In Sweden in 21/22 over 1.000 followers of New Age and spiritualism chose Jesus and were baptized. This fast-spreading revival in the country of 10,5 million emerged during the Covid pandemic and relies heavily on the internet, such as Facebook, Zoom and YouTube.
Region:
Sweden
Start:
2021
converts:
1000+
Many people in the New Age movement are in search of deep spiritual experiences and are therefore very open to an encounter with God compared to the general Swedish population.
Christians in Sweden have been praying for New Agers for many years. Five years ago, God opened the doors to various discussion groups among this group of people that resulted in sharing a biblical perspective on global, spiritual, or personal issues. God met individuals powerfully through personal prayer. Also, Christians began running booths at the annual Harmoni Expo (New Age Products and Services Convention). Some came to faith through these events, others through street evangelistic outreach.
breakthrough to revival
The breakthrough came when a Swedish woman named Susanne Billander found Jesus in July 2021. Susanne was a video blogging guru in Sweden's New Age movement. Her YouTube presence and following changed dramatically when she published her conversion story. She started an online community, “The Holy Circle" (in Swedish: Holy circles), a website, but most importantly a Facebook group where questions from seekers and new believers are discussed. There you will find testimonies of people who have found Christ and the life of the Holy Spirit, and who Have inspired hundreds of people to accept salvation through Christ. From this, groups for prayer and other activities such as worship and coffee shop fellowship developed. Teaching and various forms of discipleship followed, led by a handful of Bible school-trained leaders. In Stockholm, monthly meetings began in private homes and small venues, attended by about 30 people. Rikard Sallander Ministries, where Rikard teaches and preaches, has become a popular channel for discipleship of new believers. Sallander's Grace Church, which streams sermons and testimonies, has grown to 450 members. A typical live service has 35 people present, some of whom come to faith and are filled with the Holy Spirit in a Pentecostal manner after Rikard calls to the altar and then prays for the people. Rikard is the clear and central leader. Other members of Holy circles have joined local Pentecostal churches where they receive teaching and fellowship.
Key Findings
After prayerful preparation, the focus on preaching and evangelism led to new believers, healings and baptisms. Personality-based leadership appeals to those who are in or emerging from the New Age movement. In this case, the conversion of a person of peace resulted in an explosion of conversions. The same was also observed when a few years ago Sebastian Stakset (known Swedish rap artist) came to believe, his path was followed by many of his fans, including drug dealers and addicts. In Susanne's case, the good news of Jesus spread through online media. Something similar happened to Iranians in Sweden. It is clear that individuals have a very large sphere of influence (Oikos) can have. If there were more spiritual parents in Sweden to mature and multiply the many new believers, then revival would continue to spread with a healthy momentum. In the New Age movement, there are many consumers and few mentors. Therefore, individuals from this movement responded primarily to online courses rather than replicable approaches, and a self-replicating discipleship movement has not yet emerged from spiritual revival in Sweden.
