extreme violence and lay in ordered lines, seeing blood stains on the altars and walls of the churches that were turned into slaughter houses and rape sites, breaks your heart. How can this land heal again?

Village where peace though Christ now rules.

We witnessed a modern day miracle, as we visited a village where victims live side by side the murderers that killed their family members. They told the story. It all started with pastors visiting the murderers in prison and led them to receive and accept forgiveness from God. The same pastors visited the survivors, whose families were now gone and helped them on the way to forgive the murderers. Next step was to let them meet. First time was terrible. Much fear and suspicion, but step by step trust was built. The murderers asked for forgiveness and gradually it was given.


Today they live side by side in the same village. Their children are best friends and the families help one another. The families pray together. When you mention Jesus, their faces light up. They are all very aware that He had brought them all out of the abyss, a deep pit of darkness. Now their village is a beacon of light and hope that shows it is possible to reconcile and find peace again.

I asked a convicted murderer. How did you go from being a normal citizen to a blood thirsty killer that could slaughter your neighbors with a machete? He replied - The propaganda against the tutsi turned me into an animal. Today twenty years later, he and his neighbor Jaqueline, whose father and two more family members he killed,  are good friends. They help  to watch one another's children. It is fascinating to see their warm way of relating to one another. They touch, they smile.

 
Pastor Martin Luther King had a dream - "I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together".


That very dream is being realized here today. On the red and blood stained hills of Rwanda murderers and victims sit down at the table of brotherhood. It is hard to grasp the extent of the genocide. And it is even harder to grasp the miracle of reconciliation that so quickly and so deeply has taken root. It is evident that faith in God's love and in the cross, the place of the gruesome death of Jesus and where he took upon himself the sin and wickedness of the world, has become the reconciliation, not only between sinners and God, but also between murderers and victims! There is hope!

Kalashnikovs and nightingales

It is this year's last day and as I think back on this year has been quite turbulent. Still in the midst of this there has been many positive things happening.

My most interesting or maybe most absurd experience 2014, took place in now war torn Donetsk. It was evening of May 9th, the Victory Day, the celebration of the Soviet victory of World War II.

This day also marked the escalation of the region's now ongoing conflict from riots into armed violence. People were killed in neighboring cities and fighting erupted where we were. Between the services people came with news of killed and wounded. It was almost surreal. How could this happen in a city where I have spent so much time over the years? And how could this happen to friends of mine? This was not news on a TV-screen. This was happening around us.

As I got out of our car at night, I heard automatic gunfire nearby. We took cover not to be hit by stray bullets. Well inside the house, I opened the window to hear if the shooting would continue. No more shooting, but I heard male voices shouting. What was happening? Somebody got hurt? Or killed? My thoughts were racing. Suddenly in some bushes near my window a nightingale starts singing, seemingly unaware of the ongoing drama nearby. Somebody might just have been hit by gunfire and this nightinggale looks for romance!

This little awkward moment in a way encapsulates life in this world. Tragedy can strike, and still life goes on around. And life also goes on in the midst of tragedy. Even there, rays of hope and beauty can simmer through!

This year some of there things have come closer to me than usual. The typhon last Christmas in the Philippines, the war in Ukraine, the war in Syria and the rise of IS, the Israel-Gaza war where we have come into direct contact with people that suffer. I am glad that we have been given opportunities to help. We sent rescue and relief team to the Philippines and built 30 boats for the affected fishermen. We could send help to very pressed Christians inside Syria and in refugee camps outside, send help and support fleeing Ukrainians as well as Ukrainian Jews plus helping children from the Gaza war zone to get away from the front lines.

Still there is so much suffering and the truth is that it can seem unsurmountable. No one can help all! But! Everyone can help someone! That is true for every one of us. It starts with us not being so preoccupied with our own "nightingale singing" that we suppress and ignore the sound "firing kalashnikovs".

As Christians we have an unbeatable network of friends all across the world, a network of people that  are motivated to stretch out a helping hand to those in need. We for example are already planning to send a medical team to help refugees in Iraq.

We don't know what 2105 has in store for us. There will be challenges for sure. But we can set our mind to be ready.

In a few hours a new year starts! A year not only of challenges, but also of wonderful opportunities and much blessing.

God bless you, my dear friend!

All God's best 2015

Siberia – a light shines in darkness

I have just arrived to China after a very early arrival after a night flight from Siberia. While waiting for my connecting flight I sum up my experiences over the weekend in Novosibirsk. Siberia might be mostly known for their GULAG camps during the soviet times. Siberia is so much more than that.

