Tag: christian

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community

Tears In Heaven


RIP Goldie. My heart is broken. My friend Goldie, one of the most significant guys in our OBT community, is no longer among the living. Saturday night before Christmas he died across from our church, in the parking lot next to Family Dollar. So sad, what a waste of life, only 38 years old.

Goldie was one of my sheep and I miss him so much. Powerhouse Church was “his church”, and while he was here, he brought so many people from the street into the property, not only for the food sharing, but also for the service. He would sit in the back, and every once in a while we would see him in the front, kneeling down while he was covering his head with his black hoodie.

This year he wanted to be baptized but never made it before alcohol brought the devil up in him and I had to trespass him from the church property. There were several episodes that led up to this difficult decision. Being a pastor can be tough when you have to make those tough decisions.

Again and again he would come back and curse me out and threaten people. Obviously he was heart broken over the fact that he was trespassed. I told him that he would be allowed back to church if he was willing to meet with our leaders and ask for forgiveness because he had really caused a lot of serious problems.

Asking for forgiveness can be humbling and hard, but Friday before Christmas he came to tell us that he would clean up his path Sunday morning. This was the last conversation, and the following night he died from a head trauma. Not sure how. Somebody says it is still being investigated, .

Goldie and I have spend many evenings talking about Gods plans for OBT, and how to change our community. Last year he helped us start our pallet art project, he went with us for a Christmas Concert in Ocala and joined us for Christmas Eve, and this year he came to visit us at The Promise. I even offered him to move into one of our campers, but he was not ready – yet …

Last Sunday I preached from Galatians 6.7, Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

RIP Goldie. I remember our last conversation less than a month ago, sitting with you at the curbside, talking about Jesus, wearing my new shirt with the words “I am covered by the blood of Jesus”. We believe that the blood of Jesus covers a multitude of sins, and it is my prayers that it has covered Goldies as well.

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Inspiration

Perfect Love Drives Out Fear

The other day I read an article from my home country Denmark speaking about “being skin hungry”. I guess it is a new word in this pandemic, and the definition of “Skin Hunger” is the need of a physical touch, a hug and a kiss. In other words, we need to be loved!

Truth is that we are all social creatures and in this time of global social distancing because of the pandemic, people are starving for physical contact. We can’t live without it, and some people are so under stimulated right now, that they go crazy.

The Fear of Death

Social distancing seems to be a necessary curse right now but I wonder if the consequence of separating people is worth the prize compared to the many broken families, suicides, depressions etc that inevitably will swipe through the world as a consequence of the lock downs and separation of people.

Right now fear is in the front seat. People are afraid of getting sick. People are afraid of being a carrier of the virus. People are afraid of dying. And in order to control the fear of death, people all over the world are trying to control the spread of the virus, instead of turning to God who conquered death and gave us a living hope!

A Jesus Touch

At Powerhouse Church we reach out to some of the weakest people in society and for them the church is an important daily salvage raft that gives them hope and joy and a Jesus touch when most needed.

For them surviving daily in the streets is a much bigger threat than the virus and they need the church now more than ever. We daily follow the news of the streets of Orlando, news of murder, rape, broken families, addictions, gang, aids etc. We see people with cancers, open operation wounds, stab wounds. For them the corona is just another thing on the list to fear.

What Are We Waiting For?

People are telling me to shut down the church and to wait. To take care of my self and not risk the life of our members. My question is; Wait for what? Jesus did not wait for nobody, he touched the lepers and hung around sick people on a daily basis as he was doing his Fathers business. Paul said in 2. Cor 6:2 “Today is the day of salvation, now is the appointed time”. This is the Bible. No government order can postpone God timing.

I do not fear the virus. I do not live by fear, I live by faith, and my faith is being expressed in love. Perfect love drives out all fear. In times of social distancing, it is our time to show our hearts. While Christians all over the world are praying in their homes, their neighbors are sick of isolation and fear. This is the real killer! Who will show them the way to salvation, who will teach them to cry out and pray in times of distress?

Rise And Shine

This is the time for the church to rise!

Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

This week we have started a daily feeding program, so that people can come and get a hot meal, meet some people, still keeping social distancing, and experience the love of God in action.

Today we received pallets of food and drinks for our food bank, reaching out to homeless and low income individuals and families in our community. On Sunday we have drive in service in the parking, serving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that is lost.

We Need Your Help

We don’t know how long this is gonna last, but we will continue to do as much as we can. Right now we need pop up tents to protect the people from the Florida sun and money for food to continue giving out the daily meals.

