Below is a letter from Torben that he quoted on the phone after being in isolation for 6 days:
“I want to start by saying thank you so much to all of you who are praying for me out there, and for your support. It means so much to me and my family. It makes me cry every time I hear all the greetings, and how you are all praying for me out there. Suddenly, I don’t feel so alone anymore, because this is not easy, so it means so much to me!
Everyone here is in isolation, so we only come out thirty minutes every day, and there is not so much to look at, except for different people sitting at the telephone a half hour per day. Then, the TV – I truly have a hate/love relationship with the TV. Sometimes, it’s nice to see things from the world outside, but other times they turn up the TV so loud that even though I can’t really hear it because of the thick door, it just sounds like a lot of noise, and almost like torture sometimes. So, I really hate that TV sometimes.
I am not saying any of this to complain, but I’m just giving you an insight into my days, that I spend the whole day in a small room, get a meal three times a day through the door, and then get out for thirty minutes per day. But to hear my wife’s voice just makes it so much easier, and to hear how you out there are praying for me really makes me happy, and it helps me and gives me a lot of encouragement.
I have heard that we’ve found a good lawyer. I have not talked with him yet, but I should be able to talk with him tomorrow, which I look forward to. Otherwise, I don’t know so much about the future here, but I encourage you all to continue praying for me out there. It really means a lot! I’m seeking God my Father, and I know that He is righteous. Psalms 37:5-6 says, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” I took Paul’s words today also in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!” I know it’s not always easy, and sometimes it’s easier said than done… Someone might say, “Torben, but you’re in jail and you don’t know what’s happening, so it’s really difficult to rejoice in the Lord.” Yes, but that was exactly where Paul was when he wrote Philippians. Paul was also in jail not knowing what would happen, and it was there he wrote Philippians, and that we should always rejoice in the Lord. So if he was able to do it, I should also be able to do it, even though it’s not easy, and there are times per day I really need to fight a lot to really keep my courage up.
I would also like to say, like Paul, that I would love for people to have what I have, except for these chains… “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.” When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”
(Acts 26:27-31)
God, He is REAL, Jesus is ALIVE, and the Holy Spirit is the SAME, TODAY! My heart and prayer is that the church out there will experience this amazing life as a disciple of Christ, the life me and many of my friends are living, where we are led by the Holy Spirit, healing the sick, casting out demons, going in and seeing a whole household coming to Christ. Yes, there are many beautiful testimonies of what God has done these last few months, and the last years, and this is just part of being a disciple of Christ. If we go and read about the early church, and how the early disciples lived, it really was a Holy Spirit-filled life with healing, miracles, signs and wonders where they saw the whole house coming to faith, but it was also a life where they were being persecuted, and put wrongfully in jail.
So, this is all REAL, and I would like everyone to have what I’ve experienced, except for these chains, as Paul was saying in Acts 26. Jesus has promised us persecution in Mark 10:16-20, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” (Matthew 10:16-20) So what is happening with me is part of following Christ and being a disciple of Jesus, even though it isn’t easy. But Jesus never promised it would be easy, so I encourage you all to seek God and obey His Word!
Please keep praying for us and I look forward so much to seeing you face to face and sharing more one day soon! God bless you all!