The Cornerstone network, which is part of Word of Life in Russia, is centred in Siberia. They had their yearly leadership conference. Pastors and leaders came in from far distances and we had a great weekend together. The work is quite unique, because of their success in reaching out to and getting drug addicts free.

Leaders' Conference in Novisibirsk

Here we see evangelisation, church planting and social mercy work in a winning blend. It all started 17 years ago as Pastor Sergey Nepomnjashikh came to a conference in Abakan, where Ulf Ekman prayed for him and prophetically mentioned the exact prayers Pastor Sergey had prayed. Very soon thereafter the work started to grow significantly. And they started to see how they could help drug addicts coming off drugs. They started a rehab and this has since become a central tenet in their work.

Today they work in about seventy cities, where their churches have an average of two or three small rehabs. Currently they have about 1500-2000 in their programs. Faith in Jesus is the remedy. The newly saved drug addicts join for a four-month program where prayer, studies in the word of God and discipline start to transform their lives. Many choose to stay for another period of four months to help new arrivals. After this they can go to missionary school, which this year has about seventy students. After school they are sent to new cities to plants churches and open rehabs. I need to point out though, that the churches consist of people from very varied backgrounds.

It is a joy to fellowship with these brothers and sisters. First of all, looking at them you witness miracles. Secondly they are so thankful to God for their second chance and a new life. Further, they are very committed to serve God and reach out to people in need.

My heart is filled with gratitude and a strengthened faith in God’s ability to transform peoples’ lives, even those who seem to be beyond rescue!

Now I will spend two weeks in the great land of China. Very exciting!

St Petersburg - a window to the west and to the east!

I am spending some hours in St Petersburg's Pulkova airport and am on my three week trip eastward. First stop is Novosibirsk, the geographical centre of Russia's vast landmass, where the Church Cornerstone has its annual conference. They do a fantastic job, having started about 70 churches and about 200 rehab centers for drug addicts. Truly impressive! I will get back to that later on.

It is nice to be back in St Petersburg and memories return. This beautiful 300 year old city was built by Peter the Great as a window to the Europe in order to modernize Russia, which had basically skipped the Renaissance and the Reformation. In one stroke Russia now accessed the fruits of these plus of the great discoveries and the scientific revolution.

Outside St Petersburg Word of Life's work in the Soviet Union started. Carl-Gustaf Severin preached in Gatchina, home of one magnificent palace built by Peter the Great. In the dog stables, the meetings were held as people travelled in from allover. Sign and wonders, miracles and transformed hearts and from here it spread to other parts of the country. For us St Petersburg became a window to the east.

In september 1992 I flew in from Magadan which is on the other end of Russia, 9 time zones away. We were to conduct three big events. First we filled the Lenin indoor stadium with approximately 10 000 people. It was broadcast on national television. Carola sang and Ulf Ekman preached. Then we had our first pastors conference with 200 pastors. These conferences were later moved to Moscow and gathered up to 4500 people. And then we put up our big tent that had been transported from Sweden. It was Europe's biggest circus tent that could seat 8500 people. We later gave that to a growing church in Mombasa, Kenya.

Now 22 years later, I rejoice over the fact that there are now Word of Life churches allover Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union. There is no need to be nostalgic. We thank God for His great work those very eventful years early 90:s. But we look forward to further growth, expansion and development. The work is vital and progressive! The best is yet to come!

Wonderful conference in Russia

Church Word of Life Moscow

I am now in my hotel room, getting ready to hit the sack after a great day. Blessed and tired after ministering in the Saturday night service in Word of Life's Euro Asian Faith Conference. It is so good to meet old friends since many years, see that friendship remains as well as the work grows and develops.


Almost 2000 delegates from 200 cities in 14 countries showed up in WOL Moscow's church.
Speakers were hosting pastor MatsOla Ishoel, Artur Simonyan, Oleg Popov, Vasily Vitjuk, all powerful Russian speaking preachers, pastors and leaders within the Word of Life network.

Nicky Cruz

Legendary Nicky Cruz, known from "The Cross and the Switchblade" and evangelist with a big heart for the lost, came to reignite evangelistic zeal. He also shared a very powerful message on forgiveness. It was such a blessing to hear and also spend time with him hearing him sharing from his life.


There is just something with men and women of God that lived a long and full life with a strong focus to serve the Lord. Let us be like that!




I shared a message on Times of refreshing and renewal. I sense so strong that God wants to reinvigorate the work. Renewed focus and vision, renewed strength and love for the Lord, renewed power for breakthrough. The churches are well established, but sometimes we need a new surge and that is what I sense was released on the service tonight.

Isaiah 40:30-31
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint