Summer Camps and Conferences in Denmark

It is not too early to pray specifically for this year’s summer ministries throughout Denmark. There will be camps and convocations of the free church denominations as well as a number of camps set up by the several Folkekirke revival movements. Denmark needs a stirring of the Holy Spirit in a genuine revival that would turn this wonderful small nation into a spiritual powerhouse with an effect on all of Scandinavia and the whole of Europe. It could well happen this summer as believers gather in Christian camps and conferences.

The following list may be far from complete, but at least it provides a sampling of spiritual opportunities this summer. Many of the camps listed below feature special programs for children and teenagers and some for seniors. Beyond this list are also many parachurch organizations with stepped-up activity during the summer, among them Friluftsmissionen (Danish Open Air Campaigners led by our good friend Torben Østermark). We do not overlook other such organizations as YWAM, Operation Mobilization, and Youth for Christ that offer practical ministry experience during the summer months whether in Denmark or in other nations.

Note that the larger number of these camps and conferences in the following list will be held in the month of July. Because a number of Denmark’s free church pastors are aging, there is a great need for commitment of young people to respond to God’s call to ministry to replace them. A number of churches even now are without a pastor. We believe young people are often more open to the call of God when challenged with the need during summer camp. Genuine revival arising out of this summers camps and conferences would undoubtedly lead not only to the filling of pulpits but to a great wave of evangelism and planting of new churches.

FREE CHURCH DENOMINATIONAL CAMPS AND CONFERENCES:

Pinsekirker Sommer-Camp (Pentecostal) at Mariager, July 10-16.
Baptist Missionsstævne at Mariager, July 18-24.
Apostolskkirkens annual meeting, at Kolding, July 10-16.
Vineyard Copenhagen, Roskilde (Vineyard Norden Summer Camp 2010) at Nyhem, Mullsjö, Sweden, July 18-24.
Metodistkirkens Landsmøde 2010 at Lægården Efterskole, Holstebro, May 21-24.
Nazaræeren Kirkens Sommerlejr at Tømmerup Efterskole, July 2-9;
Danske Missionsforbundet Sommerkonference at Kolding, July 24-30.
Calvary Chapel Scandinavia Conference 2010 at Ekebyholm (30 minutes outside Stockholm), August 4-8.

FOLKEKIRKE REVIVAL MOVEMENTS:

IM (Kirkelig Forening for den Indre Mission) will have no fewer than13 summer camps, including Bibelcamping, Teencamping and Seniorcamping events during the summer throughout Denmark at Haderup, Lystruphave; Valby, Sønderborg, Bornholm, Tullebølle, Hadsund, Fårevejle, Hurup, Sæby, and Allingåbro;
LM (Luthersk Missionsforening) has scheduled several Bibelcamping events in July at both Haderslev-Næs and Virksund.
ELM (Evangelisk Luthersk Missionsforening), meets for its Bibelcamping 2010 at Bækkely i Snogebæk, Bornholm, July 16-25.
NYT LIV (Forbund for Evangelisation i Danmark) will hold its Bibellejr 2010 at Fjellerup, July 10-17.
OASE (Dansk Oase) has scheduled its SommerOase 2010 family camp at Odder, July 17-23.

PRAY that God will prepare the hearts and minds of the organizers, speakers, seminar leaders, counselors, and hundreds of attendees at these important camps and conferences to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

PRAY that the Word of God will be presented attractively and passionately in every venue and that there will be a holy hush as hearts are stirred and challenged to lifetime decisions for Christ.

PRAY that the denominational meetings will be bathed in prayer and punctuated by unity of heart and mind in all of the sessions. PRAY that sessions will be marked by a revival atmosphere of confession and repentance that would ignite a resurgence of commitment to evangelism and church planting in Denmark.

PRAY that young people will be open to God’s call and encouraged to seek His will for full-time pastoral and cross-cultural ministry in Denmark and throughout the world.

Calvary Chapel in Denmark

Calvary Chapel is an association of independent and like-minded evangelical Christian churches numbering around a thousand congregations worldwide and growing (www.calvarychapel.com/). The life and ministry of Calvary Chapel churches is based on the Reformation principle of Sola Scriptorum exhibited throughout the movement by an emphasis on verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, book-by-book expository teaching of the Bible. Calvary Chapel work in Denmark brings with it this distinctive approach to Bible teaching.

