International Ao1

Scandinavia Outreach 2010

    S   C   A   N   D   I   N   A   V   I   A
   Sweden              Denmark                Norway

Interview with Jason, Trevor & Kara Stockholm, Sweden

Video footage Updates Scandinavia 2010

Day 22 (Wednesday, 14th July)

Breakfast started at 8:30am and we were up at 8:00am. Some of us were still lagging from the train trip but we managed to get there.

Getting to breakfast.....................................................Our breakfast venue

Seated and ready for breakfast

The team headed back to the gym while David, Megan and I headed to the event building to meet with people about planning performances.

The Oasis conference

The meetings proved fruitful as Megan and David came away with some performance venues and times. This kind of changed the outlook on this week as we really can't be a part of much as there is no translation in english. There are only so much notes you can take if all the teachings are in Norwegian. God once again granted favour for us and we had two performances today in and around the conference site. We also are running a dance workshop for the conference as well as the opportunity to lead worship in their prayer room. The other exciting news is that we get to perform in the city centre at the end of the week. YAY GOD!!!

David, Judith, Megan and Kathleen

Our dear friend Judith from Germany left to go back to her homeland today. We were very happy to see her once again and spend time with her. Judith was on my very first King's Kids outreach in 1992 to the US and she has been a real source of joy for us as a team. We were all sad to see her leave but as always all good things must come to an end and we hope to make it back to Germany one day to see her.

Boys side of the gym...................................................Girls side of the gym

Dance workshop

It has been a full day and we are very grateful. We have another short performance tomorrow as well as prayer duty from 3:00am to 5:00am in the mornings. We will also continue with our workshop for the next two days. Parents our internet time is limited however we will make an effort to have your children email you very soon. Please keep praying for our time here in Norway.

Day 21 (Tuesday, 13th July)

For the most part sleep was not an option for some of us, however for others it was no problem. We arrived in Fredrikstad Norway at about 7:45am. We had breakfast on the train and we were picked up by a huge red bus. After a short sight seeing tour by the bus driver we were taken to "Oasis" a 4000 strong christian event held in Norway every year. We are staying in a gymnasium, girls on one side and boys on the other. Our meals are about a 10 minute walk away as well as the event. This was a long day trying to sort out where we are and how to get to things as well as David and I in meetings for schedules and making sure we know what we're doing this week. Pray for God's grace and direction. We know we are supposed to be here so God is most definitely up to something. The Norwegians are very very hospitable and they are getting ready for revival in this nation.

GOOD MORNING!!!
RISE & SHINE!!!

NAMES HAVE BEEN DISCLOSED TO PROTECT THEIR IDENTITIES!!!

Fredrikstad....................................................................Getting bags out of the rain

Our Big Red Bus

Day 20 (Monday, 12th July)

There is already much excitement and anticipation for Norway, and to contain that excitement we sent the kids sightseeing once again. A good portion of the team went to a museum, while some others had to get shopping fever out of their system. I decided with the overnight trip coming to stay put and get some down time. Here are some pics taken by the kids of their time in the city.

One of the museums visited

Artifact............................................................................Jamie impersonating Artur Hazelius

An Old Clock...........................................Chelise reenacting a scene from back in the day

Yep, we're done!!! Typical guys!!!

The team headed home in time to do another thorough clean of the church and get bags packed an loaded.

Dining room..................................................................Kitchen

Taylor Perez and his brother in-law getting bags loaded

Lukas & Dustin about to unload bags.....................Getting bags on the platform

After getting bags on the platform we were ready to leave Sweden and we got our tickets assigned and group sleepers sorted. We thank God for our time in Sweden as it was full and God met us in ways each of us did not expect. For some of us catching an overnight train was a first but we were nonetheless excited. Now for Norway!!!

