Reflecting While Waiting ...

As I sit here at my hotel waiting for my ride to come, I can't help but think back on the last couple of days.
I have been so blessed to be able to spend time Bishop Glorious Shoo and Dr Huruma Nkone. God has truly brought these Men of God to us for a time as this. As we have talked about the event we are planning for June 2012, time and time again I have realized that these men are both men of great influence in the nation of Tanzania. They seem to know everyone.
Reflecting on things that God is doing is a great habit. So often we over look this and speed through life. Reflection keeps us thankful, grateful and humble. Without God we are nothing.
Sunday I preached two services at Victory Christian Center on obeying the calling and walking in step with the Spirit. He makes us look better than we are if we allow Him to lead, to be in control.
BTW, they know how to have church here in Africa. We arrived at the church just after 7am for the first service. At 3pm we left for a late lunch after three consecutive services without breaks. The same worship team ministered from around 630am until 330pm.
Powerful services. At the end of each I made an altar call for salvation and 4 precious souls entered the Kingdom. Bishop Shoo preached in the third services on the prophetic..
I returned to the hotel around 6pm exhausted but happy.


C U soon


/ Peter Published: By: The Almqvists - 2:46 PM

Third morning in Dar-es-Salaam

So I left the US on Tuesday pm and arrived to Tanzania very late on Wednesday, around midnight due to some delays on the way. Could not go to sleep (jet lag), battled my suitcase lock for almost an hour, showered and forced myself to sleep.
Dr Nkone, my host and senior pastor for Victory Christian Center in Dar-es-Salaam (DAR) has taken so good care of my since I stepped outside the arrival terminal at the airport. He and his wife picked me up and brought me to my hotel. We spent a good part of Thursday looking at possible venues for the June festival.
- We have the grand National Stadium, seating 60,000 on the bleachers

National Stadium

- We have the Uhuru Stadium, right next to it. At present under reconstruction. Will seat 30,000 on the bleachers

Uhuru Stadium

- We have Jangwani Grounds - a field that so far only Reinhard Bonnke and CfaN has been able to fill, some 10-15 years ago

Jangwani Grounds Down Town Dar-es-Salaam

Each one of these arenas have both advantages and disadvantages. We now need to determine which route we take. Trying to tune in to the heavenly frequencies to make the right choice.


I have also had time to look at the venue for the Campus Nights in November - a youth event that both evangelist Johannes Amritzer and the SOS Festival Band will take part in. VCC is hosting this event and they are expecting upwards of 15,000 young adults to attend. We will be setting up our equipment at the Leader's Club in DAR. Great venue for a youth event. Seems to be sort of a relic from the time of British rule; there is a Cricket pitch!


Today is another busy day with a grand tour of the city, scouting out accommodations, conference venues, places for street evangelism and more. In the afternoon I will be reuniting with Bishop Shoo from Moshi. He is the man that invited us to Same for our first festival in Tanzania. He is also the one that has opened the door for us to come to DAR and connected us with Dr Nkone and his team. I am looking forward to meeting this man of God so much. Will be a great evening with lot's of work and fellowship.


Pray with me for the right decisions to be made for the June event!

C U soon!
/ Peter Published: By: The Almqvists - 1:52 AM

The Power of Prayer

In January 2010, Pastor Ron Crum from King's River Worship Center in St. Albans, WV was at the MCM Ministry School teaching. One of the mornings, I was leading prayer at our Prayer School and afterwards he approached me and asked if I could come down and lead corporate prayer at his church. I agreed at once. We have since then tried to work out our schedules and now happened to be the opportune time.

Since Monday night I have lead the congregation here in prayer for an hour each evening and we are already seeing the power of prayer in action. The first evening was beautiful and there was such a Spirit of Prayer in the sanctuary. Time passed as we drew near to the master and entered into the throne room. That night we ended up by praying for Pastor Ron and his wife Phyllis. On her way home, she was rear ended. The culprit drove off from the scene. But Phyllis kept on hearing the word protection ring in her inside. She stepped out of the car without any injury. Witnesses of the accident were expecting her to be severely hurt but instead angels kept her safe.

Friends, there is such a power in prayer. Our lives need to be based on prayer. At present Mission SOS is in a forty day fast. God moves when we seek him. We are praying for breakthroughs in many areas and we are seeing the results already.

If you want to be fit and have a fine trimmed body, you need to spend time at a gym and exercise those muscles in your body. Sometimes even push yourself beyond your limit. The same is true for our spirits. For us to be spiritually strong we need to exercise our spirits through prayer. You need to build up your spiritual stamina through hours in prayer.

Paul wrote to his son Titus to build himself up in his most holy faith while praying in the Holy Spirit. Tit 1:20. We need to pray a lot in the Spirit, building ourselves up so that we become strong warriors in the Kingdom of God. 

The End Time harvest is at hand and we are privileged to live in this times. We will see the greatest harvest of souls that the world has ever seen and then our King, Jesus Christ, will return and take us home. 

Will it be easy? NO. Will it be worth the fight? YES. But we need to be prepared.

Soldiers train more during peace times. When the time comes for battle they need to be ready. Are you ready for the battle? Take the challenge! Step up to the plate! It is time for warriors to arise and take the world for our King! 

