Dodoma, Tanzania and a Fly on the Wall

On the left our host, TAG Bishop Steven Mahinyila

I am back in Tanzania planning and working with preparations for our festival in Dodoma in July later this year. This will be the second city of the African Capital City Tour (ACCT). Besides setting up and being at one of our festivals, this is the best thing I know. To come in to a place and share the vision with Bishops, pastors and leaders. Talking with them about what God has called us to do and to see the spark in their eyes when they catch the vision. 

Some of the bishops before we began our meeting

Last night we invited the Pentecostal Bishops of Dodoma to a dinner at one of the centrally located hotels. Sure, they came for some good food but more so to hear what God has placed on our hearts. Pastor Huruma Nkone from Dar-es-Salaam came for the day and together we share the vision of a city wide festival with them. All of a sudden I saw it all over the room, one at a time. The spark, the fire in their eyes. Yes the connection was made. Their spirits resounded to what the Spirit of God was saying. So beautiful when it happens. 

The early arrivals to our pastors meeting

So often we push on and try in our own strength believing that we are working with God when in fact, He is standing there waiting for us to give up, throw in the towel and surrender to Him. Then he can step in and take control. Let us walk in step with the Spirit of God and find ourselves in the middle of His perfect will and timing.

Have you ever wished that you were a fly on the wall during a certain point in time? During a certain episode of history? I have many times. One of them is during the episode that we can read in 1 Kings chapter 6 and 7. There was a great famine in the land and the capital was surrounded and besieged by the enemy. In chapter 7, verse 3 and 4 we can read about 4 men with leprosy that were living outside the city gates in isolation. This morning they say to themselves that if the stay where they are they will die and if the go back in to the city they will also die.

One of them then has the brilliant idea to go to the enemy thinking that if they surrender them may be allowed to live. It is a BAD DAY when your best and only option is go to the enemy’s camp.

And then it happens. The four men limp away towards the enemy camp. But the enemy hears a vast army and is so terrified that they flee leaving everything, even their weapons behind. This is where I would have loved to be a fly on the wall. To see who enters the camp. Not a mighty army. Not people trained for battle. Instead four limping men with an extremely contagious disease. 

All God needs is for us to take a step and begin to move. Then he will move heaven on our behalf and chase any enemy on the run. Let’s take a step for Jesus today. It does not need to look nice or big grand. Just a tiny small step - even towards the enemy will do.

God wants to move on your behalf my friend!

I will try and be back sooner in the future!!!

Published: By: Unknown - 9:28 AM

Ambassadors and Breakfast with Impalas

Yes, I am back in Africa. This time in Lusaka, Zambia.

Yesterday morning when I sat down outside on the porch to have breakfast, there were 9 impalas roaming around just 10 meters (30ft) from my table. Africa is amazing in many ways.

Then I left for church and preached at Jehova is in Control Church. What a church. See the pics below. I preached about being an Ambassador for Christ (2 Cor 5:20) and the people caught the fire. When I made my altar call for salvation all hands went up. As I proceeded to make my very clear invitation cleared, 25 precious souls came to the altar and gave their lives to Jesus. The hunger for God is so intense that when people hear the gospel, they respond. They want the power, the change, the new life, the fire so much that they will respond to any altar call.

God is on the move all over Africa. There is a hunger that draws His presence down like never before. In city after city the power of God is changing lives.

We, the body of Christ, the believers, the Christians, are all called to be Ambassadors for Christ. I looked up the meaning of the word ambassador. Check this out:

- an accredited diplomat sent by its country as it's offical representative to a foreign country

- an official envoy

- an authorized representative

So if we are Christ's ambassadors, then we are accredited envoys sent from His Kingdom into this world to represent him. When an ambassador speaks it is like his president/prime minister (or King in the old days) spoke. The words spoken carry the same weight. They are backed by an entire nation or Kingdom.

An ambassador works and sometimes even lives at an Embassy. Again let us check the dictionary:

- the official residence and or office of an ambassador

- a mission sent by one ruler or state to another

An Embassy is a unique place. It is a piece of land offered by the host nation to the foreign nation where the foreign nations's laws rule. Being a Swede living in the US I can walk in to my Embassy in Washington DC and I will be on Swedish soil, protected by the Swedish government and Swedish laws.

