Christians for Israel on TV in Norway

Conference Attendees

“We need to have this in Oslo too!” Pastor Jan-Aage Torp told me after our conference in Bergen, Norway, last June. And so he set to work on a 3-day conference for pastors of churches in Oslo in October. Over 60 pastors promptly registered. Meanwhile, the war around Gaza broke out shortly before, and some of them stayed home out of fear of incidents. The organiser was keen for the lectures to be broadcast on TV to reach as many people as possible. However, there appeared to be a considerable price tag for the arrival of a camera crew. He decided to pray for this. The evening before the conference, a sponsor spontaneously phoned. During the week of 13 November, all lectures were broadcast on Visjon Norge TV and on the internet via kristenkoalisjon.world.

Left to right: Andrew Tucker; Cornelis Kant; Eigil Jespersen, former colonel in the Norwegian Army and leader of pro-Israel group in the Labor movement in Norway; Hagnar Hatlem, international law lawyer; Pastor Käthe Annbjørg Kristoffersen from Kristiansand; Jan-Aage Torp and his wife Aina, organizer of the conference and President of the European Apostolic Leaders.

Andrew Tucker of thinc. spoke about international law, the war in Gaza, the impossibility of the EU’s two-state solution and the EU’s long-standing anti-Israel stance. I spoke about the significance of Israel in God’s plan of salvation in the Old and New Testaments, reading many biblical passages, and explained the origin and development of replacement theology.

A Norwegian Member of Parliament, Himanshu Gulati, himself a Hindu, addressed us at the conference. He told us that his nation of origin, India, along with many Hindus worldwide, strongly stand with Israel. He informed us he is part of an international pro-Israel organisation of politicians. How shocking that many churches and Christians in Norway are very critical of Israel, while a Hindu supports Israel.

The conference concluded with a panel discussion in which a Norwegian lawyer and a former colonel from the Norwegian army also participated. We look back with gratitude on a valuable conference and pray that the broadcasts may reach many people.