North by Northwest

Our time in Copenhagen came to a close today.  A three hour cross country train ride brought us to Northwest to Aarhus, Denmark.

Why Aarhus (pronounced Orr-whose)?  Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark (300,000 people).  Aarhus is dominated by approximately 35,000 students in Denmarkäs second largest university.  This city is in very real need of a Bible teaching church.

This was the testimony we heard from the mouths of two young believing Danish families we met this evening.  Over dinner they described the frustrations felt and lived out as a result of choosing to follow Christ.  One of them, a medical student, described the very trecherous path of professing Christ in the world of science—“the higher you go in education, the greater the resistence to anything resembling Christianity”.

They endeavor to make a difference, but they stand against an enormous tide.  There exists very little in this country to encourage, validate, or support followers of Christ.  What little exists is fading.  We sleep tonight in a church just down the road from the university.  From the back yard, you can see the steeples of four churches, including where we are staying.  One is for sale.  One is long since closed.  The other two have bells ringing from their steeples.  One can not help but hear the emptiness in the toll of the bells.  It mirrors an emptiness that comes from within.

Waiting for our train to our next destination—Aarhus

2 Danish families who see the deep needs of the church

Steeple at sunset—Aarhus, Denmark