Christina Swan

A few days ago I got back from a week of camping in the south of Norway. At a Christian music festival, with my youths from Tananger church and 4500 other people.

It was good! The day we arrived the rain poured down, and it kept raining and raining and raining... fortunately we put our tent up in one of the few remaining camping areas: on a mountain top... so even though we had to climb a while to get there, and go through the mud that accumulated as more and more people stepped on the rainy grass areas, we remained dry.

I made some interesting experiences that week:

1) Even though I was dreading having to camp for a whole week, I actually started to enjoy it mid-way through the week. Camping is wonderful. There is something very special about lying in a small tent when rain drops hit the shell of the tent, the birds sing in the morning, and the blueberry forest is just outside your tent opening. I ate a lot of blue berries that week.

2) I spent some time working as a journalist for the festival newspaper. That was great fun. I got to interview the famous US band "Day of Fire" (which, despite their fame, I had never heard about before), and attend a press conference with Andrae Crouch - the king of Gospel. Crouch, the man behind Gospel classics such as "Soon and very soon", "The blood that Jesus shed for me", "Jesus is the answer", etc, who's written songs that Elvis has sung, who's arranged music for Michael Jackson, Madonna and Elton John, and in films like Lion King, Free Willy etc. I told him that Ed and I are going to have one of his songs in our wedding. He asked which one and said "God bless you". What a wonderful and humble man, despite his fame and his long career as one of The world's biggest Gospel singers.

A fun week with fun people :-)

And next week I'm getting married. Eeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christina