Last week we had our 5th Bible Study in the Book of Philippians. Now, the number of participants has risen to 24. Discussion groups went well. It is new for most of them to discuss openly their religious convictions and relate these things to their own lives.

This evening I am trying something new. I have invited anyone in the Church to come to my living room for a discussion on any subject they would like. I thought of this as a time in which they could get clarification of things spoken in the more formal Church service setting. Last week 11 showed up and we spoke English – mostly. Let us see if this meeting tonight might answer some questions that the members have concerning the Scriptures.

It is after that meeting now and I am reporting the results. We all had a great time, with good coffee (instant) and lots for fruit and some cake and chocolate. We talked about the future direction for the Church in Gunnarn. After the meeting, several wanted to wash the dishes for me. They turned with distain as they looked at the sponge I use in the sink. It was then that I demonstrated my germ-free approach to kitchening. I showed then how I loaded that sponge with water and poured on some liquid detergent and then popped the sponge into the microwave for 3 minutes on high. My instant autoclave went into action. The suds bubbles up and frothed. I told them to watch the sponge (through the glass) until all the bubbles had been baked down and out of the sponge. Then, stop the process or you will have cooked sponge. Remove the scolding hot sponge with care – it is germ free. The way they carried on about my procedure made me think that I might just have usurer Northern Sweden into a higher level of healthy living.

The weather here has turned unusually warm – right now it is 35 degrees. That means that the snow is melting on the sloping roofs. It is a shock to hear big chunks of that snow slide down onto my porch below in the middle of the night. But worse yet is driving on the roads when the snow has been washed off, revealing the sheer ice underneath. Drive carefully! Speaking of careful, that doesn’t apply to the young boys of driving age on the weekends. The entertainment of choice now is to race their hot rod cars on the ice, as fast as possible. The local lake has frozen and the ice is now 1.5 feet thick. They had plowed off the snow to form a very circuitous race course. Their hot rods chase each other and spin out regularly. One kid had his mother’s car out on the course and couldn’t stop. It gracefully pushed in the front end after impacting a stalled comrade’s vehicle. Hard to stop on shear ice. Mother might have words for that son – in Swedish, of course. I have to be at places like these – ministry extends into all sorts of areas.

Last week the temperature was down to 0 degrees. The Northern Light were magnificent. It takes a clear sky and crisp cold weather and no streetlights. I saw a great display – huge swirling masses of particles thrown off the sun and captured in the earth’s magnetic field. That night it showed up as a long pipeline looking lighted display stretching across three quarters of the sky. I was out to dinner with a couple and wish I had more time to spend studying this phenomena. These displays are hard to photograph, so you will have to refer to the Internet for photographs.

This coming Saturday evening will feature another Bible Study in the Book of Philippians. Please pray for this session, as I have to give the material from the Bible that becomes the basis for their group discussion. These studies have had a very positive effect on the member’s desire to relate to one another about significant life issues. The program follows a format called Alpha. It has been used effective throughout Europe.

God bless you all,

In Christ,

George Wilson