God gave Hilde this verse while we were still in Africa from ^{Acts 22:21}. "Go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles". That became our final confirmation that we should move our base to Norway and become pastors in Moss Bibelsenter.

We will never forget Africa though, and the people of Africa will always have a big place in our hearts. The plans are already made about going back to Kenya during the Fall in 2005 to minister in a big conference in Nairobi. Last week we sent our first eight radioprograms to Trans World Radio in South Africa. The plan is that we shall be on the air from October this year with a 15 min. program every week. Hilde and I have made these programs together in English. We are teaching basic and vitally important truths from the Bible through a dialogue, and we are playing some of Hilde’s music in each program. The program is called: "Born To Win!" The radio waves can reach into many countries in Africa and have the potential to reach millions of people.

As earlier mentioned, the cost for producing and sending one program is about £ 100. This project will be financed through the gifts that come in through this simple prayerletter, and is a great opportunity to spread the Gospel in Africa! We are very thankful for every support and donation to this project!

January 10th this year the Lord laid on my heart what I have presented as the vision for the church we now have become pastors for:

We are living in a time when selflessness, politeness, respect for others, manners, modesty, decency and fear of God is rare to come by. The trends of our time are undecent, cheap and vulgar. The negative influence and pressure is immense. There is no doubt about it, that we are coming close to the end time.

That is why it is more important than ever that our churches efficiently and effectivly are "producing" true diciples of Jesus, in the middle of a dark and sinful world. For that to become a reality, the fear of God, true and majestic worship and strong, clear preaching and teaching from the Word of God without compromise is a must. We believe that the churches were meant to be embassies for God, to produce ambassadors for Christ.

Once a year, during every one of the fourteen years we lived in Kenya, all the Norwegians in the country used to get together to celebrate Norways greatest national holiday; the 17th of May, the day we got our constitution. And every year all the Norwegians in Kenya received an invitation to the 17th of May party at the Norwegian ambassador’s residence in Nairobi. That evening nobody showed up in their worn out, dirty, wrinkly clothes. No, we all dressed up in our best clothes, and came with expectancy and anticipation because we had the honor to visit the ambassador.

The Christian believers in Kenya do the same thing every Sunday morning just to go to church. When we first came to Kenya we were amazed and thought that the masses of people were going to a wedding. Not so. They are dressing up for the highlight of their week, and have prepared themselves both spiritually and physically for the great event. Everyone who owns a Bible or a New Testament brings it proudly to church along with a notebook and a pen to take notes. Needless to say, they are full of expectancy, and rarely leave the meetings dissappointed. It may not be a coincidence that a lot of miracles frequently happen during the services.

Are we suggesting that we in the liberated, educated western civilazation should follow our Kenyan brothers and sisters example by dressing up, preparing ourselves in different ways for our Sunday services and even taking notes from the message? Well, the Bible tells us that God looks on the inside, on the condition of the heart, so it may not matter much to Him how we dress. But could it possibly be true that sloppyness in the natural may indicate sloppyness in the spirit? In any case, it would not hurt anyone if we came to church with a bit more expectations than what is generally the case.

If the church is a place where we as Christian brothers and sisters get together to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, it is a place of significance and importance. It is also a place where we come to receive instruction and information from our homeland, Heaven. It is also where we as citizens and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God are being taught how to represent our "country" with love, exellence, positive pride and dignity.

We cannot do without the church. Individualism is not a part of our Christian inheritance. It is not enough with just you and God. We need each other. And every time we meet as the body of Christ, we should have an encounter with God and experience His power and presence. Then we will not just casually drop by during the Sunday meeting as a duty, out of habit or with the purpose of meeting up with our friends. No, we will do it because it is the highlight of the week and the spiritual vitamin-injection that we can not be without. If necessary, let us all adjust the way we think about our homechurch and let God install in us a new exitement and anticipation about going to church!

May you and your family have a wonderful Sunday!

Warm greetings from,

Erik & Hilde.