Autumn Days

Well, its been over another 2 months since I last posted so its way past time for another update. I’ll try to keep this brief, but a lot has been going on.

Living arrangements

We have now been living nearly 3 months in our amazing new apartment, although it is proving expensive so we have handed in our 6 month notice.  We initially thought we could make it work but we have since realised there are much cheaper options out there and we are paying more than we need to. When we initially moved in there was little movement on the housing rental market, but this seems to have changed. However, we are enjoying the blessing that the apartment brings and have a couple of new housemates, firstly our friend Ingunn, who will be moving very soon to the upstairs room, to replace Roger who lived with us for a few months but is now moving out. Also we have the wonderful Sarah from Australia who is staying in the ‘den’ in the living room for a few weeks, which is like a little bed space under the sloping roof, very cosy.

I am now working in Café Rót, run by my good friends from YWAM. I am loving working there, it is very much a ‘community’ café feel, it’s much more than somewhere to get coffee. Many customers come in and spend the whole day here, and there’s always people to talk to. There is a wide diversity of people who come in from alternative teenagers to Tango dancers and political activists, so there’s never a dull moment. I recently splashed out on coffee making (barista) training with a lady called Sonja Grant, a former world Barista champion and now a judge at the world coffee championships. She runs an amazing café called Kaffismiðjan, easily the best coffee house in Iceland, and perhaps the world, who knows! Although the training was expensive, I got 3 hours one-on-one training which will put me in a good place should I need to get a 2nd café job when my money begins to run out next year…it was amazing to learn from someone who is such a coffee perfectionist and talent.

In the basement of Café Rót is a prayer room we have sent up in conjunction with YWAM. We did a week of 24-7 prayer earlier in the year. I am now looking to develop this prayer room and get some artists together decorate it to make it more creative so that people can engage with God in creative ways, whether through music, art, or something else.

YWAM are currently running a Discipleship Training School here in Reykjavík, and they have an amazing group of seven students, one from Iceland, one from Germany and the rest from the States. I have had the privilege of being able to teach a couple of seminars on the school, one about prayer and one on the Image of God. I have a passion to teach the Bible, I just love doing it! I have one more seminar I will be teaching in December about Celtic Christianity. I am hoping for more doors to open to use this gift next year.

I’m progressing quickly with learning the Icelandic language, and am currently doing an intensive language learning course this month, two hours each weekday for five weeks, and then there are further levels I can progress to after this initial course finishes. I am gradually realising I will be here for the longer term and so really want to invest in learning the language and its complicated grammar. Someone told me to day there are 16 different grammatical forms of the noun ‘horse’ so I think it will take me a long while to be fluent, but I’m happy to make gradual improvement each week.

I am continuing slowly but surely with my online digital photography course, and am learning a lot and my photography is definitely improving.

I had the opportunity to cook the starter for a fundraising meal for my friend Þorgils who is a DTS student here. With the help of some of the other students I somehow managed to cook a butternut squash risotto for 50 people on a small stove! That was a miracle in itself…I enjoy cooking and hospitality, the only problem is food is really expensive here so I can’t entertain or throw dinner parties as much as I’d like!

I I recently spent a week at the Iceland Airwaves music festival with Eric and my friends Matt and Steph from London. Airwaves is an international music festival held at different venues around Reykjavík and we  heard some incredible bands. In particular, Icelandic bands Andvari, Miri, Seabear, For a Minor Reflection, Svavur Knútur, Mukkalo, Uni, Lay Low and Sóley. Also, Danish band ‘Alcoholic Faith Mission’ and UK band ‘Codes in the Clouds’ really impressed me. In so many shows I felt the presence of God in the music, making it a really deep and profound experience. There is something really special about the music here, and there are so many bands who deserve to be heard by a wider audience. It really inspired me to get creative and following the festival I picked up a guitar for the first time in 12 years and wrote a few songs which was incredible, as I could only remember a few chords. I don’t have a career in singing, and my guitar playing is very rusty but I do enjoy writing lyrics and tunes so maybe if I find a band or singer to write for I could progress this a little bit.

I also have a potential opportunity to go to the Westmann Islands, a small group of volcanic islands off the south coast of Iceland where we have a friend who has studio space to practice music. I would love to get back into drumming, and was so inspired by Airwaves. I am feeling a real draw to the music industry and Eric is in the process of setting up his own record label and God is opening amazing doors for him to work with Icelandic bands here. I have a real passion to work alongside Eric to see God move in the music scene, and although I have no idea quite how I’m going to be used yet, I am really excited by the potential here. There is a real spiritual openness among many musicians and the potential for musicians to have divine encounters through their music is huge. Will keep you updated about how this all develops.

I am quickly running out of money, and will need an additional source of income in January or February, whether a second job or raising support. It feels crazy to be in this position but sometimes following God is doing what seems crazy because God is calling me to trust Him with everything I have….and I’m definitely now living from my heart and not just from my head and the adventure is well and truly underway!!!

More posts soon with more reflective thoughts…

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