This approach resonates with me because it was always my own emphasis in pastoral ministry. From what I have come to know about Denmark thus far suggests that such an expository method of teaching and preaching is not a common approach in the churches. In fact, to our knowledge there is a great dearth of solid expository teaching throughout Denmark. Calvary Chapel envisions a distinctive ministry in Denmark (www.calvarychapel.dk) and has several ministers of Danish nationality in place and seeking God’s direction in church planting.

It is not easy getting started in church planting in Denmark, especially when it involves “new wine in new wineskins," i.e. new churches in new denominations. We have been tracking Calvary Chapel’s efforts at church planting since the inception of Pray for Denmark.com and have been in contact from time to time with leaders Theis Brøgger and Daniel Jacobsen. Daniel has had a Calvary Chapel weekly Bible study in the northern Sjaelland city of Hillerød for the past three years. Meeting as a house church, the work is slow and as with many new works has had its share of ups and downs, but the Lord has been blessing. True to form, Daniel has based his ministry on systematic verse-by-verse, chapter- by-chapter, book-by-book teaching of Scripture. Currently he is finishing a study of the gospel of Matthew and then plans to begin a study of the Old Testament Book of Exodus. Click on “Hillerød Bibelstudie” on the www.calvarychapel.dk page for Daniel’s teaching available for Mp3 upload (in Danish). While the group in Hillerød is small, the year 2009 saw two persons radically converted, both of whom are now studying at a Calvary Chapel Bible College.

Daniel was born in Denmark and reared in a Christian family. How he came to be involved with Calvary Chapel is an interesting story best told in his own words: “In 1996, my family and I were vacationing in California where the Lord had a divine appointment with me. We were finishing up dinner [at a restaurant] and as we were leaving my dad saw some people sitting at a table with their Bibles. He looked a little bit too intently and a woman among them asked, ‘Are you born again?’–not a question you’re used to getting in Denmark. My dad answered, ‘Yes,’ and after some conversation she asked him, ‘Where are you from?’ He answered, ‘Denmark,’ and the woman replied, in Danish, ‘So am I!’ She was a Danish American who at the time attended Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa. The rest is history, but I saw her love for Jesus and her knowledge and love for the Word of God and I wanted that for myself. So, in the year 2000 I became a student at Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murietta, California, and graduated in 2002.”

As yet there is no officially organized Calvary Chapel in Denmark. For the present there is much ground work yet to be done made harder by the necessity of Daniel having to support himself for the time being through secular employment, but the Lord will bring the work to fruition in His own timing. Calvary Chapel’s distinctives will mean a great deal for evangelicalism in Denmark through promoting and hopefully igniting deeper study of the inerrant Word of God.

PRAY for wisdom for Daniel and his wife Lisa in knowing how to prioritize family, secular work, and the ministry while at the same time maintaining faithfulness in all three areas. The life and work of a bivocational church planter is not an easy one as other church planters can attest.

PRAY that the Lord will lead a committed worship lead to the Hillerød Bible Study. (Note that Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California and Maranatha Music were pioneers in the development of praise and worship music.)

PRAY for the two individuals from the Hillerød Bible Study who are now students at Calvary Chapel Bible College.

PRAY for the guest teachers and attendees expected at this year’s Calvary Chapel Scandinavian Conference to be held August 4-8 at Ekebyholm Castle, 30 minutes outside Stockholm, Sweden. The focus of indepth Bible teaching will be on The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Last year’s conference was attended by 120 people.

Viborg, Denmark and Its Baptist Church

Viborg, about 86 miles west of Copenhagen, is a city and municipality situated in the Central Jutland peninsula. The city has a population of about 35,000 with the larger municipality having close to 100,000 residents. The city of Viborg dates back to the 8th century, settled by Vikings. Viborg municipality, reputedly Denmark’s second largest, has a land area covering more than 560 square miles. Viborg city is the administrative seat of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland, as well as of the Western High Court, the High Court for the Jutland peninsula. The name Viborg means Holy Hill and the city's skyline is indeed dominated by the Domkirke, the historic cathedral of the Viborg Folkekirke bishopric located at the highest point in the city. Viborg has a fascinating Christian history dating from before the Reformation and after. The Reformation was a historical event that ever after transformed the religious life and practices of the area and, for that matter, of the entire nation. The history of the coming of the Reformation to Viborg is given briefly on the following webpage: http://www.thereformation.info/denmark.htm.

Today not only are there numerous and historic Folkekirke (Lutheran) churches in Viborg and the surrounding municipality but also several active free churches, including Viborg Baptist Kirke (Baptist) Viborg Internationale Pinsekirke (Pentecostal), Viborg Apostolsk Kirke (Apostolic), and Viborg Adventkirke (Seventh Day Adventist).

