Good News from Tønder

The southern Jutland town of Tønder, located not far from the border with Germany, has been mentioned several times in Pray for Denmark.com, especially in relation to the famed Tønder music festival (see the August 17, 2008 prayer posting).

In March of 2006 when I made a trip to Denmark the first persons I met were Pastor René Nielsen and his lovely wife Mette. Pastor Nielsen is pastor of the Tønder Frikirke, in dual association with the Apostolsk Kirke and the Pinse Kirke denominations. I was not with the Nielsens for long, but long enough to sense their burden for the city and the need for the church to move forward in some new directions. Pastor Nielsen and I had a wonderful time around the breakfast table praying for a breakthrough in the work. Before I moved on to Sønderborg, he showed me around the church building located in the center of town. It appeared to me at the time that it was not a building that would lend itself well to substantial growth. It was rather small and very lacking in space that would foster growth.

I have continued to pray for Tønder as I am sure Pastor Nielsen and Mette and the church itself have done faithfully. It was such a delight recently to have an email message from Pastor Nielsen that communicated some of the great excitement and gratitude he and the church are experiencing at what God is doing for the Tønder work. First off, the old church building has been sold and a new location has been found for Tønder Frikirke that hopefully will have all of the features needed for a significant outreach in the community and surrounding area.

Getting the leaders and members of the church to come to agreement about sale of the building was not an easy one. As often happens in significant change for a church, some were not fully convinced that now was the right time to sell and move. The resulting tension can have a negative effect on a church’s future and ministry. However, the Lord intervened in a wonderful way. He used an elderly woman member who stood up in a congregational meeting and said prophetically, “God has spoken to break up and move on, and I think we should do so.” One by one the members of the congregation stood up and agreed with this dear lady to sell the old building and look for a new site. As Pastor Nielsen puts it, “Within two months everything had been done. God had a prepared the way and now the old building has been sold and we have bought a new one. Praise God! Now we have several months in which to renovate the new building before moving into it on April 1.” The Lord has not forgotten Tønder! Frikirke and He is on the move.

A significant evidence of God’s blessing is the church’s revived children’s ministry. There were hardly any children in the church, but now acting on what Pastor Nielsen and the church felt was God’s direction there is contact and ministry with about 40 kids and their families. Every Wednesday there are after-school meetings where workers help the kids with their homework, followed by a Royal Rangers meeting and ending in a time of eating together with the kids and their parents. The net result is a marked increase in the number of people now attending the worship services.

At the beginning of 2008, René was asked to help with the reorganization of a Danish humanitarian organization. Ultimately he was left with the major responsibility and has had a lot of work of rebuilding and reorganizing. He is now the head of the organization that needs to reestablish its Christian foundations. This plus the new developments with the Tønder church are keeping him very busy and using up a lot of his energies. It is important for church members to him and to involve themselves heavily in the renovation of the new property.

Pastor Nielsen writes, “Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us.” Let's agree to do so.

PRAISE God for answers to prayer in the sale of Tønder Frikirke’s less than adequate facilities and the congregation’s unity in responding to the Lord’s provision of a new and more adequate location for ministry.

PRAY that Pastor Nielsen’s health and strength will not be eroded because of the heavy schedule he carries these days with local church responsibilities as well as time-consuming leadership involvement with a Danish humanitarian organization.

PRAY that the members and attenders of Tønder Frikirke will go through this time of change with renewed vision, commitment and unity and that the move to a new building will open up as yet unrealized possibilities for evangelistic outreach in the community.

PRAY that the Lord will use the renewed children’s ministry as a fruitful means of evangelistic outreach with many coming to faith in Jesus Christ and those already believers standing firm and maturing in the faith, using their spiritual gifts in ministry.

PRAY that Pastor Nielsen’s influence and leadership in the humanitarian organization will help return it to its previous Christian foundations.

Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår

Bill and Brad wish you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year as we work together with you, our viewers, to pray for spiritual revival in Denmark. We are American Christians with ancestral roots in Denmark. We are both very much aware of how much our own country is in need of a mighty, sweeping spiritual revival. But, we are attempting to be obedient in following through with what we believe the Lord laid on our hearts almost four years ago, that is, to pray for God’s Spirit to move with power in the ancestral homeland in revival, renewal, evangelism and church planting.

We are grateful for the response we have had and for the many believers in Denmark with whom we have had contact through Bill’s visit and through ongoing correspondence. Please covenant with us in 2009 to continue sharing the prayer vision on behalf the nearly six million Danes, most of whom do not know what it is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The focus of this website is prayer for Denmark. Our ministry is a personal effort and is not related to any mission organization, denomination or church, though both of us are members of strong evangelical churches in California. It appears from the many email messages we have been receiving from Africa and Asia that there is some misunderstanding about the nature of our ministry.

We are certainly not unaware of the Lord’s work in other areas of the world, but God has laid Denmark on our hearts specifically and we are determined to keep our prayer focus there. We have missionary friends around the world. Bill has himself spent some years as a missionary in the Congo and Madagascar in years gone by and appreciates the work being done by faithful pastors and workers in Africa and Asia who have seen this website. We do not solicit funds or disperse funds to any ministries, thus far even those in Denmark, because our mandate from the Lord is specifically to focus on prayer for our ancestral homeland. We support through prayer the efforts of all Bible-believing evangelicals in Denmark.

Please join with us throughout 2009 in concerted prayer and intercession for Denmark and for the evangelical pastors and people working tirelessly to bring the Gospel to bear on Danish life and culture. May the Lord Jesus Christ be honored and glorified as we work together with you in this prayer ministry.

Theological Education in Denmark

There is currently a dearth of pastors in the Danish free churches. Older pastors are retiring and a number of churches have been without pastors for some time. The overall, long-term outlook for an adequate number of pastoral replacements is apparently not too promising. It is cause for concern that young people are not committing to biblical/theological study and full-time ministry in numbers that would insure the needed and continuing flow of pastoral leadership to fill pulpit vacancies or to keep pace with the retirement of older pastors. This appears to be true of the older Danish denominations but may be less so of the more charismatic (Pentecostal) denominations.

Other than the two charismatic Bible colleges at Mariager and Kolding that have been previously mentioned in these postings, the free churches’ main framework for theological education is the Skandinavisk Akademi for Lederskab og Teologi, (SALT - Scandinavian Academy of Leadership and Theology), that offers church-based, seminary-level theological training for Denmark’s free churches. SALT, founded in 2000, comprises a network of several entities in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, including, Hyllie Park Folkhögskola (Malmø), Baptistkirkens Teologiske Seminarium (Tølløse), Ørebro Missionsskola (Ørebro), Baptisternes Teologiske Seminarium in Norway, Pinsekirken København, Dansk Oase, the Apostolsk Kirke, and the Lutheran charismatic revival movement OASE. We understand the Danish program currently has about 30 students with two full-time and three half-time professors. Accreditation of aspects of the SALT Danmark program is through association with Sweden’s Örebro Missionskola. Every SALT student is required to have a church relationship and a pastoral mentor throughout his/her studies. The school has administrative and classroom facilities in Copenhagen, though courses are also held in other areas of the country. The website for SALT may be accessed at www.salt-akademi.dk/1_0/1_0.asp.

