The ‘fugees!

Almost two weeks ago, Aaron & I went to the refugee center in Kållered. While we were there we met people that came to the country with very little warm clothing, if any warm clothes at all. We hung out with them in a small room, that IKEA donated furniture for (see attached photo) for a few hours having fika, drawing and sharing stories. When it was time to leave, a few young boys were going through the “hats & gloves” box trying to find something to wear on their little 6 year old hands, one of them left with men’s gloves that were just too big and the other left with bright pink, “piglet” mittens. Both boys did find gloves which is good because it was more than what either of them had, but they weren’t ideal. We have challenged our churches, Fiskebäcks Missionskyrcka and Fisherscreek International Church, to go through their closets and find warm clothes to donate. We were hoping to get enough clothes for one car load to the center, but after telling the congregation about this opportunity on Sunday, by Tuesday night we had enough clothes to fill about 3 Volvo station wagons!!! and more clothes are still coming; it is truly amazing at how much the people in this church are giving! I’m truly amazed!

One of our main goals with “The Well” (the service I’m here for, young adults) is to get people to “be the church, inside and outside of the church walls”. I think this is a great start and a good sign of what we are all capable of.

Keep praying!

Timmer

Already Wednesday!

I can’t believe that have already been here for one month! Wow, where does the time go? (…………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………… actual reflective pause as sit and I think about all that I’ve done this past month …………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………)

I guess I can believe that it has already been one month, I’ve done quite a bit of stuff…. and have drunk more coffee than I have in my entire life!

So, as I’ve been giving updates every so often you may have notice something has been missing. What did I come here for? I came to lead a small group. Why haven’t I written much about these, “small groups”? I’ve been here for 1/3 of my time and I haven’t really even mentioned them. WHOOPS! Just kidding, it has been on purpose. Over this past month there has been a lot of planning, because (I think I mentioned it, but if I haven’t) I am in charge of starting all the small groups, not just leading one. I was given a stack of books and a few prayers. Now, it isn’t as bad as I make it sound, Aaron and Sara are both very helpful and the whole time they’ve told me that if I don’t think I can handle it, to ask for help, and I have asked for their guidance on a few things here and there. …Anyways, we had a meeting 2 weeks ago and anyone who was interested in small groups was invited, we had about 10 of 20 who were able to make it and we actually got 3 groups started that night. We set a very relaxed schedule for the groups to meet. Each group decides when they meet and where. This will provide the flexibility that so many students need in order to participate in a small group.

My group, which I am not leading, is meeting tonight for the first time at Pizzeria Roberto’s, a little restaurant here in Fiskebäck that serves Italian food and Thai food, it’s a strange combo, but pretty darn delicious! I had a few guys get in contact with me this week that were interested in joining a group so tonight I think we will be 7 or 8 people, and hopefully be able to divide into 2 small groups, we’ll see.

Well, things are definitely moving in the right direction and it is very exciting to see more and more people wanting to be involved one way or another. Keep praying!

Timmer

I moved!

i know, i know, you are probably thinking, “what? Where did he move to? I thought he already moved to Sweden?” well, it is quite alright if you are thinking that, but here’s the deal; I moved out of Aarons small, one room stuga which I’ve been sharing with him for the past 2 weeks and into a house. A couple from the Swedish church, Thomas and Birgitta Natanaelsson, have graciously opened their home to me. My walk to church each day is great! It takes about 10 minutes and the path is paved they whole way. There are trees along most of it, but one section is open and goes past a new playground. Now, I don’t think I’d ever see this playground in the States, why? Well, because it is made of logs! The first time I saw it I just thought, “lawsuit waiting to happen!” Yep, they even have a spinning log that I’m sure was made for Lumber Jack training, it is amazing! Well anyways, my walk is nice. Monday night the three of us were having dinner and conversation at around 6, and before I knew it, we were finishing coffee at nearly 9:00. They are both extremely kind, warm and easy to talk to. They said they want me to feel at home while I’m here and I definitely do. They’ve even given me a bike to use, oh and I have my own entrance to the house too. It is great!

and......

