In the evening we had our final meal together, and then went to church in Reykjavík. The church has a lot of new Christians, many of them from pretty extreme backgrounds, which gives it a really dynamic atmosphere – when these guys talk about redemption and transformation they really know what they’re talking about. A couple of the Icelanders kindly translated most of what was being said, and even though we didn’t understand everything it was really good fun.

We’ve all started to go our separate ways now. It’s strange after living in each other’s pockets for a week to be dispersing. Gugga has already gone home, Amy and Kathryn leave very early this morning and the rest of the British team members fly back to London tomorrow afternoon leaving Eric and Katie behind. The trip has been incredible, we’ve seen some beautiful things, met some wonderful people and prayed some big prayers for the people we’ve met, for Iceland and for each other.

I’ll probably post some more reflections and photos when we’re back home, so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on the blog for a few more days.

We spent most of our day in Akureyri doing our own thing. Some people went to hang out with the local Salvation Army, others to explore the town, others to pick wild blueberries and others just relaxed at the hostel taking advantage of the lovely little wood cabin we had all to ourselves. It was such a refreshing break after a week of packing up and moving on every morning. We rounded off the day with a barbeque and some prayer and worship.

The next day we were back on the road, driving from Akueyri to Stykkishólmur. It was a long and farily tiring drive but we did get to stop here and there for some (mostly unsucessful) kite flying with a kite we got for free at a petrol station. When we arrived we went straight to a meeting with the local church, who very kindly cooked us some food before we prayed. We had freshly caught monk fish cooked on the barbeque followed by fruit salad with ice cream and chocolate sauce. We were all in need of the food and the rest and it was a real blessing to be welcomed with such a feast.

The next morning (Sunday) we went to their church service. Si spoke, and encouraged them to seek God more deeply and that their hospitiality, which we’d experienced first hand the night before, was a powerful spiritual gift. Then we got to pray for the members of church individually before heading downstairs for another lovely meal, this time traditional Icelandic lamb soup.

After the service we visited the Library of Water, an art exhibition made from glass pillars containing water from each of the glaciers in Iceland. It was on a hill overlooking Stykkishólmur and the views were stunning.

Impassable? Nah...

Dettifoss

This evening we arrived in Akureyri, the biggest town in Iceland outside the Reykjavík area. It was a bit of a quiet day after the intensity of yesterday (driving for eight hours with a church meeting in the middle can really take it out of you). We just prayed together in the morning, left a copy of Red Moon Rising on the hostel book shelf and got on the road stopping a couple of times to see Dettifoss, an awe inspiring waterfall, and to spend an hour in some Blue Lagoon style hot springs.

It’s amazing how varied the terrain is in Iceland. Today was totally different to the glaciers we saw at the beginning of the week, or the fjords we were driving round yesterday. Sometimes it was a lot like being in the English countryside, other times it felt like we were on the moon.

Tomorrow we’re staying in Akureyri all day. It’ll be really nice to get up and not have to immediately pack up our stuff and get back in the vans. We’ll have some time to explore the town and meet some local Christians. Should be a good day.

I’ll write more tomorrow, hopefully with more photos too. If you’re not doing already, keep an eye on my Iceland Road Trip page on Flickr.

Lunch stop

For lunch we stopped and sat on a rock overlooking the fjord and ate the sandwiches we brought and the wild blueberries we found growing around where we were sitting. There was a little waterfall coming down the mountain behind us and a breath-taking view in front. It was completely idylic.

The highlight of the afternoon was what we intended to be a quick photo stop where the road wound round a cliff overlooking the sea. There was a steep gravel bank down a grassy ledge at the top of the cliff. It wasn’t long before we were all scrambling and sliding down the bank to sit on the grass and take in the view. Getting back up to the cars was a bit tricky, but we all made it up with nothing worse than grazed hands.

This evening we stopped in Vopnafjörður where there’s a really tiny church of 6 people. We worshiped, prayed and prophesied with them and at the end of the meeting an old man, who was a real pillar of the community (3 of the 6 in the church were his children), told us how he’d had the same vision of Jesus at several points throughout his life and that he knew we were following the same Jesus because he felt the same things stir in his spirit as we prayed with them as he had done when he had seen the vision of Jesus. Once again, we all felt really privillaged to be able to encourage a church so much.

After the meeting we had to jump straight back in the vans, it was already late and we needed to drive for another hour and a bit to get to the next hostel so we grabbed some hot dogs and got back on the road. Everyone was pretty tired but it’s not all bad; we rounded off the day sitting outside in the hot tub at Ytran Lón staring up at the stars just 20 miles south of the arctic circle.