Those desiring to enter the ministry of the Folkekirke (the Lutheran State Church) generally prepare for ordination at the Universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus that are not particularly noteworthy as centers of evangelicalism in Denmark. However, there are two independent Lutheran seminaries also training ministers for the Folkekirke that by contrast offer a curriculum based on a high view of the inspiration of the Scriptures. These are the Dansk Bibel-Institut in Copenhagen (also known as the Copenhagen Lutheran School of Theology), founded in 1972 and the Menighedsfakultetet in Aarhus, founded in 1967. The Dansk Bibel Institut website declares openly that the school holds to (1) the whole Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God; that (2) Scripture's prophetic and apostolic testimony to Christ and the view of Scripture is that of Jesus and the apostles, and that (3) this testimony is expressed in the biblical writings themselves. Both schools are committed to classic Lutheran theology. That such Bible-affirming schools exist in Denmark is further reason to believe that God can and will yet bring revival to the Danish Folkekirke. A genuine and sustained revival of biblical faith in Denmark’s Lutheran churches would have profound implications in arresting the spiritually deadening secularization of Danish culture. For further information, relevant websites are www.dbi.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=168 and www.teologi.dk/.

PRAY that Danish young people will respond to the call of God in increasing numbers for local church ministry with the full knowledge that such a commitment will undoubtedly involve a life of sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel.

PRAY that SALT and the other independent theological schools in Denmark will not be swayed by post-modern theology and pseudo-evangelicalism that have begun to seep into theological faculties in other countries.

PRAY that Danish evangelicals and their churches will see the importance of a trained ministry and unite to insure that the theological schools will serve as centers of unity rather than dissension.

PRAY that the Danish churches will see the need for providing adequate support for SALT and other independent theological schools.

PRAY that the theological schools will be able with greater financial support to establish stronger academic standards, achieve relevant academic accreditations, and recruit academically and spiritually competent faculty.

PRAY for those churches that are having difficulty finding and calling pastoral candidates.

A New Prayer Initiative for Denmark

Much to my amazement, in surfing the web one day I came across the Bøn for Danmark webpage of Birgitte Steffensen-Thomasen (www.boenfordanmark.dk). That caught my attention immediately because Bøn for Danmark is the exact Danish equivalent of Pray for Denmark. Birgitte is a member of Karlslunde Strandkirken (www.strandkirken.dk/), located near Copenhagen, a new, nontraditional and dynamic Spirit-led congregation functioning within the Folkekirke, Denmark’s Lutheran state church. I have since been in correspondence with Brigitte about her webpage and her vision about prayer for her country. Here is the origin of her ideas and of her vision as she recounts it, edited a bit here and there for clarity:

“[Birgitte writes], I got this vision for a year and a half ago when my family and I went skiing in Norway. While there, I felt I should pray for my country and I did. I prayed, I fought the Enemy, et cetera, and after some I felt fatigue from it. I knew I had obeyed, but it was clear to me that I did not break through in any area of my prayer. Then I felt God spoke to me over a period of time. To pray for salvation, revival, and the coming of the Kingdom of God is not to be done by just one person alone––it is a task for the whole church. When the prayer answer comes we will be part of it and receive it knowing we all had a part in praying for it. If not, we will stand by skeptically watching what those involved in the breakthrough prayed for. So Bøn for Danmark tries to encourage all churches and Christian fellowships in Denmark to participate, whether free or Folkekirke.

“The idea is that every church in Denmark chooses two concerns for our country and then commit themselves to pray for them. That means that when you pray for those two concerns which means you have 25 churches involved you will cover 50 concerns in prayer!. We will stand together side by side and know that when I at home pray for those two concerns my church will be praying for them and I will sense I am not praying alone. I pray with all the others from my church for these concerns for our country and we are also praying with all the other churches involved.

“A lot of Christian give up praying for their country because they don’t know where to start or end, but the Bøn for Danmark plan is meant to be a help. Now I can send my little prayer to the Father along with all the others from my church and the other churches and it is really important that I pray with them too. Bøn for Danmark believes that there are enough Christians in Denmark to pray God’s Kingdom through, but two things are need: One, all of us need to be involved and not just the ‘super prayer-people' or some churches. Two, we need to know what we pray for. That is the vision and the idea behind getting each of the churches to pray for two areas of concern for the country.