So, let’s see…..... I left out a few days…....... What did I do....?
Oh, ok, so on Monday, October 12th at about 4, Aaron Andrew and I went to the Central Station in Göteborg and boarded a train. We rode it for about 20 minutes to a tiny little town and transferred to a bus. We rode the bus for about 30 minutes and came to a town called Marstrand. This is a nice little town and is a popular tourist destination, especially in the summer. Part of why it is popular is because it is a central location for sailing, Volvo’s “world race” makes a stop every year, another reason is for the Fort overlooking the town, it is beautiful (see photo). But we were not here to sail or sight see; we were here for a church staff retreat. One of the pastors grew up in the town and now has her parent’s old house which has been remodeled into 3 separate “apartments”, one on each level. She rents out 2 and keeps the top level as a place to get away to. So, we ‘got away’. It was quite nice; there were 7 of us there for one night. We all helped with dinner, played games and watched a movie, basically just relaxed and hung out. Tuesday morning after breakfast we had a time to share anything we wanted; thoughts, dreams, concerns, prayer requests, etc. It was a very refreshing time. That afternoon we took the bus back to the city and back to our now normal lives.

Settling in

Well, here i am again, not writing as much as i would have hoped. oh well, i'm sure you are doing fine with that, if not... too bad, ha!

This has been a good week, I'm an uncle again, the weather has been great, and we had our first small group meeting last night. but let's see. i don't think i've written about last weekend so i'll start with that.

Friday was a nice day, sunny and about 10 degrees C (around 50 on a fahrenheit thermometer). We did alot of walking around the city and were just really able to enjoy the day. Once the sun decided to go away and night fell upon us Andrew (a fella that went to seminary with both Aaron and Sara, lives in Connecticut and is now here to help with music for the same time period as me) Sara and I went to a concert at one of the Lutheran churches in town. It was a choir concert and it was very good. the nice thing about it is that it was free. This night happened to be Gotherburg's "Culture Night", very similar to an "art crawl". there were many productions going on around town, most art studios were open to the public and the place we explored after the show was the Gothernburg Art Museum, i liked it.

Saturday, I slept in and relaxed. it was the first time i really had much time to myself and i felt very relaxed. at around 16:00 (4:00pm) i took the 23 minute bus ride into Gothenburg and met Sara and Andrew at Liseberg (the largest theme park in Scandinavia!) and we explored and enjoyed a few rollercoasters, it was the last weekend that it was open. good times! That night we went to another concert, this time it was a Gospel show at a church, Andrew really enjoys gospel music and since he plays the piano, he enjoys it even more. It was a decent show, and the most amusing part of the night for me was how people stood up to get involved with the music. Ok, so, you know how in the states when you are either in church or someplace where you are following the worship leader and someone stands up, soon after almost everyone is standing and worshipping together. well, the funny thing about this night was this: it was about the 3rd song and about 6 people stood up as a group, then across the sanctuary about 3 more stood up... and that was it. i looked around and was kind of waiting for more people to stand up, but nope, nothing. the only thing i saw was one lady in the 3 row stand up, walk up the isle and tap the lady in the front row on the shoulder. Apparently since she was video taping the choir it didn't give her the same permission to stand with the other people in her row and this lady asked her to sit down. Gotta love the 'Stoic Swedes"

That gives a good idea of what Friday and Saturday were for me, but now it is 14:55 (2:55pm) and I think i need to go get lunch. yep, i'm hungry, my stomach is starting to get trained to the eating schedule around here, which is: (no matter what time you wake up) eat breakfast, fika @ 10ish (even if you've just had breakfast 30 minutes ago), 12 or 12:30ish is Lunch, 1:30-2:30ish is fika again, sometime between 5&7 is dinner, 8 or 9 is fika again and then if you're still up between 11 & 1 you'll eat fika again, only at this time of day it is called....(i can't think of the word) and translates to "night food". yep, always eating. so should i be hungry? no! but am I hungry? yes, STARVING actually. so..

later.
Timmer

Today, as i walked out the door on my way to the church, i was greeted with a sign that winter is drawing near. There was a crisp feel to the air and a thin layer of frost on almost everything, it was gorgeous. The sun was beginning to show itself over the trees and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect way to start my day!

