January 2010

January and a new exciting year in front of us. New and interesting challenges for us at the "International Christian Fellowship". Time to start planning and leading the services, updating website, planning activities etc. Great fun...

*January 10, our American Pastor was in town, not speaking , but leading the service. Annual vision service, and many internationals came. Great fellowship with not to forget! Free lunch for everyone!!!

*On January 16 we attended a meeting at a International Church here in Malmo. A team of seven young students from different university in Korea came and shared there vision. They performed with traditional dances and drama. After the service we had a great fellowship with spicy Korean food! Awesome to have a table tennis table were we had fellowship. Nice opportunity to win some games!!!*S*

*Sunday January 17. Our former youth pastor, David Sirviö was speaking. Good speech, and many people showed up. It all began with kicking worship music in our main auditorium! The Korean team showed up at the service and we had a chance to pray over them as they will be travelling to Germany.

*Thursday January 21, My wife, Sarah attended a mini outreach by YWAM(Youth with a mission). A bible teaching evening at a library in a city named Lund. Great time....

Friday and YWAM Kona Hawaii comes to Malmo, and I had a day of mentoring. A full day of inspirational teaching.

*Sunday January 24. Time to listen to David Sirviö in church again. Talking a lot about restored relationships.

*Prayer meeting for the ladies at our place on Monday January 25. My son and I had to stay put in front of the computer in his room. A meeting just for the ladies!!*S*

*January 31, time start with a small introduction to a Bible study series, led by Phil Munts. Interesting to see how we can help each other grow in our relationship with God, and each other.The Bible study will be on The Gospel of Mark.. It's been snowing a lot during the night and early morning so not that many people showed up to church today...

*During January my wife has teached a American lady some Swedish. Great time, great fun....

Lets see what February has for us...

Polemic on the Jews???

In one of the biggest morning papers here in Malmo, Sweden you could read on January 27 about the situation for around 3000 Jews in and around our city.
Last year 79 crimes against Jewish residents were reported to the police in Malmo. These crimes were antisemitic graffiti sprayed on the walls and vandalism on Jewish synagogues, cemetery etc.

Fredrik Sieradzki of the Jewish Community of Malmö, said in the article that he does not feel safe and for his family's sake they have to move away from Malmo. Jews are harassed and threatened while walking around in the city, and when I read the article it feels like in Germany during the early 1930s.


So what do the police and politicians in Malmo do to stop all this? On January 28, the mayor of Malmo, Ilmar Reealu said in an interview to the newspaper "Skanska Dagbladet", that the situation for the Jews in Malmo depends on the situation in Israel. The violence they showed during the conflict in Gaza was disproportionate, and that Israel's action is like a fester!! The Jews in Malmo have to bear their own responsibility for the antisemitism in Malmo, Reepalu says!!

This sounds very strange to me. It is just as Dilsa Demirbag-sten writes on Newsmill on January 27 " Must all Turks in Sweden bear the responsibility for the murder on Kurds, Christians and oppositional in Turkey? and must all Arabs bear the responsibility for the actions from Hamas?

But Reepalu was quick to point out that “every type of threat and oppression directed at a particular ethnic group is totally unacceptable”.
He also said that the harassments and threats are coming from extreme right-wing groups, but the Jews know that it is just as common to get this threats from extreme left-wing or extreme Muslim groups.

It is not the first time Ilmar Reepalu shows his ignorance towards the Jewish community here in Sweden. During the Davis cup last year he was out demonstrating against Israel and tried hard to stop the match. As a mayor he made strong and clear international statements in the media and for me it felt strange that a mayor does this without any reprimands from the government.

The situation for the Jews is bad. Please pray for The Jews in Malmo, the situation, for the politicians, for the oppressors. Together we can make a difference...

Haiti

Our prayers, our thoughts and our concerns go to Haiti today. Lots of people are dead, people have lost family members, friends ,houses and hope. I have seen horrible pictures on TV and in the newspapers. Many days have passed since the earthquake, and still they find people alive in the rubble. That is amazing.
People all over the world are supporting Haiti. People need shelter, food, water, and medical care. Hope is what they also need. Hope and strength to go on, to think about the future, to build Haiti up again, to restore families.

God is with them always, as he is with you and me right now. He is with them, crying with the mourning mothers, carry the wounded. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" Matthew 18:20.
How many times in your life have you wished there was someone there to pray for you?
We all need to pray every day. We need someone to pray for us
So keep on praying for the people in Haiti!!