“I do spread the vision around when I speak, and a few Christian groups are now involved plus my own church (Karlslunde Strandkirke). I do believe that a lot of churches in coming years will join in our effort. I believe that the Bøn for Denmark concept is very powerful and could be spread abroad even.”

God is at work in Denmark in ways that sometimes are all but imperceptible to us. Birgitte’s idea is quite simple and has yet to really catch on. What impresses me is that God has laid this on her heart and she is following through with it. We should never despise the day of small things when God is in it. Let’s back her up in prayer for the success of this venture of faith and obedience. It pleases me that this is an initiative that comes straight from the heart of a godly, praying woman within the Danish Folkekirke. Praise the Lord!

PRAY that Birgitte’s prayer initiative, as outlined above, will soon catch on with many Folkekirke and free congregations throughout Denmark.

PRAY that the Lord will give Birgitte great wisdom in discovering strategies to help expand and promote her prayer initiative throughout the country.

PRAY that this may be a genuine breakthrough, yet another step toward revival, renewal, and evangelism in Denmark.

Church Planting in Denmark

Church planting in Denmark is a tough assignment in view of the entrenched and deepening secularism that eats the heart out of a nation’s sensitivity to the things of the spirit. Though I have mentioned them before, and not too long ago, I have been impressed by the work of church planters David and Solvej Allen in Roskilde (shown here on their 25th wedding anniversary). These two have been slogging it out for Christ for several years planting a new Vineyard church. As Solvej has written: “It is hard being ‘free church’ in a bogged down state church-focused and increasingly secularized country like Denmark.” There have been obstacles and discouragements along the way, but joys ands victories as well. It is especially difficult because the fledgling congregation cannot as yet remunerate a full-time ministry. So, both David and Solvej have had to take outside employment to make ends meet for themselves and their family. Because David’s employment has required a greater number of hours in the week, Solvej has had to take up the slack in helping shepherd the little flock that God is calling out of the world into His fellowship. David and Solvej deserve great honor and support for their determination to follow the will of God and to live like they have had to live for several years. A church planter sows the seed, but it is God who gives the increase. Truly, God has been at work in Roskilde and He has been using David and Solvej in a remarkable way.

The new church plant requires extensive pastoral ministry as many have come into the fellowship having tremendous needs and some even quite serious problems. It is no easy thing these days for people to come out of the world and to come clean for Jesus Christ. By loving them with unconditional love and making themselves available to them even at inconvenient times is a drain on this church planting couple’s spiritual and physical energies. Exponential growth has been seen in some of the “new broken people” but less visible growth in others.

One of the major tasks of a church planter is to help members of a congregation know their spiritual gifts and to challenge them to utilize them for the growth and progress of the whole body. A new church plant is no place for spectator believers. Spiritual advance becomes possible as everyone pitches in with prayerful and selfless exercise of his or her spiritual gifts.

Prayer support is essential in any church planting endeavor and this Roskilde church planting couple are appreciative of those in Denmark and elsewhere who continually hold them and the new congregation before the Lord in intercessory prayer. We urge Pray for Denmark.com readers to join with the intercessors. The prayers of many will assure David and Solvej that they are not going at it alone in Roskilde. .Here are some items to take before the Lord:

PRAY for health and strength for David and Solvej, for deliverance from discouragement, and for employment requiring fewer hours of David’s time. It is frustrating to have a gift for evangelism and not enough time to exercise the gift. Nothing would please this couple more than for David to be freed for full-time ministry.

PRAY that the new congregation will seize opportunities for open air evangelism. A recent experience with other churches in the town square indicated that townspeople will stop and listen. Sometimes older, tried-and-true evangelism methods still work in a sophisticated society.

PRAY for the “new broken people” who have come under David and Solvej’s care with various addictions, marital breakups, New Age involvements, unbelieving spouses, physical challenges, excursions into the demonic, suicide, depression, and the like. Solvej writes: “Working with broken people can get quite messy, but we trust that where the enemy has come in like a flood the Lord will raise up a standard of righteousness.”