Viborg Baptist Church is one of the churches I visited on my last trip to Denmark, a church dear to my heart for the hospitality extended to me by members Dr. Torben and Rita Rouland and also because of its close proximity to my mother’s birthplace in Sparkær (Fjends), a village only a few kilometers from Viborg. Though small, as are many of the free churches in Denmark, Viborg Baptist Church comprises a fellowship of fine, faithful members and attendees. The past several years have been difficult for the church as it has been without pastoral leadership. However, the church continues to function under dedicated lay leadership and has great potential for growth and for influence in the city and municipality. The church’s website may be viewed in Danish at www.ViborgBaptistKirke.dk .

PRAY that the Spirit of God would bring a time of spiritual revival and renewal to the churches of Viborg city and municipality.

PRAY that by His sovereign grace God would soon provide the Viborg Baptist Church with dynamic pastoral leadership to help move the church’s ministry and outreach forward.

PRAY that the members and attendees of Viborg Baptist Church will not be discouraged or disheartened but remain faithful in prayer believing God in His timing will surely provide the pastor the church needs.

Why Pray for Denmark?

We are in the midst of the Advent season and Christmas is now only a few days away. Sitting here at my computer in California, for various reasons my thoughts have focused on my ancestral homeland of Denmark. Prayer for Denmark is always on my heart.

It’s strange as I write that so close to Christmas a large United Nations climate change conference is in tumultuous session in Copenhagen. This in the middle of a season when the Christian world focuses on the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, at Bethlehem some 2000 years ago. Climate change theory has unfortunately taken on a sort of religious fervor of its own that is sadly at odds with the true meaning of Advent. So as to not offend non-Christian participants, I understand Copenhagen has been largely cleansed of anything that would remotely suggest Christ or Christmas.

Thankfully, the climate change conference will soon be over and Danes can get on with preparations for Julefest (Christmas), one of the country’s major holidays. Though considered to be a Christian country, secularism has Denmark by the throat and for the larger percentage of Danes Christianity has become irrelevant. True, the churches will see larger attendances on Christmas Eve than is usually the case. However, out of a population of nearly six million, we understand that only one sixth will attend Christmas Eve services. Most will not be seen again until Easter, if then.

Why do we pray for Denmark? We do so because the love of Christ compels us to. There are churches all over the land but Danish culture has wedded Christian rites into what in reality has become a secular society. There are thousands upon thousands of Danes baptized into the church but for whom Christ and Christianity have little or no meaning for everyday life. The essence of Christmas and the power of the Gospel is that Christ came into the world to save sinners. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (1 Corinthians 5:14-15, NIV).

Denmark needs to be re-evangelized and that is why this webpage calls upon believers throughout the world, especially perhaps those with Danish roots, to pray that Danes would come to know the presence and power of Christ in every aspect of their lives and culture. Advent and Christmas help us to understand that God wants all people to come to a knowledge of the truth and to escape the wrath that is to come. The meaning and message of Christmas is encapsulated in 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” In God’s timing the Babe born in a manger at Bethlehem is the One who died on the cross at Calvary as a ransom for all humankind. The world abhors the thought that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but the truth remains that no one comes to have a relationship with God and to possess eternal life except through commitment to Jesus Christ.

Let me urge every reader of this page who is committed to Christ to continue faithfully in prayer for this little jewel of a Nordic country that Danes might “get it” and come to grips with what Advent and Christmas are really about―Christ came into the world to save sinners. What a wonderful Christmas present that was. That is the message Denmark needs to hear at Christmas 2009.

PRAY for the minority of Danes, their churches and pastors who do know and understand the meaning of the Gospel, that God would give them boldness of life and witness as the redeemed of the Lord.

PRAY with us that a revival of biblical truth and genuine understanding of the Gospel story from the manger to the cross will fill the spiritual vacuum in the hearts of many Danes in the weeks and months ahead.

God is up to something in Copenhagen

I have recently had some delightful correspondence with Kasper Thorskov Hansen, an intern at Copenhagen’s Vineyard Christian Fellowship. Kasper shared with me some aspects of his own journey as a believer from being raised in a Christian home, to a period of wandering, to a crisis experience in New Zealand when he almost lost his life in strong and powerful river currents, to his restoration to Christian fellowship at Grace Vineyard in Christchurch, to his felt call to Christian leadership during the course of a unique six-week Capernwray Adventure Bible School in New Zealand, to his return to Denmark where he became involved at Copenhagen Vineyard as a small group and prayer group leader and in other outreach and church activities culminating in his selection as an intern. Kasper has not lost sight of his call to ministry and leadership. His fellow interns are Anne Walsøe, Samuel Larsen, and Michael Hald Jacobsen.

