As we take off on a plane to Uganda my heart is so thrilled and yet it sinks. The culture and love in Norway is so great, and our time there was incredible and divinely orchestrated. Really. We spent our short four days near the town of Stange (Stawng-uh) at the National Norwegian Youth With A Mission base (YWAM). This base is called Grimerud, and it sits just up from the bank of Norway's largest lake: Mjøsa. We came to find out that this weekend was one of few that there would be space for us at Grimerud. There was a national holiday on Thursday which everyone in the country received off and most YWAMers took it as a chance to take a break. We were super thankful to be in a community of international folks who had a love for Jesus and for people. Norway is so expensive that staying elsewhere may have been impossible on our modest "student" budget. In a country where a typical meal at McDonald's runs about $22ish (Nkr 125), lodging costs seem through the roof! For a Norwegian however, this seems normal given that their minimum wage is roughly $20 per hour (Nkr 20). All of that to say, we were very thankful for the administration at Grimerud for blessing with very inexpensive lodging including meals.
With the base being quite empty and even the nearby towns being quiet, we learned quickly that taking rest is a big part of the culture. As one of the best countries to be a mother, Norwegian women receive up to 56 weeks off work with 80% when they have a child. The men even receive a significant amount of time off including pay when they become fathers. a typical work day in Noway lasts about 7 hours (8:30-3:30), and Sundays are always off...a person can even receive a ticket for mowing the grass on Sundays!
Another part of their culture I loved was the hospitality. You never go to someone's home without having coffee or tea and some form of snack; typically being cake or waffles. This type of care and hospitality carried over into most of our time at Grimerud. The majority of our time was spent in missionary's homes talking about the culture, daily life, joys and struggles, and ministry. Grimerud is so diverse with culture and nationalities. I remember acknowledging at one of our meals that we were sitting with two Koreans, two Dutch, we are two Americans, and we were in Norway! Small World!
It really was so rich and refreshing for our relationship as husband and wife to gain a new perspective and pursue something new together. We took our down time to imagine ourselves living there, to pray and ask what it would be like to be there, and to focus on what the Lord was saying to us. We knew going into it that four days was not enough time but we feel that for the time we did get it was perfect to really be with the people and hear their stories.
Thanks for adventuring with us!
C & M