PRAY that the good, spiritually strong couples in the church that until recently had not been involved in anything of a ministry nature will continue to step out with eagerness to exercise their much-needed spiritual gifts and leadership. They have a lot of potential as “soldiers fully armed and equipped,” as Solvej puts it, but only now beginning to step “into their spot in the row.”

PRAISE God for the progress made thus far at Roskilde Vineyard and His promise that “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6, NIV)

Bible Colleges Begin their Academic Year

Denmark has two major charismatic denominations, the Pinse Kirke (Pentecostal Church) Church and the Apostolsk Kirke (Apostolic Church). Each of these denominations maintains a two-year Bible college: Mariager Højskole (Danish Pentecostal Bible College) and International Apostolsk Højskole (International Apostolic Bible College). Qualified graduates of both schools are eligible to continue their studies toward the Bachelor in Ministry degree from Australia’s Harvest Bible College in a schedule of class taught in Denmark.

International Apostolic Bible College (top image) is located in Kolding (pronounced CALL-ding), a city in southeast Jutland. The school’s campus, less than a mile from Kolding’s city center, is situated next to a small lake surrounded by a large and beautiful park, nor far from open countryside and forested areas. The school opens its academic year on September 21 with 80 new students. Principal Brent Christiansen heads the faculty that includes, Birthe Christiansen, Moise Olivier, Dominique Lachat, Birgit Tind, Ole Drejer, Steffen Bay, Linda Flament, Cecile Favre, Johnny Hansen, Thomas Christiansen, Manu Marcotto, and Dorte Viftrup.

The Danish Pentecostal Bible College (bottom image), already in session for its 2008-2009 academic year, is located farther north in a charming town in Mariager (pronounced MY –air) in east central Jutland, 36 miles (58 kilometers) north of Aarhus. The town is connected to the Baltic Sea via a deep saltwater inlet called Mariager Fjord. The Bible College is attractively situated on a large campus in perfect surroundings, close to Mariager Fjord. This year the school has enrolled 64 new students, its largest incoming class since 2000. Kent Jacobsen is the school’s principal. He heads a faculty composed of Peter Hove Sørensen, Bjarne Knudsen, Leif Petterson, Jakob Vagner, Rikke Lauritsen, Simon Linde, David Jakobsen, Peder Poulsen, and Solfried Bracher.

Bible Colleges such as these are important for the growth and development of charismatically-oriented free churches in Denmark. Unfortunately, because of lack of time during my trip to Denmark two years ago I did not had the privilege of spending time at the International Apostolic Bible College, other than to pass by its location in Kolding. As it turned out, I did manage to spend a bit of time and walk the campus at Mariager. As I have mentioned previously, I attended a Tuesday evening student-led worship service at Mariager which was an inspiring experience. Both schools nurture their students’ spiritual lives carefully in the Word and in dynamic worship experiences. Much emphasis is placed on the importance of prayer and on providing seasons of all-school prayer (see the Pray for Denmark posting for April 3, 2008 for further details about the prayer emphases at Mariager).

It is noteworthy that the campuses of both schools again this year were utilized by other free church denominations for their summer camps. Both Bible Colleges deserve our prayer support, especially that they may provide a continuing flow of pastors for the charismatic free churches and contribute hugely to revival, renewal, evangelism and church planting in Denmark and other countries.

PRAY for Principal Brent Christiansen at Kolding and Principal Kent Jacobsen at Mariager that the Lord will give them wise, Spirit-led leadership for their heavy responsibilities in overseeing the work of their respective schools.

PRAY for the faculty and staff at Kolding’s International Apostolic Bible College that they will handle the Word of God skillfully, with intellectual integrity, and with spiritual maturity in all their classes and in all of their contacts with students.

