International Newsletter August 2022
“We haven’t preached the Gospel on the streets since the nineties,” the pastor said. “Would you come and help us?”
It was late 2021. Steiger Europe director, Luke Greenwood, was surrounded by local pastors of different denominations in Oslo, Norway. They’d just spent a day together, unified as they cried out for the young people of their city. The call was clear: Steiger had to come to Oslo. Just over six months later, 130 Steiger missionaries and volunteers from all over the world answered that call.
692 people came to the Hope for Oslo event and God moved powerfully!
Over the four day long training, 692 people soaked up catalytic teaching on why and how to creatively, relevantly, and boldly bring the Gospel outside the church doors. They spent afternoons doing creative evangelism on the streets, evenings in worship, and nights giving bold proclamations within the local scenes of Oslo. The training took place during pride week and a huge metal festival, so the city was packed with young people searching for hope and purpose.
Our teams preached the Gospel in over 50 locations around one of the most secular cities in Europe. And the ground was ready for the harvest… 103 people made clear and committed decisions to follow Christ!
One young man who participated in the training, Michael, shared, “It was very special to walk on my own street and for the first time recognize that the street was filled with the presence of God.”
As part of the event, our Steiger Poland Team used music, theater, and dance in a powerful performance called “I AM.” One young man heard the music from the other side of the river and felt compelled to investigate. When the show ended with a clear depiction of the cross and a call to follow Jesus, he found one of the team members. “On the other side of the river, I was an atheist,” he shared. “Now I’m not.”
Steiger Poland brought the impactful and creative “I AM” performance to Norway.
To cap off the week, everyone from the training joined a huge event called “The Send,” where over 10,000 believers from across Norway gathered together for worship and teaching. Luke spoke at the event and concluded it with a powerful commissioning.
Through the Hope for Oslo project and partnership with The Send, nearly 700 Europeans had direct contact and training with our Steiger team and went home inspired to start Steiger City Teams in their own communities. The churches across Oslo showed incredible partnership and unity, and God moved tangibly to reveal His heart for the Global Youth Culture of the city and compel people to reach them.
“I got to really receive Biblical revelation about evangelism - something I’ve been doing regularly for two years without having had this much teaching, so I was very enriched by that,” Michael shared. “And after Steiger came to my church, God met me and told me to come to the SMS.” Michael and one other young person from Oslo are currently at the Steiger Missions School, receiving even more training that we believe will result in a strong Steiger Oslo City Team!
The training participants boldly proclaimed the Gospel on the streets of Oslo, and 103 people made decisions to follow Christ!“I believe that God is raising up the Church in Europe to have a new boldness,” Luke declared to the packed stadium. “When we’re filled with the Spirit, we have an extraordinary courage and an extraordinary conviction. And that is what God wants us to do right now - in Norway and in Europe - to have that extraordinary courage and extraordinary conviction.”