Kathleen........................................................................Shae in the top bunk of our 6 sleeper

"GOOD BYE SWEDEN"

Day 19 (Sunday, 11th July)

Breakfast started at 8:00am this morning. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as shopping lag but I was certainly feeling a little worse for wear...(Smile) We watched a teaching on DVD after breakfast and had some feedback time. Lars (One of our Swedish hosts) offered to take the team on a half hour trek to another lake that actually had a beach and so it was off to the lake. The journey seemed like it was walking from Montrose to Ridgway Dam but once we got there, the long hot walk was quickly dismissed for the cool refreshing water. Upon geting back to the church the team set their focus on work duties and geting prepared for our performance.

The Baptist Church where we are staying

Curtis and Lucy Allen (Deanna's parents) were a welcome sight as they had just come in and we could finally bring completion to our team.

The Allen's

Our performance tonight at the church was incredible. The Pastor and the congregation were shellshocked to say the least at the deep yet broken testimonies of our team. Even though the World Cup soccer final was on, no one wanted to leave as our young people challenged the youth of Sweden to step up and be counted as young men and women living for God. This last performance in Sweden was a fitting tribute to our time here and we could not have asked for a better time or place. It was interesting as a couple of young people in the audience stood up to leave, but we knew seeds had already gone forth into their hearts and as always God is in control. Most of the audience stayed behind after our performance and one young man gave his life to the Lord through some of our young men sharing and praying with him.

Sweden has been a rather difficult place to minister in some ways but God continues to outdo Himself. We did finally get online and put the soccer final up on the projector much to the dismay of those backing the Netherlands but hats off to Spain for an entertaining World Cup.

Church bulletin board ...............................................Some of the young men that came tonight

This says it all

The International Song...............................................David (Middle) met Jesus tonight

Day 18 (Saturday, 10th July)

THE DAY IN STOCKHOLM

Getting ready to catch the train in to the city

Jason Cooper's "Dream Car"

Outside Central Station

Marie leading the way with the Ila babies

Walking to the Royal Palace

The Royal Palace.........................................................Royal Guard

Changing of the Guard

Taking in the sights

Reuniting with Judith Vogler from Germany...........Okay Trevor what did you do???

Team photo outside the Royal Palace

Catching the Ferry

Ladies on the boat....................................................Leeann enjoying the ferry ride

Day 17 (Friday, 9th July)

Cleaning and travelling was our focus today. The YWAM facility most definitely looked better than when we first came after a deep and thorough cleaning. The team was put to work after a fairly early start, and tents came down, mattresses were stripped and stacked, chairs were put away, toilets cleaned, floors mopped and everything returned to it's original position before we came. Like I said before, we have an awesome group of young people that are responsible and take initiative. This goes a long way, especially on outreach in a foreign nation.

The Mattress Tower

Cleaning the van..........................................................Stacking chairs

Taking down the tent

Bags packed stacked and ready to go

Once again we were ferried to the train station in van loads. We are sad to leave the Base and the YWAM staff but we are just as excited to move forward and we anticipate what God has for us ahead. Our train experience from when we arrived certainly prepared us for what was ahead. David had us split up in to two groups, one group at the front of our train car and the other at the rear. As soon as our train arrived, we boarded and loaded our car like clock work.

Our trip was pleasant to say the least and we made good use of our time taking naps. We arrived in Stockholm Central at about 2:00pm in the afternoon and caught the commuter train to our destination. We were thankful to have a welcome crew at the train station and we took a 5 minute walk with all our luggage to the church. After getting settled in our sleeping quarters, some of the team went swimming at a nearby lake. The people at the church we're staying at cooked a nice hot meal for us as well as fresh strawberries, whipped cream and ice cream for desert. After showers, dinner and desert we bedded down for the night.

Borlange train station.................................................. Stockholm Central

Day 16 (Thursday, 8th July)

This was our last day here in Borlange. This morning we practiced songs and started packing what we could of our luggage as we will be heading out early tomorrow.