We need your help. If your conviction is to stay home, I am okay with that, but you can still help us reaching out to the poor. If you can’t go yourself, your money can make a difference. If you want to partner with Powerhouse Church and our ministry in this season, please help and donate today!

We see people with cancers, open operation wounds, stab wounds. For them the corona is just another thing on the list to fear.

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Powerhouse Church

When God Connects The Dots

From Mount Elgon in Kenya to Powerschool in Orlando. Read the incredible story of pastor Brian Kibet Mosong who received the Bible in his native tongue Sabaot translated by danish Wycliffe bible translaters from my hometown in Vejle, Denmark.

Pastor Brian Kibet Mosong from Western Kenya was one of the 48 graduates at this years Powerschool in Orlando. This was his third year in Powerschool and for us who has followed him for the past three years, it has been an incredible testimony.

First time I met pastor Brian was in Nairobi Kenya 3 years ago. I had invited him to come and meet me, at FEM Family Church, Kenya. My bishop is Rev. Teresia Wairimu, and this was the opening of her new church building.

I did not know him, but we had a mutual friend in Switzerland whom I had met in 1985 in a kibbutz in Israel. My friend had been traveling in Kenya and had supported pastor Brian over a couple of years, and eventually he had called me so that pastor Brian could connect with me. That is how we met.

Connecting The Dots

I invited pastor Brian for Powerschool in Orlando, and I must admit, I was not sure that he would come. The visa, the airfare, the tuition fee would be like a mountain of obstacles, but pastor Brian had faith. He applied for Powerschool, and without money on his account he got a 10 year visa to the USA!

In June 2017 he came for the first time and attended one week of Powerschool and after spending a week with him, I got to know him even more. He wanted me to be his spiritual father, and he wanted to start Powerhouse Churches in Western Kenya. Back then he had around 70 churches in the bush and was doing a great work, from feeding widows and orphans to discipling and raising up pastors in unreached places amongst the Sabaot people in Mount Elgon.

When I heard this, I could not believe my own ears. I remembered how my parents friends had traveled out to Mount Elgon as missionaries many years ago to translate the bible into the Sabaot language. They were send out when I was a kid from my home church in Vejle in Denmark, and now God had connected the dots so I could meet a man that had been saved by the Word translated by these Danish people!

We Are his Workmanship

Ephesians 2.10 talks about us as his “workmanship” created in Christ Jesus for good deeds which God prepared beforehand for us so we can walk in them! Meeting pastor Brian was one of these “good deeds”, and I realized this was not a coincidence. Right there I made a video for my parents missionary friends who spend 25 years translating the bible to pastor Brians tribe, before they moved on to the other side of the mountain to work with another tribe. Think about it, what an incredible job!

I was so excited so I made a vlog to the Danish missionaries with pastor Brian thanking them for translating the bible to his people. People and churches are being impacted everyday by the Word of God and by this translation. People are getting saved, and every year pastor Brian comes to Orlando to bring a good report. Now there is more than 90 Powerhouse Churches in Kenya, and there is a big demand for mission in the area.

The harvest is ripe, and Jesus is calling workers for the harvest. The question is, “whom should I send, who will go? (Isaiah 6.8). Pray for workers. And if you want to go, please let me know.

Powerschool 2019. Pastor Brian Kibet Mosong is kneeling in the first row to the right.

Categories
Powerhouse Church

Don’t You Ever Give Up Hope

This Christmas it has been seven years since we first came to America and started feeding the homeless people on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, Florida. Every Wednesday and Sunday after church, but also a lot in between. Even before the church was established, our family has served tens of thousands of people, and if somebody asks me if it has been worth it, I will always say “yes”.

Honestly, I don’t think about it, I just do it. If I start to think too deeply about what we are doing I might start to lose courage. Orange Blossom Trail needs a lot of change, and we all know that it’s not the food, that will change the community. It is Jesus Christ. My focus is so strong on Jesus Christ and the vision that I refuse to look back and faith in him keeps me alive and strong in all the daily problems.

I have many pastor friends now in America and sometimes I have to pinch myself in the arm when I hear about their problems, how I wish I sometimes could swab problems with them. Just last week alone, two of the people that come to our church regularly have died out in the street, but still, I am convinced that I am graced to do this job.

There is a Reason, Pastor!

