Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Our last special days in Germany


Disciples of Worship spring 2014 missionstrip has come to and end, and as I am writing this our team members are making their way back to their homes all the way from Copenhagen in the south to Harstad in the north. Looking back at our missionstrip I am very grateful to God for all the worship that has been lifted up, and all the relationship we have been able to develop in Germany. I believe with all my heart that atmospheres have been changed and hearts have been softened as a result of our ministry.

 

Our last days in Slate were very special. We did not only have a good time with the believers we met in Slate and the surrounding region, but we also developed some close friendships with people of all ages. My own advantage in knowing German, gave me the opportunity to communicate and talk with both young and old. I personally found it special to be able to connect with a little girl, whose name was Anna-Lina. I loved the opportunity to read a small Bible story for her, and to be able to become her friend. 


I know that each team member made friendships with the people we met there, and that we were able to encourage both young people who were new in their faith, and faithful believers who had stood firm for years in a community were few are Christian. The situation for these believers in what was part of East-Germany, has been difficult. It was very special to hear young and old share how it is still normal to be atheistic in their area, and how difficult it is to tell people that they are Christians even today. Furthermore, some of the intercessors in the church were sharing how occultism and occult “healers” were common in their area. It was very special to spend five days in Slate to really come along side these believers in prayer and worship for their area.



 Saturday we held a worship and song writing workshop for the church in Slate. It was wonderful to see how some of the young people really caught the vision of what worship is, and to see them enthusiastic about writing songs that speak to their own situation. A few of the youths shared how they long to be more brave in sharing their faith with friends and family, and during the afternoon we helped them write the chorus for two songs. It was wonderful to see the spark in their eyes as they were getting inspiration for the songs. In the evening, we had a social night with worship where we were able to lift up Jesus name together. One of the church members who were at our events almost every night of the week, shared his own testimony of how his daughter was saved and healed after a traffic accident. It was wonderful to be able to lift this man’s spirit through worship and prayer. 

Easter Sunday we attended a church service in Suckow, and another church service in Marnitz. The young girls on our team, played two wonderful songs in the first service, accompanied by Papy on the drums. The youths of the church in Slate also played a song, and it was such a wonderful and powerful service. After the service in Suckow many church members walked along a beautiful path between Suckow and Marnitz (about 40-50 min.). This was one of their Easter traditions. The church service in Marnitz was a magnificent end to the Easter celebration with a brass band playing many of the songs. Mary, Lucas, Hannah and Papy shared 4 beautiful songs during the service. After the church service we were able to eat lunch with many of the friends we had made during the week, before starting our way back home from Germany.

Marie Hansen, Copenhagen


Saturday, April 19, 2014

Getting to build relationships in Slate


We arrived in the small village of Slate on Tuesday evening, preparing for 4.5 days of building relationships with the people.  It is such a beautiful village.  The people hosting us have taken such good care of us, providing 3 meals a day along with desserts and coffee throughout the day. 
We got to have a concert on Wednesday night where we shared personal songs, German songs, English songs, dancing, and testimonies (a couple of ladies shared their testimonies and my husband got to share his heart for the country of Germany).  It was a wonderful time to mingle with some of the people and practice the German I know.
 
 Thursday, also known as Grüne Donnerstag (Green Thursday), we traveled to Schwerin to visit a castle, pray and worship God (exalting Him as King in the city), and enjoy the city for a bit.  After singing, I walked over to a little girl that was listening to us and found out she and I share the same name J (Hannah).  I enjoyed talking to this beautiful little girl with the German I knew and was able to then invite her to the workshops we will be doing Saturday.
 
Yesterday (Karfreitag, meaning Pain Friday), we participated in a church service and then we got to do some worship evangelism in various villages.  More than one of those villages were actually along the pathway that the Death March took back in April of 1945 (69 years ago almost to the date).
Our time in Slate is not yet done, but it has been an absolute blessing and pleasure to be here.  We have been extremely blessed by the people, learning from the culture and Lord willing being a blessing to this nation offering the gifts that we have.
-Hannah Milbrandt, Texas, USA  

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

So the Lamb may receive the reward of His sacrifice!