Packing bags to get ready for our departure tomorrow

Last minute laundrey..................................................Friends watch Luke as he edits footage

We had two performances back to back at the church that we performed at on Sunday afternoon. The church has a coffee ministry that they run from 2:00pm to 6:00pm and we called them and asked if we could do some open air ministry. We found out later that some of the youth that were watching us perform were ex-members of the youth group and had fallen away from the Lord. As we haven't had to many mnistry opportunities here in Borlange you could tell that the team was really happy and eager to get out and dance. The testimonies were phenomenal, and that in itself was an obvious reflection of their enthusuiasm.

Okay, who wants to share their testimony

Coffee Ministry of the Church.....................................Some of our audience

Shae, Olivia and Erin

Day 15 (Wednesday, July 7th July)

Down town Borlange

We spent the morning in teaching. Kathleen taught again and we were split up in flock groups and spent time in the book of Galations. There was amazing feedback as each group gave reports on what God had revealed to them. In the afternoon we were ferried to down town Borlange to pray through the town. Once again we had an amazing time interceding for Sweden. There was a strong sense of God bringing revival through the young people and that God wanted to restore the foundations that were layed so many years ago in the area of missions.

The young people on this team are pretty incredible and are thriving on what they are being fed from God. We as a staff are very impressed at the maturity level of these young people and their willingness to press in to God and receive all they possibly can in this short time.

Our intercession team in down town Borlange

Playing on the playground....................Natalie & Kara

Day 14 (Tuesday, 6th July)

We had an awesome start to our day with a "First Fruits Offering" performance to the Lord. We got in our tie dye shirts, and headed across the street from the Base and set up the sound system and spent two hours dancing before the Lord and conveying our hearts in worship to God. This was a very significant and precious time. Each member of the team from the youngest to the oldest took turns between songs and poured their hearts out to God. We take time as I mentioned earlier as a team to make time to give God our "First Fruits" on every outreach. (Check out the video for the slide show)

Brooke, Natalie, Leeann, Teira & Jamie all set for our "First Fruits Offering" performance

Paul & Dustin (Can you tell how much Paul loves his tie dye shirt)

After our performance we had time for a little break. We changed back into our regular clothes and waited for lunch. After lunch the flock groups took care of their work duties and after work duties some of the team took naps but most played card games to pass the time. Mike and his YWAM team arrived to pick us up and take us to another lake where we did our whole performance amidst all the people swimming. Lotta Stevens translated for us which we were grateful for. The performance went well but I must give kudos to the team for not being tempted to jump in as the lake was pretty inviting under the warm sun.

At the lake

Our Swedish audience.................................................Miss Deb caught on camera, yet again

After our performance we took the 25 minute drive back to the Base and had quick showers, changed in to our Sunday best and eagerly awaited our Love Feast meal. Basically, a "Love Feast" is a meal that we as a team host and invite and honour the key people that have done the leg work making our outreach possible. In this case it was Mike and Lotta Stevens and their YWAM staff. The meal was amazing!!! We had curry and rice for dinner and our guests were honoured. After presenting gifts we had a great worship time and everybody pitched in to help clean up.

The Lads "GQing"

The Pretty Ladies

Mike & Lotta sit with us.................................................Katrin and Lisa on YWAM Staff

Jenny with some of the team.....................................Casandra and Amanda with the team

Katrin & Lisa with team members............................Perez men with the ladies

David Kathleen and the Lewko's

Day 13 (Monday, 5th July)

DAY OFF

We reluctantly let Ida go today. She had to leave to get some time with her parents who are on furlough from PNG. We are hoping to reunite with her in Stockholm but we are confident that God accomplished all He needed to whilst she was with us.

Megan and Ida at breakfast

Most of the team took full advantage of breakfast which ran from 8:30am to 9:30am, opting to come in around 9:00am. This allowed for some precious sleeping in time and for that, they were thankful.

Dustin & Paul taking full advantage of sleeping in time

Rebecca bright eyed and over jetlag........................"DA GIRLZ"

There were some options that were available to the team to go shopping but as we will be heading to Stockholm on Friday, they decided on a game of soccer. After soccer, it was sandwiches for lunch and the team gathered for a twenty minute to half hour wal to the lake. We did take what we thought was a short cut through a field by the river and were folowed by some Yak bulls.