Let me give you three fresh testimonies that kept me going this past week:

In our church we have this homeless man that I have fed for seven years, he always sticks to himself, he has a long beard and white wild hair, and not so long ago he told me why. “There is a reason, pastor. I want people to think that I am crazy so that they will stay away from me”, he explained. “I am not crazy, but I am so hurt by people, I just want to sit on an island alone and die”, he said. This man has been expelled many times because he has been drunk and aggressive, but last year he detoxed himself off one bottle of vodka a day and has been sober for a long time. Now he has decided to follow Jesus, and Sunday he was in our service for the first time ever and got baptized in front of everybody. Even I was astonished to see him take that turn. For many years it seemed like nothing was happening but now, all of a sudden, he is changing big time.

My Other Sheep

One of my other “sheep” have been coming to our Community Cafe for a long time. They are always around, and they are always high and drunk. They live in a different world of substance abuse and we have had many problems with one of them in particular. No matter what I say, they will never listen, so I must admit that I kind of wrote them off, still knowing that “nothing is impossible with God”.

This week I saw the impossible. I was outside the Community Cafe talking to one of the guys, and when I came into the building everybody was real quiet. I had to look twice when I saw my “case impossible” speak in front of everybody. “So many people have died out here, but this church has saved my life”, he said. “This is our street, and we must stand together to change our community. We can do it. If they could change me, you can change as well. But it takes faith in God and faith in the church”, he said.

I was stunned. This man has threatened me and my family and my volunteers over and over again. Recently we gave him the “last chance”, he has been asked to leave the facility several times, but now I am happy that we had faith, patience, and longsuffering enough to love him through. Now he is pulling people into the church.

We Saved his Life …

My last “case impossible” is a young man that I don’t remember “not high”. A few months ago he told me that he was starting in school, A young man that I do not remember “not high” on drugs told me a few months ago that he was starting to go to school. I took the time to talk to him but it looked like the word was just going in through one ear and out of the other. I also prayed with him, and next time I saw him around he was sitting down, talking to another young drug addict about Jesus Christ. “You know me from the streets”, he said, “but I have changed, ever since pastor prayed for me and I started listening to him, my life has changed. I am going back to school. This pastor saved my life!” he said.

I almost fell off my chair, I had not seen that one coming and I realized right there that our word is like a living seed. We must preach whether people like it or not. We must not stop speaking about Jesus Christ. The word is alive and has mighty power to save.

When I came home Friday I was still in awe. Two of the most impossible cases were testifying in front of other people that I had saved their lives and I did not even know it. The third “impossible” guy was baptized on his first Sunday in church. Wauv, I never get tired of serving Jesus Christ.

Happy New Years from all of us here in Orlando. We walk by faith, not by sight. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Don’t ever give up hope!

Categories
Powerhouse Church

Our Vision For The Community

In this blog post, I want to share a video about Powerhouse Church and our vision for our OBT community in Orlando. In the video, I will explain to you how it all began, how we as a family started to feed the poor and needy, and how people came to support the vision. You will see our street, our building and you will meet some of the amazing people in our community.

Click on the link and enjoy.

I hope this will inspire you to do something in your community as well!

Categories
Powerhouse Church

Speaking Life At The Hospital

Yesterday I went to the hospital to visit one of my “sheep”. I don’t know what other pastors do when they go here, but my errand was a little unusual. I had heard from a neighbor that this man was in the hospital – and the neighbor also told me, that the house where he used to live now was a crime scene, his roommate had been stabbed in the house by his girlfriend and the police were investigating, so honestly, I did not know exactly what to expect!

As I came into the room, the man was sitting on the hospital bed waiting for the nurse to dress his wounds. First I thought it was from the stabbing incident, but then I realized it was something else. I found out he had been in the hospital for 12 days, even before the incident, and his wounds were not there because of a weapon.

“I dropped the pot of boiling soup on my feet”, he explained. “We were cooking on the fire outside, and I wanted to bring soup inside to cool off. I dropped the pot and I burned my feet, he explained. I looked at his wound. It was not on his foot but on his thigh, since the burn was so bad, that they had to make a skin transplant in order to fix it. I found out that this guy had been walking around trying to self-medicate the burn with hydroperoxide for several days, which only made it worse. Eventually, he had passed out, most likely from drugs, and this was how he came to the hospital

I love this guy so much. He lives in a small house in a side street to OBT, very close to the church. He shows up when we have our community days and our community dinners, and I go there to visit when I can. A few months ago I had him ready and packed to go into a rehab, but on the day we were supposed to leave, he had barricaded himself drunk inside his little house and he refused to leave. I called the rehab center and canceled, and a couple of days later somebody more desperate than him had taken his place.

