“It is 4:15, we have to turn off our sound system,” a pastor at our village campaign in ********* told me. Our worship team had just finished singing simple Christian tunes like “This is the Day that the Lord has Made” and “Hallelujah.”
“Why?” I asked, “I am ready to preach to the crowd.”
“Because it is time for Muslim prayers and we do not want to offend them,” the pastor explained to me, “Five times a day the Muslims call people to pray from the Mosque that is next to where we are holding our Gospel campaign. If we make noise during their call to prayer, we might offend them and they will force us to shut down the meeting.”
Our village campaigns took place on the front lines of Gospel work. We were standing on the enemy’s turf trying to take new territory. We were in a majority Muslim country. While I was there, the war between Israel and Gaza was raging. The head of Hamas called for a world-wide day of anger and Jihad against Jews and Christians. In the capital there were demonstrations where mobs of people burned the Israeli flag and the American flag. Thank you for praying for my safety!
Once the Muslim prayers were over, I began preaching. My sermon had four main points: God Created You, God Loves You, God Saves You, and God Heals You. When I gave the altar call hundreds of people prayed with me for salvation right in the shadow of the Mosque!
The amazing miracle is that on the same day when Islam was calling for anger, we saw the love of Jesus manifested in a powerful way. It was on a Friday. Not only was it the day of our biggest attendance at the campaign, but it was also the day when we saw the most people get saved.
Our team did two village-size Gospel campaigns. Each campaign was three days long and also included a conference for discipling young people. We deliberately kept the events small because we did not want to attract too much attention. Even though the events were small, they will produce a big impact. The ministry we are working is sending a pastor to each of these villages to plant a new church so that the new believers can be discipled.
Each of these villages have never heard about Jesus before. Before we came, there were no churches and no Christian believers in these villages. But now there are!
A total of 1,211 decision cards were filled out. Many people were saved and every night people testified they were healed.
Evangelist Daniel King is on a mission to lead people to Jesus. But he cannot do it without your help. Can you give a financial gift today to help us “plunder hell to populate heaven?” To support King Ministries in our quest for souls, click here!
On today’s Evangelism Podcast I interview Bishop Albert from the Free Christian Churches of Bangladesh. Bishop Albert shares about the growth of Christianity in Bangladesh, which is a predominantly Muslim nation. In a nation with a population of almost two hundred million people, the church has grown from 175,000 to almost 600,000 Christians since the country gained independence from Pakistan. However, Christians still make up only 0.3% of the population. We ask people to pray for the church in Bangladesh.
Learn more about the Free Churches of Bangladesh: https://fccbchurch.org/
Transcription:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, Bishop Albert Mirdha from Bangladesh. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Bishop Albert (00:15):
Thank you brother Daniel to meet you this morning.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:19):
Yeah, so we are here in the nation of Bangladesh and God is moving. It is so beautiful to see what God is doing here. Tell me some about what God is doing in this nation.
Bishop Albert (00:33):
Yeah, actually you see that Bangladesh is a new nation, about 52 years old, independent from Pakistan and it was third largest Muslim nation in the world and church was very tiny in Bangladesh after the liberation. But anyhow, the God has started to pour his spirit in the country of Bangladesh and from 175,000 when we are free from Pakistan and until now it is almost 600,000 Christians. So it is couple of times, hundred times increased means that is from the newborn babies in the country and the church is growing by his fire. So churches establishing in the country,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:21):
What would you say is the total population of Bangladesh?
Bishop Albert (01:25):
200 million people in the country and only 0.2% say you can say that Christianity in the country.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:34):
Wow. So I was reading some statistics and something like 91% of the population is Muslim, 92 7%, 8% is Hindu and then 0.2%
Bishop Albert (01:53):
Percent Christian
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:54):
Is Christian
Bishop Albert (01:55):
And this very
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:57):
Small
Bishop Albert (01:58):
Percentage.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:59):
But in the midst of this, it seems like there is a great harvest that God loves Bangladesh very much and Jesus is doing many wonderful things. Can you tell us some about what you see Jesus doing here?
Bishop Albert (02:13):
Actually, look, gospel came in this part of the country 500 years back, but mostly it was in Indian side and very few people has moved to the east part of India. I mean it’s a former India,
(02:30):
But the thing is it’s just a communication problem as well as it was not preached by our own people because we didn’t have any local Christians. The Jisu came and also some Catholic missionaries came and Orthodox people came but it didn’t need to work properly because they work in a very few areas. But actually in 1947 to 1971, mostly the church started to begin on the feet and 1971 when was independent and then there so many missionaries came from the west as well from US Canada and a part of Asia also. And then evangelism started and I think 72 to 80 it was, I mean, is a blooming of our churches because so many churches, new churches established in the country, like our church also, I mean started in 1984, but the missionary from Swedish free mission came or Swedish. Pentecostal churches came in 1970. So this is the way actually the after liberation in Bangladesh, 1971, the church has started to establish the kingdom of the country.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:39):
Now you’re leading the free Christian churches of Bangladesh. And in back in 1972, how many churches were there?