As an intern, Kasper reports that his responsibilities center in outreach. Copenhagen Vineyard, whose lead pastor is our good friend Flemming Mølhede, is growing in numbers and effectiveness. Kasper reports that its pastors are part of a new monthly prayer meeting composed of pastors of different churches and diverse backgrounds, “but with the same fire for God’s kingdom work.” Its purpose is to focus on the almost overwhelming spiritual and unmet social needs of metropolitan Copenhagen. As Kasper puts it, and I agree wholeheartedly, “Wow, God is up to something!”

Since it was planted in 1997, Copenhagen Vineyard has taken the church out into the community, branching out into several social- and evangelistic outreach ministries. Kasper informs us of a new outreach involving 28 women of the congregation working in conjunction with Reden (The Nest) International. This organization works in several Danish cities to combat the trafficking of women from other countries who have been brought to Denmark and forced to work as prostitutes. It offers counseling, medical help, a place to live and other needed helps. Though most of the website is in Danish, there is a summary available in English at http://redeninternational.dk/.

Kasper writes that Vineyard is dreaming of even further growth of its outreach ministries into Greater Copenhagen. The church is now in process of starting up a ministry on behalf of single mothers, offering them practical in-home aid and other elements anticipated as the ministry gets off the ground.

PRAY that the Holy Spirit will come in power to bring about unity of heart, mind and purpose through the recently convened monthly prayer meetings of Copenhagen pastors deeply burdened for the spiritual and social needs of the metropolitan area.

PRAY that Pastor Flemming Mølhede and his leadership team, including staff members and interns, will experience unity and the Spirit’s guidance in all areas of the church’s life and outreach ministries.

PRAY that Copenhagen Vineyard’s participation in the work of Reden International will bring salvation, healing, deliverance and a new direction in life to women from other countries that have been forced by criminal elements into a life of prostitution in Denmark.

PRAY that God will give great vision, wisdom and creative direction to Copenhagen Vineyard as it starts up a new work on behalf of single mothers.

PRAY for Copenhagen Vineyard’s interns—Kasper Thorskov Hansen, Anne Walsøe (with Reden International), Samuel Larsen, and Michael Hald Jacobsen—that each of them will “be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17) in service for Christ wherever and however God leads.

"New Danes" and Ethnic Churches

It is estimated that of Denmark’s population of five and a half million, almost seven and half percent are of non-Nordic descent. Denmark has received immigrants from all over the world, including various Arab and Muslim countries, the former Yugoslavia, and many countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the Far East. The peak of immigration was reached in 1995 when 40,000 immigrants came to Denmark.

The largest ethnic group, and also the second largest faith after the Danish Lutheran Folkekirke, is Islam with its more than150,000 adherents (three times the number of free church evangelicals in the country). Some ethnic groups have a better history of assimilation into Danish society and culture than others. Muslims, for instance, vigorously resist assimilation. Once an open door country, more recently there has been a backlash on immigration in Denmark and we are told the country now has the strictest immigration policies in Europe.

Among “New Dane” immigrants are those with a strong Christian faith and commitment. Because of language and other cultural factors many have not felt entirely at home in Danish language churches. As a consequence, more than 200 ethnic churches or groups have been formed in Denmark, worshiping in such languages as Kinyarwanda, Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Burmese, Farsi, Kiswahili, Karen, Twi, Tagalog, Korean, Arabic, and Amharic, as well as various languages of eastern and western Europe. Some congregations minister to immigrants from English-or French-speaking African or Asian countries.

It is noteworthy that the more spirited and sometimes exuberant worship of various ethnic churches has been eye-opening for Danes used to formalistic religion. Black Gospel music has captured the interest of many Danes, even those who are not particularly religiously inclined. Nothing short of amazing is how many “swinging and swaying” Gospel Choirs there are throughout Denmark, even among parishes of the Folkekirke. “Gospel Kor” concerts are not all that uncommon. Though Danes are a fun-loving people, their staid religious tradition and expression has tended to present itself in stark contrast to ethnic worship styles. Ethnic churches and Black Gospel music may be one way God is “loosening” up Danes who would ordinarily look askance at more uninhibited worship expressions. Under our very eyes, there may also be a sort of pre-evangelism at work. Christianity in Denmark has over the centuries become so institutionalized that it seldom opens itself to a vibrant, heart-stirring worship experience. It is no wonder that a large percentage of Danes are in reality practical atheists.

