These few days here in Sweden, after the relatively mild traumas of my passport and my rucksack in Heathrow, have been really lovely. A couple of days in Stojan & Soila Gajicki’s house, where we just talked, and talked, and talked ‘Kingdom Stuff’, and often with their lovely daughter, Sarah, too, was a real time of building up, strengthening an already strong friendship, and a wonderful time of praying with them, for them, and they with me and for me.
Driving through the beautiful Swedish landscape to Orebro yesterday, with glorious sunshine and clear blue skies, was just another aspect of heaven touching earth for me, and then connecting with wonderful friends Vello & Ingalill Vaim very early afternoon was, again, just lovely. Mid afternoon, we drove about 30 kms to visit some friends of the Vaims: this was another amazing surprise for me, as the husband, David Gava, knew me, and remembered – I’m not quite sure why ??!! 😉 – that I drove him apparently very fast (moi – non!!!!!) from where I was speaking and he was a student, in 1998, from Bulawayo to Harare, Zimbabwe…. for me, it was an immense blessing to see him again – he was just 20 years old then, but also because he
remembered, 16 years on, what I spoke about at his school, and that – his words, not mine – it inspired many of the students to enter into full time ministry. Seeds sown, eh…..they grow, when the soil is good.
We were with David and his wife Ingela for hours, again talking loads, Kingdom stuff, eating well, and then another wonderful time of praying for each other. It might not sound much to you to say that David remembered my week with his school, but when this is your life, and you go to places, sometimes, just briefly, you don’t always know what ‘goes in and stays in’, if anything, and it makes it so worthwhile when, all these years on, that it found good ground.
That Youth with a Mission base, for me, and my great mate Nick Lugg, who was with me, was ‘famous’ for some other things…. Nick, kindly, offered to let me have the double bed in the guest room. Maybe he’d noticed the big hole in the corner of the room by the ceiling, and the water pipes and electrical conduit pipes…. and the unidentifiable ‘black bits’ all over the pillow end of the double bed…. I brushed all of those off, and then turned out the light to sleep: soon, to be bombarded by loads more ‘black bits’ like machine gun pellets, raining around my head. It seems that the pipes and conduits were the rats playground, once it was dark, and for a few moments laid there amazed at the number of rats, then hurriedly switched my pillow to the other end of the bed! They ate their way through tupperware containers to get to food…. rat attack!
Perhaps slightly more scary was the fact that the teaching sessions were frequently interrupted by the appearance of yet another python…. life’s not often dull!
It was so good to touch base with David again, meet his wife, and adorable kids, and get from him an invitation to go and minister in Germany with in May, and invite him to Cali with me as soon as he can come….
And so, tonight, anticipation for what God will do is heightened by having a few conversations about bringing his Kingdom to earth. Really looking forward to it! (Though nervous, a little… 🙂 )