We are already three days into the Disciples of Worship missions trip here in Germany. We spent the first day in Herrnhut, listening to God and tuning our hearts to the Fathers heart for Germany. As we participated in the Palm Sunday church service, had a tour of Herrnhut and spent time in prayer, God was speaking to us individually and as a group. It was inspiring to hear about the unity between the believers in Herrnhut that fueled a 24/7 prayer chain that lasted for 100 years, and that resulted in 300 missionaries being sent to the four corners of the earth. The motto of this movement in the 18th and 19th century was “so the Lamb may receive the reward of His sacrifice!” I was personally gripped by the call to worship and missions, and the whole-hearted devotion to Christ reflected in these words.

When we arrived in Berlin on Monday, we had two new team members joining us from the USA, Hannah and Lucas. We had a very special and fun time doing worship ministry in the middle of Berlin Monday afternoon. I personally felt a release of freedom in the atmosphere as we were lifting up the name of Jesus. We were also able to talk to and share God’s heart with some of the people who stopped to listen to the music. Some young Danish girls approached me, and was surprised to find a Danish speaking Norwegian in Berlin. These girls were so open and hungry, and we were able to bless them with a cd and encouraging words about God’s amazing love for them. We also had a very special time of worship and prayer for the nation in front of the Reichstag (Parliament).



Tuesday morning and afternoon we were sharing God’s love and the gospel with people in Berlin. Independent of each other, two groups decided to give yellow roses or tulips to individuals. Many people were happily surprised to receive flowers, and this gave us the opportunity to share that God is longing for a personal relationship with them. Several of the team members had conversations with individuals with opportunity to share about Jesus, and we believe many seeds were sown in the hearts of people we encountered in Berlin.


Sunday, April 13, 2014

Disciples of Worship is finally on the way to new adventures in Germany.


Disciples of Worship spring missions started with a few days in Norway, where the team got a chance to get to know each other. We had some wonderful days together Thursday and Friday where we got to seek God’s face together, sing prophetic songs over Germany, and also prepare some of the songs we will be playing in Germany. I personally think it is special to see the unique gifts God has placed in each team member, and to hear how God has been working in their lives. I believe God has put together an amazing team of worshippers of all ages, who are willing to go when God calls. As I am writing this, we have just crossed the border to Germany. Woho!!! We are so excited to see what God is going to do in our lives, through our relationships and in the lives of the people we will meet in Germany. We are eager to share Jesus love with people in Germany, and can’t wait to see what adventures God has in store for us on this trip.

- Marie


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Phat Cat studio, Oslo

The very last event of our fall 2013 tour was recording our very own EP! With Johannes Groth as our producer, we recorded five songs - four of them Disciples of Worship originals! The last song on the EP is Aslak's own version of the old Norwegian hymn Deg være ære.







































Even though the days were really long and full of hard work, we had a really great time in the studio. We had so much fun together as a team, as well as with Johannes. He is amazing at what he is doing and it was so good working with him!


We started of every morning with prayer, and we could absolutely feel that God was with us these days as we had powerful moments of releasing all the different sounds of our team - including Henriette praying and the rest of us singing spontaneously for Mary Elizabeths song Follow the Sound.







































The whole team are super excited to get the result in a couple of months, after Johannes has finished his work mixing it all into the finished tracks. We enjoyed recording so much, and hope all of you will enjoy the end result - our EP "Follow the Sound"!




Merry Christmas everybody! May it be a blessed one ;)

- Jannicke

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Treffpunkt @ Borgen

This event is in a way what our entire tour has been leading up to. November 22th-24th we gathered many of the youth musicians we have been working and connecting with in the north during the tour for a weekend of connecting and inspiring each other and of course worshipping together.


