Sunday

So today, I went to Lotenkyrkan, the Church of Sweden church that I am attending now and the person preaching at the 11:15 service was preaching about China and the church there. The sermon was invigorating and challenging at the same time. He talked about how the church in China puts a tremendous amount of emphasis on prayer, an emphasis that the church in America and the West could really learn from. He related one story of how he was at a Russian Orthodox church for an easter service during the time of the Soviet Union. KGB guards were there watching the service. And while he was waiting in the crowd an elderly peasant lady with a shawl came up to him and told him, "We are praying for you in the West." I was almost moved to tears by that statement, a woman who had so much to pray about for her own well being and her church had enough vision to pray for the rest of the world. So I was challenged to pray more, to put a greater priority on prayer, and secondly to pray for the church around the world. It's so easy to not pray, there are so many pressures from other things. But prayer is so important for edifying people around the world and also transforming our own lives.
But the story is not over, after I was finished I was able to talk with the speaker. I found out that he taught at Patrick Henry College! So we talked a bit about homeschoolers, and he said he was very impressed with them. So I come all the way to Sweden and I am being taught by a Purdue alum in my history class and I am able to listen to a Patrick Henry professor teach at a church service.