This visit to Norway by a RoFMI team was a first in that it included members from several other countries in Europe – UK, Denmark, Holland, and Spain, all making contributions to the Prophetic Conference Programme that had been arranged at the Kraftskolen (Bible School) at Vale in Southern Norway.
The bulk of the UK contingent departed Stansted at 13.45 on Thursday 6th May. This consisted of Peter, Keith, Ruth, John & Jean and Joseph – a pastor from the gypsy church in East London. We arrived at Torp about 16.30 local time, to be taken by Tommy and Robin to Horten and on to a ferry to Moss on the eastern side of the Oslo fjord. During the 30-40 minutes journey across the fjord, we all enjoyed a picnic provided by Robin – how thoughtful of him!
From Moss, we were driven to Rolvsoy to the home of Hans Nielsen Hauge near the town of Sarpsborg where Hans Petter and Kari Thue were waiting to welcome us to the church built on the site adjacent to the house in commemoration of the events that took place there. Hauge’s life in the history of Christianity in Norway is significant in that on April 5th 1796 whilst ploughing a field on the family farm and singing and praising God, the Holy Spirit fell upon him filling him with a certainty that he had a call to witness to others. He began that same day – firstly to his sisters, then the rest of his family, then the village, then the nearby villages, then in 1797 by travelling around large part if the country.
We were privileged to have a privately arranged conducted tour of the house with a well informed guide, courtesy of Hans-Petter & Kari. Before leaving, we all gathered for prayer in the small bedroom where Hauge made his first witness to his two sisters – the room that Peter had said was the place in the house where the anointing was when we first entered the building and before we were told by our guide that it was the girls’ bedroom! The prayer was inspired and followed by prophesies and words of knowledge pertaining to the revival coming to Norway.
Then it was back to the ferry at Moss. Travelling as foot passengers this time, we crossed over the Oslo fjord to Horten to be met by Reidar Gamst, Principal of the bible school and a big red bus! It was a forty minute ride to the Kraftskolen site and so to bed – but not until we had our usual end-of-day review meeting I the conference room!
Friday 7th May – The day dawned bright and sunny for those of us already at the school and following a late breakfast, we were able to relax whilst we waited for the other members of the ministry team to arrive, These included John and Grace, together with Ton and Joke from Holland; Tonny and Karsten from Denmark: David and Ruben from Spain, but travelling the last leg of the journey from the UK with Jonathan. Arrivals took place throughout the day, but in good time for the opening meeting of the conference programme scheduled to start at 19.30hrs.
The worship band for this meeting consisted of several students and led from the keyboard by Pastor Joseph from Moss. It was an inspired time of praise and worship with the anointing of the Holy Spirit being felt by all in the hall, particularly when the song ‘Sing Hallelujah to the Lord’ was being sung in tongues.
Reidar Gamst, the school principal, then introduced Peter to the conference delegates and asked him to say something about the teams that had come from Denmark, Holland, Spain and UK. Peter in turn asked Grace to share about what had been happening in Holland following the series of visits made by RoFMI teams since early January 2010. The first, a three day visit to an Iranian church in Almere to pray for the healing of the Pastor’s wife, was made by Peter and John. This was followed by a visit by Peter, Chris and John to John and Grace’s church in Wieringerwerf in northern Holland and another to a rehabilitation centre in Amsterdam for drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes – a further visit, this time to Arnhem, was cancelled because of the volcanic ash but has been re-arranged for late May with Peter, John and Keith as the team. A special deliverance ministries team consisting of Keith and Jean Perrin were with John and Grace from 30th April to 4th May 2010. In general, what Grace reported was uplifting and encouraging with individuals’ being healed, released from bondages into a new freedom and experience of the loving embrace of God’s Holy Spirit and a rising expectancy for a powerful revival though Holland. Grace closed her summary with the comment that having witnessed how the Lord had ministered through Jean and Keith that everyone needs deliverance from the past and to be free of the bondages that hold them back in their Christian walk.
Peter then shared a little about what was happening around Europe and invited Joseph to speak about some of his experiences when ministering in gypsy churches in Romania. He related three events all of which had been prophesied to him by Peter before he left the UK, to which I can give witness – I (John Jordan) was there when they were given. One was that he would be used to heal a woman with cataracts, Shortly after the prophecy was given he went to minister in Canada but it was not fulfilled; he then went to Africa and again the prophecy was not fulfilled; but, when in Romania, a woman came to him and said her daughter had cataracts to which he responded by saying that she was already healed, that the Lord had done it. Her mother telephoned the hospital to ask about her daughter to be told she was signing herself out having been healed and could see and didn’t need the proposed surgery! Praise God!