We started off the weekend with a fun social night getting to know each other and worshipping our great Father. It was so good to stand in the living room where we worshipped and see all the different youth actually be in the same room! The atmosphere was amazing, so filled of energy, God's presence and a longing for more of Him!
We know the youth from so many different places, and this weekend they got to know each other and be united as a strong generation of worshippers in the north. We had youth joining the weekend from Lofoten, Harstad, Ørnes, Tromsø, Sommarøy and Alta. I believe many important connections were made this weekend, and hope and pray that they will get to strengthen the bonds between them and encourage and support each other in the future.

The weekend was filled with many activities, such as small groups where the youth got to connect more with some of the people they didn't know before and we had explorations within prophetic dance and art. It was so good to just be able to let the creativity flow and open up for God to work through it. In the art exploration we both painted/drew to God and got prophetic pictures from God for eachother. The youth really got encounters with God in both the art and the dance exploration time. Dance is really powerful, and it is amazing seeing the youth getting a new level of freedom.

One really special thing we got to do was practicing songwriting, focusing especially at releasing the sounds of our own dialects and focusing on what God is wanting to do in our home area. We were all divided into groups from where we're from, and what came out were several really good worship songs!


The Sunday service also was a highlight from the weekend, as we got to have a time of commissioning all the youth to be lights in the north for God as we were praying for them and their home places. As a small symbol of this, each of them got a small white candle with a norwegian flag-colored ribbon and
"(Youth's name) - God's light in the north" written on it.

The weekend really turned out to be a success, and was a highlight of the tour for us in the team. We feel so blessed to have gotten to know all these amazing people over the last year and a half, and it's gonna be so exciting to see what God will do in their lives in the future! "Treffpunkt" (Meeting point) was a perfect ending to our tour, and we look forward to how the youth continue in their calling to reach the North themselves with their worship & music. What an amazing God we serve!

As I am writing this we are on our way back south to the eastern part of Norway for our debrief and recording of our very own EP with the songs we have written as a band this tour! There is not much to say other than that we are super excited!!

God bless, no less!

- Jannicke

Alta!

Praise God! What a city, what a group of people and what a weekend!
We were in Alta 13th-19th of November, working with the Filadelfia Church.


Thursday night we had a seminar where Mary Elizabeth taught on the identity of a worshipper. It was really good getting to connect with some of the worshippers in Alta! It was great getting to inspire them in what they carry as worshippers.


We also had the pleasure of cooperating with another team, coming from Veien Bible School in Bergen. Together with Veien and the local youth workers we were leaders for a youth weekend called Møtepunkt 24/7 (Meeting point 24/7).
Saturday we had different seminars the youth could choose from; Hearing God's voice, Creative worship, Worship leading and songwriting and a seminar where they went out on the street to pray for people and share the Gospel.


We also had a dodge ball tournament where all of us participated, and it was great fun (maybe especially because my team won, haha). We could also buy "dirty tricks" to get advantages in the tournament, and the money collected were given to the Philippines.

It was so much fun to work together with the Veien team, and it really was an amazing weekend! It was so good seeing all the youth gathered in the room worshipping God and really getting touched and transformed in their hearts. I think we were just as touched by the Holy Spirit as the youth, and the atmosphere the whole weekend was really good.

Prophesies were also a significant part of the weekend, and many people received prophesies and words of knowledge over their lives. There was several people getting healed this weekend as well, for instance one girl having a shorter leg that grew out as she was prayed for! God is so good.


Sunday night there was an evening service where the whole Filadelfia congregation came to join the youth who had been there for the weekend. The generations together, one of the important values to our team!

We really believe Alta is a hotspot for Finnmark and what God is wanting to do in the north. There are so many prophesies about revival in the north, and we see God working and using the Filadelfia Church in a special way. They have been so faithful in stewarding what God has given them, and working with the youth they have there. When we are faithful with what we already have been given, God can entrust us with even more, and this is something we see in Filadelfia Alta. It will be really exciting to hear what will happen in Alta in the future!

It's almost unbelievable that we only have one weekend of ministry left before we start on our way south again... Where did the three months go? On the other side we have so many memories to look back to, great places we have visited and many amazing people we have connected with. It's pretty nice having new friends all over the north!

- Jannicke