Excited for the half hour trek to the lake

Too much Red Bull I think..........................................Super Heroes...(At least Jamie knows the truth)

Rebecca and Charity stampeding the herd

After our little adventure we finally got to the lake and enjoyed the water. The water was a tad warmer than Ridgway but being that it was overcast helped it to be a little cold.

The Big Jetty

The Smart ones............................................................First encounters

Other than jumping in what else do these ladies have in common???

After about a couple of hours we were done. It was a really fun time though and we are anticipating another visit if the weather cooperates. After our time at the lake we walked home to get showers and dinner in. Chicken noodle soup was on the menu again and we polished dinner off with sopapillas. There was also a movie but most of the team opted to play cards. Overall this has been a good day and we are looking forward to what tomorrow may bring.

Tayne loses his first tooth on outreach

Day 12 (Sunday, 4th July)

HAPPY 4TH of JULY

United States of America

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZABETH MILLER

We got an early start today with breakfat at 7:00am and a quick Happy Birthday song for Elizabeth. This woman of God is a tremendous blessing to our team and we are thankful for who she is in our lives.

After breakfast we got into our blue shirts and denims and gathered in the main hall for a team meeting. Charity spoke on the whole area of condemnation and how it affects our thoughts and how we act. This was a good time as some of the team have been coming under that spirit and walking in condemnation making it hard for them to receive instruction from leadership. After the short teaching the team brushed up on the International song and we packed the van with the sound system and had a little photo shoot getting each of the flock groups together.

Team photo before our first performance

Flock group 1..................................................................Flock group 2

Flock group 1: Geoff Ila, Nathaniel Lewko, Paul Kuhlman, Lukas Perez & Luke Thomas.
Flock group 2: Dustin Cooper, Ethan Lewko, Nathanael Gross & Trevor Alvord (w/ Tayne Ila)

Flock group 3.................................................................Flock group 4

Flock group 3: Jordan Perez, Daniel Lewko, Jason Cooper & Daniel Garton
Flock group 4: Charity Freeland, Kara Dekker, Teira Ila, Laura Freeland, Natalie Thylander &
Joanna Newby.

Flock group 5.................................................................Flock group 6

Flock group 5: Deanna Allen, Ashley Martinez, Jamie Ila, Chelise Dekker, Leeann Hampton &
Brooke Brennecke.
Flock group 6: Shae Ila & Erin Cooper

Our first performance was at a Pentecostal Church in town. We had 15 minutes in which we performed two songs, "Lean On Me" and "What Faith Can Do". Dustin shared his testimony before "Lean On Me" and Lukas shared right before "What Faith Can Do".

First performance "Lean On Me" at Pentecostal Church

After our performance the team and I took a 15 minute walk to the mall and had lunch. Of course you can never get away from McDonalds anywhere you travel so since it was the 4th of July most of the team chose McDonalds (A great American franchise..) to eat lunch at. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the mall and then got ferried back to the YWAM Base. Some of us took advantage of the little time we had and napped, only to be woken up after about a half hour to eat dinner and get ready for our second performance.

Our second performance was at a Church that was within five minutes walking distance from the Base, and so we headed out. The Kvarnsvedskyrkan Church we visited were happy to have us and we again settled for the fifteen time allotment we were given. We did two songs again and this time we had Laura and Kara share testimonies and performed the songs "Let It Roll" and "Set Me Free".

Kathleen sharing with Ida translating

I forgot to mention that we were pleasantly surprised with the arrival of Marie and Rebecca from Stockholm, much to the joy of Erin, Jason and Dustin getting to see their mom finally. After doing the second church service the team headed back to the Base only to have another nice surprise.

Marie preparing 4th of July desert for the teams return

We are definitely looking forward to a much needed day off tomorrow. The team as a whole did very well today and just by observing, I think this was an awesome start to outreach. Traditionally we reserve our very first performance for the Lord but we still haven't had a full performance yet so we'll see. We really appreciate your prayers for us and would humbly ask that you continue to pray for us as we continue our outreach.