Bishop Albert (03:48):
Actually, 1970, the missionary came from Sweden
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:52):
To support
Bishop Albert (03:53):
To humanitarian areas because we had a tidal board in 1970, 15th of May, 15th of November. And then the missionary came here with social help. And then after a couple of months, just four months later, we had a liberation. We were started or begin in March, 1971. So then all missionaries leap again to their own country and then they came back after liberation in 1972. So this 72 to 1984, there is no mission work started by our missionaries, which Pentecostal missionaries jointly and individually scattered. They work. But lately they decide that they will start a mission organization called Free Christian Churches of Bangladesh. And this is a Pentecostal church from Swedes Pentecost Church. So we started in 84 and then 84 until, I mean now we have so many churches, we have 474 churches with 54,000 people all are from newborn babies. So I mean from 1970 to 1984, we are not existing. That time we didn’t start our mission work. So mission work started in 1984. Wow.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:11):
Let’s talk some about your testimony. How did you become a believer and how did you know that you were called to be a pastor and to lead churches?
Bishop Albert (05:23):
Actually, see, I born in a Christian family. My father was a pastor as seldom he was the mission school teacher of churches of God, US and 1972, actually I came into the ministry when I was fresh young around 15 or 14 plus almost close to 15 years old. I started to evangelize people of our country and I started to give the trust and sharing word of God. This is the way actually 72, I engaged into the evangelism Since then until now I’m voluntarily serving to my Lord.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:00):
Wow, what a blessing. And I had the opportunity this week to see the beautiful school that you have up north and I was so impressed with the children. They were so well-behaved and it was so beautiful to see the vision that God has given you
Bishop Albert (06:22):
Actually, I mean education is the key of development in anywhere else, socially or spiritually. Without education you’re going to do anything. Our church people are very illiterate and they do not have an opportunity to send their kids to the schools because school is very, very expensive. In Bangladesh, you have to pay everything. It’s not free. So I thinking I was praying to God in seventies that I will help to the kids with education if it is an opportunity God given to me. But finally I got this opportunity, 1998, to establish this home of peace that you have seen anywhere there. Actually these children are from orphanage back down. They’re single parents, they are very poor. Marginalist background of the new believers, our main motto to give them education and they can discover the truth of life and truth of heaven and then they will work that independently in the church will be self-supported in the future because the leadership will come from there.
(07:29):
That’s the reason actually 570 children you have seen from different areas and different ethnic group they’re studying over there. So our main goal to make them understand and also give them education and they can stand on their own feet. Otherwise they can be the physical laborer in the field or they can be the domestic worker or they can be the trafficking somewhere else. That’s the reason I know we have started and they’re, well actually they are taught like that. They knows how to behave with the field and usually the 570 kids in the children, I mean in the home of peace and it didn’t found that the noise is there, but they’re playing with joy and they’re very happy to be there. And I mean over 500 children already graduated from this place and they’re now in different areas of life.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:21):
Wow. Let’s talk about the future. I met your son John, and he has the same calling on his life that rests upon your life. And I was so impressed with your son. He went and studied in Canada, he went
Bishop Albert (08:38):
To the
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:38):
United States and studied and he’s very smart and he could have a job anywhere in the world, but he feels like God has called
Bishop Albert (08:48):
Him
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:49):
To be here in Bangladesh. And you and John and the pastors in this movement have come together and put together a vision for the next 10 years. What do you hope to see God do
Bishop Albert (09:04):
Here? Yeah, actually we are so thankful to our loving Lord and also John, I mean because we thought that he will be staying in USA because he studied in US in Florida.
