Sunday afternoon

The month of June is a special time when Håkan & Gunilla have, in various ways, been important in our lives. When I came to Fristaden in 1991, we had all our children’s and youth camps in June, as well as the Midsummer Conference, which still is an annual happening, as you well know. In 1993, Håkan baptized me, and in 1997, he and Gunilla married us. Thank God for all of that!

Today, on our 12th anniversary, we have had the privilege – for the first time since the end of February – to meet Håkan. The last thing Håkan and I spoke about the 26th of February was missions, foreign outreaches and the importance of appreciating each other and what God is doing in the congregation. There’s always a risk that we become blind to what we have and take things for granted.

Suddenly Håkan said, ”Thus says the Spirit of the Lord: A time will come when we are apart from each other for such a long time that we will begin to long for and really deeply miss each other.” Who would have believed then that he spoke prophetically about something that would take place just a couple of days later? What a shock it was when the phone rang early on that Tuesday morning! In some way, this has given me strength anyway. Sometimes it becomes so clear that Jesus holds everything in his hands. He says, “No one can be more secure.”

Håkan’s birthday is on Tuesday and we left a CD with Josh Groban where he sings, among others, the song, ”You raise me up” (Rolf Lovland):

“You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.”

We continue together to lift up the Gniste family and their relatives in our prayers. We even believe that Håkan and Gunilla’s important ministry will continue and also become even more powerful.

Håkan asked us to greet you all and say that there will probably be a new operation on Wednesday, where they will transplant skin to some sores on his back which aren’t healing well. Please pray that everything goes well!

A praise report that Håkan shared is that he was outside for the first time yesterday. One of the nurses took him in a wheelchair down to the main entrance, around the corner, and in again through the back door. Other than the transportation from Linköping, this was his first chance to get outside. We understood that that meant a lot to him and he rejoiced over that.

After almost an hour it was time for dinner and we could contribute with a little dessert – a few strings of wild strawberries that the kids had picked. We left Håkan for the day, but we bear with us the memory of a nice time of fellowship.

Be blessed! Have a nice summer!

Mats (on the keyboard) & Sarah Samuelson, Uddevalla