A crisp morning–just at freezing–brought a beautiful blue sky. Similar to Seattle, when the cloud blanket is removed at night, it gets freezing cold, but the blue sky and sunshine are brilliant.
Anya stayed home to recover a bit more as a sore throat persists. I took the bus to Stavanger for worship at the Stavanger International Church which meets at Misjonshøgskolen (the School of Mission and Theology or MHS–my school). There are half as many bus departure times on a Sunday, which means I arrived about hour early. Since it was so beautiful and I had time, I took my favorite walk to Litla Stokkavatnet, a small lake with a charming walking path. A thin layer of ice made it easy for the ducks to snatch the bread pieces that were offered by a family, including 2 small children. It was a wonderful walk.
The International Church really is international. Today, I worshiped with brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world. I’d say the largest group is black, with the second being Caucasian, and a good representation of East Asians and Central Asians. The distinction of this international church is that it is not lead by Norwegians and Americans. It is truly an international fellowship. (One in five Christians in the world today is African!)
My conversations were with people from Fiji (who is married to a woman from Norway), Equatorial Guinea (who is married to a man from Iceland), an American (married to a man from Norway who met in Madagascar), and Melanie, a black woman from Curaçao, in the Caribbean, part of the Dutch Antillies, discovered by Columbus. As part of the Kingdom of Netherlands, she holds Dutch citizenship and went to university in the Netherlands. She is married to man from Zimbabwe, who was a student in Poland, but they met at a Christian conference (IFES) in Germany. They now live in Norway, but he works in the Netherlands.
The worship of this gathering of almost 100 was a glimpse of eternity, when people from so many different cultures can bring voices together in praise of our one God. The music was upbeat, with drums (African), guitar (Asian), bass (South Pacific), keyboards (Norwegian), and lead by three singers (Australian, Asian, and Indian). The music included scripture songs and praise songs with solid lyrics, all of which I knew. I think Anya will be OK here, despite the few youth (though lots of younger ones). As a Lutheran, she’s used to only a few youth in church!
They did invite first-time visitors to stand and introduce themselves. I was the only one, so several came to talk with me afterwards. The welcome was warm and inviting, with a nice spread for a fellowship time after the service. When Melanie learned that I came on the bus from Sandnes, she offered me a ride home. What hospitality–again. Exchanging cell numbers, I have a ride now for the future.
While I have the street address for my house, I know little more about how to get here except from the path I walk from the bus and from downtown. It was impossible to give directions from places I did not know. Fortunately, Melanie pulled out a GPS which gave us a location that was discernible.
This is one of the interesting ironies of this journey; to work toward a PhD, I demonstrate how little I know. I don’t like looking like a fool, but each day, I have an opportunity to learn humility. How does the bus pass work? Or the alarm system? Or the bread machine? Does this recycle? Who do I see for a key card to access the building? What do these instructions in Norsk mean? I need help. Fortunately, there are caring people–and a little help from Google.
I pray that there are a couple caring people in Anya’s class tomorrow–her first day finally.
Tonight Anya said, “Tomorrow, when we wake up, we’ll know who won the Superbowl.” Her last words for the day were, “Go Seahawks!”