Summary Report from the Nordic-Baltic Countries
October 2017
Blending Trips Summary
From the reports that we have received from the five cities in our region that hosted the blending trips, we note particularly that, although much time and labor was needed for making all the arrangements, the local saints appreciated the opportunity to have the blending and fellowship with so many visiting saints. Many testified that their highlights of the week are first, the blending and building that took place, and second, the participation in the gospel and the Bible distribution.
As many visiting saints came from larger localities, it is something special for them to visit small churches on the continent of Europe and to see and hear for themselves what the Lord has done and is doing in each local situation. The local saints planned home meetings and blending meetings where the local and visiting saints together shared their experiences of the church life. These times were most profitable for the mutual encouragement and building up.
Besides the sightseeing, all visiting saints spent some time on gospel preaching and Bible distribution. The gospel times were preceded by a solid time together in the Word, the ministry, and prayer. The saints testified that they were all filled with the Spirit and the morale was high. The saints’ realization during the distribution was that their time on the gospel was fully covered by the prayers of the Body. Many had expected the local people here to be cold and closed, but to their pleasant surprise, many were warm and open. This must really have been the Spirit brooding and sweeping in all these cities.
Some also testified that they would not have done this normally in their home localities, but because it was a part of the itinerary during this week, they did it and actually enjoyed it. They are now encouraged and burdened for the gospel after their experience of the gospel on this trip.
- Helsinki, Finland (Monday to Wednesday)
25 visiting saints
4 Bibles distributed, 6 asked for further contact, 1 baptism
Every afternoon, the visiting saints and nine local saints gathered together for a time of prayer and to get into the ministry before going out in small groups to preach the gospel in the city of Helsinki.
A new one, who was contacted on Monday, met again with the sisters and received the Lord on Tuesday. Then she was invited to the local saints’ home on Wednesday, and after a sharing on baptism, she was baptized right there and then.
- Riga, Latvia (Monday to Wednesday)
45 visiting saints
79 Bibles distributed, 23 asked for further contact, 6 prayed to receive the Lord
Twenty local saints took time off to blend with the visiting saints for the whole time. Another sixty local saints joined in the corporate blending meeting on Monday, home meetings in eleven homes on Tuesday, and the prayer meeting on Wednesday.
The saints took this opportunity to pass out The Mystery of Human Life tracts and Bibles corporately. Due to the rainy weather, only 20 saints went to preach the gospel at the Riga Technical University, while the other 33 saints went into town to contact the local people during their lunchtime. Afterwards, they visited various cafeterias of the different university campuses.
One of the students contacted on the campus came to a home meeting and enjoyed calling on the name of the Lord with the saints. During the prayer meeting, the saints prayed for these 23 new ones by name, one by one.
- Oslo, Norway (Monday to Wednesday)
30 visiting saints
120 Bibles and 2000 MHL tracts distributed, a number asked for further contact
The visiting saints gathered together with about ten local saints in the mornings to have a time of prayer and enjoyment in the Word. After lunch, the saints went out in two groups and set up one Bible distribution table at the central subway station and another table at the main university campus. Those not at the table walked around giving out The Mystery of Human Life tracts and encouraging open ones they met to come to the table for a free Bible. On one of the days it was raining hard, but the saints still managed to distribute tracts and Bibles to a number of local people.
- Stockholm, Sweden (Monday to Wednesday)
20 visiting saints
47 Bibles, 12 asked for further contact, 3 prayed to receive the Lord
The visiting saints entered into the church life in Stockholm during this week, going to four different homes on Monday evening and a corporate blending meeting on Wednesday (many found the mutual sharing during this meeting to be the highlight of the trip).
Two local brothers spent two days on the KTH campus with the visiting saints. They had a good solid hour to prepare their spirit for the gospel time, and this made a big difference. They were also encouraged by each other’s portion and function during the gospel time. One of the students who were contacted wanted to join the Bible study on campus right away, but the saints had to leave for the conference in Denmark.
- Copenhagen, Denmark (Thursday to Friday)
150 visiting saints / 90 participants in Bible and gospel tract distribution
160 Bible, 4000 tracts, a good number of new contacts are being e-shepherded by the visiting saints
The visiting saints not only spent some time visiting the local sights in Copenhagen but also devoted two hours to the gospel. The night before, on Thursday, the brothers had arranged a two-hour meeting for fellowship, ministry, prayer, orientation, and training for the saints who would like to go out on the gospel. They had expected, at most, 50 to show up, but more than 80 did.
The saints were split into 10 groups to pass out The Mystery of Human Life tracts in Danish and English Recovery Versions of the New Testament at ten different locations in the city, while two Bible distribution tables were set up in a busy transportation interchange at the city center. At the tables, a good number stopped by to ask for a free study Bible, and some even had some very thoughtful questions, such as, do I have to be baptized to be a Christian?
Many had expected the Danes to be cold and not open, but the saints were pleasantly surprised that a good number would actually stop and listen to what the saints had to say. Some even prayed with the saints to receive the Lord and were invited to attend the conference the next day.
Blend ing Co nference & F ir st Lord’ s Tabl e in Co penha gen
359 saints (from 25 countries)
20 children
18 young people
We praise the Lord for what He has done in Copenhagen. It was a glorious Lord’s table, full of spontaneous prayers from the saints. It was through the Body and in the Body that the Lord raised up His lampstand in Copenhagen, and it was beautiful to see this oneness expressed in reality.
The saints also enjoyed the speaking, which was fresh, enjoyable, and full of light and life. They also appreciated the many opportunities to blend with one another during the meal times and the breaks.
The local saints in Copenhagen were initially told to expect 200 for the conference, but the numbers ended up being close to double that. Three local saints, some with full time jobs, poured out their whole being for months to prepare and organize in order to receive the 377 saints for the conference. The other local saints also helped during the week, including some from the neighboring countries.
One visiting saint testified that there was a sweet fragrance of Christ in all the details of the conference. She was impressed with the testimony of a local saint that her secret of enjoying Christ in a small church life in Copenhagen over the past 15 years was the supply from the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord that He is gaining a group of people who live in the reality of the Body of Christ in Copenhagen!
Some of the new ones who were contacted during the gospel time came to the conference. They included an Airbnb family with whom some visiting saints were staying. This family witnessed all the “worship” during the Lord’s table meeting and listened to the entire last message of the conference on the church being the counterpart of Christ. Afterwards they told the saints: “I want to come to your next meeting”. They enjoyed that outline so much that they asked if they could keep their outlines in order to get into the first three messages that they had missed.
We believe that the conference helped both the local saints and visiting saints to come out of themselves and take Christ as their person and to experience the reality of the Body of Christ. This was a glorious beginning for the church in Copenhagen! May the Lord continue to establish His bright and shining lampstand in the capital city of Denmark!
