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Why Kenya?

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Tjongsfjord, Norway. Spring 2021

By now most of you guys have seen that we are planning on taking a year in Kenya to help our friends, Linda and Stig Ove Abildsten Gisnås on their missions base in Kilifi, Kenya. (www.swahilicoastmission.com) I wanted to share a bit more of our process behind that. 

Ever since I was fourteen and heard Heidi Baker speak at a conference at my hometown church in Oregon, I wanted to be just like her. There was something about her surrendered heart to Jesus, the way that love shone out of her, and how that actually affected thousands of lives. Orphaned kids got food and a home, and thousands realised how much the God of the universe loved them. I decided that if I was going to follow Jesus, I wanted to go all in, and figured that I would end up being a single white missionary in Africa somewhere. I now realize that a person can live a radical life following Jesus if they are a lawyer, nurse, stay at home mom, teacher, or a working for a missions organisation in any country in the world. But there was something different about Africa, something that I always was drawn to. 

Instead of going to college right after high school like most of my friends, I went to Bible school at Bethel School of Supernatural ministry in Redding, California. I know, it sounds like going to Hogwarts, and some of my poor family was pretty skeptical. But it was not Hogwarts, it was sound theological and practical teaching and happened to be the best thing for me, as I grew deeper in a personal friendship to Jesus. I would never trade anything for those years there.

After two years of studying there I decided to take an internship through Bethel at a Bible school in Norway. (Long cool story for another time.) It needs to be said that I was debating taking the internship in the Congo, or in Redding, but I felt a massive amount of peace from God about going to Norway, even though I had never considered taking a year in Norway before I visited there in 2010. 

One year in Norway lead to me getting a bigger heart for helping youth in Norway on their personal journey in Jesus, and I began working at a different Bible school in Bergen, previously called Veien Bibelskole. There I was so lucky to meet the handsome man that is now my husband of 8 years. Praise the lord for Eimund! 

When we started dating, we had talked about possibly going to Africa for a time, but both felt very focused on working in ministry in Norway and Europe at that time, and my Africa dreams faded for some years. Time went and, and in 2017 we started going on a few missions trips to Kenya and South Sudan, (thanks to our good friend Ronald Gabrielsen) and we felt God wake our hearts up for these people. 

During this time we had moved from Bergen to Mo i Rana so that we could be a part of a team that was helping our friends Andreas and Tonje Fjellvang as they were stepping into the role of pastoring at Familiekirka Mo. 

Then in 2020, right before corona broke out we took a trip with a group of friends to visit our missionary friends, (also the missionaries that our church had adopted) in Kilifi Kenya. It was really beautiful to experience life on their missions base, and get to know Linda & Stigs family better. This was super fun, but we didn’t think about doing anything long term there. 

One day in November 2020, Eimund came home and asked me what I thought of taking a year in Kenya and helping our friends at their missions base. I was happily shocked, and that was a dreamy long dinner conversation. We talked and dreamt for a few weeks before telling our dream to Andreas and Tonje. They were so supportive of us going, and a few weeks later called us to tell us that they were considering doing the same thing. We couldn’t have been happier. 

This last year we have planned for actually moving there, and feel so much joy and peace about going! So much so that it made us want to become parents. So even though taking a newborn to Kenya is not something that most people would think makes sense, we feel like it is just the thing for us. 

Dønna, Helgeland, fall 2021

As a photographer, I love capturing beauty, and I love stopping up and being able to take in beauty, and to enjoy it.

As a person I feel that the most beautiful thing I can observe in all of life is when another person realizes their value, and that Jesus, the one who I believe is the only way to God, loves them endlessly, and can give them a whole new start. I believe that most of us try to be good people, try very hard, but that none of us can actually be perfect, or make it through life without hurting ourselves or others. In my understanding that leaves all of us in need for a savior. And I belive that his name is Jesus. 

I have a deep desire to see that people get a chance to hear the gospel, the good news that Jesus is the only way to real life. This last season of life we have been doing that in many ways where we live in Northern Norway, and in the next season we will be doing that in Kilifi, Kenya. And we’re so stoked about it! 

