“What the enemy has meant for evil, God is turning for GOOD!!” – UPDATE FROM TORBEN

 

Lene is my contact with the world out there. In here, I have spent time with no one, alone in my cell, getting a meal three times per day through a hole in the door. I still don’t know anything. I will speak with my lawyer next week. Hopefully I will know more then! Ten days of isolation in a cell has truly changed my life! There have been times of great terror, great fear and panic, but those have been taken over by moments with God in prayer, worship, and His Word, like I have not had for many years, or NEVER! It has truly been AMAZING, and I could write a whole book about the last ten days!

 

When I first came into my cell, with a bunkbed in the wall, and a toilet with drinking water and a shower, I was in shock. It was also very dirty, with left overs, underwear, mold on the ceiling, old wrappers left from old food, and papers were stuck to the air conditioner, trying to keep the cold out. And it is really, really cold here in the cell. Everything with this little room just SHOCKED me, like I was in a very bad movie… I was put in here and they locked the door behind me, and I was like, “WHOA! What now?!” Panic and fear started to arise in me… I was also extremely tired, after the 36 hours before I had almost not slept at all. It was truly difficult to keep myself together and not go into panic.

 

When I was nine years-old, I actually locked myself into the restroom at the school, and even though it was only a few minutes before I got the door open, it was enough to impact me so much, that I, for the next eight years in school, did NOT use the restroom if there was not a wall I could climb over. This often left me coming home from school with a bad stomach because I was afraid to go to the restroom, and had not used the restroom all day. Jesus set me free from that, but the first night, those thoughts came up to me again. It was truly a night I will NEVER forget.

 

The next day was really, really hard. I prayed a lot, and tried to quote the Bible as much as I could remember from my memory. But it was very difficult. Everything seemed so far away, until I finally sat down on my bed, tried to relax, and said, “Ok, let’s take one chapter at a time.” I started to go through the book of Acts from memory, and after some hours I came to chapter ten. This really brought some peace to me and was really good!

 

The second day, I called Lene, and she told me about how all the shares had been happening with my post, and how many people out there were talking about it and praying for me, and it really broke me down. When I came back to my cell, I cried and cried like I have not cried for years. It really broke me to hear how many people are praying for me… and it really touched me… and it was so good to finally cry and get all the shock out of my body.

 

The third day, I got a Bible. WHOA! I never in my life longed to see a Bible as much as in this time. I LOVED IT! And I started to read it, and it brought so much PEACE and HOPE to me! Yes, I know I am innocent, but at the same time, I didn’t know what the enemy was up to, or what he might try to do… Will they also try to fake some evidence? Will I spend years in jail? Will I be thrown out of America? What about my family? Yes, there were many thoughts going through my head, so it was difficult to find peace, but the Bible REALLY brought PEACE!

 

The fifth day, I got three pencils, and a piece of paper, and one more Bible, and it really blessed me, because now I could write notes, and underline verses in the Bible, and I started to really do Bible STUDY, so the last days here have just been truly amazing!

 

It is very difficult to explain and put words to it, and there are still moments where fear and panic try to come in my head, but NOT like before! It has truly been one of the best times WITH GOD I’ve had for years!! It has been the best times in PRAYER I’ve had for years!! It has been the best BIBLE STUDIES I’ve had for years!! WHOA! I truly LOVE IT!! God has been speaking SO MUCH to me, and I’ve learned SO MUCH about Him, and about myself, and I’ve grown SO MUCH in faith like never before!!

 

As I write this to you, I am truly THANKFUL for God putting me here!! Yes, it was HIM who did it! He has a PLAN with it all!! When you read about Joseph in the Bible, how his brothers threw him into the pit – “PIT” stands for “PREACHERS IN TRAINING”! You can feel that this was unfair, and even more so when you continue reading in Genesis 39:10-21, “So it was, as she (Potiphar’s wife) spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her. But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, ‘See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.’ So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, ‘The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.’ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, ‘Your servant did to me after this manner,’ that his anger was aroused. Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

 

Daily, Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, and she lied, TOTALLY lied – it was TOTALLY unfair. Joseph had done NOTHING wrong, but she shouted and accused him of doing things he HAD NOT DONE. When you read that, you can just think, “This is unfair! This is unfair! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” and your righteous sense just wants to shout, “It is UNFAIR!” But, when you then read the next chapter and see how GOD ordained it – GOD was behind it – GOD let it happen! Why? Because it was part of Joseph’s CALLING! It was Joseph’s way to fulfill the call God had given HIM in his life! WHOA! What a truth! What a revelation!!

 

This is truly MY way for GOD to do what GOD has called ME to do!! What the enemy has meant for evil, God is turning for GOOD!! I have SO MUCH I could share with you about the last ten days! I have read the Word before, but it’s truly NOTHING like reading it in a jail – not knowing what will happen to you. It was the same way PAUL often was when he wrote the letters – he was writing them from a jail, not knowing what would happen to him! Or when you read about the Psalms of DAVID, how the enemy was laying waiting for him daily, but you see AGAIN and AGAIN that GOD IS FAITHFUL!! This is SO different to read the Word here!

 

I’ve also been PRAYING like never before – 24/7 – me and God praying and hanging out together – praying, reading the Word, studying the Word, praying some more – and it has been TRULY AMAZING in so many ways!!

I need to end now, but I want to say like 3 John 1:13-14 says, “I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to you.”

 

Yes! I look forward to seeing you face to face, and to sharing God’s GOODNESS and FAITHFULNESS with all of you out there! STAY STRONG! STAY STRONG and SHARE YOUR FAITH and MAKE DISCIPLES!!

 

Also, please pray for me and my family. It means a lot! Keep praying for me that the lie will be revealed and the TRUTH will come out, and that God, He will release me from this jail, and that we will get our asylum. Pray that the church will experience the life GOD has for them!!

 

To GOD be the GLORY!