Greece!!!

Velingrad Signs & Wonders Festvival finished with a crescendo of salvation and healing miracles! Jesus has done so much this past week and I am so thankful that I got to go to Bulgaria. Read more about the last day at Johannes Amritzer's blog.

Yesterday was our day off and Linda, Annelie, Helena, the Johnsen and Edlund family took us to Greece and the Mediterranean!!! Wow - just the drive over the mountains was fabulous and well, I'll let these pics speak for themselves.

On our way, Lisa, Linda and Emma.

Quite a view...

Kavala

Lucas loved the beach!!!

We ended the day with seafood at the resautant just above the beach - wow wow wow!!!

Thank you so much for having me as your guest this week, wonderful Bulgaria base!!! I have learned so much from everyone of you guys, you are truly amazing, I have been so spoiled by everyone! I love you guys so much and am so happy and priviledged to be family with you!!!

/Martina

Published: By: The Almqvists - 5:36 AM

Day Three and Four...

It's been two fabulous days here in Velingrad!!! Yesterday we had an outreach in a village called Kostandovo, the team performed like they've never danced or sung the songs before and we invited people to the festival in the evening. It was great!


Pastor Michael Williams from calvary Temple Worship Center in Modesto, CA preached yesterday and the day before and it was wonderful. Many people came to Jesus for the first time and many were healed in their bodies. Johannes came back today after wedding a couple in Sweden and it is - as always - great to see him. He preached tonight and heaven was just open over the theater. So many were saved tonight and about 20 came forward to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. We hardly needed to pray for them, the Spirit of God was so strong that they just started speaking in tongues by themselves!


Lucas is making new friends... Caleb Johnsen is just a month older and their way of socializing is by looking at each other while waving their arms :)...

Annelie took me shopping in Plovdiv today! It was s fun!!! Annelie is Walter's Admin Assist and she is so fun to be around. We laughed alot... And shopped what we needed too :). On our way there we drove by the city of Pazardjik, where Mission SOS started its mission work in Bulgaria 2001. I had never been there and it was so good to just drive by the area where it all started... Alot is happening all the time, tomorrow it's the last day, I should get some sleep...

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 5:30 PM

Day Two at Velingrad Signs & Wonders Festival

It's day two at the festival here in Bulgaria and it's absolutely amazing what Jesus does! The opening service yesterday was super, the team here were so professional but at the same time did everything with such a heart and you could just sense their love for the people in everything. About 25 people gave their hearts to Jesus last night and several were healed and tonight another 20 were saved! Jesus is awesome - I have the best life in the world!!!

Emma, Ida, Linda and Milo chillin after the festival meeting

This is Lucas first festival - but it sure wont be his last...

Lisa cooks for us every night - she's amazing!!!

I am loving every minute here in Bulgaria! Supper is served downstairs now so I should run down and join everyone. I'll keep you posted what's happening later this week.

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 2:21 PM

In Love with the Pomacs

I am in Velingrad, Bulgaria and have been here one day. Lucas and I arrived to Sofia last night, Walter and Linda picked us up and we spent the night at a nice hotel in Sofia. It was so good to see Walter and Linda again! Linda and I talked nonstop all the way from Sofia to Velingrad today - it's amazing how much two gals have to talk about...!

Lucas and I are staying at the team house where the Zuniga family and Janko and Monica lives. It was so great to see and hug all the missionaries... Today I've just marveled over the base here, there is such a peace and feeling of well being here. Though all the work for the festival that starts tomorrow, there's no stress. Wow!


Tonight I went with the team up to a Pomac village to talk to people and invite them to the festival. It was absolutely amazing!!! So beautiful, the people so open hearted and warm... I fell in love with the Pomac people. Ida Elfving (SOS missionary) guided me through the village and was gracious enough to translate for me so that even I could understand :). Thanks Ida! These people stole my heart tonight, I can't wait for the festival to start tomorrow and see what Jesus will do!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 3:05 PM

Bulgaria - here we come!

Velingrad, Bulgaria

Tomorrow Lucas and I leave for Bulgaria. Peter and Josefina is meeting up Johannes in Norway a couple of days and Michael is spending the night at Adam's house (his best friend)... So tonight we are doing laundry, unpacking and packing our suitcases again and trying to organize everyone's next few days :)...