A diplomat has immunity. Again back to the dictionary:

- exemption from certain laws

An ambassador cannot be treated like other individuals. When he travels in a diplomatic car, he can not be stopped by local authorities. He enjoys immunity. There are special laws that apply to a diplomat.

As Christ's ambassadors we are representing a different Kingdom and our embassy is not a physical building. The Bible speaks about the Kingdom being within us. So we carry the Kingdom with us at all times. We live by a different set of laws and rules than the world around us. The Holy Spirit lives on the inside and we carry His power with us. Let us walk around and be like Jesus. The testimony about him is found in Acts 10:38 where Apostle Peter says:

"... you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."

What is the testimony of you and me? This is the challenge for us today? Are we walking around as ambassadors or did we forget to put on our "ambassador suit" this morning?

Let us walk around as ambassadors changing the world one person at a time.

C u soon!! Published: By: Unknown - 6:04 AM

Day 2 and 3 in the Himalayas

The second night was a night of salvations! We preached on the blood of Jesus and the response was great, so many pushed their way forward to receive Him!! The crowd grew a little bit, but as we enter the weekend we stand in faith and believe for thousands to find their way to our field!

We see many deaf ears opening up and we are rejoicing together with the people! Jesus is really walking the festival grounds! It was a clear sky during the entire meeting and when we got to our car afterwards, the skies opened up and rain started to pour down! What a good God we have! During our meetings there has not been a drop of rain so far!

One of the most amazing miracles that took place was a man walking with a cane that came to listen. He testified from the stage and told us that as I preached the gospel he felt the power and the peace of God, and then he decided to give His life to Jesus. Afterwards he came forward for healing and gave me the cane and started to walk across the stage! What a victory!

We love the people of this nation!

We serve the One and only living God! Thank you Jesus for kissing this festival!

Samuel Strandberg
Mission SOS

We had a breakthrough on our 3rd festival night!! We turned the whole ground into a huge party for Jesus! As the team sang and danced on stage everyone, from old to young, joined in! It was an amazing sight! Hundreds of people ran forward for salvation and after that a healing explosion broke out.

Jesus opened up blind eyes and deaf ears all over the field! We had 6 people come up on stage and testify what Jesus had done for them and all we could do was to stand in awe and thank God for kissing our festival with his beautiful presence… The crowd grew even bigger tonight and there is an anticipation for mighty things the last night of this festival. So far around 800 people have given their life to Jesus! Each and everyone of them are so precious!

Thank you for standing with us!

Samuel Strandberg
Mission SOS

Published: By: Unknown - 5:08 AM

The Mute Speak in the Himalayas!

MISSION Our festival among the unreached has finally begun! We are in a completely unreached region preaching the wonderful message of Jesus Christ! The team that is made up by 7 people from the US, Sweden and India arrived to the field last night where just about 300 people were gathered, but as the minutes passed, more and more people came. When Samuel started to preach there were around 1500 on the field. We preached a crystal clear gospel message about Jesus, the peacemaker. It turned out to be a word from heaven as our festival here is called the Peace and Prayer Festival.

Several high authorities in the region came out and participated. It was a beautiful sight when we started the festival by praying for the country, the state we are in and the local village. When the salvation invitation rang out people came from all over the field. We are still waiting for the final decision card count but we estimated it to be somewhere around 200 people that gave their lives to Jesus!

As we started to minister to the sick, demons manifested and people were carried out to the “demon clinic” where Jesus started to do miracles! A young boy who had been totally mute came up on stage, but as the power of God came over him He started to speak and make sounds! The crowd loved it, and praised God and we are so thankful to Jesus for what He is doing. There was also an older man that received hearing on his right ear! Jesus is so good! We anticipate the crowd to at least double in size today and we are so excited to see even more miracles and signs from heaven!

We love this nation!

Thank you for all your prayers, we will continue to keep you updated as much as possible, but internet is extremely hard to find out here.

Samuel and Gabrielle Strandberg
Mission SOS

Published: By: Unknown - 5:02 AM

Miracles in Mbeya Tanzania!

The festival in Tanzania is in full swing as I am writing this. Peter and our daughter Josefina has been there over a week already and the festival is on day three. Jesus has done amazing miracles, so many people saved, deaf ears have been opened, blind eyes healed, the mute are speaking! It is just like we read about in the gospels or the book of Acts!

