Why Norway?

In 2004, God planted the first seed in Mikaela’s life for Norway and since then it has taken root and sprouted into something much bigger. Later in 2014, Derrick would be introduced to what God had started with Mikaela and would also instill in Derrick. Together, we pursue God’s calling in doing ministry here in Norway.

Watch Terje Høyland who is the International Leader at IMI Church in Stavanger talk about the spiritual need in Norway.

Mikaela

When I was in elementary school, my grandparents went on an ancestry trip to Norway, Sweden, and Finland. When they returned, they showed my family the pictures from their trip and I found myself having an unusual draw to Norway. From that point on, my greatest dream was to go to Norway someday, somehow. Later in 2007-2008, during my eighth grade year, my family had an exchange student named Benedicte who was from Norway and lived with us for a year. She was and still is like an older sister to me and she taught me more about the Norwegian culture as well as simple phrases in Norwegian.

When she returned to Norway at the end of the school year, my parents when on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary cruise and dropped me off with Benedicte and her family. When I was there, I fell in love with the country even more. I absolutely love everything about the country. Part way through the trip on a Sunday morning, I asked Benedicte why we were not going to church. She told me that church is only for old people every once in a while. I didn’t fully know what she meant by what she said at that point, but now I do. I discovered that in comparison to America, Norway has few youth and children ministries. They have churches that are not always open, some that are only open every other week, or some that are not open at all during the summer. That broke my heart as I reflected on the many youth and children ministries I had the opportunity to be involved with where I lived at in Greenwood, Indiana.

The following year in 2009, I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. In the middle of the week we were having Bible study in a tent and the preacher told us what part of the Bible he was talking from since he was talking in Spanish to the Dominicans. I opened up my Bible to that passage in Scripture and was really hungry for the Word. I dove headfirst in reading that section and then past it. I then felt God speak to me saying…

“Hey Mikaela”

Me: “....yes God?”

 “Hey Mikaela, I want you to be a missionary.”

“God, do You want me to be a missionary!?” Then I felt my whole body fill with this resounding yes feeling that filled me with joy. Then as a fourteen year old I asked,

“Whoa, right now?!”

Then the yes feeling went away. I did not really know what to do as a fourteen year old with having this experience. However, I do know that since then, God has been opening doors to combine my broken heartedness for Norway and my call to be a missionary together.

Derrick

After Mikaela shares her, “Why Norway” with people we meet, I jokingly follow up with saying that, “I married into it,” haha. But that would not be telling the whole truth. Growing up as a country boy and wondering what I would be doing with my life after college often ran through my mind. I had goals and dreams, but was unsure and it was not until I came to Ball State University and became involved in the Christian Campus House (CCH) where things began to fall in place.

After two years of being at Ivy Tech, I transferred to BSU and before the fall 2013 semester started, I visited CCH’s Open House. Each respective ministry area was set up in the auditorium and I chatted with the worship and men’s ministry teams, and then came to the international ministry table. There Mikaela sat behind the table beginning her first year as the International Ministry Assistant, she began to tell me about international ministry opportunities with CCH and of the international student presence at BSU. Vocally I told her that it sounded neat and cool, but in my head I was thinking, “International ministry is not for me, I’ll never get involved with international ministry, after all I am just a country boy” and I used the fact that I was a country boy as a crutch not to get involved with international ministry. After all, where I grew up in Carlisle, Indiana, there were no international people. I imagine I would have to drive almost an hour away from my home before coming across any people from outside the United States. However, by the spring semester I found myself getting involved with international ministry and I became intrigued in listening to international students tell me about where they came from and their culture. I was fascinated in hearing their stories and how they grew up so differently than from myself and suddenly my small world perspective changed into a larger world perspective.

At the end of the spring 2014 semester Mikaela and I began our relationship, but only a few days before that, she told me about this passion and vision she had to go and serve as a missionary in Norway. She was quite upfront about Norway and that if we were to move forward in our relationship, this would be something I would have to be mindful of and take into account. Surprisingly I found myself open to this and that was a step in my faith walk where I believe that I was being open to God’s will and not my own.

As the fall 2014 semester began at BSU, I started the school year being one of the new Worship Ministry Assistants at CCH. I thoroughly enjoyed leading worship and was growing a lot through this and loved the community I had found here. One day while walking to CCH with Mikaela, I had an impactful moment in my faith walk that is still clear in my mind. I remember looking over to Mikaela and saying, “I want to do worship ministry with my life.” Previous to this, I had not shared this out loud with anyone, but when I said this, I felt a deep spiritual peace inside, a strong feeling that I was on the right track with how God was leading me. Another step towards Norway.

Later during winter break, while at a worship conference in Indianapolis, I experienced the most impactful moment in my faith walk that Norway was indeed a calling in my life. The worship band All Sons & Daughters were leading worship and in the middle of their set, they set time aside where they would only play instrumental music and we were to take time and just pray. I got down on my knees and bowed my head and began to pray with what was on my mind, which I cannot recall what it was now, but I know Norway was not on my mind at the moment. As I prayed, I felt God was trying to just get me to be quiet, not talk, and just listen. So I stopped talking and listened, it was during this time all the noise and everything going on around me faded away and there were no distractions. Then I felt God speak to me in His Spirit and simply say, “I want you to support Mikaela in what she wants to do.” That was it, nothing else and in the surrealness of that moment in my heart and spirit I knew that this meant Norway. My interpretation of this was the calling that Mikaela had in her life to go to Norway was from God and I was to be obedient in joining her in that call to do ministry in Norway.

From then, a lot of doors continued to open that all had Norway behind them. The solidifying moment for me personally that Norway was truly where God was calling Mikaela and I to go, was our 2017 Discernment Trip. It was time for us to take a step in faith and go to Norway and explore the calling we felt God had placed on our lives to go and do missions in there.  Up until this point, the only out of the country experience I had was driving across the border into Canada on a youth group mission trip. In my mind, I had not yet truly had that “out of the country experience” of getting off the continent of North America. Before leaving for Norway, we took much time out and prayed that we would be open to God’s leading, direction, and that most of all that I would go on this trip with an open mind and heart for what God might have us do. The Discernment Trip was twofold. First, do we feel called/united as a married couple to go and do missions in Norway? Second, if we do, who would we partner with on the ground in Norway that knows how ministry works there?

The trip was a huge blessing as we found how God is already at work in Norway and the current need to continue to build His kingdom there. I found myself having a great experience on the trip as I was unsure how I would react, would I love it, hate it, accept it, or reject the thought of doing missions abroad? When it comes to Norway, I love Norwegians, the internationals, the culture, the beauty of the landscape, the slower paced life, and ultimately what God is presently doing here. All this being said, personally my biggest take away as I reflect on the trip, even now as I write this and try to convey it into words would be this. God showed us what He is presently doing in Norway through His people, but made it known that there are still empty chairs at the table that need to be filled and He wishes us to come in spiritual communion with others in building His kingdom. The spiritual longing of my heart and soul is to live in Norway doing ministry because I know that is where God has called Mikaela and I to be. Blessings