# Iceland's Need



## py3ak (May 22, 2008)

My mom used to live in Iceland, and liked it so much that her conversation about it led my brother to believe that Iceland was just like heaven. It seems as though thick darkness is enveloping the land, and the lampstands have been or are being removed out of their place. She sent this report of an interview that an Icelandic radio station recently had with an old friend of hers.



> Elin, the last Christian in Siglufjord had her 100th birthday last week and there was an article in the newspaper and an interview on the radio.
> 
> It was clear and lasted about 40 minutes. The interviewer talked about her childhood on a farm in southern Iceland and the first time she saw money and went to a town and that sort of thing. She had 6 months of formal schooling, left home at 12 to work on a wealthier farm, went to Reykjavik at 20 to work and met a widower at a dance and followed him (at his invitation) to Siglufjord. At the end he asked about her beliefs and she gave a very clear testimony of salvation. He asked how she views Iceland today and she said that people are too materialistic and ignore God and don't read their Bibles.
> 
> He asked how she lived so long and she says by a healthy life-style. He asked why she thinks she has lived so long and she admitted to not knowing, especially now that she can't sew clothing for the poor in other countries and since last winter, can't even knit.



If you can deal with very kind and friendly people, eating a lot of lamb, putting up with a lot of darkness in winter, some lovely scenery, and living in the nation ranked by one man as the happiest nation on earth, think about taking the Gospel to Iceland once again.


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## ADKing (May 22, 2008)

Are there any Reformed works in Iceland at all?


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## py3ak (May 22, 2008)

Not that I know of. There is a native Lutheran presence, but it doesn't seem to have had any impact on the tendencies of the flesh, so I think it may be safely defined as "dead", at least in general. There were one or two missionaries, but I think they have all left and were not Reformed anyway.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (May 22, 2008)

I remember a brief trip to Iceland very fondly. Praying.


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## Zenas (May 22, 2008)

Hmm, apparently only 5% of Iceland is non-Christian, but the majority of the population is only nominally Lutheran.


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## Blueridge Believer (May 22, 2008)

I was converted in Iceland in Jan. 1984 in a military/missionary Baptist church in Keflavik. We used to go downtown Reykavik to pass out tracs and help another missionary in that city. I remember the horrible drunkenness that went on there. However, while I was there it seemed that the Lord did a great work. A lot of G.I.'s came to the faith there and quite a few Icelanders. The church in Keflavik at the time was a indy fundy type church but has in any church that is made up of mostly military people there was quite a mix of people.


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## py3ak (May 22, 2008)

That's very interesting, James. I heard recently that they don't drink during the week, it is quite standard for almost everyone to get drunk over the weekends (hence the qualifier "nominal" with regard to the Lutheranism). My mom realizes now that when she was there she did her part to promote bad decisionist doctrine.

One time in Mexico she wanted to borrow something from the neighbor, but she forgot her Spanish and could only remember Icelandic. We urged her to tell us in English so we could translate it into Spanish, but she had forgotten the English for whatever item it was as well --and none of us spoke enough Icelandic to figure it out!

I would be very thrilled to hear of some good Reformed missionaries headed that way.


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## Pergamum (Jun 4, 2008)

Amen. Let's send a party next week up there!


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## py3ak (Jun 4, 2008)

This would be an excellent time to go.


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## turmeric (Jun 4, 2008)

How much does it cost to live there? What kinds of workers do they need?


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## jawyman (Jun 4, 2008)

I would love to labour for the Lord in this part of His vineyard. Maybe the OPC should have a look at Iceland. 

Thank you for the post, btw.


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## Josiah (Jun 4, 2008)

jawyman said:


> I would love to labour for the Lord in this part of His vineyard. Maybe the OPC should have a look at Iceland.
> 
> Thank you for the post, btw.





I was thinking about sending a link to this thread to Committee on Foreign Missions.


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## py3ak (Jun 4, 2008)

It would be great to see an OPC start in Iceland! Living there is not terribly cheap because they import so much, but rural communities may be quite different from Reykjavik. Here's some information from a website:



> Getting to Iceland can be done very economically: Icelandair offers many excellent fares and promotions. However, as soon as one steps off the plane the situation changes quite drastically. In Iceland, everything is very expensive. Particularly expensive are fresh vegetables (especially organic, if you can find them) and beer (minimum 500 ISK / pint = US$7.04 or GB£3.57, averaging at 600 ISK. Spirits are priced even higher, as alcohol is taxed by how strong it is). A three-course meal in a mid-range restaurant can easily cost 5000 ISK ($70 or £35 without alcohol). A similar meal in a top restaurant will cost about 9000 ISK ($126 or £64 again, without alcohol). A small rental car will cost at least 4000 ISK per day ($56.33 or £28.57 if you shop around...a lot), and you should expect to pay about 130 ISK/L for petrol (that works out to about $7.20/gallon or £1/Litre). On the other hand, smoked salmon is quite reasonably priced---unfortunately bagels and cream cheese are not.



Of course, it is just as easy for God (who is quite wealthy) to pay for Iceland as for Paraguay.

Also you would probably need to be prepared to eat some weird things: my mom had to consume both top and bottom of a sheep's head (she says it was delicious) and I believe some horseflesh as well. 

On the flip side, you could buy some truly outstanding wool sweaters, attend sheep-shearings, and hear of how they stopped a volcanic eruption. 

Learning the language would be fun, and should enable you to read the Edda's, as well as making it easier to master Danish, Swedish, or Norwegian (Icelandic is closer to Old Norse than the language in the other countries). In addition, I think most people are going to speak quite good English: I've never met an Icelandic person who didn't, and quite a lot of them spoke at least 3 languages, and one elderly couple quite a few more.

Meg, here is a link which might give you an idea about what workers they're looking for. Or did you mean in a religious sense?


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## jawyman (Jun 4, 2008)

Josiah said:


> jawyman said:
> 
> 
> > I would love to labour for the Lord in this part of His vineyard. Maybe the OPC should have a look at Iceland.
> ...



Do it! Absolutely. I will send them a note as well. If they are aware that there are men serious about this mission field, perhaps there will be some action.


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## Pergamum (Jun 5, 2008)

Yes, I am all for activism. If the Lord is moving the church to do something big, it has to start somewhere.

Wouldn't it be cool if a major church-planting effort in Iceland first had its genesis here on the PB - I pledge to give the first 100 USD to the one who volunteers!


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