Lately more than ever, I feel like I have so many thoughts buzzing around in my head.
Ideas… goals… dreams… wonderings… questions…
So I am going to start on here in the hope that I will blog more regularly… to write… to record… to process… to engage…with myself mostly (as a way of organising my thoughts) but also the world around me.
We have lived in Stockholm, Sweden for almost two years and a lot has happened in this time: including big shifts in perspective and a major career change for both of us. But I still have questions… the main one being: What next?
A question that is tinged with excitement – yet lingers so very dauntingly as it reaches out into the unknown.
I feel that i should say at this point that we have no plans to not continue to be here… but I want to stay open to God’s plan for us, our lives, our music… and I truly believe that the question of ‘What next?’ is one to be embraced… and not to shy away from.
So over these mellandagarna (middle days in Sweden – the days between Christmas and New Year), this question is one i will ponder carefully…
And on that note, I will finish this train of thought with a quote that I came across recently:
“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
– Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the current president of Liberia and the first female head of state in Africa:
So our Kickstarter campaign is well underway – thank you so much if you have already given to help make our new album a reality! How are we doing? Well, with 10 days to go, we need just under 10,000 Swedish kronor to be fully funded – that is roughly $1,100 or £720.
That’s right – we’re 65% of the way there! Here are a few ways we’d love for you to be a part of our new album, ‘Echoes Of Wonder’, which with your support, we plan to release at the end of October…
- Back the project on Kickstarter: how about a bamboo USB stick, an awesome tote bag, or a signed CD (amongst many exciting rewards)?
- Share our music or Kickstarter campaign with your friends
- Join with us on Facebook or Instagram as we continue on this musical journey together.
Doing this one-off fundraising campaign has been such an encouragement to us. Many generous and unexpected people have given to our music making, and we are SO grateful for all this support.
So thank you again.
With every blessing,
Anita x
I feel that it’s time for an update on summer in Sweden….or rather…the lack thereof! Yes…the weather has not been on our side so far this year. (This picture was captured on a rare day!)
People keep on asking if we have been away this summer and the answer is…we haven’t. But don’t worry – we’re not too hard done by as we did head to the Austrian mountains and Salzburg in May for over two weeks and we’re heading back to the UK a couple of times in the Autumn.
We have been doing other things instead…more about that later.
In and amongst this, we have taken a couple of trips within Sweden; explored the town of Sundsvall (which is 4 hours north of Stockholm) and took a road trip to camp out in a bear hide…twice. (And although we didn’t see any bears, it was a great experience!) We’ll be heading back next year to try again for sure.
Our summer focus
Our real focus this summer has been (and still is) working on and finishing up our second full length album which is due for release this Autumn. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so excited about a release and I feel that this material is the best we have written to date!
For this release, we decided to do a Kickstarter campaign and in just 1 week, we have reached over 50% of our goal. A huge thank you to all who have joined with us in bringing this closer to reality.
What’s in it for you?
Ahhh…that age old question. The good news is…a lot!
If you choose to support us in in our crowdfunding campaign, you are not just donating. You can exchange your donation for a whole range of rewards, such as:
- Getting our music before anyone else (with exclusive bonus tracks!)
- An exclusive limited edition ‘Salt Of The Sound’ bamboo USB stick with all our music on!
- An exclusive ‘Salt of the Sound’ tote bag.
- In fact, there are 17 DIFFERENT REWARDS for you to choose from.
By backing us in this campaign, you will be supporting us as independent music artists and in our music ministry.
So…if you feel that you can spare just 90SEK, $10 or£6.60 or more (yes – the exchange rate is very much in your favour if you don’t live in Sweden at this time), you can get one of our great rewards and we will be eternally grateful to you!
Why kickstarter?
You can read and hear more about why we are doing this over on the kickstarter page and take a sneaky peak at the video below.
Thank you all for your continued support for our music ministry. Having you join with us means more than you know.
Anita x
Last week was somewhat bitter-sweet for me if I’m honest.
We took a group of youth from Immanuel International Church down to Holsby Brunn in Småland, in the south of Sweden for their annual summer camp. It was a time of laughter, worship, outdoor activities, big games, prayer, talking, thinking, eating…the list could go on. It was great to learn more about what is happening in the lives of these young people, and how God is at work – through the good and through many challenging situations they are facing.
So why bitter-sweet?
This camp marked the last big event where Ben and I would lead the youth in this way…and this was continually on my mind. While originally, we were only stepping into this role temporarily, the youth have had a huge impact on my life. (And I have learnt more from them than they probably have from me!) It is incredible to see how they are already growing into such great leaders & thinkers – I have no doubt of the many positive differences they will make to this world in years to come.
Why the change?
I feel that I should say (for my own processing as much as anything) that we love the youth of our church dearly and the reason for this change is not that we don’t want to be in their lives anymore. Rather…
- Now more than ever, we feel in a big way that God is calling us to music ministry (both as Salt of the Sound) and as worship leaders, and we feel a strong conviction to focus on that.
- Originally we were only filling in the youth position for a couple of months (which extended for various reasons) and now here we are… 15 months later.
- This is also in part because we have felt for a while that there is someone at this time who has a greater calling and gifting for the youth ministry of Immanuel International. (And if last week is anything to go by, she is going to be awesome at it!)
But to all the youth of summer camp…if you were ever to read this. This is what I would want you to know:
-
God will use you in ways you never thought possible if you let Him.
-
So stay open to Him and His plan for your life.
-
You are amazing. Dare to be…you!
—-
The Summer Camp centre we go to is part of Torchbearers International and is one of twenty-six Torchbearers Centres across the globe. They offer fantastic bible school programmes as well as great venues for retreats and conferences – if you haven’t heard of them, you should definitely check them out!
As part of this blog, I want to write about my experiences of living in a foreign country where the language is not my mother-tongue , and the lessons I am learning on this journey. This is one of those posts:
Understanding each other isn’t always easy – and when you bring different cultural perspectives into the mix, it can be all too easy to miss one another. Living as a foreigner in a country isn’t always easy. But I also see that living in a country that you have always lived in and seeing things change isn’t always easy accept… or at least – it’s not always easy to understand.
And that is the key here: understanding, or in far too many cases, misunderstanding.
I recently heard the question “How can we walk hand-in-hand when we don’t see eye-to-eye?”.
And since I heard it, it has been going round in my head. It’s made me think, question and consider. While they are not fully formed or easy answers, I have concluded:
- We’re not all going to agree with each other the whole time.
- We’re not going to even understand each other the whole time.
- And it would be near impossible for us all to instantaneously change our perspectives which have been nurtured from so many years of varied cultural, familial and external influences, and are based upon on such individual experiences.
But we can try to listen to each other, hear each other out and meet each other where we are.
Don’t misunderstand me(!) This is not me saying that in order for us to work together you need to come round to my way of thinking – it is me saying that we both need work together and walk together prayerfully – and to continually try to see the world from each other’s perspectives.
You with me and I with you.
In this way, we will be living out the Kingdom of God here on earth.
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. ” – 1 John 3:18
And I don’t write this because I am perfect – on the contrary – walking hand-in-hand takes two…and I am one half of that whole.
