I prayed a salvation prayer in January 1990, preached my first message June 1991, then since the summer of 1992, after I completed lighter Theology studies, I have preached more or less full time. The first five years of preaching I had side jobs as a welder, German teacher and taught "Swedish for Immigrants."
I went on my first missions trip the summer of 1992 (3 weeks) and it changed my life forever. I spent the entire summer of 1993 in a sleeping bag as three missions trips came after another. Eastern Europe was wide open at that time and we lived the Book of Acts in the former closed communist states... We met unreached European people in cities in Poland, East Germany and Czechia. There were hardly any "revival chrurches" or Christians speaking in tongues the places we went... We preached, danced, had street theater, played soccer and had cook outs with with lost youths. We prayed salvation, healing and baptism in the Holy Spirit prayers with the people our age as tears streamed down our faces. We saw Jesus perform miracles in run-down Eastern European apartment komplexes, in parks and in smoky taverns. We baptized in fire dams and lakes and heard the speaking in tongues echo for the first time in apartment stairwells and on buses.
Since I tasted the adventure-life and got "hooked", I have never stopped going on missions trips... We went on our first mission trip to Africa in 1995, and 1996-1998 were intense years with lots of travelling to East African countries, but also to Russia and the Phillippines. 1998 we started working in India, 1999 in Pakistan, 2001 in Bulgaria... I have lost count the last ten years since I travel between the different continents all the time... Continous jet-lag... Thailand, Ethiopia, Nepal and Latin America... I have done more than 60 festivals in 20 years and just want to do more!
When you have been on your first missions trip you will know why I and all the tenacious SOS people are hooked. The mission trip will change you forever. You become marked for life and tattoed by Jesus Himself. Life with big L is lived on the festival and mission trip and time in between kinda becomes like transport distance. This will happen;
1) The mission trip will wake up an empathy and passion in you to share the Gospel of Jesus with those who have never had the chance to hear about Jesus' forgiveness and freedom. Once a missionary, always a missionary :).
2) The mission trip will make you bolder since you are not at home anymore and you suddenly prayed for a blind person that just received their sight, or a deaf person that received their hearing. You will be so happy that will walk around "high on happiness" for days - He used me! It worked!!!
3) The mission trip will strip you of everything unnecessary. You will find yourself just as happy, maybe even happier, without warm water, toilet paper or Wifi. "Naked" happiness is found on the mission field.
4) The mission trip will give you perspective. You will meet poverty, need and life stories you didn't thought existed. You will discover that you actually have everything, will become grateful and humble.
5) You become family with the other missionaries forever when you share blood, sweat, dance in the rain, laugh and rejoice when Jesus performs miracles.
Come with us on a festival soon!
See ya!