(09:15):
But after completion, his study and after graduation same day, he returned home and he said that we tried to push him to stay in us, but he denied. And he said, no, that’s my calling to go back home and also I will serve over there. So finally we found that it’s a Gore’s will that he’ll be coming back and he helping to the ministry. And we are planning because I already 51 years I am in the ministry and I’m planning to hand over to him. And since he’s very matured and very capable to run this whole ministry because these 477 churches with lots of people and I think he can manage well and he’s learning our decade of revival and all, we have a vision 2032 that the F C C B, the Serve Pentecostal Church will plant new a hundred churches in Bangladesh within this 10 years of time and 1000 people will be baptized and 10,000 new people will join into our congregation and a whole and 200 leaders will be prepared or raised that they will work for the future generation in the churches. That’s our goal right now.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:34):
I think that is a goal that comes from God. And God is going to do amazing things in the years to come because Bangladesh really is a harvest field and there are so many people that need Jesus in fact, right by where the home of peace is. There are some fields there. And we went and I was watching the farmers in the field, they were cutting the rice plants down and I was thinking, wow, this is a vision from God that Bangladesh is a great harvest field. And I pray that God raises up many laborers here
Bishop Albert (11:13):
Actually. You see that Bangladesh really is right now the harvest field and this is an abundant mission fill of the west. So one day missionary leap from this country and because of no result, but now God is God’s time. He’s giving result to the churches. So this is the harvest time. And if we have few laborer truly speaking that God, Jesus has told that plenty of harvest, but few are laborers. So we actually, this is thing Bangladesh is right now the place of mission and also the mission field and harvest is plenty. So we need to harvest because he’s coming. I believe personally that he’s coming. We are living in the end time. So this is the time for harvest. This is the time for preparing people on earth and we are responsible for Bangladesh. We want to reach to every corner of Bangladesh with the gospel.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:05):
Amen. So many believers listen to this podcast. How can they best pray for the nation of Bangladesh? And then how can people help with what God is doing here?
Bishop Albert (12:21):
You see the prayer bind us together and this is actually the spiritual bindings is most important and the time has come to come closer and the believers will come closer and pray for extending the kingdom of God. So Bangladesh is one of the unreached country in the world, number one. So the people, those are actually our brother and sister in many countries, we going to say that
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:51):
Please
Bishop Albert (12:52):
Prefer Bangladesh, that we can win the souls of the country because this is very hard soil. Bangladesh is really hard soil once upon a time, but now God is opening the doors for missions and the local church want to reach to the corner and to every people. So we need your prayer support at the same time, you are most welcome to have the campaign or work together with our church and also supporting with your generous prayer or answer finance if it is possible. This is where we can work together for his glory.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:26):
Amen. Well, there is great opportunity here. There are many
Bishop Albert (13:30):
Villages
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:31):
That need a campaign, that have never had a campaign, no one has ever come to talk about Jesus. And so it has been a great privilege to be here as your guest. Thank you so much for inviting me here and for being here. It has really been wonderful to see what God is doing here. Let’s finish by praying for Bangladesh
Bishop Albert (13:54):
Together. Yeah, Daniel, you are not
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:56):
Guest.
Bishop Albert (13:57):
We are family. The family of God. We are working together for his kingdom because that’s our purpose, that God
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:04):
Has
Bishop Albert (14:05):
Called us,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:06):
God have
Bishop Albert (14:06):
Raised
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:07):
Us
Bishop Albert (14:07):
For supporting and we didn’t know each other, but now we are brother
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:12):
In
Bishop Albert (14:12):
Christ, so let’s work together, pray together, and sub together for his kingdom.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:18):
Amen. So
Bishop Albert (14:18):
You are most welcome anytime in the country of Bangladesh and that we can work jointly for this. And also please pray for
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:25):
This
Bishop Albert (14:26):
Children home where 570 children are there because they’re the future of the country, the future of the churches, because you have seen that they have a morning devotion and evening devotion and they’re learning who is God, how to support him and how to solve him.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:43):
Yeah, they were singing songs, quoting verses, and even being led by other students. I was very, and they did a beautiful cultural program.
Bishop Albert (14:54):
They
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:54):
Danced and they had different groups from different parts of the country, different ethnic groups, and they dressed up in the traditional costumes of their people and did the traditional dances and it was so beautiful. Yeah.
Bishop Albert (15:10):
They’re actually from 17 different tribe groups or ethnic group, including also Bengali, our main motto
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:19):
To raise leaders from
Bishop Albert (15:22):
All different tribe groups and ethnic groups that they can work for their own community in the future. That’s our main, main plan or vision. That’s wonderful.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:33):
Well, let’s pray. Dear heavenly Father, we pray together for the nation of Bangladesh. We ask that you would pour out your spirit upon this nation. Lord, we pray for many salvations, many miracles. Lord, I pray for the churches to be strengthened. Lord, I pray that new leaders would be raised up. I pray for more churches to be planted. Lord, I pray that all of Bangladesh would hear about Jesus
(16:07):
The great work that Jesus did on the cross to provide for our salvation. And Lord, I thank you for Bishop Albert, for his son, John Lord. We ask for your blessing to be upon them and give them great wisdom as they lead these churches. This movement of believers in reaching one of the great unreached areas of the world. Lord, we ask you for a mighty harvest of souls here in Bangladesh. In Jesus’ name,
Bishop Albert (16:43):
Amen.