Marie her sister Anna and mother Ingrid

Day 11 ( Saturday, 3rd July)

Today was spent polishing our songs and we also took time in our flock groups to process the things that we have learned. As I've mentioned earlier, there is much anticipation for outreach phase and the team is excited. We will be changing out of our normal routine and things are pretty much on the go. We have a week here in Borlange and then we will travel by train back to Stockholm for a few days before going on to Norway.

I should know more in the next couple of days as to our itinerary. Please keep praying that we have a good time of ministry here in Borlange and Stockholm. The Swedish people are a hard people to reach the gospel with. A lot of them know their bible back to front but have no conviction or belief about the truth. The Muslims in this nation on the other hand are very hungry for the gospel and have proven to be a lot more receptive to the gospel. As tomorrow will be our first day of outreach, I hope to post more photos but until then blessings.

Day 10 (Friday, 2nd July)

Today, we changed our schedule around a little to try to maintain some control over the sleepyness brought on by jetlag and sickness combined. Instead of having teaching in the first session of our morning we had dance practice and that allowed for a little more energy for the second morning session that we used for teaching.

Kathleen completed her teaching on "Why families break down" and we had lunch. Marie Perez left for Stockholm today by train, so that she can pick up Rebecca Cooper from the airport tomorrow evening at 6:30pm. We are expecting them to be back on Sunday.

Today was mostly learning our last two songs, the international song and the worship song. Tomorrow we will be concentrating our efforts on polishing all our dances to get us ready for outreach mode which we are anxiously anticipating. David is doing the last teaching session as we speak, on "How to give your testimony". The Bootcamp in general has been quite successful . God has moved significantly in the last two weeks and I know as we make this transition into outreach phase He will continue to move even more powerfully. Keep us in your prayers, as we make our transition but pray specifically for more of the fear of the Lord and the area of transparency as we continue the surrender of our hearts in order for Him to be exalted.

Again no photo's today but we will get some up soon and we will be changing the video footage soon as well. The team is doing very well, learning a lot and having fun at the same time.

DAY 9 (Thursday, 1st July)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID TABOR

David Tabor

Well folks it runs in the family. Not only does Megan celebrate her birhday on outreach, so does David. We agree that David Tabor is a man after God's own heart, and the capacity he holds in his heart to prove God is pretty incredible. This evening was spent celebrating David's birthday at dinner, not to mention the apple cake, chocolate cake and ice cream that was enjoyed by all.

Today, the team got to go outside and listen to Kathleen teach on "Why Families Breakdown" followed by my teaching on experiencing God's will. I can sense that the team is ready for outreach. We did get an answer to prayer with our schedule in Norway getting confirmed. This is exciting news and we are looking forward to it but first things first. This Sunday we have two performances at two seperate churches. Monday will be our day off, but hopefully there will be an itinerary up before then.

Kathleen teaching outside

The team still struggles with being tired and a lot of that is a result of getting over the sickness i.e. coughs and congestion but I'm happy to say that we are on the mend and our health seems to be getting restored. Today started out cold and rainy but quickly got warm as the sun came up. We decided to cancel teaching this evening and concentrate on celebrating David's birthday and getting an early night.

David & Kathleen.........................................................David with some of his favourite people

Gotta love desert

We know how to party....................................................They know how to do dishes after the party

Mother and son enjoying a moment

Day 8 (Wednesday, 30th June)

Casandra and Amanda are both from Sweden and have been regulars here at Bootcamp. It has been neat to get to know them and even though they are not on the team they are so excited about our team. King's Kids the YWAM ministry for young people no longer runs programs here and a lot of the reason why is that young men don't join. Ao1 has it's origins in King's Kids so we are hoping to spark a flame here in Sweden. It is no coincidence that there are more young men on this outreach than there are young ladies, so please pray for God to use this Ao1 team to bring a revival especially through our young men, to ignite young christian men to begin counting the cost for Jesus once again.

