LECTURE PHASE AT GRIMERUD - NEW HOME IN NORWAY

It’s been about a month since I arrived at YWAM Grimerud in the middle of Norway - already feeling like home :) so crazy to finally be here. I’m beyond grateful! Also a big thank you for everyone taking part in this journey and helping me in any way.

The base itself is quite big including a farm. We’re surrounded by fields, forests & a near by lake making it very calm and refreshing. It’s no joke real farm life here. Worship and class in the barn right next to the pig and sheep stall, country smells, skies full of stars, beautiful sunrises over the fields and sunsets over the lake as well as horses. Most importantly the flies… well we do have a big problem with those (that’s not a joke :))

Since day one we’re having tons of fun together. It feels as if we’ve already known each other for a long time - we’ve become one big fam!!! Our DTS has about 40 students and 15 staff representing Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxemburg, Ukraine, England, Scotland, the USA, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany. We also have two kids and a baby with us :)

The first days coming here we were able to get to know each other and the base better. We enjoyed the sun and made walks around the base and to the lake, had worship nights including a 24 hour prayer burn and so many other fun things.

A usual day starts with worship and prayer intercession followed by lecture and work duty. On Monday nights we start the week with a Ministry night which is always a party!! Wednesday and Friday afternoon we have track - I’m in Media track. We are separated into two groups each setting up a different brand including designing the logo, mission statements, visions, website, social media, merch, promo video etc. It’s great to get creative, learn new stuff and transform ideas into reality. On Tuesdays we have a base meeting starting with worship and prayer followed by informations. As you can tell we’re having an awesome time but there’s also always something going on and we’re pretty busy. Therefore, everyone is looking forward for the weekend as they are usually off and relaxing.

Our lecture covers topics such as freedom, kingdom culture, understanding the bible, the gospel, discipleship, the holy spirit and more to come. Our speakers speak lots of wisdom and truth over us and literally bring fire and fragrance with them! It’s such a blessing to learn more about the Bible, God and living as as his disciple. We’re blessed to experience transformation in many ways, God’s movement and breaking free from strongholds in our lives. I’m so thankful to able to experience God’s faithfulness in many ways and with every new sunset I’m reminded of his good grace. I’m learning more and more to hear God’s voice and to live in the truths and gifts he has spoken over me as well as over my life. It’s so encouraging to see him speak and move through me!!

We even got to know the different outreach locations. In summary we have six teams going to Faroe Islands, Albania, Mexico, Nepal, Zambia and Kenya.

The week after we got our final outreach locations and teams. WHOOHOO Most of us got our first choice as well as me sooo…

IM GOING TO KENYA 🇰🇪 for about 10 weeks starting January. How crazy is that! I’m more than excited for the time to come and believe that we’re going to have a huge impact on the community there.

Specifically, we’re going to a city called Kilifi right at the beach of Kenya. It looks stunning!! We're probably going to sleep on the roof because our house is still under constructions. As the temperature is about 35-40°C we might even want to do that any way :)

We’re working with the ‘Swahili Coast Mission’ supporting the community through revival, healing and evangelism as well as kids/youth ministry.

My team of seven students and two staffs is amazing as well. We have weekly meetings in our group to get to know each other better, hear our testimonies and do preps before outreach - it's already a lot of fun. On our first meeting our group was already blessed to experience God’s healing. On of the students had really bad back and hip problems since some years. We prayed for him and he got completely healed. Come on!!!

And that’s it for now, thanks for your time and support! I’m very excited to learn so much more, see God moving and changing lives here and on outreach. If you want to know, see more or stay updated feel free to ask me anything or pop by our

Instagram @ywamgrimerud and @f&fnorway looking forward ☻

If you have a heart for financial support just send me a dm.

Wish you the best, stay healthy & see you soon

A big hug Elena <3