I'm an Uncle..Again!!

At approximately 2:50am local time my phone rang. I was expecting a call so i was sleeping lighter than normal, it was my sister jen, she said there was a new baby boy born 15 minutes ago but he didn't have a name yet. she said she'd text me as soon as they had a name. a few hours later, my phone buzzed and i found out the new baby's name is Alek James! he was born Sunday October 11th, 2009 at 7:36pm. He weighed 7lb 11oz and was 21.5" long! I wish i was able to be there to see and hold him, but for now i am thankful for the internet! (i took a picture of my computer screen! ) i can't wait to see him in person!

congrats Erika, JJ & Kaleb!! love you guys!

My first week....it was rough!

Last night I jumped in the Atlantic…for the second time in a week. Have I already gone crazy? … Maybe, but I think I am still the same as I was before coming here (take that as you will). Sorry, but I’m going to start at the beginning.

One week ago today Aaron and I drove to a retreat center called Bokanäs (check it out at www.bokanas.com) about an hour and a half north of Gothenburg. The International church was having an annual retreat weekend and we had to go early and make sure everything was set for the weekend`s activities. The weekend started with a welcome service at 8:30pm on Friday and was followed by Fika, (which I heard best described for Americans as “Fellowship”). I instantly felt very welcome and soon was talking to many new faces, I even had one little kid grab onto my leg a few times because he thought I was his dad. At about 10 a few of us younger adults went outside with the youth, about 15-20 kids between the ages of 7 & 18, and played tag in the dark, it was great! The rest of the weekend went a little too fast, but it was very nice. Saturday started with devotions at 8 and was followed by 3 hours of free time where we were able to enjoy the facilities a little bit. Yep, a church retreat with the following:

1. A breathtaking view of the ocean and many islands
2. out door hot tubs
3. a very large and brand new sauna which overlooked the ocean and islands

It was very nice. At 12ish, we met for lunch, which all the meals for the weekend were potluck style, very delicious! There was a lot more sitting, talking and laughing. It all felt like a family reunion, well, at least one of mine, since so many family things are held at a church and are potluck J The day ended after an evening service and as most people went off to their rooms, there were a few of us that went to the Hot Bästu (that is a hot sauna for those that don´t know). But this one was different than the one were in before, it was in it`s own building and it had a bridge going to it, and it was floating! So, there were about 8 guys, a few father & son combos, in one sauna and a few ladies in the other. After exactly 10 minutes we were told my Johan ( who was from Holland and had more sauna experience than the rest of us said that it isn't good to be in longer than that) that it was time to go. We all filed out of the sauna and onto the wet, slippery deck and into the cold wind and sprinkling rain. About 2 meters from the door the railing opened up and still single file, we began to dive into the VERY COLD ocean! IT WAS EXHILARATING! I did this 4 more times! I slept like a baby that night and we went back to Gothenburg the next day, after a short service and lunch.

Sunday night after we returned from the retreat with the international church we had to go to the Swedish church, Fiskebäck's Missionskyrcka, for our service call “The Well” (the part that I am working with). We had close to 30 young adults and one 55 year old Syrian man. The service started out with a few worship songs, parts in Swedish and parts in English. Ante, the Swedish youth pastor, went to the podium and started his sermon in Swedish, but thankfully Sara was beside him to translate as he went. The service ended with a time of Communion and prayer, and then everyone soon went downstairs for Fika. It was fun to meet so many new faces but I know it is going to be hard to remember all their names*.

