Thoughts In My Mouth

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation--Mark 16:15

[thoughtsinmymouth]

Two Weeks

I've left in Sweden. It's been a journey. My appreciation grows with each day I sit back and reflect on all that's happened. I've experienced so much in such a short span. It causes for ambivalent feelings. Feeling shorted for time, but also feeling like I've experienced far more than a 3 month's time frame should be allotted. It's been a different pace to life back home. That I can say with full assurance.

I'll try to pick up where I last left of.

After getting back from IGNITE in Stockholm, we had a few days off before starting orientation with OM Sweden. It was nice to get settled back in and become better acclimated with the area. After a week of orientation we were reunited with the rest of the in.Motion team and began to work on The Zone. The Zone is the same concept as Global Village, but is constructed locally, is larger in size, and is overall a longer experience. Approximately 3 hours rather than 30 minutes. Bible schools and church groups from all over Sweden come to experience The Zone. So far, we have 560 participants signed up--only 40 away from reaching our goal of 600.

At TeenStreet, myself and the other new members to the in.Motion team were thrown into Global Village at the building stage of the project. This time around we were able to be there for the start of it. The tossing of ideas, brainstorming--the framework of our project.

It's been a privilege and sincere joy to play a hand in extending God's kingdom. I am blessed by it already.

On the 22nd, a few of us from the in.Motion team traveled to Örebro to visit a non-profit organization called Operation Mercy. There we were told stories about the origins of OpM, the people behind it, their lives. The primary focus behind Operation Mercy being international relief and development.

We picked apples and made apple pie. We received lectures and prayed often. Drank an awful lot of coffee, met some old souls, it was a wonderful leisurely, learning getaway.

Since then, we've been hard at work on all things the Zone. We've been in the construction phase for the past two weeks and we finish this Thursday. Pray for us when you think of it. We need a lot of energy, focus, and camaraderie for the days to come.

More has happened in-between the focal points, but for now these will do. I look forward to sharing more with each of you personally upon my return.

[thoughtsinmymouth]

Råslatt, Sweden

[thoughtsinmymouth]

Stockholm 8/15-8/25

Yesterday we arrived back in Jönköping, which is where the OM base for Sweden is located and where I will be primarily living for the next few months. The past 10 days were spent in Stockholm for an outreach called Ignite.

A team of 7 (8 with our chaperone) consisting of; two from Austria; one from Switzerland; one from the Netherlands; one from Germany, and one from Sweden. Before leaving for Stockholm we were debriefed on Islam, as the area we would be serving in (a little Northwest of Stockholm in a town called Husby and Rinkeby), 9/10 of the inhabitants are immigrants—many of them Muslims.

(The church we stayed at in Husby)

Our first day was spent in a town square of Rinkeby, where we set up a few tables and served coffee, offered face painting to kids, and handed out tracts/bibles in over 80 different languages. Most of the people we encountered were curious of our international book table, which surprised me. I expected everyone to be very set in their ways and with the majority of them already having subscribed to some other religion, I expected it would be a challenge to get their attention—it wasn’t. We were later told that the sight of seven white young adults would impart enough curiosity in most passerby’s. 

A few times I experienced people trying to see what we were up to before we had even set up a table. It was a very different culture here, that is all I will say because I could go on and on about the culture differences. Yes, a portion of them were immediately dismissive, but far less than I had expected. 

This part of our outreach was met with struggles, as most of the people don’t speak English (in this area). On occasion I would find a person that spoke English (usually a Swede), but with very few was I able to convey the gospel effectively with my words. This frustrated me, as I so desperately wanted to be able to talk to these people. Our debriefing back in Jönköping had proved to be invaluable even to those of us that were met by language barriers. By the end of the second day of listening and spectating the conversations we were having with these people, I felt confident in my ability to present the Gospel to a Muslim. Never was I given the chance to personally lead someone to Christ, but I was able to witness it with others and that was an immeasurable blessing.

Our team put on the Sunday service for Husby shortly after arriving and the service for Rinkeby the week following. I was able to use what little piano finesse I’ve picked up over the years to help lead worship and accompany a girl-caught-by-worldly-possessions mime. Myself and another were able to give short testimonies explaining how we ended up here. All of which was very cool and even though at the time felt like a mountain of difficulty to put on in such a short amount of time, clearly formed us closer as a team.

Another task assigned to the team was to help organize an outdoor children’s program called Husby Kids. For both Friday and Saturday we put together a short drama, personal short stories, games, to accompany the Husby Kids program that is hosted by the church. Both shows went really well and the children seemed to really engage with us and all our shenanigans. 

Many things happened unplanned and in-between. All-in-all, it was a great 10 days spent in Stockholm. I think we made God’s name known in the area of Rinkeby-Kista and I’m eager to see what God’s got planned for us next.

[thoughtsinmymouth]

8/3/14 12:53pm

To those of you that did not receive the e-mail my mom sent out to update you all, and to those of you that did, here it is again:

Hey Mom! I arrived safely in Germany. It wasn't until 3:30 AM (Monday) that we arrived in the correct Münster Germany. I slept well that night.

I woke up the next morning to be greeted by the In. Motion. team that I am now a part of. Three members joined along with me and there about 6-7 others that have been and will continue to be on the team for the duration of my trip. Most of them are Swedes and they've all been very accommodating. I wish I could talk more about the people I've met thus, far, but I will have time to talk about them later. Unfortunately, here at TeenStreet you have to pay for internet, so I'm going to try to give you an update on what I've been doing the past week as fast as I can:

The In. Motion. team are kind of the leaders behind a project called Global Village, which is an interactive walk-through experience hosted at TeenStreet. Global Village is run by OM and is made possible by individual volunteers and the In. Motion team. I'll explain more later of what Global Village consists of. Basically we try to make a "walk-through ride" of sorts. Kind of like Poseidon's Fury at Islands, but rather with a time travel theme explaining the gospel and giving people the opportunity to share the gospel with actors. It's quite a production and it's been exhilarating to be a part of.

So, for the past week, we have been actually building this structure within a convention center. It took us the entire first week and today is the first day of us actually up and running. We will continue to send people through Past, Present, Future throughout the week and plan to tear down on Saturday and head for Sweden on Sunday. TeenStreet is amazing and they're doing such great things here. I've enjoyed every minute of being here and can't wait to head for Sweden!

Love you and miss you all!

John Allen