Another prophetic word was that he would be ministering to a man who would get down on all-fours, bark like a dog and run away from him. It happened in Romania when he was told about a man who beat and battered his wife and children – so much so, that his wife had lost an ear and walked with a limp: the children were disabled – he used to pick them up by their feet, swing them around his head and then hit them against the wall so that may of their joints were damaged or dislocated and bones broken. Joseph asked for the man to come to him for prayer and as soon as the prayer began the man got down on all-fours and ran away from him like a dog. Joseph gave chase and caught him by the neck and held him down and commanded the demon in him to go in the name of Jesus. Immediately the man quietened down and asked Joseph to let him get up and when he did he looked much younger and began to speak in tongues. The next time Joseph saw him, he was holding his children in his arms cuddling and kissing them and then he gave Joseph a hug – a man released and restored! What a God we serve.
The final prophesy is even more remarkable – that he would raise somebody from the dead. The story is that a mother was at home with her three children and suddenly collapsed and died. She was about 35 years old. She was taken to the local hospital and following a physical examination declared dead, a death certificate issued and her body transferred to the morgue and into refrigerated storage pending burial. The children, who had been brought up in a Christian home came to Joseph and asked if he would go with them to the morgue and pray for their mother to be restored to them. He agreed and they all went to the morgue and asked to be allowed to pray over her. “But she has been dead for nine hours” said the doctor, but he finally agreed to have her body brought out of the refrigerator. They surrounded her and not accepting what their eyes could see but believing what their hearts were telling them, they all prayed. She sat up and after getting dressed they took her home where she immediately took control and prepared a meal for all the children and a cup of tea for Joseph. As it happened in Jesus’ time so it is happening today. What a great, gracious and generous God we serve. Praise His Name.
Peter then extended an invitation to those wishing to have prayer for healing. Many came forward and received blessing, release and restoration and the session ended about 22.30.
Finally the team returned to the conference room for the end-of-day unwinding session and a review of the day before going off to bed.
Saturday 8th May 2010. Following a wonderful breakfast at 09.00 the conference reconvened in the main hall at 10.00. The theme for the day was ‘Encountering the Prophetic’. Following a time of praise and worship and prayer, Peter introduced the topic by relating some examples of prophetic words and their outworking. He recalled the stranger he met who told him that he would be speaking to people of many nations some time before he started his travels to Scandinavia and other European countries – a prophecy that took time to come to pass. He then told of the prophecy he gave to a pastor of a Spanish church – that God would provide them with a building to be used by his church in working with refugees, Within weeks the local city council gave him a building free of charge for his use – a quick result this time.
Another prophecy, given to a couple who, for medical/physical reasons, could not possibly conceive, was that they would have children. Within 10-11 months of the prophecy being given the wife was delivered of a 4+ kg boy in April this year, Isn’t God gracious?
Peter then concluded by saying ‘that if prophecy is so good and brings such benefits shouldn’t the church pay more attention to the prophets’? Then ‘Who would like to be a prophet? But before you decide, listen to Keith’s basic teaching on prophecy’.
Keith in his excellent presentation spread over the two morning sessions (10.00 – 11.30 and 12.00 – 14.00) presented a series of questions most commonly asked about prophecy and then went on to provide answers and guidance. The questions were; What is prophecy? What should our attitude to prophecy be? What types of prophecy are there? What is the importance of prophecy today? Who can prophecy today? What sort of people are prophets? How are prophecies received and conveyed? Should we expect all prophecies to be 100% accurate? How should we respond to prophecy? And finally – How can we receive prophecy today? The session closed with prayer led by Keith and we all adjourned to the dining room for another excellent meal provided by Reidar’s wife, Anne Karin and her team of helpers.
The next session of the day (15.30 – 18.00) opened with a time of praise and worship following which Peter expanded on the theme of the programme giving numerous examples of prophetic words and their fulfilment. Peter then invited the team members to speak out the prophetic words that the Lord had given them for Norway – words for the nation. Words were given by Karsten from Denmark, Ton from Holland, David from Spain and Peter and John from the UK.
Following this there was a time of ministry and impartation for those wanting to have the gift of prophecy. The ministry was wide ranging and all those who came forward were blessed in some way through empowerment in the gifts of the Spirit, encouragement, healing, release from bondage and restoration. A blessed time indeed. Hallelujah!
After a break for an evening meal the evening session began at 19.30 when a time of praise and worship was provided by a band of young people from Oslo led by Johannes Groth, son of Hans-Erik, together with three other young men and Maria, daughter of Hans-Erik. Johannes was one of the young men who came to the Per Soetorp concert in Oslo to ask Peter if he would go to their party and ‘bring the word of the Lord to them’ (a full account of this event was given in the RoFMI visit to Norway report 19-22 March 2010).
