Melting Iceland – Youth Testimonies

by Eric Louw

[Editors note: Last week Eric Louw shared about a group of young people that went to Iceland on a mission trip, just to pray! If you missed that testimony, you can read it online. Now this week, we want to share a couple of testimonies from the trip.]

Although many stories could be shared from the 10 day mission trip to Iceland, I have selected a couple of experiences from our team members.

Eden Carr

“I came into the trip exhausted from three weeks of intense summer camp. I already knew that if I was going to survive and get anything done, I would need help from a higher place. To get anywhere, I had to ask God for strength, for words to say. God always came through. He gave me strength when I was at my weakest. He healed me when I was in pain. He brought people to me to give me a smile, and I knew He was there.

[One day] another girl from our group and I were visiting houses in the neighborhood. As we neared the end of our territory, it was my turn to speak at the door. A lady answered my knock, and I shared my quick little line: ‘Hi! My name is Eden and this is my friend Brittney! We’re with GLOW Iceland. We are Christians that believe in the power of prayer, and we’re wondering if you have any prayer requests that you would like us to pray for?’ The lady looked happy and called her son to join her. ‘Tell him what you told me!’ The lady, Barbara, requested. So I repeated who we were and what we were doing. Her son shared a personal prayer request and we prayed for him. After we prayed, Barbara shared that her husband is a Christian pastor. He soon joined us at the front door and asked who we were with. Upon sharing, he told us that he has a Seventh-day Adventist uncle. The whole family was very excited about what we were doing! ‘We’ve been praying for revival in Iceland!’ he told us. It thrilled my heart! That is exactly why we were there! To pray for revival! What a blessing to know that our work was not in vain. Other Christians in the country are praying for the same thing we are!”

Joreper Alatiit

“I was in a spiritual crisis before this trip. No one in my family goes to church anymore and it annoyed me when they encouraged me to go on a mission trip to help my spirituality—as if they had a good spiritual life of their own! One day I was browsing social media when I saw a story about a mission trip opportunity to Iceland: the number one place on my bucket list. It sparked my interest because it was like hitting two birds with one stone. I could go on a mission trip like my family always wanted me to and it would be at the destination of my dreams!

Once the mission trip began, however, I began to regret that I was there. Listening to the testimonies of others made me feel worse. Why couldn’t I be as good as them? Some nights I just sulked and wanted to give up. One morning, Jonathan Walter, one of the trip organizers, talked about how we shouldn’t be discouraged if others are good at outreach and we are not because we were all called to Iceland for a reason. Of all the people who could have gone, we were chosen. That day I felt positive and even began singing ‘Walking with Jesus.’ Everything was just like previous days until I was dropped off at my last territory. It consisted of huge apartment-looking buildings. After distributing GLOW tracts at the first big apartment complex, I moved to the next one. It didn’t look like an apartment building on the inside but instead seemed to be a hospital. I didn’t know how to reach the people there but I was bothered by the thought of skipping such a large building.

As I considered what to do, I went to the next apartment building and met a man in the parking lot. We talked for a bit but he wasn’t interested in prayer. He pointed at a woman who was just leaving the apartment building and said: ‘That woman might need your prayers.’ I immediately went up to her and began a conversation. She shared that her sister had recently died and she was struggling to recover from her loss. I prayed for her and continued talking with her, only to discover that she was also an Adventist! She wanted to help me with what I was doing so I asked her to help me share GLOW in the large nursing facility. With her help, I was able to get permission from the staff to talk with the patients and share my testimony with them as well as leave GLOW tracts on bulletin boards and in activity corners. I’m not sure what plans God has for that nursing facility but I am still praying for them to this day. I hope my visit will make a change in the patients’ lives and their outlook towards God.”

These are just two of the many stories that were shared by our team members, and we have more that we will be sharing in the future. God is good. With a few exceptions, nearly every home, apartment and person in Reykjavik and the surrounding cities were offered prayer personally or received a GLOW tract if they were not home. We encircled every area we walked in prayer, pleading for God to bring revival and Christian growth to Iceland and we know the best is yet to come.

Eric Louw is vice president of Communications for Generation.Youth.Christ.

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World Church Prayer Requests

September 29 – October 6, 2019

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please continue praying for those struggling to recover from hurricane and flood damage from recent storms. Pray that God would provide practical provisions as well as peace and comfort in the midst of the storms.

• PRAYER REQUEST: This coming Sabbath, October 5, 2019, is the fourth quarter Day of Prayer. The theme is “World-Changing Prayer Warriors: Prayers that Change Us.” Pray that many will discover the joy of being a prayer warrior for the Lord. (For more information, visit: https://www.revivalandreformation.org/resources/all/prayer-and-fasting-days)

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the AMEN Free Health Clinic, which will be held at the General Conference headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland on October 6, 2019. Last time we held this clinic, we served over 1,200 patients. Please pray that God will touch many hearts, and give spiritual and physical healing to those that come to the clinic.

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please continue to pray for the upcoming Annual Council meetings, that the Holy Spirit would truly lead the agenda and all the discussions.

• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Church leaders’ health as they travel from all over the world to Maryland this week and next. Jet lag, combined with busy schedules, is taxing on the body. Pray that God would give sustaining strength and health to each one.