Casandra & Amanda

We had the special privilege of having an interpreter join us today for our Swedish leg of the outreach. Her name is Miss Ida from Sweden. Ida's parents were and still are missionaries in my nation
Papua New Guinea. Megan and I took Ida on her first King's Kids PNG outreach way back in 1993 and then on an international outreach to Hong Kong, China and Macau in 1994. It is awesome to see the inheritance of the Lord come to fruition.

Ida

We also had the Korean DTS team come to the facility and spend some time with us. We enjoyed their company and our young people had the opportunity to perform before an audience which helped a lot. I guess you could call it a dress rehearsal of sorts. We also spent time praying for them and worshiping with them. This was a very special time and we were very blessed.

Ao1 with the Korean DTS team

It has been another fun filled day and the team is anticipating the end of Bootcamp and the start of outreach. Please pray that God would complete what He has purposed for our Bootcamp phase as it is imperative that we are fully prepared for our Outreach phase. Below are a few more pics of Bootcamp.

Marie & Taylor making desert

Enjoying desert

The Three Amigos

Erin and her Grandma Elizabeth & some fun times

Paul & Daniel tearing it up on the fusball table......Praying for the Korean DTS

Day 7 (Tuesday, 29th June)

Well it's day 7 here in Sweden and we are anticipating God to move powerfully in our outreach phase, only because of the depth He is going to in our lives personally, in Bootcamp. Today we experienced several teachable moments that targeted the area of independence. Megan has been working on the old DC Talk song "Lean On Me" and it has tested the teams unity in more ways than one. Exposure is necessary in Bootcamp in order for our protection as a team and it also causes us to come into alignment with God's will individually and corporately. When things begin to be exposed it opens up an avenue for God to bring healing and restitution, and it also restores order that the Lord may receive all glory and honor.

Please continue to pray against sickness and also for God to continue getting to core issues that have distorted our view of Him individually. We are doing well and are very glad that we are serving God's agenda, and not our own. Please also keep our itinerary in prayer. We have still not heard confirmation from Norway as to ministry opportunities and we need to see God move in that area. As you can see no photographs today but we will be posting more tomorrow. If you haven't heard from your kids please email us at this address: srfm@solidrockfoundationministries.com

We have been having issues with our emails but the above address will go to our webmail which is easier to access.

Day 6 (Monday, 28th June)

THE DAY IN PICTURES

Practice time in the main hall

Jason, Ethan, Ashley & Deanna

Lukas & Nathanael.......................................................DA BOYZ!!!

Erin & Shae

Clara taking a break

Grandad & Tayne cooking fish for dinner

Trevor & Nathanael emailing......................................Megan teaching

As you can see Day 6 and we're still alive and well. Same schedule today as per usual and keeping busy and on the ball with great worship, powerful teaching times as well as flock group times, Tamara Lewko talked a little this morning with Kathleen and Megan talked this evening. Please keep us in prayer as a couple of the kids are a little stuffed up, and dealing with sinus and coughing issues but nothing major. God is digging deep and the young people are responding very well. Parents thank you for training your kids in the way they should go. We are experiencing an increase in the young peoples passion for God. This is an awesome bunch of young people that I have had the privilege of working with.

Day 5 (Sunday, 27th June)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN ILA

Megan and Shae celebrating Megans Birthday!!!

This was our first birthday celebration on the outreach. Megan seldom ever celebrates her birthday at home in Montrose as she is on outreach most summers but we always manage to have a lot of fun celebrating where ever we are.

After having our morning worship time we sensed as a team that we were to wash eachothers feet as part of the preparation for outreach. So we were broken up into our flock groups and prayed, affirmed eachother and washed feet for our Sunday morning service. The significance of the feet involve taking and spreading the gospel to the nations. Kathleen quoted from a book that she had been reading earlier in the morning confirming the significance of our feet and how Jesus walked the earth to bring salvation, healing and freedom to the lost. This proved to be a very powerful time, provoking unity and accountability to rise to another level in our team. We are very excited at the prospects of what God wants to do on this outreach.