If you feel inadequate and poorly equipped for the task at hand then I urge you to come to MCM Ministry School and be trained for a year for the End Time harvest.

Hope to C U in Pittsburgh in the near future!

/Peter

Published: By: The Almqvists - 4:46 PM

Building the Kingdom!

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what we do when we build the Kingdom of God, and what it means to be a part of just that. The Kingdom of God is HUGE and great and I'm so honored to be a part of it, but every Kingdom is made up of little bits and pieces, or bricks you could say. There is no great building that just "started to exist" and that is all in one piece from the start... You have to start building, digging for the foundation, laying the foundation, then laying brick after brick after brick - until the building is great and huge.

The Kingdom of God is the same way, the brick is you and me, and what we do for the Lord. When we do our very best, whatever task we have in front of us, whether it's mothering your kids, taking care of your home, helping your neighbor, preaching, working as a nurse, lawyer or an admin assistant, we are laying yet another brick to what is the Kingdom of God. So it's so important that we serve the Lord with all our heart, always trying to do our uttermost best, to be excellent AND dependant on God! Sometimes when I am doing something that I don't think of as very significant or important I try to remind myself; I'm laying another brick to the Kingdom - and all of a sudden the task that I thought was quite boring becomes more fun :)!


Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters...

Col 3:23

You are a Kingdom builder - be meticulous, excellent and serve with a heart full of gratitude, in the Holy Spirit you can!

/Martina

Published: By: The Almqvists - 2:25 PM

Great Buy!

A few weeks ago Johannes Amritzer released his fourth book; A Public Spectacle. This is a great book about the ministry of the Apostle that I greatly recommend! Here's a little appetizer on what you'll find in the book:

Paul uses the words “a public spectacle” to describe the ministry of the apostle. Today, almost 2000 years later, that description can still be applied. The apostle is often slandered, jeered at and strongly questioned. Few are bold enough, and enough aware of their callings, to follow Paul’s lead and entitle themselves Apostle.



This book is a simple Bible study about the apostolic ministry. What is an apostle? What is his purpose? The book shows what characterizes an apostle and what victories await him who dares to take his calling seriously. It is an encouragement to all the church planters out there, and all the pioneer missionaries among the unreached peoples. The book is an inspiration to apostles who feel like fools for Christ – just like Paul. In this public spectacle, you are in good company!


This book is only $10, so order your copy today! Email usoffice@missionsos.org asap!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 3:18 PM

Met a Hero Today

Today I met a true hero; her name is Sarah Graefe and she is a missionary that just came home from Harar, Ethiopia. Sarah spent the last 9 months in the city of Harar working as a SOS missionary. She has many wonderful stories to tell about her time there, and when I asked her if she had any questions about her stay there her answer came quickly; "when can I go out again?!"



Sarah is a true missionary, her heart, love and passion for people shines all around her, she is like a magnet that draws people to her and leads them to Jesus! She has done a tremendous job, working at the mission base and also heading up the childrens ministry in Harar Church of Joy. Sarah, we couldn't be prouder of you, you are amazing and we know that many many will thank you in eternity for showing them the way to Jesus!

Welcome home!

/Martina Published: By: The Almqvists - 10:19 PM

Jersey Shore and Heavenly Fire

In Acts chapter one we can read about a group of 120 disciples that had locked themselves behind doors. They were hiding in the upper room. Hiding from what you may ask? Or from who? They were scared to death because they had believed that Jesus was the deliverer. And after he died and rose from dead They were accused of fabricating
his resurrection and were scared of their fellow country men, the Jews.

Reading chapter two we see the disciples preaching boldly on the streets about Jesus and them seeing thousands turn from darkness to light and receive salvation.

Question is: what happened? The answer is found in the first couple of verses of chapter two.

Holy Spirit showed up. Looked like fire. Sounded like a thunderstorm. Changed everything. Why did Holy Spirit come? First of all because Jesus said he would. But also so that we could win the world.

When Holy Spirit comes over us we are dipped in Jesus' river of liquid fire and we come out burning. That fire
- eradicates fear
- makes us bold for our King.
- shakes the ground we stand on
- enables us to win the world

This weekend is Pentecost. The Jews celebrated Pentecost as a feast of the harvest. Today Pentecost needs to be all about the harvest again; not wheat and corn but souls, souls and more souls.

I am in Lakewood, NJ with Pastor Wes Lindquist and Ricky George. They are treating me like a king. Today we had lunch at Surf Taco




Last night Ricky hosted a Pentecostal Youth Rally and my friend Greg Hubbard preached. Wow! The man can preach. He only has one gear: full speed ahead. He preached out of Num 16:42-50 where Moses and Aaron stopped the plague.

In the altar ministry time we prayed for baptisms in the Holy Spirit. Many began speaking in tongues for the first time. I prayed with several (Gypsies) teenager boys and they were baptized in fire.

When we say yes to Jesus we are on our way to heaven. But there is so much more to life than that and in order for us to experience the full life of God we need to be dipped in that river of liquid fire. The world needs Christians that are burning with that heavenly fire. Those people will change the world

Tomorrow I am preaching at Calvary Lighthouse on the Fire of God and why we preach the Gospel. It is Pentecost weekend and we need the fire.

C u soon

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Published: By: The Almqvists - 2:09 PM