If you are interested in following our personal missionary life, you can subscribe to our monthly newsletters at: https://www.subscribepage.com/skjaeret

But if you are one of those couples that is just trying to figure out what photographer to choose for your wedding, I would love to recommend a few here: 

https://marielpicture.com

https://frutornesphoto.squarespace.com

https://promisemountain.com

https://www.hagewickhomes.com

Videographer: 

https://tkomedia.no

Thanks for reading this lovely long post! 

-Cassie (Cassandra) 

Also, thanks to some friends that have cabins in the most epic places!!

team

By Uncategorized

Here is a little post dedicated to the theme of “team”, these great people who in June 2019 will have been on a little journey together for almost 2 years. We moved up to Mo i Rana (Northern Norway)  in August 2017 to support Andreas & Tonje in their new role as the pastor couple in Familiekirka (Family Church), and half of us will be sent out to do other great things in June. We weren’t all so close when we came, but we have learned to know each other quite a bit in the last season. This is my way of preparing for change.

Here we go. Behind every happy Instagram picture, most of you know there are loads of imperfect moments, hard conversations and cries. There are also many moments too good and sacred to ever be put on social media. We have lived much life together. 

We have learned that words like “expectation”, “communication”, and “vulnerability” are much easier taught about and listened to in a sermon than lived out. We have experienced seeing differences that were so painfully different, and other peoples sacrifice that was incredibly inspiring. 

Nothing is perfect, but it’s safe to say that we have grown. 

I think that “team” will be the thing we miss the most. Just as it in seasons the very thing that can bother us the most. Some sense of community, something you’ve built together, being known in part yet still living in the gap of longing for more.

Some wise person said that we all long to be fully known and fully loved. There can be pain caused by feeling something that is so in process, on the way, but also knowing that it may never become complete in this season. 

This perfect idea of team fellowship maybe felt like how heaven will feel in the sense of being in one family, being loved for who you are, and having one pure focus. But then in the hard seasons, we felt the pain of what should have happened, how we could have been known better, how someone should have really been there, and that feeling to be all alone amongst those who should be closer. 

What else can be said, but that we all have a long way to go in learning to love? 

I think that God wants us to have the courage to keep going, to choose to love in our long journey of life, and to not build an ice castle around our hearts, or pretend that we are fine without the vulnerability of beautiful people close to our hearts. 

Dear Jesus, help me to have courage and to be kind.

update

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Here´s a little update on us!

This August we are going to be joining a team that will be moving up to northern Norway to Mo i Rana to support some of our friends who are going to be pastors in a church up there. We will be helping out in the church and serving the community in different ways. We just want to share the big love that we have experienced in Jesus with people up there.

We are really excited for a new adventure, and at the same time very sad to leave friends, family, and our church in Bergen. Change is always hard, but we figured that we didn´t want to regret not doing this. So, we´re giving it a try and committing to live up there for 2 years and then we´ll see what happens.

That being said, I know that this means moving away from the network that we have worked hard to build here. I can´t tell you how much we appreciate all of the clients we have gotten through word-of mouth. So many of the weddings that I have gotten to take are just because people talk, and I am so thankful for that.

So I guess I want to say that even though we are moving, I really am not afraid of traveling for weddings, and I will often be in Bergen for different events and exams. So if you are here and are sad that we are moving because you wanted pictures and think that it will just cost so much more to fly me in… please just ask! It may be that I will be coming anyways, or I may just really want to cut you a good deal just because I want to come here and take your pictures. So don be shy and just ask  🙂

Maybe I can make a new life goal of being a gold star member in SAS before Eimund 😉

time

By travel, Uncategorized

Here are some beautiful pictures from Switzerland and some wedding thoughts from me 🙂

What I absolutely love about weddings is that every couple is different, and their way of expressing themselves is different.

My goal is that I want to create art with the two of you. Not just a normal photoshoot, but I want to get frames that capture who you are and get so many that you wish you could hang them all on your wall. Not just a pintrest photo that everyone else has.

YOU are different and I like that.

Something that helps a ton to get the best shots is if we have more than enough time scheduled into the wedding day for the couple photoshoot. A stressed out couple is not so much fun to work with. I want to get away with just the two of you, and take pictures in some magical place.

I promise, you´ll love it.

Make the wedding you want, choose locations that are crazy beautiful, enjoy your wedding, and take TIME for your photoshoot.

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