August 23rd 2009



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It's important that I learn to live in adverse situations that I cannot explain without blaming God.
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Dear friends, (From Shanie)

It's been 2 months since our last update, in which I asked you to specifically pray for a breakthrough for Peter's health. About a week after asking everyone to pray for breakthrough Peter began to experience a dramatic change in the level of itching and in sleep. He was sleeping between 4 and 8 hours a night! After 3 weeks of this he suddenly had a turn for the worse and it’s been down hill ever since physically. Although we have not seen a complete breakthrough in his physical body, we have experienced amazing breakthroughs at other levels in our lives. The honest truth is that we are all feeling quite battle-weary. We are so desperate for this ordeal to end. We were very touched when our ministry leaders contacted us and said that they wanted to make a call to prayer for 3 days in September for us to our worldwide ministry family. It has never ceased to amaze us how people are continuously standing behind us and praying for us. We recently heard of yet another family with two small boys who pray regularly for us and for Peter’s healing and we were moved to tears as we are so humbled by such an outpouring of love and concern and commitment.

In the past 2 months we've been to the hospital 8 times, and Peter has had all kinds of tests done. The doctors believe he has something in addition to the Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer, but they can't figure out what. They suspect he may have Sarcoidosis, but so far we've been unable to have it diagnosed.



Ministry Life (by Shanie)

As you can imagine, we are currently not going full speed in our ministry responsibilities. While still functioning as leaders for KKI in Central & Eastern Europe and Central Asia, we also have agreed to serve as conveners for YWAM in Denmark. There is not presently a National Director for YWAM Denmark, so we were asked to help bring unity between the various YWAM staff & ministries. However, we are quite limited in what we can do both ministry-wise and socially. It is frustrating to have to accept our diminished capacity and productivity. We long for a life where we can be active both in our social relationships and in fulfilling the call God has placed on our lives. At the same time we see how, as we are forced to pull back we are experiencing God at a whole new level. We can not help but be reminded of the word of the Lord to us when He told us to move to the states. He gave us a picture of a bow and arrow and told us to pull back into Him and that the deeper into Him we pulled the greater the power behind us when we moved forward again, and the greater the impact when we reached the target. We never could have imagined the extreme to which that lesson of pulling back would be played out in our lives. We would not be without it as we see the level of relationship and revelation God has brought us to! We know that we will move forward again and be in full swing once more, but until then we have learned to be content in the fact that God is preparing us for much more than what we ever experienced before and we trust Him. In the meantime we will proceed as much as we can in ministry and continue to pull deep into our Fathers heart.



Family Life (by Shanie)

CammiAnn has gone back to school after her summer vacation and is enjoying being back with her friends. She recently auditioned for a singing part in the school play and she is anxiously waiting to hear if she got a part.

Amanda has recently been accepted to the School of Social Justice starting in October in Denver, Colorado. She is very excited about this school and feels a real passion and call to work in the area of social justice and reform. If you would like to receive Amanda’s personal updates you can contact her at: cheri@kkee.dk

Elizabeth is looking for a new job at the moment as her job with the school finished this summer. She is working to save money for the next phase in her training in media production. She is currently preparing to make a new video devotional for us which we hope to be able to put on our web site in the next couple months.



Dear friends, (From Peter)


Well, it's been a long & tiring road, but I can honestly say: "God is still good." It sounds like a cliché, but this truth changed my life, once I got a proven revelation of it. He is amazing & awesome; His goodness overwhelms me; He is always good and nothing bad comes from Him. Cancer or any other kind of sickness does not come from Him, because He doesn't have it to give. You cannot give what you don't have. I could go on forever talking about the goodness of God, because it’s impossible to exaggerate His goodness.

If something happens around you that isn't good, it's not God's doing. If you get sick, don't blame God; if someone close to you dies, God didn't do it; if you loose your job, it's not God's fault. Put the blame where it belongs, and choose to praise & thank Him who is always worthy!

I've heard people say that cancer became their best friend. Although I understand where they're coming from, in terms of the cancer causing them to re-prioritize their lives and focus on what's really important, I don't agree. Cancer comes from the pit of hell and is no friend of mine. I hate it with a passion.