Behind the waterfall

We were driving past Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökul, two of the smaller glaciers that the ring road passes close to, so most of the day’s driving was next to beautiful sheer cliff faces that looked more like you’d expect to find them in New Zealand (or Middle Earth) than you would in Iceland. We saw more amazing waterfalls at Fljótsdalur and Skógar where the melting water comes down from the glaciers. Fljótsdalurfoss was tall and narrow so the water spread out in whispy patterns as it fell, really beautiful and even more amazing because it was possible to walk all the way around behind the waterfall.

Frisbee dog

The main stop of the day was at Vík, where a lady from the local church cooked us a beautiful chicken curry. Her neighbours, who aren’t part of the church, all pitched in and helped anyway. One lady made us some delicious feta and olive bread and another guy let us all sit and eat in his workshop, surrounded by all the trucks and props he hires out to film companies (his two big amphibious vehicles were used in one of the Tomb Raider movies). It was a real privillage to eat and pray with them. After dinner we played some frisbee on the beach (with pitch black sand from the volcanic rock) and then went up to the church on the hill overlooking Vík and spent some more time praying for the church and the village and worshiping God. The lady we met from the church seemed really encouraged that we’d come to visit and pray.

Vatnajokull

This morning we drove to Höfn, past Vatnajokull, the biggest glacier in Iceland. At one point the ice flows down the side of the mountain and into a lake, where there are big chunks of floating ice. We all piled out of the vans and ran down the hill to the water’s edge. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen (photos coming later). We had a great worship time when we got to the hostel in Höfn, so aware of God’s greatness after seeing such beautiful things in the morning.

We’re going to the church in Höfn this evening (some people from the church are coming to pick us up any minute), to pray and prophesy and lead some worship. Should be fun evening. Pray for us if you’ve got a minute.

Sigur Rós studio

We left Reykjavík today yesterday (no internet access last night) and headed out to the Golden Circle. It’s a slight detour from the ring road but we got to visit some really incredible places.

We started this morning by going to see the studio Sigur Rós own. It’s a crazy building; an old converted swimming pool that straddles a river. There was no one in so we couldn’t go in and look around, but we spent some time outside praying for the music scene in Iceland and all the amazing creativity that there is in this country.

From there we went to þingvellir (the þ is a “th” sound, so it’s pronounced “thingvellir”), which is in the rift valley between the North American and European tectonic plates and was home to the original Icelandic parliament. It was a really fascinating place with the most breathtaking scenery I’ve ever seen. We spent a long time wandering around the valley taking photos and reading the historical information dotted around the place. There were some really interesting insights into Iceland’s history, including the way that Christianity was introduced. Apparently the decision that Iceland should be a “Christian nation” was made by the leaders and the people were told that they were now officially Christians, but privately could do what they liked. One of our Icelandic friends was telling us that it’s still very much the same today, that there are a lot of people who want to be seen to be part of the church but in private follow other things.

After dinner we did a bit more sight seeing, visiting Gullfoss and Geysir. Gullfoss is a stunning waterfall, such an amazing spectacle of power and beauty. You can’t help but stop and think about God’s greatness and might looking at something like that. The geysir at Geysir was amazing too, a natural jet of water that shoots thirty metres in the air with almost no warning. Chatting later back at the hostel everyone was saying how much creation seemed to be crying out and worshipping God. Everywhere you look in Iceland you’re met with beauty and creativity. Even when we’ve just been driving between places we’ve all been glued to the windows of the vans.

We’re staying in Laugarvatn tonight last night, then tomorrow today we’ll be hitting the ring road and driving to Hvoll, visiting and praying with some churches on the way. We’re not expecting internet access again until Thursday, so you may have to wait a little longer for more blog updates and photos.

Update: Threw some photos up on Flickr.

Free waffles!

The festival today’s been awesome, and really ecclectic. We started by accidentally gate-crashing a random house. Us: “Is this one of the places giving out waffles as part of the festival?” Random Icelandic family: “No… but come and join us anyway.” Their hospitality was amazing, taking in eight randoms and feeding us a seemingly endless supply of waffles and coffee!

From there we went to the Hallgrímskirkja, the cathedral in the middle of Reykjavík, and heard some amazing choral singing. It’s a fantastic church, really simple and unadorned but still really beautiful and so peaceful. Everything’s really light colours, and there are huge windows, so the whole place looks like it’s flooded with light.

Washing machine art

Now we’re back in Glætan via some street art made from broken washing machines all gushing water into the road, free soup and songs at an anti-war cafe, an art raffle (it’s being drawn right now – I’ll let you know if we won anything) and hotdogs and drumming in the square.

We’re off to a Jack London gig tonight. If it’s not too late I’ll throw some photos on Flickr when we get back to the hostel.