Hiking, Worship Together, and the Beginnings of Adelfors

On Saturday afternoon, Melanie, a fellow Discovery student and I loaded up our packs with a some odds and ends and took a long walk/hike from the Bible school to Kleva Gruva, a copper and nickel mine that has been turned into a tourist attraction. We figured it was probably closed but we wanted to walk with a destination in mind. I wasn't exactly sure where we were going but Melanie assured me that it would take about 2 hours for the round trip. It ended up taking us about 3 hours instead. Here's the Google map of our route. If we'd checked this before we left, we'd have known better than to assume we could do it in two hours :p

No wonder they build rock walls when their fields produce so many rocks! 

We walked along a quiet gravel road for most of the way.

A gigantic anthill!

Melanie with Anthill Number Two

Proof that we actually made it to Kleva Gruva!

Beautiful Swedish Countryside

On Sunday evening, we had "Worship Together" which I hoped would just be an extended singing session, but although it wasn't, it was still a worthwhile experience. The student who gave his devotion that evening talked about Psalm 1 and how we need to be deeply routed in God to withstand the storms of life, both now and after Holsby. He challenged us to think about goals for this year for how we could grow our roots. Although we've been talking a lot about hopes, expectations and goals for this year, no one had phrased it in that light, and it really made me think again. After fifteen minutes to think, there was an open-mic time for people to share their thoughts and impressions. One person shared how trees in Alaska can't grow down because of the perma-frost but they grow out and intertwine with other trees and the trees work together to keep each other firmly in the ground. Another person shared an experience where tree roots broke large boulders. I thought of boulders as issues that I might need to work through that would try to stop my roots from growing, but ultimately, if God is in and behind the growth, nothing can stop it. My goals are to continually seek God and a relationship with him in my required Bible reading rather than to just read to fulfil the requirement (I've thought about praying to read with new eyes and about listening to a worship song before I start to put me in the right mindset), to spend regular time in prayer and thanksgiving, and to seek community rather than trying to stand on my own. So here's a challenge for you. Read Psalm 1 and then think "What goals can I make for this year to help my roots grow deep?" 

This afternoon we had our first meeting of the Adelfors outreach group, which is an outreach to a local collage that serves special needs students, students finish their high school diploma, and those getting collage degrees. On Tuesday night we get to go there and hang out with some students in a cafe. Today we talked about our expectations and prayed over each other and the coming encounters and relationships that will happen over the next year. 

To end my afternoon, I hiked ten minutes up sunrise hill, one of my favorite places, and sat and read Classic Christianity (a required book) and The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. In about half an hour there will be a lecture on Worship. I'm curious to see how the lecturer, Donna Schoon, choose to define and describe worship and what she'll say about it.

That's it for now!