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.
