Another Party in Heaven!-Bergen 1 Update!!! PLEASE READ!!!

Dear Loved Ones,

I am sitting by the window in our hostel, watching the rain come down, and it has just struck me how beautiful this entire week has been, as well as the week before that. Our time here in Bergen has been blessed by the hand of God, as He has so perfectly intertwined our four lives with the lives of travelers from around the world. He has made himself so undeniably present every moment of every day here, and my teammates and I are in awe that He would choose to use us as a part of His work.

We've just finished our second week working here at Intermission Hostel in Bergen, and the four of us can hardly believe how quickly it has gone by. Work was slow at the beginning, as we had only 10-15 guests for the first few days that Intermission was open, but over the past week we have had a steady increase in travelers. It has been an adjustment, but we've all loved getting the opportunity to meet so many new people.

In the past week, we have each had the pleasure of conversing with the most diverse group of people any of us have seen. Joy spent a few hours talking to Felipe, a student from Brazil who recently ended a difficult relationship. Liz stayed up till 3 am one morning talking religion and politics with a Russian man named Marat. Amy invited Kaz, a Japanese Buddhist, to eat dinner with us last night. And I have had the pleasure of getting to know Marie, a woman from Paris who is looking to attend Art Therapy school. God has given us the privilege of representing Him to these people, not only through our conversations and words, but also through the act of serving and cleaning up after these people.

We have also been privileged to get to know, over the past week, two particular hostelers that have come to mean a lot to us. Martin, an older man from Australia, came to us about a week ago and left only yesterday. Over the course of this week, he was bombarded with questions and excessive amounts of laughter from the four of us girls, but he ate dinner with us almost every night and let us talk to him about everything under the sun. Martin told us that he had come to realize that, while a career is important, there's got to be something more to life. We had the pleasure of sharing this 'something more' with him over the past week, and when he left, he told us that we had made the hostel feel like a home to him. We are committed to continually praying for him on his journey as he travels alone through Scandinavia.

The second hosteler whom the four of us have all gotten to know very well (in one short week) is Marcello, a 20 year old from Italy. He told us he came here 'just to fish', to escape the memory of his girlfriend's death in February. Over the course of the past week, every single one of my teammates and I have had separate open and vulnerable conversations with Marcello about our own struggles and how our faith has affected those situations. We have spent almost every night conversing early into the morning with Marcello, and he grew more and more curious about 'what we had' (in his words) as he spent more time with us. We have been praying feverishly for his heart to be turned to God, and last night, God answered our prayers. Joy woke Liz, Amy, and me at 4 in the morning whispering 'There's a party in heaven! A party in heaven!' She and Marcello had been talking and reading through the Bible, and he told her that he wanted to have what she did.

!!!!

Who could that be but the God of the universe?
Who could work like that?

It was beautiful. We are continuing to pray for Marcello, and we would ask for your prayers too. We feel so lucky that he will continue to be staying here until we leave as he looks for an apartment. Only God has brought us this far, and only God could have brought us Marcello.

Looking inward for a moment, I am also astounded by how the Lord has been working within our team and our relationships with one another. He has been bringing us closer to Him and molding our hearts to fit his mold, and it has been beautiful. Perhaps what is most amazing is how God has been healing each of our own hearts through the conversations we have been having with our new friends here. As we have been open and vulnerable with near-strangers, God has used those strangers to send His love and words of wisdom to our own hearts.

Friends and Family, this summer is going to offer more than any of us can realize.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We have been blessed with God's favor on this trip, in the small things like physical comforts, but in the big things as well, as apparent in Marcelllo's case. We look forward to keeping you updated on the rest of our time here.

In Him,
Stephanie Thomas