Brooke washing Leeann's feet and praying for Leeann

After our Sunday service we had lunch and had the rest of the day off. Most of the team participated in a soccer match across the street at a nearby park while others took advantage of the time off to catch up with jet lag by having naps. A ten minute walk to the grocery store ensued after the soccer match. Several flock groups took advantage of that privilege to get some much needed candy, soda and snacks that have been scarce since our time here. As the afternoon started to wind down, we settled down to showers, home made pizza, and the movie "The Blind Side"... We did have an amazing desert that fittingly sufficed for a birthday cake for Megan. Again another fruitful day filled with loads of fun and laughter.

Deb & Brooke .........................................Marylou, Elizabeth, Kathleen & David at the movies

Day 4 (Saturday, 26th June)

Today was a normal day for the team. Basically it was back to routine. For those of you parents that are new to what we do this would be a good time time to let you in on our daily routine. I must say before I start, that contrary to what you might have already heard via recent phone calls from your kids, "WE DO GET SLEEP"!!! (Smile) Here goes:

7:00am....................................Breakfast
7:30 am - 8:30am..................Personal Quiet Time with God
8:30am - 10:00am.................Teaching Time Session1
10:00am - 10:15am...............Break and snack time
10:15am - 11:45am..............Teaching Time Session 2
11:45am - 1:00pm.................Lunch and Break
1:00pm - 3:30pm...................Dance Practice
3:30pm - 6:30pm...................Work duties/ Free Time/ Showers
6:30pm - 7:00pm...................Dinner
7:00pm - 9:00pm...................Teaching Time Session 3
9:30pm....................................Bedtime for 12 years and under
10:15pm..................................Bedtime for 13 years and above.

We also have a branch of this team that solely engage in service projects and they are Daniel Garton,
Lukas Perez, and Paul Kuhlman. These three were busy cleaning windows today and doing yard work. The babies of the team Erin Cooper, Shae Ila and Tayne Ila picked flowers for the dining room tables that we eat at and did a very good job of it. Today Megan worked on two songs ("Catch A Fire" & "Let It Roll") that we have been learning so far and released Kara Dekker to organise and teach a drama called "Set Me Free" by Casting Crowns. This was a pretty full day on all accounts and we were glad to see our beds at the end of the day.

DANGER!!! Daniel with a power tool.........................Paul and Lukas cleaning windows

Mrs. Perez and the babies about to sort flowers

Marylou & Clara with prayer team.............................Hands team getting done with their job

Day 3 (Friday, 25th June)

Today was a little different from what we have been used to but awesome nonetheless. After our morning teaching with Kathleen, lunch, and two hours of dance practice we headed to Sweden's traditional Mid Summer Celebration here in Borlange. After dance practice today we packed our sack dinner and headed to the festivities.

The raising of the Pole

Mrs. Marie Perez helping her countrymen with the poles

Traditional Dancing......................................................Members of the team dancing

We returned to our Bootcamp venue, had desert and took in a 45 minute teaching video on "Grace" by Louie Giglio. This certainly made for a full day and it was off to bed without a hitch.

Day 2 (Thursday, 24th June)

At breakfast this morning we got to try shrimp paste on crackers, liver pate, and caviar. Most definitely culture shock to many but to the teams credit, they did not shy away from the challenge. I figured good old cereal and toast won out in the end. Yet another long day with Kathleen teaching in the morning and practice and work duties in the afternoon. This evening we heard from Charity Freeland which was a nice change. Jetlag is still our enemy so keep us in your prayers. The team worked on "Let It Roll" today and I think that will add to the exhaustion and see the team sleep well tonight.