I am so excited about finally going to our base in Bulgaria!!! The mission base has exicted since January 2005, but I've never had the chance to go, but now I'll be there for the festival In Velingrad this week and I've heard rumors that we might be going to Greece as well on our day off!!! I am longing to see all the missionaries, they are true heroes to me. They truly live the Book of Acts, pray with people to salvation, healing, baptism in the Holy Spirit and baptize new believers every week! They are awesome role models for a Jesus-life and I love them so much! Walter and Linda Zuniga are such great base leaders, I'm looking forward to spending alot of time with Linda and her boys...

God is so good all the time and I am so excited about what Jesus will do at the festival and the outreaches next week!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 3:20 PM

The most important thing in Life...

Right now Michael, Lucas and I are at my parents house on the little island, Fotö, about 20 minutes from Gothenburg. We drove up yesterday, Peter and Josefina are still with his parents. We'll drive up to Stockholm again on Saturday.

I had an amazing trip yesterday!!! 2.5 hours alone on the car (Michael watching Garfield and Tom and Jerry on a portable DVD and Lucas sleeping most of the time) with my Jesus!!! As a mom of three kids you sometimes have to be a little creative to find time to pray and worship the Lord every day, some days this might be a little challenging, but it is possible to find time every day for just Jesus and you... These moments are the best, just to be able to spend time with the Holy Spirit, listen to Him, worship the Lord, pray, sing worship songs from the top of your voice... Wonderful, and totally neccessary! Prayer walks are great too, put your baby in the stroller, walk the neighborhood and speak to the Lord and listen to Him. The baby will most likely fall asleep and you'll look at life from a different perspective too...

I had almost forgotten this great worship song, when it suddenly started playing on the stereo... Listen to these words, this is exactly why I love Jesus so much... He was neglected, dispised and torn apart so that I could be free... Wow, what a God, what a Savior!



Take every opportunity to worship and praise Him! Alone in your car is a great place!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 5:41 AM

Visiting In-Laws

Yesterday we drove down to Southern Sweden to visit with my in-laws a couple of days. I have the greatest mom and dad in-law!!! They always take so much time with their grandkids and the kids love coming here!!! Skåne (that's where they live) is actually my favorite place in Sweden... It is so beautiful and very different from the rest of the country. Peter and I were married in Skåne and this is where we met so I guess it's special in many aspects... But just look at the pics!!! Love it!!!

This is not my in-law's house, but isn't it beautiful???

We're taking turns looking after the kids and working right now, that's what you gotta do when there's no school eh? As many of you know, we are still in Sweden because we are waiting on our visa papers to come through, and tomorrow the immigration people's time is up and hopefully we'll hear something this week! Please help us pray that we will get all our neccesary papers this week. We love being in our home country, but we really feel that it's time to get home to Pittsburgh now too...

I'm sitting in the same room as the kids right now and they want to sleep, so I gotta go...

/Martina

Published: By: The Almqvists - 2:20 PM

We Missed 4th of July...

It's past 12 pm and I'm sitting in Maria Evermin's kitchen realizing that I will miss 4th of July this year!!! Peter and I moved to the States in September 2005 and have celebrated this very special holiday every year since then... I know that's not a whole lot of years, but anyway. First time we were in Yorktown Virginia and it was an awesome awesome celebration, we were at a former battlefield, there was a band playing and the fireworks went on for ever! There is something special about this patriotism that every US citizen seems to have... I must admit; I love it! And I will miss not celebrating 4th of July this year. Peter and I will just have to get some fireworks of our own here in Stockholm and celebrate anyway :)!

Ps. One thing that was special this year though, was that we were actually in Sweden for our own National holiday, June 6th! God is good!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 7:17 PM

Family Night!

We just came home from a wonderful evening with our SOS family. SOS Church met at Julia's place and bbq'ed and just hung out, it was great. I feel so rich to be a part of such a huge, loving, warm and fun family! I feel so blessed to have so many friends!

Right now Peter and I are staying with Ante and Maria in their apartment and we are loving every minute of it! Ante and Peter are tech freaks and talk about stuff like "the new XCTW"/TWR loudspeaker" like its breakfast cereal or something, ha ha... Our kids adore Maria, she was their nanny a couple of years ago, and they are having the time of their lives. I feel rich tonight, so many great friends/family, so much love, I have three precious kids asleep in the next room (thank God :)), a wonderful husband and a heavenly Daddy that loves me no matter what!

My three little threasures!!!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 5:46 PM