After church, at about 21:30, Aaron, Sara and I were graciously given a ride to the ferry by Filip, a 23 yr old man with a heart for hospitality*, meeting new people* and God. We got out of Filip’s Volvo, yes almost anyone that drives here does drive a Volvo (1 in 4 actually), and got on the ferry to the island of Hönö (“Ö is pronounced oo”) in the Archipelago off the coast at Göteburg “Gothenburg” (pronounced Yo-ta-burry). Once we landed we got in taxi and drove 5 minutes to the island of Öckerö (pictured) where Sara’s family has a vacation home, it was her grandparent’s place until they both passed away. We spent the next 2 days relaxing, hiking and baking, yes I’m finding out that most Swedes do in fact bake on a regular basis and I might be learning how to as well, whether I want to or not ;). We also helped Sara’s dad and brother take their boat out of the harbor for the winter, a cool thing to see since I don’t do that stuff on a regular basis. Tuesday afternoon Aaron and Sara sat me down so we could finally talk about what exactly I will be doing here. All this time I thought I’d be helping out and leading a small group, which I will be, but I also found out that I am in charge of small groups, yep everything. Aaron and Sara will help as I need it, but they are really trying to spread the idea that they don’t have to do everything in the church, which they currently are. I am very excited for this, even though it might be a challenge to find leaders since, in general, Swedes don’t like to take “leadership roles”, they like to just let thing happen.

The rest of the week went well. I’m starting to get a somewhat regular schedule down, worked in the office at church and am getting to know rest of the church staff, they are all very warm and kind people.

I am now up to date, sorry I haven’t written much this first week, I think it’ll get a little better as my schedule is more regular. This weekend should be fun, a lot to do, I’ll tell ya all about it, I promise!

OOH! I almost forgot! Last night Aaron and I went for a walk with Andrew, who came from Connecticut to help with music, down by one of the harbors and as an introduction to Sweden, we jumped in the ocean in the buff! The water is MUCH colder when you don’t sit in a sauna for 10 minutes before jumping in. WOW it was cold, and it didn't help that as we were trying to dry off it began to rain a bit… and the wind was blowing that rain almost horizontally. Good times! J

Hej Då!

Timmer

*I’ll explain more on this subject later.

In Sweden

I landed in Gothenburg at 4:45pm on wednesday, it was 52 degrees and cloudy, but looked pretty nice. as i walked through customs i looked around for Aaron and 2 others that he said would be there to greet me, i didn't see him anywhere. I scanned the airport lobby for a few seconds and then i saw a young man holding a piece of notebook paper with "tim olsson" written in green marker. I asked him if he was with Aaron Thompson, he said, in broken english, "AaRRon could Not maKe it." and then he started walking towards the door. i thought, hmm, this is different, but Aaron is a pastor, so maybe something did come up. As we're walking out to the car, i ask him what his name is, and he simply said, "johanes" (or something like that) and kept walking. in case you're wondering i was carrying my bag and pulling both suitcases, he still only had the sheet of paper. we got across the street to his car, oddly enough it was a volvo, and as i was putting my first bag into the trunk, i was grabbed from behind in the form of a bear hug. i was a little startled but i somehow knew it was aaron. He and Sara (a friend and co-worker, he calls her his "personal secretary") had asked Johanes, who works with them as well, to get me while they watched my reaction. However, they didn't get into the airport lobby in time and instead had to run up to us at the car. it was pretty funny, even though i don't think i made it seem as if i found it as amusing as i did, probably because i was a bit tired. good times. we got back to Aaron's place and hung out while he and Sara cooked dinner. we sat, ate and laughed, it was such a nice way to start my stay here in Sweden.

i slept for 12 hours and when Aaron woke me up at 11, i took my first ride on Swedish public transportation. we had to go get groceries because he was having his girlfriend, Stina's (sp?) parents over for dinner. he made a wonderful chicken dinner with carrots, potatoes and salad. he even made chocolate mousse for dessert.

So far this trip has been great! i've slept more and eaten better than i do at home, no complaints here :)

well, its after 2:00am here, i should get some sleep.

hej då!

Timmer