“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:34 (NIV)
According to Operation World, Norway’s high quality of life draws many immigrants from around the globe. Norway is also a country with Christian roots, with 91.1% of the population identifying as Christian today. Immigrants of other faiths, therefore, should have many opportunities to experience the love of God. But, as Bente (Norway) found out when she returned from serving nine years with OM in India, though many refugees from different Muslim nations had moved to Norway, hardly any Jesus followers or churches were reaching out to them, befriending them, inviting them to their homes or churches or sharing the good news with them.
According to Bente, a major challenge for newcomers to Norway is integration.
“We are failing in the integration too much,” she said. “We give [immigrants] whatever they need financially. But very few [Norwegians] become friends with them. And very few of us share the gospel with them.” After visiting the different churches in her hometown to see how they were reaching out to their new neighbors, Bente found out that none of them were.
Seeing the need, she launched international evenings in her own church after talking with her pastor and gathering a team of eight or nine Jesus followers. The team invited people from different faiths and cultures to international evenings in the church. People from other nations were asked to cook food and share pictures and stories from their countries while Bente and her team shared the gospel and played music during the evening. Church members were invited so that they could easily get to know their new neighbors, sit with them and hopefully start building friendships. The gatherings became very popular, and up to 230 people from 31 different nationalities attended.
Sadly, the team did not see many church members interested in building relationships outside of the evenings with people from other backgrounds, or they were unsure how to do so. The immigrants were excited about the gatherings and often said: “Thank you so much for inviting us!” and “PLEASE, come and visit us.” They longed for friendships and people who would care enough to visit them in their homes. With a small team, Bente started doing home visits where they went out two by two and shared the gospel and prayed for people in their homes.
“If the whole church was involved, we could do [the home visits]. But if it is just a little team of two, three, four, five people, we cannot,” she recalled.
When the position of OM leader in Kristiansand, Norway, opened up, it was immediately clear to Bente and her husband that it was God’s will, as it would allow them to reach out to the least reached who had now become their neighbors.
The choice of location for the family was not random either. They knew that God was calling them to settle in Slettheia, which is the most populated immigrant settlement in Kristiansand. God had shown the place to Bente’s husband while he was praying before his work.
Bente pointed out that the local church in Norway is committed to sending mission workers and praying for missions work around the world, yet little was being done locally to reach out to those who didn’t know Christ. In Bente’s opinion, this may be due to a fear of imposing and possibly a fear of people of different faiths. Others simply don’t know how to start the conversation.
To this, Bente advised:
“Talk to [people]. It’s as simple as that. Just say ‘hi’, invite them for a cup of coffee, or just introduce yourself and say: ‘Where are you from?’ You can be bold. Don’t think: what will they think of me? People love to hear your story. They love to hear your experience with God, and who He is.”
Through friendship, Bente and her small team of three have been reaching out to their neighbors over the last six years and intentionally prayed for each one of them and said they are available to help if needed. There are various ways the team connects with the community and builds friendships.
“God gave us a vision of starting to reach out to the children first. So that’s why we started five years ago a free camp for children in the community. God has opened doors to the school. We can rent the school for free in the summer holiday for one week,” Bente said.
They also launched language cafes for women, and recently for men, where a theme is discussed, and at the end, a bit about Jesus is shared.
Other activities include ‘taste and friendship’ gatherings where the team invites people to make food from their home country or teach others the recipes.
Many people have shared their stories of how these encounters have been good for them.
The OM team has seen a difference in the community as the love of Christ is shared. A family from Sri Lanka shared with Bente that in the 21 years they have lived in Norway, no one ever came up to them to say ‘hi’ or tried to get to know them.
One time in the language café, the theme was ‘light’. Volunteers shared about the importance of light in everyday life and then how Jesus said that whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going (John 12:35).
A woman from a Muslim background exclaimed: “It’s just like you are the light. You are showing us how to live our lives.” She later decided to follow Jesus. Others testified that they felt better after being prayed for.
Bente and her team hosted 17 students from Bergen Bible School who came to learn how to share God’s love through some teaching sessions and then later practicing what they learned at the language café and during home visits. One of the highlights was when a woman from Somalia, who has lived in Norway for 27 years, arrived at the cafe in the middle of a teaching session on ‘How to share the gospel with Muslims’. A Muslim herself, the woman was fully covered in a niqab. She entered the classroom and sat down with the students, who looked at her with astonishment. Bente introduced them to each other and invited the group to get to know each other by asking questions.
“They were asking lots of questions to one another and it turned out to be a wonderful time for the students,” recalled Bente.
The story of a couple from another faith who, having decided to follow Jesus, are now speaking to thousands of people through the media, showed Bente that reaching out to just one person can have a greater impact than one might think.
“You can reach out to the one.” She said. “And why are we not reaching out to the one? And why are we just passing by? Why are we not saying even a ‘hello’? I think we would have seen so much more if we would have dared to go out, to really be the light that God has called us to be among the people.”
Please pray with us for more workers who have a heart for the least reached to join the team full-time. Pray for believers to create bonds of friendship with their neighbors. Pray for the light of Christ to shine through His people.
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