It’s a chill Friday evening, autumn 2020. I find myself at Baker Hansen, a nice coffee place nearby Markus church. I’m going to meet with someone who is interested in hearing more about Day&Night’s vision. Her name is Tone and we have a brief 30-minute talk just before Day&Night begins at 19:00. As I drive home after the worship evening, I am totally unaware of what God is doing behind the scenes. The days go by, and I completely forget about the conversation with Tone.
More than two years later, I attend a prayer conference in Haugesund and bump into Tone by the door! She recognizes me immediately, but it takes a few seconds for me to recall who she is. We agree to catch up later. On the last day of the conference, we happen to find ourselves at the same lunch table. As we share about life and ministry, something inside me clicks when she mentions the name of her son, David.
David has a fascinating story of how the Lord led him to move to Oslo, particularly when he found a collective at St.Hanshaugen nearby Markus church. I’m intrigued by the sequence of events and wonder if there’s more to learn about Tone’s son.
What if this connection with David could lead to more than I realize? Day&Night is starting a community this fall. We need a house. Could David’s living situation be the answer we’re looking for? Should I dare explore the idea any further? David and I meet a few weeks later after the prayer conference. As we sip some hot chocolate, we connect on a deeper level. We talk about the collective where he lives, a two-story house with separate apartments for the guys and girls. It sounds too good to be true for the Day&Night Community house, but there is a challenge, eight people already live there.
After a few weeks, I ask David if we can anyway meet with the landlord. I figure I have nothing to lose by trying. The house owner is conveniently in town, and the house is only a 10-minute walk from Markus church! I get all the more excited when he starts speaking French (my mother tongue) to me.
“Let me show you the basement,” he says. One of the rooms is none other than a chapel! I can’t believe my eyes. There’s a prayer room! That’s not all; the house was also a mercy house for women in difficult situations when a Christian organization owned the property. Prayer and mercy, just like Day&Night’s core values! As I’m pondering how to get the house when there are already people living there, the landlord offers a solution to a question I did not dare to ask: “If you want the whole house, I can terminate the contract of those who live here, so you can get the whole house”! It’s a done deal!
Day&Night has just signed the contract, we are moving in on August 1st! And that’s how a seemingly casual conversation on an autumn day paved the way for a significant breakthrough nearly 2.5 years later! All glory to God!
More info about Day&Night Community: www.dayandnight.no/en/community
*Picture on the courtesy of Anne-Sophie Ofrim
CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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