Following this time of anointed worship and praise by the band, which is based at the Philadelphia Church in Oslo, Peter invited Johannes to give a testimony as to what happened at the party in March 2010. He described the events after Peter had left their flat, about their inability to worship and the Lord’s prompting to repent, resulting in the formation of a circle in which they all confessed their sins to one another and repented, symbolically throwing their confessed sins into the centre of the circle for the Lord to destroy them by fire. Since that time, many of those involved say they are fearless in speaking about Jesus to young people – they go out into the streets of Oslo and preach Jesus at every opportunity. The results have been amazing – many young people have come to the Lord and are seeking fellowship and greater understanding; to-date a large number of young people have been touched by this street ministry. Wow!
Then there followed a time for ministry to many people at the meeting after which Peter asked the band to play another set of songs the first of which was a beautiful solo piece sung by Maria. Another period of anointed praise and worship ensued whilst those still requiring prayer were ministered to in the quieter parts of the school.
As usual the team ended the day in the conference room for a final review of the day’s events and to have sometime to relax and unwind before going to bed. However, one of the team was missing – Joseph had been taken off by Hans-Petter and Kari to their home for an overnight stay and then on to preach in their church on the Sunday morning. We missed him but we learned later that he had had a great time and the Holy Spirit had been at the meeting in great power.
Sunday 9th May 2010. After a leisurely breakfast we all assembled in the main hall for the final meeting of the conference at 11.00 where the inspired worship was led by the school’s musicians. This was followed by the children’s group – ‘Kids for Christ’ – who performed two songs which included solo parts for some children in the ensemble. – Great!! Their final offering of praise and worship was the interpretation of a song through movement and dance. It was a delight to see them using the talents the Lord has given them and how these, inspired by the Holy Spirit can bless all those who see and hear them. Wonderful to see and hear.
There then followed a solo singing performance by a young Latvian student from the school who accompanied himself on the keyboard. It was a truly inspired performance; the Lord has blessed him with a wonderfully rich baritone voice – a voice which deserves to be heard by a much larger audience.
Peter then commented on the inspirational time of worship and praise we had heard and on the presence of angels in the room worshipping and praising God in harmony with us. He then went on to say that ‘this is a time for saying yes to God’ and reminded us of the first miracle that Jesus performed at the wedding at Cana in Galilee when the wine ran out. After telling Jesus about the situation, Mary, Jesus’ mother went to the servants who had to deal with the problem and said, ‘Do what ever He tells you’. That is to say, ‘Yes Lord’. Prophecies were given by Peter for the church and school – about its future in terms of changes to its use and ministry in encouraging ways. Eg. New and different buildings, closer cooperation with other bible schools, and an expansion of activities and influence in many ways. Individual prophecies for the children in the hall were then given. Making reference to the prophecies which had just been given, Peter came back to his theme of ‘It is a time (or a season) for saying ‘Yes Lord’. He then said ‘that if you want to move into a closer relationship with the Lord, it has to be the season for saying Yes’. A relationship with the Lord can only be built through your own personal effort. Whilst other people’s knowledge and personal experience of the Lord is interesting to hear, they cannot be put on like a cloak to become your knowledge and experience. You need to develop your own understanding and experience of God by engaging with Him through His Holy Spirit. You need to make your own cloak / mantle! So it is a time for saying ‘Yes Lord’.
Individual prayer, anointing with oil and the laying on of hands for those who wanted further ministry took place and brought the final session of the conference to an end.
The remainder of the day was free for a time of relaxation and reflection. However, an invitation was extended to the team to join some of the school staff, their families and some students who were going ten-pin bowling at the local sports facility, John accepted and had a great time of competitive fellowship with this delightful group of people.
This was also the time to start breaking up the team. Jonathan had to be back in the UK to start work on Monday, so he and David & Ruben left for Torp airport.
Monday 10th May 2010. This was the day for departures and team members dispersing back to their own countries throughout the day. John & Grace, Ton & Joke to Holland. Tonny and Karston to Denmark. Peter, Jean, John & Joseph to the UK, whilst Keith and Ruth stayed on for a few extra days with Robin in Fredrickstad. Finally, many thanks to the staff and students at the school for making us feel welcome. We would like to give special thanks to Reidar Gamst, the school principal for allowing us to use the wonderful facilities at the school, and his wife and her staff for looking after us so well. What a blessing to have a highly skilled baker on the staff – what a range of breads and pastries – wonderful.
Thank you and God bless you all.
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