quest

The gang when we went to the student koie.

These past few weeks have been a good glimpse into what we will be doing this year. We are working with Betel, a local pentecostal church here, and last year they were also working with a Christian organization on campus called New Generation. For several reasons, we decided this year to start a new group on campus. We debated about several names and ended up deciding on "Quest". I've enclosed a link to our website so feel free to check it out.


Here is a quick look at what some of our plans are for the year:

Cell groups--each of us are involved in a cell group with other leaders as well as leading a cell group ourselves. Kelly and I are currently leading one on the Fruits of the Spirit that meets every week.

Anna Nicoline, Linn Cecilie, Helena and me at our first cell group. Helena made an amazing cake that had molde berries in it. Apparently you can only get them in Norway. They look like gold raspberries.

Student service--On the third Sunday of the month, we meet in the cafe in the basement of the church for a service geared towards and focused on university aged students. We have a time of worship and then most of what we cover is in a discussion format. Of course all of this is done over cookies, coffee, and tea. It is a great way to get to know a lot of the people.

House gatherings--Every other Wednesday night we get together at someone's house and we make dinner as a group and then hang out for the evening. After dinner, we have someone share something that God has laid on their heart that week. It has been so much fun and I am learning more card games.

Siv, me, Kelly, and Helena at the second house gathering at my place.

Prayer meetings--each week we meet at both campuses for a time of prayer with the students on the campuses. We meet on Mondays at Gløshaugen and Fridays at Dragvoll.

Kelly and I walking to the bus after one of the prayer meetings. The leaves are beautiful.

Unbad--Betel has their youth and young adult service on Friday nights. We attend these services to get to know more of the students and it's a great opportunity to be able to pray for many of the people there.

Outreaches--We have plans for several outreaches this year. Because we are a new group and a new name on campus, we are trying right now just to get our name out there. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we are at Gløshaugen and Dragvoll giving coffee and homemade waffles out to the students. We went through 10 liters of waffle batter in just under an hour today. Food is always a good way into the hearts of college students.

Kelly making the waffles.

Retreats--Two weekends ago we went with four students up to a student koie (cabins that you can rent through the universities) to hang out and get to know them better. It was such an amazing time. It was beautiful! It snowed all day Saturday and Sunday though so that was a bit of a surprise seeing as how it was only the 15th of September. We have a student retreat planned for the first weekend in November which we are really excited about.

Cortney and I getting our water for cooking, cleaning, and drinking. Cortney is really excited about it. Best tasting water ever.

Kelly, Magnus, Helena and me brushing our teeth in the snow.

Magnus enjoying the first s'more of his life.

hehehe

Eating wild blueberries.

You'll be seeing many jumping pictures throughout the year.

SFC Europe--Students for Christ is the organization through the Assemblies of God in Europe that we are working under. In August, we went to a SFC conference in Brussels, Belgium which was amazing. Every third year, the same organization gets together over New Years. This year, we will be meeting in Nuremberg, Germany. We have quite a few students interested in going with us which is so awesome. There has never been a Norwegian at any of the SFC events so that is very exciting.

Prayer Conference--We are going to an SFC prayer conference in Krakow, Poland at the end of January. The team went last year and said it was amazing so I am very excited.

As for some things in my life.....

I am fully settled into my place and this is really starting to feel like home. I didn't get accepted into the Norwegian language class at the university here, but I was able to get into a different program through the community. I am in my third week and it is going ok I guess. I've never been that great at languages so it is a challenge. The fact that I am constantly surrounded by it though helps me learn it faster and gives me more motivation to do so. Kelly and I are currently doing a personal bible study on the book of Acts which has really been cool. My trips to the grocery store have also improved and I am ending up back home with the items I actually wanted. I still end up with a few random things every once in a while. It's hard to strictly base your purchases off of the pictures when dealing with spices and powdery things.

Kelly and Elisabeth had a Uganda night at their place. They cooked us an authentic Ugandan meal, showed us pictures from their time in Uganda, washed our hands for us as we sat down, and made us eat with our hands. It was fun. I think we should permanently get rid of silverware.

Karen Elise, me, and Cortney at Linn's birthday party.

This is a sign for speed bumps. The word for 'speed' in Norwegian is 'fart'. Makes me giggle every time.

I really am having an amazing time and loving Norway. It is such a beautiful place and I wish you all could come here. I can't wait to see what all God has in store for this year!