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The grace of God is sufficient. That is not meaningless theology. It is as real as the air I breathe. I can’t see it, but it sustains my life!
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If sickness doesn't come from God, then where does it come from? Some people believe that God allows us to become sick to discipline us, or because He wants to punish us for our sin. In John 9 when the disciples asked Jesus why a certain man was blind, they thought it was because of sin, but Jesus responded: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." Soon after, in John 11, Jesus talked to Mary & Martha about their brother Lazarus: "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." God can take even the worst of situations, and bring something good out of them: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him". (Rom. 8: 28).

I believe God has promised me that this sickness is not unto death. I want Him to be glorified through my life, both now during the battle, and once the breakthrough comes!

A few days ago someone called me and said "Peter, IF God heals you, I will thank Him every day for the rest of my life." I told her "I thank Him every day already (regardless of whether or not he heals me). I thank Him for the fact that I am alive, for all that He has done in my life, in my marriage & in my family through this whole ordeal, and I thank Him for who He is."

I feel I am in the middle of a horrible storm. I try hard to hang on, praying the storm will end soon. The storm is having a major effect on my wife & children, and I hate to see them struggle and suffer as a result. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, where I'm so miserable and feel I'm just one step away from losing my sanity, I cry out to God with everything within me. I cry out for help, for relief, for strength... and most times nothing happen. At those times it's easy to feel that God isn't there, that He's deaf, and that He's forgotten all about you. But it's in those times that it's important to remember what I know to be the truth: that God is an ever present help in times of trouble, that He will never leave me or forsake me, etc. etc. Feelings are very important, because they show us where we're at, but they are often unstable and not a true expression of reality. They go up & down, here & there. So, what will I lean on: my own feelings or the truth of God? In those moments, when I know my feelings are contrary the truth of God, I try to speak out loud what I know to be the truth about who my God is.

I want to be like a tree that is firmly rooted in the truth of who God is and who I am in Him, whose roots go down deep and does not topple in the storms of life. In order for those roots to go deep I need to be stretched and I need to stand on truth above feelings.

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Anyone can praise God before and after the storm; but it's learning to praise Him through the storm that counts.
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After King Hezekiah had been really sick and God healed him and gave him another 15 years, he exclaimed "Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. (Isaiah 38:17 (NIV). In the past 2 years I have suffered... my wife and children have suffered... but we can truly say that God has turned it for our benefit!

God is so good and so faithful; whatever tragedy we face, He can turn it for our sake, for the sake of others and for the sake of His glory!


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It’s not how hard you can punch, but how hard you can get punched and keep going.
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A revelation of God's love

For a while I (Peter) have desired to gain a greater understanding & awareness of God's love towards me. I started meditating on what has become one of my favorite scriptures:
Zephaniah 3:17. First I just read it out loud, probably 20 times or so, until I had it memorized:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

I then changed it slightly, to make it more personal, and spoke it out loud for quite a while: The LORD my God is with me, he is mighty to save me. He will take great delight in me, he will quiet me with his love, he will rejoice over me with singing.

Then, I changed it once more, to make it even more personal: LORD my God you are with me, you are mighty to save me. You will take great delight in me, you will quiet me with your love, you will rejoice over me with singing.

And finally, as my heart filled with gratitude over being the son of this kind of Father, I changed it one final time: Thank you LORD my God that you are with me, thank you that you are mighty to save me. Thank you that you take great delight in me, thank you that you quiet me with your love, thank you that you rejoice over me with singing.

After about an hour of this, something amazing happened. It was like the love of God entered the room, in such a holy
tangible way. I was overwhelmed by His love towards me. I couldn't help but cry; cry of relief, cry of happiness. Soon the tears turned to laughter; a joy filled the depth of my heart, a joy that only God could release.


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One touch from God, one revelation from Him, can change your life forever.
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Prayer points:

1. For our 3 daughters: Elizabeth (19), Amanda (18) and CammiAnn (13). They are doing very well under the circumstances, but this whole ordeal has affected them more than they show. They are suffering just watching their dad suffer.

2. For Shanie: it’s always hard to be the caregiver. She is carrying a huge load, and although she is very strong, she has her limits, too. During these past couple years, of focusing so much on Peter’s situation and needs, she has been forced to neglect herself. Pray for strength, grace and joy, and that she will be able to get time to herself to be renewed by the Lord on a continual basis.

3. For strength to endure for all 5 of us, and that we would know God’s comfort every day.

4. For finances related to Peter’s treatment.

5. That we would learn everything that God wants to teach us during this season (and that we would be quick learners).


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For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
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Many Greetings from Denmark!
Love & Blessings from the five of us,

Peter, Shanie, Elizabeth, Amanda & CammiAnn