Growing pains, while not fun, mean something good on the other
side of transition. That's precisely the
process that The Evangelical Alliance Mission in Sweden is reporting.  

Founded in 1993, New Life Church in Stockholm now represents more
than 50 different nationalities from all corners of the world, from Albania to
Zambia.

As a result, they're looking for a space with more room to grow. They recently put together a down payment for a new building. 

Working
hand-in-hand with InterAct, a Swedish church and mission movement, TEAM missionaries
are seeing churches grow that bring the whole Gospel to the whole person in
Sweden. Their strategy: to transform lives and multiply churches through
relational, holistic evangelism and by mentoring young leaders to reach their
peers.

The ministry team
uses music, art, and social caring to reach children, youth, and those who have
been marginalized by their society. It's a catalyst used by the community of Jesus
Christ to love and serve the people in Sweden.

This approach
has met with success, and people are
responding. Please
pray for the congregation as they renovate a warehouse, allocating space for
the activities of the church while continuing ministry at the present location
through the end of February. 

Pray that this intense period will draw the church together and reveal how they can serve the
community better.

However, for most, this is as far as their association with faith and religion goes, as only two percent of the Swedish are evangelical believers; about four percent belong to the Lutheran, former state church.

Stewart and Beth Webster of The Evangelical Alliance Mission, along with New Life Church in Stockholm and Gothenburg, are seeking to overcome pre-conceived notions about Christ and the Church in an effort to reach out especially to the younger generation of Sweden in a culturally-sensitive way.

"We're trying to keep our hands on the pulse of the society and the questions they're asking. And what seems to be touching people the most is community, loving relationships, realizing that they don't have to be alone," Stewart Webster said. He sat, surrounded by laughing and chattering youth in New Life Church in Gothenburg, which doubles as a cafe during the week.

Of the youth around him, only about half regularly attended the church, and many did not know Christ as their Savior. However, through visiting teams and church group outreach using friendship evangelism, youth are attracted to the church and the energy and excitement emanating from it.

As TEAM, New Life and the Websters reach out to this next generation, their message is clear. Webster said, "Jesus Christ is for everybody," regardless of one's gender, ethnicity, age, orientation or socio-economic class.

Reaching out with genuine interest in building relationships, while still clearly preaching the whole Gospel message, Webster said he has seen their ministries in Stockholm and Gothenburg grow and diversify. In Stockholm, they now hold two services each Sunday. Half of the congregation is Swedish, while the other half is composed of people from around the world.

TEAM is not just ministering to people within the church walls, however. This Sunday, in celebration of the National Day of Sweden, they plan to hold festivities along the lakeshore in Stockholm after the morning services. The celebration will include worship, fellowship, fun-filled activities and games, and baptisms in the cold lake water.

Overall, they hope the joy of Christ will be apparent to the community of Stockholm, as many others gather in the public space to celebrate their nation.

Webster indicated that too often, there's the mistake of thinking people from developed cultures and economies already know the message of Christ and do not need outreach.

"There's a lot of consciousness that needs to take place toward seeing, particularly, affluent Northern Europe as a place that needs people to come and preach and live out the Gospel," Webster said. "People here are in the same need of the Good News."

Do you want to impact Northern Europe with the Gospel? Visit TEAM's Web site to see more of the incredible work taking place throughout the continent and how you can join in. Also, consider aiding the Websters and New Life Church, who are looking for a new church building in Stockholm, as they quickly outgrow their current one.

"I'd like to see nine new churches planted in Stockholm on the red
subway line, beginning in Bredang and continuing down to Norsborg," said
Forrest Hendrix, a GEM missionary. "I've shared this with the pastor of
the Varberg church, and he is excited about the idea."

Hendrix recently traveled to northern India with
other GEM missionaries and European believers, for the purpose of studying a
successful church planting movement there. 
Over a period of 20 years, missionaries have planted over 12,000 house
churches there. 

"I think if we could start the first one, we could
start more," Hendrix said. "They're doing it in India among Muslims, so why wouldn't it work in Sweden?"

The process will begin with a prayer campaign, with new
missionaries praying at each subway stop over a period of several months. 

"They'll pray against principalities and powers, for
schools and places of business," Hendrix explained. "They'll ask God
to show them people of peace. They're praying for government, blessing, and
that God would save the people."  Then, the Christians will seek the
Lord's guidance to find people receptive to the Gospel. 

"The hope is to be invited to a home to pray for the person
and family," Hendrix said. "That could lead to an opportunity to
share Christ with them, and potentially with their network. That house might
become a house church."

Finally, new believers will receive training in Bible study,
evangelism, and church planting.  GEM
also partners with Credo
Academy, which provides
theological and ministry training for Swedish Christians.  

The 19^th century was a time of revival in Sweden, but the
20^th century witnessed rapid secularization.  Sweden
no longer has a state church, but the Church of Sweden
still has widespread influence, and it rejects the authority of the Word of
God.  

Today, 160,000 of Stockholm's
809,000 residents are Muslim – about 20 percent.  There are only 130 evangelical churches to
serve a city the size of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.  Swedish evangelicals know they have a new
challenge and a new opportunity for ministry.

"Christian Swedes are aware of the mission field at our
doorstep," said Ray Baker, a GEM missionary who teaches at Credo Academy.
"I've met a number of students who are studying Arabic, which is the third
most common native language in Sweden,
after Swedish and Finnish. There's a definite burden to reach out to the
Muslims who are here in this country."

To support GEM's ministry in Sweden, click here.

The congregation of thirty people, mostly immigrants from Iraq,
sets up a table outside of "their" pub on Saturday nights between midnight at 3
a.m. The believers offer hot coffee or
tea to passersby, many of whom are teenagers, and then point out the pub where the
congregation meets for church on Sunday mornings.  

The people of Varburg, a community in Stockholm, appreciate the refreshment table
as a great act of service. The police
chief holds the table up as a model for how residents can make a difference in
their community. 

"People might not always be in the mood to talk about
God," says Forrest Hendrix, a missionary with Greater Europe Mission.
"But they are impressed with our desire to share the love of God by
offering them a hot cup of coffee or tea as they pass by. We let them know
where we meet for church on Sunday mornings, and since it happens to be one of
the pubs that we're standing beside, they would have no problem finding
it."

The congregation is mainly made up of immigrants from Iraq, some of whom began following Christ before
they emigrated to Sweden. 97,000 immigrants came to Sweden in 2006, many of them from Iraq. At least 300,000 Muslims live in Sweden,
principally in large urban areas. 

Even though Sweden
is one of the most permissive societies in Europe,
life is not easy for immigrants to the country. 

"Immigrants often feel that Swedes treat them with
prejudice," said Hendrix. "I find that immigrants become curious
about the claims of Christ when they see faith played out in one's lifestyle.
Even Muslims are very interested in the love and grace of the Christian
God."

Ammar is an Iraqi immigrant who couldn't resist finding out
more about the church that meets in a pub. He and his family had previously attended church while living in Iraq, but never
in a pub. Hendrix encouraged him to
visit the church and became his mentor. Eventually, Ammar was baptized. He is thankful for the freedom he has to follow Christ in Sweden, away from the violence in Iraq.