In the hospital, I called the rehab and explained the situation. They know it is a matter of life or death, so they do what they can. “There is another opening in December”, they said. “Somebody is checking out just before Christmas, so we will reserve the place”. My friend who runs the center was on speaker phone and I made sure that my guy in the hospital bed got the message as well.

I leaned over to his face. “Please don’t die on me. I have come all the way from Denmark just for you, brother so don’t you die on me”, I said repeatedly, as I laid my arm around his shoulders, heartbroken with tears in my eyes.

He looked at me with his big wild and half-crazed eyes. “I am not going to die, pastor, not this time”, he ensured me, but I was not that sure unless he will be able to go directly from the hospital to the rehab. My biggest concern is, that he will go back to his house. So before I left, I took his hand and prayed together with him, speaking life, that this man shall live and not die and see the goodness of the Lord.

When Jesus calls you, it is always now. Don’t wait for later. Don’t wait for tomorrow. People die like flies around here. When my wife did a women’s meeting a few weeks ago the police had sealed off the street corner across from our church. Somebody in a body bag was laying there on the ground, and the detectives were investigating for more evidence. Same night one of our local drug dealers lost his friend to a runaway driver on that same corner. He came to church the next morning, freaking out and begging me to contact the police to make sure they would find the runaway driver. I asked him, “Why can’t you talk to them yourself” and he said that nobody would listen to a drunk drug dealer which is true!

One day I had to throw another young man out of the church because he was so rude. He was shouting and cursing on his way out, and I found out that he had already been trespassed by one of our pastors. He said we were not a real church, he was even quoting scriptures trying to teach me how to be a pastor, but one month later a humble young man came to give his testimony. “I was off track for a while, but God has got me now real good”, he said. I did not recognize him, but it was the same man. Since I saw him last time, he had been robbed and shot three times.

These are my sheep on OBT and most of them are black in the sense, that they are lost, not knowing how to find their way and how to behave. Night and day they are putting themselves in danger, breaking through the fence, running around wild, doing drugs, dealing drugs and dying. But Jesus is still the good shepherd leaving the 99 in order to find the one. He does not want anyone to perish, and neither do we.

Categories
Mission

Bringing Healing to Greenland

 

In 2003 I was invited to preach the gospel in Northern Greenland. A school teacher in a place called Kullorsuaq (meaning “The Devils Thumb”) had read my book “Conquering Demons” online, and I had received an email from him, asking for help. The school teacher had translated my book into Inuit language so that his wife could read it, and he also made extra copies for friends and families. He had found faith through my book, and now he wanted me to come and preach the gospel for the rest of the village.

I traveled several days by plane and helicopter to get there, and when I finally arrived, revival broke out, together with heavy persecution. People were getting saved, healed and delivered, some of them decided to get baptized which is not in line with the traditional beliefs, and the opposition arose to a point, where they were making plans to assassinate me for introducing a “new religion” different to the Lutheran belief that is dominant in Greenland.

When I left Kullorsuaq I was banned for entering into North West Greenland. I don’t think you can do that legally, but I was told never to return. Over the years I kept contact with the new converts up there, I was happy to hear how they survived the heavy persecution, planted a church and traveled up and down the coast to spread the gospel into the villages on their hunting trips.

Today I received pictures and greetings through Facebook from that same village, where people had been persecuted because of their faith. It was very touching to see how one of our former Powerschool students, Tuparnak Berthelsen, is having a revival in Kullorsuaq. This lady is a walking, talking miracle. She has a wild testimony. At one point she was beaten to death by a drunk guy and was revived by the ambulance crew. After having been dead for several minutes, she woke up with a severe brain damage and was left handicapped for life, until one day in 2001 where she was healed in a meeting with an African evangelist.

I have seen how this lady, over the last couple of years, at her own expense has traveled to remote parts of Greenland and preached the gospel with money she has saved up herself. This summer she went to preach the gospel in Alluitsup Paa which is a remote village in Southern Greenland, and after this, she visited Quarqatoq where she was invited to speak in the local church during a conference. As she shared her testimony and prayed for the sick, many people got saved and healed.

It is such a testimony when I see how God uses this woman in a place where I cannot go anymore. She has supported our ministry for many years every month, and I have seen the fruits of her ministry in Greenland this summer. Not many people can go to the most remote parts of the world, with helicopter and boat, preaching the gospel to tribes of hunters, sleeping in private homes. God has anointed her to do this. She loves it, and she is respected by the Inuit where ever she goes.

God has told me to support Tuparnaq Berthelsen in her traveling ministry in Greenland and also help her to reach out to the Inuit people in Denmark. Greenland is a beautiful nation and the Inuit people there have suffered a lot as they were colonized by Denmark for centuries. Pray for grace and pray for change, that many people will be saved.