PRAY that the faculty and staff at Mariager’s Danish Pentecostal Bible College will be recipients of outstanding Spirit-endowed ability to satisfy the intellectual and spiritual needs of students both in the classroom and in one-on-one contacts.

PRAY that the hearts and minds of students will be open and receptive to the teaching they receive and that they will be obedient to what the Spirit of God lays on their hearts for the effective use of their spiritual gifts wherever the Lord may lead them.

PRAY for a spirit of unity and prayerfulness among administration, faculty and students to pervade both schools throughout the entire academic year and that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be high and lifted up by these two learning and worshiping communities.

Southern Jutland’s Tønder Frikirke

Once again Pray for Denmark.com focuses on the ministry of the Frikirke (free church) in the southern Jutland town of Tønder (pronounced TON-ner), situated only a few kilometers from the border with Germany. The town’s population explodes when it hosts the Tønder Festival folk music event (www.tf.dk/pages/choose_language.php?), held annually since 1975, that has become one of Denmark’s largest festivals. The event is always scheduled for the last weekend of August, this year from August 28 to 31. There will be many musical groups involved coming from a number of countries. Last year’s attendance reached 23,000. The Festival utilizes 9-10 smaller indoor venues as well as a large tent that can accommodate as many as 2500 festival-goers.

Each year the Tønder Frikirke, located in the town’s central district, keeps the church building open and maintains a coffee service for tired festival-goers who are invited to drop in for coffee and conversation. Though not on the schedule as a formal part of the Festival itself, the church presents Christian musical events on Friday and Saturday evenings. This year the Friday night music will feature old-fashion gospel and country-blues musicians Mikael Olesen and Hans Juhani from Valmenighed church in Århus. Saturday evening’s event will showcase the dynamic Gospelkoret Room4Joy, a gospel choir from Grinsted’s Vestermarkskirken. The Festival weekend gives the Tønder congregation many opportunities for witnessing, a ministry that benefits festival-goers as well as church members.

The pastor of the Tønder church is René Nielsen, seconded by his wife Mette. The work has not been easy, but there are signs that the Lord is working. One of the challenges for this fall is to develop and implement the church's vision for relocation and building to effectively meet the ministry demands and needs of the new century.

My dear friend Pastor René tells me that several years ago the church held a monthly Children’s Festival on Saturdays with a number of child-focused activities, such as drama, theater, Bible stories, music, and the like. On one of Saturdays, an Iranian mother made an appearance with her children, but said she was otherwise too busy to attend church services. Last year at Tønder Festival time, Pastor René met her again and invited her to come and sit awhile in the open church. She did so and since then has been to almost every service and event at Tønder Frikirke. She is now in a home-group together with other Iranian ladies. This summer Pastor René took nine Iranian people to a nearby Bible Camp. He says, “We are in contact with many foreign people and it is a challenge for our church.”

PRAY as the Tønder Frikirke opens its doors to festival-goers and provides a warm welcome and friendly conversation during this year’s Tønder Festival, August 28-31.

PRAY that Frikirke members will be empowered by the Spirit of God to offer a winsome witness for Christ to festival-goers who choose to accept the church’s hospitality.

PRAY that the ministry of the Tønder church’s guest musicians, the Mikael Olesen-Hans Juhani duo and Gospelkoret Room4Joy, will attract many to the Friday and Saturday evening concerts by offering a Christian alternative to the secular music featured at the Tønder Festival. As Mikael Olesen says, "Thanks for praying--our wish for the evening is to bring some of God's character and presence and we need Him for that."

PRAY that God's wisdom, oversight and provision for the church in forging and implementing plans that would allow Tønder Frikirke room for growth and a more effective ministry to the community.

PRAISE God for giving the church a fruitful ministry to Iranian and other immigrants to Denmark who have settled in the Tønder area.

PRAY that God will encourage the church to move forward aggressively under Pastor Nielsen’s ministry and that townspeople will respond to the church’s outreach ministries and witness to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.