PB: I also grew up in a Christian home, but I can not say that I sought God actively. I am the kind of a person, who is pretty much satisfied with life. No arguments could make me change my life at that time, because one can always find arguments for not having to change anything. But during that charismatic revival in 1975 our friends had met God, and when I saw that, I grew very envious. Paul speaks about it in his letter to the Romans, in chapter 11, saying: ‘if I can not reach my countrymen (Jews) in any other way, I will make them jealous.’
I saw my friends living a life that I didn’t experience, and this created a hunger and thirst in me. My adventure with God began on a Sunday evening after a worship service. We wanted to conclude the evening with prayer, but I and five or six other young men experienced the Holy Spirit coming down on us. To me personally, it reminded me of the day of Pentecost- people around us definitely thought we were drunk, as we had completely lost control over ourselves. We laughed, cried and hugged. It went on for hours. From this moment on my life was transformed. I had new thoughts; I had a hunger for God’s Word. We always read the Bible not because we had to, but because we couldn’t stop. There was a hunger for a deeper relationship with God. This is what has moved me forward in life.
- Probably this influenced your relationship too; you probably loved each other even more?
- Actually it all got a bit more complicated (laughs). Lots of times we had to ask forgiveness from each other; we had to bend our knees and ask God to lead us in His forgiveness. Since that time every Friday evening we invited people to our home for prayer. Often on Friday after work it happened that misunderstandings arose between us, but we knew we could not welcome people into this atmosphere, therefore we humbly had to kneel in front of God and ask for forgiveness. These prayer Fridays continued every week for five years. Lots of people got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Many of these people are in full time ministry now.
RB: We are not only a wife and a husband; we are like sisters and brothers who can crawl up in the Father’s lap together. In humbleness we must face each other and then God. It is a great honor, if you can approach God together with someone.
PB: We pray together several times a day. We know that prayer is a problem for many couples. When you know someone really well, you can not pretend anymore. Everyone can pray well at church, but when you know all about someone, then the prayer becomes real.
- How did God lead you into the work of TSA?
- When we had these prayer groups in Stockholm, both of us worked full time in positions which were not directly related to Christianity. Yet after approximately 5 years God began speaking to us. It is interesting that He always speaks to Rut first, it is easier for Him to access Ruth than me as I am always rather content with everything I do. I would have been able to keep going with the prayer group until the end of my life! At that time I was a teacher, Rut worked at the local government. We came to an agreement and said to God: if You will tell us where to go and what to do in a way that we will have no doubts that it’s You speaking to us, we will go anywhere You send us. At that time they were looking for Salvation Army leaders for a school in Norway. I applied for the position and went for an interview and they wanted me to take the job. On Friday, just before the prayer meeting, I received a phone call from the leader of the school, who confirmed that I can have the position as long as I make my decision by Sunday, otherwise they will offer it to the other applicant. After the prayer time, I went for a long walk with God saying: ‘when I come back home, I will sit down in my chair, I will open my Bible with the daily reading and in that place He will clearly speak about me having to go to Norway; it will be very clear. Otherwise, we will stay where we are.
I felt very content thinking: it might not speak about going to Norway exactly! But in the first chapter I read, these words were written: “I do not send you to people whose language you will not understand!”- Swedish and Norwegian are similar enough for people to be able to understand the other. Of course this does not work as an approval to everyone who wants to go to Norway, but in this specific situation in our lives I knew what it meant. It was not the best time for moving. Rut was pregnant with our third child, yet three weeks after the birth we moved to Norway, knowing no one there.
We served for 9 years In Moss(the Salvation Army high school); the students in the school were from 18-25. I taught the Bible and Rut taught music and the Bible, and we also taught English-speaking students. It was God's work. At that time more than 100 young people became Christians. From that group 40 have become pastors, SA officers in various countries. These were difficult years, but victory is often complicated.
Rut and Peter Baronowsky
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