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell from the Pentecostal Church in Lidköping, Sweden, joins the Evangelism Podcast to discuss the spiritual climate in Sweden. Pastor Niclas shares his testimony of how he became a believer and felt called to be a pastor. He also talks about a unique outreach his church did last Easter, where they filled a local arena for three days. Pastor Niclas also discusses how his church reaches out to immigrants from countries like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran, teaching them about Swedish society and culture, and offering a Swedish school for them to learn the language. Pastor Niclas emphasizes the importance of Christians opening their eyes to the harvest fields around them and sharing God’s love with people.
Learn more about Pastor Niclas Wiktorell: pingstlidkoping.se
Transcription:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King, and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest, pastor Niclas Wiktorell from the Nation of Sweden. Thank you for joining me
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:12):
Today. Thank you, Daniel. So glad to be here.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:15):
We are in Asia together,
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:18):
And
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:18):
We have had a wonderful time this week. God has been moving here, and so
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:23):
It’s been
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:23):
So wonderful to get to know you and you pastor a church in the nation of Sweden. Can you tell me first, what is the name of your church and then what part of Sweden are you in?
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:35):
Yeah, of course. The name of church is the Pentecostal Church in Lead Tripping. And Lead. Tripping is in the southern part, southwest part of Sweden, close to Goberg.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:46):
Okay. And let’s start with your testimony. How did you become a believer and how did you know that you were called to be a pastor?
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (00:55):
Okay. I think it started all, when my uncle came back from Africa, he was a missionary in Liberia in Africa, and he came back and he told about Jesus and what he did, and that really moved me as a little kid. I was maybe six or seven years old or something like that. And then I believe I saw that, okay, this is what I want to do with my life. But then
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:20):
It took a
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (01:20):
Little while, maybe during the teenager, as a teenager, I forgot about it, but I had my faith and I went to a Bible school. And on that Bible school I decided I wanted to do this, and God spoke to me about it. Yeah.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:35):
Wow. And how long have you been pastoring?
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (01:38):
I’ve been pastoring for about 20 years. Wow.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:42):
And what is the spiritual climate in Sweden? I know historically there’s a strong church there, but now it seems like Sweden is more of a secular society. What would you say people’s understanding
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (01:59):
Of God is? Yeah, it’s very secular, and I think the minority has the idea that there is no God no at all. Maybe 10% has some sort of notion about God, but very few Christians, maybe two, 3% maybe.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:23):
And so in a secular society where people have a historical understanding sometimes of Christianity, but now believe that there is no God, how do you reach those who are lost?
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (02:37):
Wow. That is a tough question for us to do that. But I still believe that, well, it’s the same thing, even though it’s a secular country, I actually believe that now it’s so secular that when we come with the message of Jesus, it’s like, wow, people haven’t heard it before. So when I grew up, everyone about Jesus, but they rejected it. But now the kids and the young people, it’s like they’re hearing it for the first time. So I think you just have to be bold and you just have to try to reach out and tell the good news.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:16):
And so this year at Easter time, you had a very unique outreach. Tell me what that looked like and what God did.
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (03:24):
Yeah, we did it in a local arena. So we had 1500 to 2000 people in that arena for free days. And it was from the region, our city, it’s a small town. I mean, it’s like 40,000, but we could reach people in that area, in our region. And every night we saw people coming to Christ.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:50):
How did you promote it? How did you invite people to come?
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (03:54):
Mostly through social media, actually. Only through social media. Yeah.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:58):
Okay. So
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (03:59):
Facebook. And Facebook and mostly Facebook.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:03):
And so you asked your church members to share it and to invite people, and then were you also doing advertising on
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:10):
Facebook? Yeah, a little bit of advertising too, but that was what we did.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:17):
And so Easter’s a great time
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:19):
To
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:19):
Reach
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:19):
Out to people.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:20):
That seems very amazing that for three days you were able to fill the place with
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:27):
1500,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:28):
2000. I
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:29):
Mean, it was such a huge step of faith for us. It was because we maybe do like this in Sweden two or three times a year, and now we thought we would do it in our little town, and it was a big step of faith, but we did it and with God.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:47):
And what type of program did you do? Was it like a typical church service? Were you doing an Easter drama? What
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (04:53):
We did a number of different things. It was music programs and then also of course preaching. A lot of testimonies, a lot of testimonies about people that have been in different kinds of addicts and so on, and also some drama. Yeah.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:15):
I’ve read in the news that there are lots of immigrants that have come to Sweden, and it’s a little bit controversial because some people want to be very welcoming. Other people say that is difficult to integrate them into the society, but your church is actually reaching out to immigrants that have come from many different parts of the world, and you’re reaching them with the love of Christ. What does that look like?
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (05:43):
Yeah, we reach people from Syria and from Afghanistan and from Iran. And every week we have this program Thursday nights when we invite them and we teach them about Swedish society, our culture and so forth. And also, we have a Swedish school for them, so they learn to speak Swedish.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:09):
And many of them coming from these nations are probably Muslim. The majority, the majority are Muslim. And so I think that’s really wonderful that you’re reaching out to the Muslims. In many times, Christians go on a mission to another nation in order to reach people, but really God is bringing the mission field to you. They’re right on your doorstep now, and I think it’s so wonderful that your church is reaching out to them, loving them, and showing them the love of Christ.
