Africa, Motor Show and Heavy Metal

It has been over a month since I updated the page. Lots of thing has happened and lots of things are going on. We are delighted in many ways today as our ministry is taking another step to another level. Last time I wrote I told you about I was going to Africa on a crusade with Pastor Tommy Lilja and Tommy Lilja Ministries. Only a few days before the crusade I received a phone call from Pastor Tommy who said that he has to cancel his trip and stay at home with his wife who was suffering from incurable cancer. The situation had got worse. We both decided that I should go with the Swedish team as this trip was scheduled to be a team trip together with Pastor Tommy and his wife Carina. Now I had a totally different trip in front of me and my feelings were very mixed.

I arrived in Livingstone, Zambia at scheduled time after traveling for 40 hours. I was tired and was taken straight to the lodge were we stayed with the team. I tried to rest before the first night but it was not enough time, so basically we took off and the crusade started. The first night we saw people respond to the altar call and people got saved. After that night I was tired and basically fell into my bed and did some editing work on the material from that night while it were fresh in my memory.

On Friday, the second day I received a message from Pastor Tommy that his wife had slept in and moved home to the Lord. We gathered with the team and there were tears and sorrow. We still decided to remain strong in Christ and do our best for the next three days of the crusade. Of course sister Carina’s death was on all our minds for the rest of the trip. We still wanted to do our very best as we know that is what both Carina and Pastor Tommy lived for together, to see the Kingdom of God grow.

During the four nights of the crusade I got to sing and share every night and this was a big privilege and honor to me. To stand on a stage in front of thousands of people and proclaim Jesus as Lord and feed the people with hope felt good. During all nights we saw people get saved, healed and delivered. We also saw how the volunteers from the church worked hard with getting all peoples contact details to follow up after the crusade and get them connected with a local church. It sure was a different trip without Pastor Tommy but I totally understand that he stayed at home. Please keep him and his children in your prayers. Here you can read what he wrote a while back about his wife passing away.

September 23rd I had my gastric bypass surgery done and everything went well. I was up on my feet the same night after the surgery and was released to go home the following day. The first day I was weak and a little bit in pain. The Ambassadors For Jesus Christ Hot Rod & Racing Team and the Ambassadors For Jesus Christ Motorcycle Ministry had a boot at West Coast Motor Show in Vasa, September 26th and 27th. It was the second year we were there but the first year for me. Last year our brother Ove ”Tommy Tiger” Björk was there with his 1970 Superbird. He moved home to be with the Lord earlier this year. Also he was suffering from cancer. The Hot Rod & Racing Team we founded together will still carry his Superbird on one of our logos and his dream and vision is alive. More about this later. You can see the music video and song we did to remember our brother and friend here.

As it was so close to my surgery I just visited the brothers fromt the motorcycle ministry both days but we stayed a while. People came and talked and we gave away bibles to those who wanted to take a free bible. Personally I do not believe in standing there forcing people to take a bible or put one in everyones hand when they walk by. It can easily happen that the people are offended and we do not want to offend anyone except the devil :) It was a successful two day for the Ambassadors and we are looking forward to the future with many new events and things coming up.

Here you can check out a little bit of me talking with AFJCMM Branch Leader Kees Visster at the motor show.

Right now I am writing from M/S Silja Serenade as me and Sebastian are on our way back from a short trip to Sweden. We were invited by Metal Sanctuary who reaches out with the Gospel amongst the people within the metal scene. On Saturday afternoon I spoke on their seventh annual prayer day in Borås, Sweden and the same night we had a concert with the band. This time we were only a three piece band and I had Jukka Mäkikangas on drums and Per Karlsson on bass with me and it was a blessed day. Here you can see a clip from the day and also meet two of the people involved in Metal Sanctuary Sweden.

Last night, Sunday October 4th we played and shared the good news at the Metal Sanctuary night at the Pentecostal Church in Borås. It was a powerful meeting and lots of energy. I feel much better than before the surgery, still recovering but I am loosing weight and I have more energy. I am so thankful that I had this done and that everything went very well. Even if it was a night filled with rock and roll there were moments when you could feel the Holy Spirit in the room. What a wonderful feeling it is when He shows up with His presence. Right now I am thinking about my brother and friend Tommy Tiger as well as Pastor Tommy and his wife Carina. Those who have left us are in His presence now together with Jesus. What we experience here is just a little tiny glimpse of what is to come when we move home to our eternal life in heaven. Here you can see some highlights from the night in Örebro.

This week on Wednesday we will be in the Pentecostal church in Imatra, Finland for one night. Imatra is really close to the Russian border and I am excited about visiting this part of my homeland. On Saturday I will speak for a group of youth in Oravais and after that I have one week off when I will prepare for the upcoming USA trip and work on my book in english with Tate Publishing who are going to release it in the USA. Yes, the translation is ready and I would like to thank Alexandra Ryles for a fantastic job, translating Jukka Mäkinens book written in Finnish under the title ”Kun kivisydän murtui”. Lots of other things to take care of before the winter. The cars need to be put in storage as well as we need to make a plan how to proceed in the working progress on our ministry car collection for next summer as then we are going to focus on taking the Gospel to the car people.

Saturday, October 24th I will be speaking at a youth night at the Baptist Church in Larsmo and the following morning, Saturday 25th at Missionskyrkan in Vasa. I can not say that the life with Jesus is boring.

October 27th me and Sebastian are flying to the US and we have done some major changes in our schedule. Due to circumstances beyond our control we have decided to stay in Florida and we are not going to be at the Lone Star Rally in Galveston, Texas this year. The meeting at White Horse Revival Church is cancelled as well as the meeting at Family Church in Houston. We hope to visit Family Church at a later point. Right now we just have experienced that it was God’s will when we made our decision to stay in Florida the entire five weeks. We have been connected with another ministry and we are going to meet up with them and together with them be able to access every prison in the state of Florida in the future. This is good news as this is what we want to do! Visit prisons and help those people find their way to Jesus and to a new life.

During our time in the US we are going to do many different events. Daytona Turkey Run in Daytona Beach is one of them and of course we will be doing some churches and of course we are going to be at the Detox Clinic of South Florida on Tuesdays. We will base out of Okeechobee, Florida where I have my home church and it is an exciting trip we have before us. We are still short on our budget for this years Mission America trip and our current need to fulfill the trip is around 3000 US dollars. If you would like to partner and sow into our missionary work in the US amongst those people who really need Jesus you find the information in the right side navigation bar.

As I earlier mentioned, the life with Jesus is not boring at all. It is exciting and every single time I get to tell someone about Jesus I get excited and filled with joy. It does not matter if it is tens of thousands of people or if it a man or a woman behind the desk at a cheap motel. I want to share the good news to anyone as the Holy Spirit leads me. We can always preach and if necessary we use words. Please pray for the situation with millions of refuges coming to Europe. Pray that they will all be taken care of and feel the love of Christ. Pray that this will be a step for the body of Christ to be more united to work with these people who have left their homes and may be lost a loved one in the war. Also pray for those that are coming amongst these people with wrong motives that they will meet Jesus in the same way the Apostle Paul met Jesus on his way to Damascus.

God Bless you all!