BBC Sweden Project: Stockholm/Royal Institute of Technology/University of Stockholm

Today we met with the Agape Sverige (Cru in Sweden) staff from Uppsala and Stockholm. Aaron and Kristen Hughes, Michael and Maryann Mettetal, and Whitney Tunnell have all been working in Uppsala ministering to students at the university there in recent years. Now, Michael and Maryann are planning to move to Stockholm to start working with students at the Royal Institute of Technology (abbreviated KTH in Swedish) and the University of Stockholm. Aaron and Kristen and Whitney are continuing with their work in Uppsala with university students. We were able to spend a whole afternoon with the team, hearing about the many prayers answered from last year’s meeting in Uppsala, hearing new prayer requests, spending time praying for these things, and also just connecting with them again. We also took time to prayer-walk through the KTH campus, in the Östermalm area of Stockholm.

Specific prayer requests from the Uppsala/Stockholm team: prayers of praise for Kristen and Aaron, as they have found new housing in Uppsala, their visas were renewed in March, and Kristin has received a “person number”, which is kind of like a social security number in Sweden; once you have one of these numbers, then you are able to participate more fully in the Swedish system (language education, healthcare, working, …); pray for Michael and Maryann to find housing in Stockholm, which is very challenging because of low vacancy rates, high rents, and a complex system of applying for housing in Sweden; also, pray that the transition from Uppsala to Stockholm goes smoothly (they are expecting a baby in August, so they have additional planning to do); pray for a group of young women that Kristen is discipling and meeting with regularly in Uppsala; for Whitney, pray for summer volleyball camps she is working at and sharing the Gospel with young people; also for Whitney, as she will be in the U.S. for four weeks this summer raising support for further work in Sweden; overall, pray that this team would avoid the complacency that can creep in while working and living in Sweden; the people and society are so well cared for and supplied with every physical need that it can become easy to forget the absolute need that we have for God and Jesus Christ.