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (06:41):
Yeah, we always say that, but God has brought us the mission feel to us, so it’s much more easier now in that way.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:49):
And how has your church responded to that? Have they been enthusiastic about being a part? I think
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (06:54):
It’s been really, really amazing. A lot of people put in their hearts to this and work with this every week, and you see friendships with the immigrants and so forth. So it’s really, really nice to see what God does in people’s lives.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:11):
I think that’s so wonderful. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, we’ve had many Afghan families that have come there, and my father worked in Afghanistan for 12 years, and so we have been working with a group of the Afghans that have come to our city, and some of them actually had a stopover in Sweden, and so
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (07:31):
They
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:31):
Had some very nice things to say about their time in Sweden, and then they left Sweden and came to America. So we’re happy to have them now,
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (07:39):
But
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:40):
I think this is so important for Christians to open up their eyes. Jesus told the disciples, and John Pour is open your eyes and see the harvest fields. Really, the harvest field is all around us.
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (07:52):
And
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:52):
If we’ll look for opportunities to talk to people about Jesus, to share God’s love with people, then we can see God begin to do miracles in their lives.
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:02):
Yeah, that’s amazing.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:03):
Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism podcast.
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:08):
Thank you, brother.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:09):
Daniel, let me ask you, what is your life message? What is the message that you like sharing with people the most that God has given you?
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:21):
Well, I think that God is a good father and he wants to invite you into his family. That is the thing that he’s a good father and he cares for everyone. He loves everyone, and he wants to take care of every person, and he sees everyone individually. Yeah,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:39):
That’s beautiful. Thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Pastor Niclas Wiktorell (08:43):
Thank you, Daniel.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson pastors a local church in the south of Sweden. On today’s episode of the Evangelism Podcast we talk about what God is doing in Sweden, the spiritual atmosphere in Sweden, and how the Pentecostal church of Sweden is reaching out to their communities with the love of Christ.
Learn more about Pastor Samuel Jonsson: www.hovslattpingst.se
Summary:
In this podcast episode, Evangelism Coach Daniel King interviews Pastor Samuel Jonsson from Sweden. Pastor Jonsson discusses the challenges of spreading the gospel in Sweden, a secular and individualistic country. However, he remains hopeful, noting that God is raising up young leaders and churches are starting to reach out and grow. Pastor Jonsson shares his church’s efforts to reach a specific area with a high concentration of broken homes and single parents. They have started a Sunday school and a children’s choir, which has attracted children from non-Christian homes. He also emphasizes the importance of pastors going on mission trips to expand their worldview and gain new perspectives. The episode concludes with a testimony of an 80-year-old man from Pastor Jonsson’s church who returned to a country he had previously worked in and witnessed the growth of the church.
Transcript:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King and I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. Today I have a very special guest with me, pastor Samuel Jonsson from the nation of Sweden. Thank you for joining me today.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (00:14):
Thank you so much for joining this podcast. It’s wonderful.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:17):
And so you are pastoring in the nation of Sweden. You have a Pentecostal church. Tell me what is God doing in Sweden right now?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (00:32):
I think God is doing a lot of things in Sweden. It’s quite, Sweden is quite a tough country in some ways, very individualistic, very secular in some ways. So it’s a quite hard time getting through everything else with the gospel, the message. But I think God is racing up young leaders and I think God is racing up leaders who wants to search the gifts of the Holy Spirit, get more into what God is doing, what God is saying, what God wants to do for the nation of Sweden. So I have hope for the nation of Sweden. I think God will do great things, but maybe we have to go through some tough things also during the way, but we can see some churches starting to reach out more, growing a little bit more. And then some churches of course struggling, especially in the north of Sweden, maybe small churches struggling a lot. And also in the south of Sweden, church is struggling because they’re quite small, some of them. But still I think God is moving in many ways. I can see small, I don’t know how to say it, but small signals of great things to come. I don’t know how to explain it better than that, but a longing for the things of God and a longing for the spirit of God to start to move and talk and speak and direct and heal and so on.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:05):
Now in what part of Sweden is your church located?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:09):
We are located in the south of Sweden, not the furthest down, I dunno how to say
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:15):
It,
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:16):
But in the south of Sweden. Yes.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:18):
And I’ve heard that that area is maybe known as the Bible belt of Sweden. You have many believers in that area, but of
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:26):
Course there’s, compared to the rest of Sweden, there’s
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:28):
Still many people that need Jesus.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:31):
Yeah,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:31):
Definitely. In the context of your area, what are you doing to reach out to the lost and bring people to Jesus?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (02:42):
Yeah, if I go to my church, the church where I’m a pastor, we are trying to specifically actually reach out to a specific area where we live. Of course we tried to reach out to all people where we live, but God gave us a heart for a specific, is like a small, I don’t know how to say it in English, but apartment, house area, something like that. Many families live there who have a quite tough situation, single parents and broken homes and so on. And we just received the heart for that area to try to reach out. So the woman who is a child and family pastor in our church, she got the vision together with a couple of other guys to start to have a Sunday school in this area. So on a regular basis they go up there on Sundays first we meet together, all of us in church and we pray together, together with this team and together with the rest of the church, we’ll celebrate.
