God bless you! We pray that you are full of God's great love, joy, and peace!
Praise the Lord!! Wow! In June and July, I had the joy of traveling with my longtime friend Jason Rogers to carry the cross in "The Land of the Midnight Sun". God gave us the beautiful and awesome privilege of carrying the cross in Sweden, Norway, then in the Faeroe Islands, and finally, almost all the way to the North Pole – up into the Arctic Circle on Svalbard Island.
We began the cross walk in Stockholm, and then walked north. Though it was cloudy and cool, the people were warm and friendly. Many stopped to talk, and even pray. From Sweden, we traveled to Norway, where we carried the cross from just outside Bergen, on the west coast through the beautiful mountains on over toward Oslo. I have to say that the scenery was absolutely breathtaking! There were so many beautiful mountains, waterfalls, and rivers. It seemed that every turn in the road could have been a postcard! As always, though, it was the people who were the most amazing! Though we talked with many people, I'll never forget two gentlemen who stood in the cold rain for nearly two hours asking questions and wanting to know about Jesus! Though they asked me to get in their car, I told them I couldn't because I was so wet. So, they got out of their car to talk with me. It was so beautiful to see their hearts warm as the cold rain ran down our faces. Finally, they said they wanted to know God's love and we all knelt down in the mud on the side of that road as they gave their lives to Jesus!
From Norway, we traveled north to Svalbard Island (nearly to the North Pole!)! Can you believe you can even go north from Norway?! If you go much further north, you are soon going south! Though the plane arrived at three in the morning, I still had to wear sunglasses because the sun was still so bright! Svalbard is one of the northernmost inhabited places in the world. The capital, Longyearbyen is surrounded by majestic snow-capped mountains and reindeer graze freely even in the city. There is great danger here, though! Polar bears! We were told that a tourist had been killed near the place we were staying only a few weeks earlier. As we were waiting to pick up the cross at baggage claim we noticed that many people were picking up long, golf bag like items. When we asked what they were, they told us that they were high-powered rifles for protection against polar bears! One day as we carried the cross past a school with the children playing at recess, we noticed that all of the teachers carried rifles to protect the children! We had a wonderful walk there; I got talk with many people and was even interviewed for two newspaper articles!
From Svalbard, we traveled on to the Faeroe Islands! What an incredible time of carrying the cross! As we were going through customs I began talking with one of the customs officials. His other job "just happened" to be a pastor of a local church there! As I shared with him how and why I felt that God had called me to carry the cross around the world he got really excited! Within minutes he had arranged a vehicle and a place for us to sleep each night. Along the way, many cars would often bring food and drink out to me, then stop and talk and pray. In many of the villages people would often crowd around the cross and ask questions. We had the privilege of being interviewed by the two major newspapers and even interviewed by the radio and television stations. I'll never forget how one day a little girl came out with her mother and I had a chance to talk and pray with her. Later, this little girl had her mother drive out to the cross with some of her little friends. Still later, she came out with three carloads of friends with dinner, desserts, and something to drink!
There is a beautiful move of God in the Faeroe Islands. It was such a privilege to be there! The church there is experiencing a true awakening, and I was blessed and surprised at how God was sending out so many young people from the Faeroes to be missionaries around the world. The people of the Faeroe Islands were so full of love and encouragement, and so welcoming to the cross.