If Denmark is to be re-evangelized, as in the early history of the Church, Christianity has to move from being merely an institution with ecclesiastical trappings and traditions to a genuine, heart-gripping movement of the Holy Spirit. Ethnic churches in Denmark may be leading the way.

Church Integration Ministries (KIT), led by Pastor Hans Henrik Lund, is doing a splendid job of tracking what God is doing through the ethnic churches and fellowships and offering them fellowship and assistance.

PRAISE God for those strongly evangelical and evangelistic ethnic churches that are showing Danes that worship can be heart-stirring and exciting while firmly anchored in the truths of God’s Word.

PRAY that with Denmark’s new and stricter immigration policies and a slowed influx of new immigrants, the country’s “New Danes” will ultimately assimilate Danish language and culture without losing the spontaneity of their worship and evangelistic zeal.

PRAY that where needed, other ethnic evangelical churches and fellowships will be established and warmly welcomed by their counterpart Danish churches.

PRAY that the ethnic believers will not be stand-offish but rather experience unity of heart, mind and ministry with their fellow Danish evangelicals.

PRAY for Church Integration Ministries (KIT) and its very competent leader Hans Henrik Lund, serving as a clearinghouse for relations between Danish churches and the country’s ethnic congregations and fellowships.

Unanticipated Ministry

When Pray for Denmark.com (abbrev. PFD) came online in 2004, something happened subsequently that neither Brad nor I had quite anticipated. Almost from the beginning we have had requests from people going to Denmark for a visit or even for temporary or long-term residence to assist them in finding “a good evangelical, Bible-believing church.” We have had requests from students coming to Denmark for higher education and also for Danish students who have studied in other countries and while there have come to faith in Christ. They need to find a Danish congregation that will nurture them in the faith. Once, a crew member on a ship that had come into Copenhagen harbor emailed us to help him find a church in the city where he could worship on the Lord’s Day. It was rather amusing that he would email us in the United States to assist him in finding a church in the very city in Denmark where his ship was docked. What wonders of communication there are in our modern day. Though it has surprised us to have such requests as these, we thank the Lord for this unanticipated and unplanned facet of our ministry.

I have endeavored to be as helpful as possible in responding to these various requests. Though I have a pretty good handle on the various Danish denominations and organizations and their theological commitments, I am sometimes hard put to locate a “good church” in some of the out-of-the-way locations in Denmark, though I try very hard to do so. Many evangelical churches tend to be located in urban areas with fewer to be found in the smaller towns and rural areas. I know a number of Danish pastors and churches and have contact with some that I have not met personally, so it has been interesting research for me in helping inquirers find a church or to make contact with a pastor or church leader.

We are often asked to recommend a church that has services in English, though I have responded that the vast majority of Danes speak English and many Danish churches are glad to provide simultaneous translation during their services. Some inquirers insist that the church they wish to find has to be non- charismatic in theology and practice, while others are just as emphatic that they are looking for a charismatic church. That sometimes makes it difficult because among evangelicals in Denmark currently the charismatic movement has made significant numerical gains and a majority of the Danish free churches appear to have accepted that theological commitment, including some Lutheran churches. Unfortunately, some of the older non-charismatic or classic evangelical churches appear to have cooled off and have lost much of their original evangelistic zeal. Evangelicals from other countries seem to think that the choice of churches in Denmark would parallel those to be found in their own countries. For that reason, I often have to explain the situation in Denmark and that choices of denominations and churches are fewer in number. My greatest regret is that PFD does not always get feedback from the recommendations that are made, though there are those who have expressed gratitude for this aspect of our ministry.

While helping people find a church is an unanticipated but yet important part of what Pray for Denmark.com does, it is secondary to our main emphasis, that is, soliciting prayer worldwide for revival/renewal, evangelism and church planting in Denmark.

PRAY that the Holy Spirit will give wisdom and discernment in assisting those who contact Pray for Denmark.com find a church in the area they plan to visit or where they expect to establish permanent or temporary residence.

PRAY especially for churches in the larger Danish cities that regularly have services in English and attract visitors from many countries. An example of such churches is Copenhagen’s First International Baptist Church whose entire ministry is English-language based..

PRAY for a young Dane who was an exchange student in the United States and while abroad found Christ as Savior and Lord. This young person, and possibly others like him, needs to be integrated in a Bible-believing Danish congregation where he can be nurtured in the faith and find supportive friendships and fellowship with other believers. PFD has made some church recommendations.