(03:49):
We have worship in church and then they go up and they have a Sunday school for kids. But the focus is also to reach out to the whole family. So primarily through the kids, but then through the kids to the parents as well. And in this area we also had small, you say small events, gone there, done fun things for the kids, just blessing them, talk to people, get to know people. So we are trying in different ways to reach out to this specific area because we realized that almost none of the churches where we have people coming from this area to their churches. So it’s almost like a small subculture almost in the outskirts of the area. So we are trying to get in there and trying to reach people with the gospel. But then we also actually, I want to tell you about a kid’s choir. That’s also,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:58):
I think this idea is a very unique outreach idea. You were telling me about your children’s pastor and she has started this choir for the children and what is that?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (05:10):
Yeah, she got the vision for that. Also, I think our kids pastor has some kind of an evangelistic heart and she just got a vision to start kids choir in the area. So first we just had kids from our church maybe in the beginning starting to come and they wanted to sing and learn to sing and so on. But then the kids started to take their friends from school into this choir. So a lot of friends came who came from non-Christian homes into this choir. So I think now they can gather on Tuesday evenings and on Tuesday evenings there can be 70 kids, sometimes 60 to 70 kids and maybe half of it are from non-Christian homes. So then we have added special services Sunday services on a regular basis during the semesters where we try to, we invite everyone, all of these families to come because the kids’ choir will sing and we try to give different kids and the choir specific roles.
(06:24):
So the families really will come because they want to see their kids and then they come and listen to their kids singing. And we just try to incorporate dramas into those services and incorporate a simple gospel message just to present the gospel in Jesus Christ to these families. And we have not yet seen the fruit we are praying for, but we are just trying to continue in that direction because just recently actually we had this kind of a service for, I think it was two weeks ago or three weeks ago. And then a grandma who had followed the family to the church, she told one of our leaders afterwards, I don’t think she was a Christian or had any Christian heritage in that way, but she said that these services means so much to me. It was like something touched her heart, but maybe she could not spell it out what it was. I believe it was the spirit of God of course, but maybe she could not spell it out. So we are trying to reach out also through this choir. And then the church where I’m a pastor is really, I told you in the car, I think it’s a really entrepreneurial church, many entrepreneurial people. So there are more ideas than we can almost do so many ideas, so many visions. But it’s really fun.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:57):
I think that’s really wonderful. I think in the years to come, some of those entrepreneurial ideas will result in grapefruit for the kingdom of
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (08:05):
God. Yeah, I hope. I
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:07):
Sure hope. Let’s talk about your history. How did you become a believer? How did you know that you were called to be a pastor?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (08:16):
Yeah, I grew up in a Christian home. So I grew up in a Pentecostal church and both of my parents were a part of the church. My father was an elder in the church, but when I was quite young, I think I was nine years old, I remember quite vividly that my sister came home. I don’t know where she had been or maybe she had been to a camp or something. But she came home one day and we sat and we ate dinner. And I remember my sister started to talking about God and saying things about God that touched me in a special way. I had never experienced that because I remember looking into my sister, I was only nine years old, but remember it still, I was looking at my sister and I realized she has something that I don’t have. I had some kind of faith in God.