Our team from Sweden, Norway, USA and Switzerland have joined together with the locals team in Mbeya in a beautiful way. They are preaching all over the city in the mornings and then join together in the afternoon for our large open air festival meetings.

Check out these videos from the first days:

 

Update 1 Mbeya 2014 from Mission SOS on Vimeo.


Update 2 Mbeya 2014 from Mission SOS on Vimeo.

Update 3 Mbeya 2014 from Mission SOS on Vimeo.

Check back with us soon for more updates!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 8:46 AM

Fire, Antelopes and Wildhog...

I am sitting in my hotel room in Lusaka, Zambia and thinking back on the last week. Last Saturday I landed in Dar-es-Salaam again. Tanzania has become like a second (or third, or fourth) home in a way. Johannes arrived later in the evening and he preached 3 times the following day for Dr Huruma Nkone at VCCT. Great services. Powerful presence of heaven.

Tuesday morning we flew to Mbeya in the south. My alarm went off at 0230 so that we could make the 6am flight. We then had three days of mobilization in Mbeya. We meet with key people from the government, business people from the region and religious leaders. They all extended their hands in partnership and they all welcomed us to their city and region. God is planning something extraordinary for Mbeya in July.

Healed in her right ear.

Bishop Barnabas Mtokambali of the Tanzania Assemblies of God and his Executive team have and are showing us great favor in their nation. The TAG is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year and will be holding a large celebration conference in Mbeya in July. They invited us to hold our festival the same week. They are bringing in close to 5,000 pastors and we are bringing in close to 200 people to evangelize the city.

Mbeya will be shaken by the power of God. Jesus is about to show up in a new fresh way in the city and people will run to him like never before.

I left Mbeya and headed to Lusaka, Zambia for a scouting/recon trip. My flight was delayed so I arrived in the late afternoon. Bishop Mackson Mando from the AG met me at the plane together with some person from the airport. This man walked me through immigration in a breeze. Outside 4 other bishops were waiting. They all welcome me and SOS to Zambia.

As I was sitting outside in the sun taking my breakfast Saturday morning I see 10-15 antelopes about 50 meters away (150ft) just grazing in the open behind the hotel. Nice welcome to Lusaka. We spent the afternoon driving around the city, mainly the eastern parts, to see scout out good festival grounds. We may have found a good field. It is in densely populated area. But we are still not sure. It was so good to get a feel for the city.

That evening as I had some warthog for dinner. Someone knows how to cook in this place...
This morning I had the privilege to preach for Bishop Mackson Mando at his church. Great church. Maybe 300 people gathered this morning for service. I shared miracle stories, preached about a different fire that doesn't consume us. When I gave the altar call the altars were filled, maybe 70% came to the front. It was beautiful and powerful. Many recommitted to Jesus as the understood who He truly is and that he stepped down to lift us up! A glorious morning indeed. I was then invited to the Bishop's house for lunch. God is good.

Tomorrow I will meet the president of the EFZ, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, an umbrella organization for all the evangelical denominations and churches in Zambia. Zambia is known as a Christian nation. So why am I here?

Good question my friend. Last year God spoke to us about the capital cities of Africa and specifically the young generation. We were to set up festivals in each city and train the young to listen to the Spirit of God and life in the supernatural with signs, wonders, and miracles.

Driving from the airport to my hotel on Friday I asked the Bishops to tell me about the city. They said that Lusaka has a lot of churches and that Zambia is considered a Christian nation but there is a great challenge with the young people. Unless truly committed to God and the church, they are out  doing a whole lot of no good. Alcohol is a big, big problem. The young are not living for Jesus. This is why God has called us to Lusaka. To show them who He truly is. We want to come here and be real with the people. I tried to be real this morning and when I was, 70% responded to Jesus.

I believe Holy Spirit wanted me (us) to see and get a taste of what He wants to do in this city. We are a willing tool...

Lusaka for Jesus!

C u soon again somewhere in the world!! Published: By: Unknown - 4:44 PM

Sialkot Video

Check  out this video from the Peace Festival in Sialkot Pakistan...


Sialkot Pakistan 2014 from Mission SOS on Vimeo. Published: By: Unknown - 9:27 PM