Young Daniel Garton trimming the hedges............Our friend Mr. Mike Steven

Day 1 (Wednesday, 23rd June)

Day one and we are dealing with major jetlag. The sun barely goes down at around 11:00pm and then comes up at around 1:00am in the morning so you can just imagine what our bodies are doing just trying to adjust. Kathleen taught all morning on salvation and understanding the Father heart of God. As this is our first day here we have yet to get our work duties sorted out but not to worry, David is and always has been all over that so we don't anticipate the work duty list being to long in coming. Megan and the choreography team are working on "Catch A Fire". Yes we know this song has been a mainstay since the New Zealand outreach in 2005 but we are Audience of One and any song we do for Him however long never gets old. Well it wasn't very long and voila the work duty list is up. My flock group was on dinner prep which made for an interesting adventure. Today we also saw our team being made complete with Natalie Thylander from Sweden joining us. We have several non Coloradans on the team: Kara and Chelise Dekker have joined us once again from Texas, Trevor Alvord from California, Joanna Newby from Australia and of course Natalie as mentioned earlier.

Trevor (CA), Chelise & Kara (TX), Joanna (Australia) & Natalie (Sweden)

Travelling to Sweden (Monday 21st June/ Tuesday 22nd June))

Our day started at with a wake up call at 5:30am in our hotel rooms.Team uniforms were donned and we headed down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. Of course the team came down in dribs and drabs but it gave us a good heads up for what to expect for outreach.

Early Birds catching the worms

After breakfast we were in for the longest day of our lives...(smile)!!! The vehicles were loaded once again and we were off to the races. Our first stop was at DIA where we unloaded the trailer and checked in for our flight to Newark. Much thanks and appreciation to Mr. Steve Martinez for driving his 15 seater van all the way to Denver to take his wife Deb and daughter Ashley and a whole bunch of young people to the airport. We also would like to thank Mr. Mike Koepke for his efforts to ensure our vans were taken care of when the we got to DIA.

("WE WANT YOU" !!! ) Waiting to board our flight to Newark

Newark Boarding Gate

Our flight to Newark took three and a half hours and for the most part proved uneventful with the exception of an inflight movie and a chicken wrap for lunch.

The beautiful Ila girls on their way to Newark...........Brooke on her first Ao1 International Tour

Our stop over in Newark allowed us a little time to stretch our legs and get in a potty break and a quick snack before we were headed to Stockholm.

Our Boarding gate for Stockholm in Newark

Our 8 hour 41 minute plane ride was a mixture of movies and sleep...mostly movies.

Nathanael, Daniel & Laura..........................................Our fearless prayer warrior Grandma Lou

We literally followed the sun and never saw night for our whole trip. Leaving Newark at around 5:15pm Eastern Standard time and arrived in Stockholm at 7:15am Swedish time.

Stockholm Airport

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Travelling nations takes it toll on our team

We finally arrived in Stockholm and were met by Taylor, Marie, Lukas and Jordan Perez and our Australian representative Joanna Newby with her dad, David. We waited at the airport until about 1:30pm in the afternoon and took a 2 hour train ride Borlange. Mike Stevens, his wife Lotta, and two other YWAM staffers met us and in two trips got us and the luggage to the Borlange YWAM base. We were definitely exhausted by that time and just the fact that we had come to a stopping point was relief alone. Needless to say, we made it and were very grateful to have finally arrived.

Paul Kuhlman about to have a bag shower.

Head Start in Montrose (Sunday, 20th June)

Packed and ready to go

The count down has finally ended and our Scandinavia 2010 outreach officially started here at 1120 Ridge Street Montrose. The team gathered this morning at around 9:30am with bags packed and loads of excitement and anticipation. Bags were loaded, the team was prayed for and each person assigned to one of the four vehicles we drove to Denver in.

Loading the trailer ........................................................and the vans

We departed for Denver at around 10:00am and arrived around 3:30pm. John and Gayle Strantz met us with their grandson Trevor Alvord and after finally reestablishing our hotel bookings which were lost somehow, we got settled in our rooms. After putting bags in rooms and such, we took a 3 minute walk to Village Inn to have dinner and celebrate Father's Day. We were joined by David's sister Joan Koeppen and her husband Bernie. When we returned to the hotel some of the team took the liberty of enjoying the pool while others prepared to bed down and get rest for an early morning.

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