(09:13):
I remember, I mean we prayed together as a family. We prayed in the evening and so on. We could read the Bible together. And I had a children’s kind of faith maybe, but I saw something in her eyes and I realized she has something. And later on I realized that she had in some way accepted Jesus entire life. And that made me think at an early age think like what is this? And I started to pray. I remember in my own room like Jesus, I also want what she has. But then the specific moment came when I was at a big conference and I remember I had decided in my heart that tonight I want to really spell out a prayer that Jesus, I want you here in my heart. So I said to my mother, we were sitting in the front row seat that the conference, and I remember still that I turned to my mother at the end of the service and I said to her, I want to become a Christian. And then she followed me to what you call it when the
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:20):
Altar, the altar,
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (10:21):
Exactly to the altar. They had an altar called people were coming in front of the preacher or what? It
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:32):
Was for the altar time. Yeah,
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (10:35):
For the altar time, exactly. So I was just following my mother, and then an old man came up to us and he asked, what do you want? And I said, I want to become a Christian. And I remember praying that prayer, not feeling very much. I did not have a specific feeling in my body or anything, but from that moment, I have never looked back. It’s like Jesus has been the biggest part of my life since that moment. And then I got baptized a couple of years later when I was 11 or 12 or something, 11 years old. I think I had to wait a little bit. And then I got baptized. And then when I was in seventh grade, I experienced the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues for the first time at the church service, like a prayer service or something like that in my home church. I was sitting alone and just feeling the spirit, starting to draw me to him and then giving me words, speaking of tongue.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:35):
And then how did you know that you were called to be a pastor? To be in the ministry?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (11:41):
It’s a quite long process actually. But when I was in seventh, eight, nine grade somewhere, I started to think a lot about what am I going to do with my life? And remember quite early that sometimes when I thought about that, I started to think maybe I should be a preacher or maybe I should do missionary work or maybe I should. I started to have those thoughts in my mind, but I was pushing it away because I thought that pastor is always not for me. It’s like old men in strange clothing and I don’t want to be that. So I pushed it away. But then when I came to, I think in the states, you call it senior high school. In Sweden we call it gymnasium. So when I came to gymnasium when I was like 16, 17, 18 years old, then I started to become really passionate about serving God.
(12:45):
So we started a group in school, me and some friends, we had a group in the school, we were going to a Christian group and we did outreach and gave away books and gave away Bibles and did different events. And the passion to serve God just grew in me during that season. I could not say that I have a calling to become a pastor, but I just knew I want to serve Jesus. Jesus is the best thing I want to serve him. So that grew in my heart really during that period. And then when I came out of high school, I was still quite confused, what am I going to do with my life? But then I had some different events happening that pointed me in this direction. First it was actually, I worked at an industry where my father worked just for a short period of time.
(13:37):
And one day when I was standing there and working, I actually heard a voice. I think this was almost the first time where I can say I heard almost a clear voice. I almost jumped because I heard a voice saying that when you come home from work, your pastor are going to call you and he will offer you a yoga church to be a youth youth leader. And I was like, what is this? I remember going to the toilet and being like, God, was that you? It was so whoop. But then when I came home, I went up to the tv, put on the tv, and then 30 minutes later the phone rang and I just immediately knew my pastor is calling now, my mom picked up the phone and she called me Samuel Michael, our pastor is calling you. And I was like, yep.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
It’s like God calling Samuel in the Bible, Samuel.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (14:34):
Yeah, it was so specific, I just knew it. Okay, yes, I will take this. I took the phone, hello, Hey, we have been thinking do you want to work as a youth leader here in the church? And I was like, yeah, I’m going to think about it. You had a word from God, you knew he was calling. Let me pray about it a little bit. Yes, let me just pray. But I knew the answer of course. So then I worked at my home church for a short period of time. And then one year later or half year later, I went to Peru actually with a friend. We were on a short mission trip together, me and my friend. And in Peru, I once again heard that clear voice. And that was also very specific. I remember one night when I was laying in my bed, I just suddenly heard a voice say, when you come home, you are going to go to Bible college.
(15:29):
And he also told me what bible college it was. You will know when you get home why you are going to that specific Bible college. And in that bible college you will get what you call it. You will get direction for where and how you will serve me. So then I came to the Bible college. I met my then soon to be wife early on in the Bible college. And we started to date and see that we experienced, we felt that we should be together. And then at that bible college, in the beginning of it, I once again a third time heard the voice talk. And I remember the voice said that in the spring you will get an offer to start to work at the church and I want you to say yes, and then you will continue in that direction. So when the spring came, once again, that situation occurred.
(16:29):
So we got an offer, me and my then soon to be wife. We had an offer from a church in the north part of Sweden, far up north to come and work together with them quite broadly. We worked as some kind of youth workers, youth and kids workers, maybe you could call it, but also very evangelistic and also quite pioneering, but also preaching, teaching and everything. We had to do everything. So it was a great school actually to be there. So we was there for three years and then I felt, okay, this is what God has laid on my heart to work, to be in church, to be in ministry, continue as a pastor in different capacities. So then I went to study theology. So then we went to Stockholm in Sweden, the capital, I studied theology and leadership, and my wife studied to be an OB optician.
(17:25):
I think you can say. She had had that on her heart for a very long time to become that. So we was in Stockholm studying. And then I actually once again heard that voice. I’ve been hearing, of course God speaks all the time, but sometimes you can hear it more specifically, I believe. So I heard the voice when I was studying, say that the church where you are practicing now, they will ask you to become their senior pastor. And also once again, I want you to say yes. And I was like, I can’t be a senior pastor. Of course I can be on staff, I can be in a team, but can I lead the church? I had, it felt too big almost for me. I was only like 27 years old at that time or something. So I was like, oh no, that’s too big.