Categories
Family

A Week With The Family

 

For the past three months, I have been planning to go to London for a conference with my bishop and spiritual Mum, Evangelist Teresia Wairimu. For the past 20 years, she has been my spiritual authority and I love her very dearly. What she has taught me during the years has been gold. I am so thankful that God gave me a mum in a time where there were no spiritual Fathers around.

The Bible talks about submitting to spiritual authority and I have been submitted to her since the first time I met my mum in Rev. Reinhard Bonnkes office in a Fire Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. Back then I traveled all the way from Denmark to Germany to have her lay hands on me, and when I finally came for the prayer, I heard myself ask her 3 questions. Number one, if she could come to Denmark. Number two, if I could be a part of her team. And number three, the hands …  The answer was “yes”, and as she laid her hands on me, I went straight to the floor. I don’t remember nothing. But when I woke up an hour later my voice was gone because I had cried so much, and all the small blood vessels around my eyes were broken. My wife said I looked like somebody who had been given birth – and she was right! This experience led to the birth of our ministry, and since then, we have been a part of her ministry which is Faith Evangelistic Ministries (F.E.M.) in Nairobi, Kenya.

This morning when I packed my suitcase I was sad to leave my family. I have spent so many months traveling over the years, and in this season I like to stay home with my wife and my boys to build the church. My wife reminded me why I am going. That I am called to preach the gospel and that I should know it is a privilege to be a part of what God is doing in the nations. Because of Him, I will go to the end of the world!

I am leaving tonight, and my first stop will be in Copenhagen, Denmark, where our daughter is waiting. She is staying at our friend’s house overnight and will join me as I am driving to my see my parents in my hometown Vejle three hours west of Copenhagen. I love my parents. I owe them everything, they showed me the way, the truth and the life that I am living today. They are old now and I will go and sit with them and honor them and tell them how much I love them. And we will pray together and tell Jesus how much we love Him and thank him because He has been so good to us.

I will stay for two days with my parents in Denmark and then I will fly to England to see my Mum Teresia Wairimu for another two days before I return to Orlando. It is a lot of traveling but I believe it is worth it. I love my family and I treasure spiritual leadership. I recognize the people that God has put on my path and I will not take any of them for granted. What God honors, I will honor. That is how I live and that is how I stay alive!

Hebrews 13.17. Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

Exodus 20.12. “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Categories
Spiritual Truth

Books On The Menu

As a new feature, we have added evangelists Christian Hedegaard books on the menu on our website so our blog readers can have easy access to our products. All the books are sold through Amazon, but now you can also find them here. Even if you are not a habitual reader I believe you will enjoy the teaching and the unique testimonies as you are turning the pages. Make sure that you get your copies today!

Conquering Demons (2014)

Spiritual warfare isn’t a myth, a ritual, or a reality only for a few experts. All humans face attacks from the enemy of our souls constantly and this book is a tool for teaching how to be free and how to set free.

Conquering Demons begins with Christian Hedegaard’s personal experience of deliverance, of how he was delivered from nine evil spirits without even believing in such a thing!  This book is translated into five languages and has been spearheading a revival to Denmark, Greenland, Norway, and other nations. The book contains his personal testimony and other testimonies combined with teaching on deliverance from mission trips all over the world. click here to order

Fallow Ground (2017)

This book is a key to finding your full potential in God, how to expose the devices of the devil, develop a healthy lifestyle of forgiveness and learn how to live in freedom from past experiences and hurts.

Fallow Ground will uncover areas in your life that need to be plowed in order to discover the hidden treasures, based on teachings and testimonies, spiced up with past and present experiences from the streets feeding the homeless community downtown of Orlando and Spirit-led adventures from 20 years of evangelistic ministry in different nations. click here to order

 

Holy Spirit Wildfire (2018)

Have you ever felt unworthy… wanting a gift or deeply desiring a personal goal, but believing you were unworthy of ever receiving or achieving that gift or goal?
Many Christians throughout our modern world have felt this way about the gift of speaking in tongues. Some believers have been confused about whether this gift is meant for the modern church, believing it was meant only for the early apostolic church. Others have tried to obtain this gift with no success, feeling like a failure.
Holy Spirit Wildfire provides clear answers to these questions about this life-changing, incredibly powerful, gift of tongues clearly found in the Bible. Read it, receive it, and enjoy the many true stories of how the Holy Spirit’ is transforming lives today. click here to order