(18:16):
But then it came later on, a year later from that time because their pastor sadly became quite sick. The one I worked together with him in a small, I had a small percentage. I was paid a small percentage. So I worked at the church together with him, and then it became sick. And then they asked me, and then we just felt, yeah, God has prepared this, so let’s stay. So when I had studied, I continued in that church outside of Stockholm, a suburb of Stockholm. That’s like a long trajectory, but small steps where God has led. It
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:53):
Is beautiful to see how God has spoken to you at several key moments in your life and given you direction. Now, right now you and I are together in Asia, and I don’t want to mention exactly the particular country that we’re in, but we are here telling people about Jesus. Now I have a question for you. Do you think that pastors should regularly go on mission trips to different parts of the world? And what benefit would that be to a pastor?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (19:31):
First, I just want to say definitely I think you should go if you have the possibility. And the church may have the economy to send you away sometimes once in a while, I think you should do it definitely. Because especially when you come from the West, and maybe if you come from Europe who is quite once again quite individualistic, quite secular, it’s a quite tough place sometimes to be spiritually, I think. But then to also come to other places and see other kinds of soils almost,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:08):
They have a different set of problems. Yeah,
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (20:10):
Yeah. Every part of the world have their problems, but sometimes it can be good to change the
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:16):
Problems
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (20:17):
To see something else and see how other kinds of churches are thinking to see how they are working, to see how they are reaching out to the neighborhood. And when you come to places like this, we are now in Asia or I have traveled to Africa several times and you see, you can see, especially maybe when I was in Africa, you can see their hunger for God and their hunger to pray, their hunger to seek things of the kingdom, their hunger to lay hands on the Sikh and pray for them and believe that something actually can happen that stirs something in your heart that you have to take home. I mean, you can’t leave it there. You have to take it home
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:04):
At the very least. It gives you some good stories to tell next time.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (21:08):
Yeah, exactly. Definitely good stories to tell in your service. But I think, yeah, I always recommend, I had actually, when I was in Stockholm, I was the pastor of a satellite church and I had senior pastor working, leading me of course, and leading all the satellite church pastors. And he once said that you have to travel as a pastor from your country to other countries because you have to expand your world, otherwise you will become very narrow-minded and just thinking that you have all the answers and you know everything. So you have to, on a regular basis, expand your world. And I have carried that thought with me. If I have the chance to go away for a week or some days and you see something else and experience another culture, another church. And then I take it. And then I also love to travel, so it’s nice to travel, but I like that idea to expand the mind and expand the world and not become too narrow.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:20):
Now, there is a really wonderful testimony that has happened this week in this part of Asia. The Swedish Pentecostal church has actually been working for many years, and you brought with you one older gentleman from your church. He’s 80 years old, and he actually was here in this country working back in 1985.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (22:46):
Yeah, somewhere
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:47):
Early eighties,
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (22:48):
84, 85 until I think 87 or something like that.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:52):
Yeah. And so at that time, the church in this nation was very small, and now it is growing. They have gone from only a handful of locations to now over 450 different congregations with over 50,000 believers just in this one network of churches. And it was so beautiful to see this 80 year old, great man of God, come back and see some of the fruit of what the seeds that were planted so many years ago.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (23:32):
It was so beautiful. And he both were a part of the leadership seminar we had. And I mean, his English is not so well right now, but still sitting there and listening to him teach. And you think about how he planted that seed for like 35 years ago or something like that, more than 35 years ago, and he now gets to sit in front of young leaders in the north part of this country and teach them the word of God. I think it was so, it touched my heart, but then also to see him lead in the prayer of salvation yesterday at the campaign, it also touched me so much because you can see the faithfulness of God and you can see how he has walked with Jesus all his life, and he still has a passion for the kingdom of God. I mean, he’s seen a lot. He both have seen the good things and the ugly things in church and in the Christian life, and he’s seen everything of that. But still, he has a passion, a soft heart. A soft heart for God, and a soft heart for
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:43):
People. Now tell me his name. How do you pronounce it?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (24:49):
Sorry, not the common name in the States.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (24:52):
Yeah. Well, it was so beautiful to see, and it really encourages me because it means that the seeds that we plant today, imagine what God will do 30, 40 years from now. Can you imagine being 80 years old and coming back to some of the places where you have sowing seed
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:11):
And
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:11):
Seeing a great harvest?
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:12):
Yeah. That’s a dream. That would be a dream.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:16):
Amen.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:17):
Could be in that place.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (25:18):
Amen. Well, brother Samuel, thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast. I appreciate it.
Pastor Samuel Jonsson (25:23):
Thank you. Thank you, Daniel. Good to meet you.