Irreligious Scandinavia

  After talking with my friend about Iceland (see Hispanic Iceland), I tried to get more information on the culture there. Is this where God wants me to go? I began reading up on their industry (tourism, fisheries, hydro power), how their government is set up (constitutional republic), do they have freedom of religion (yes), what is the national sport (handball). Anything I could find to learn a little more about Iceland. This is where I ran across the World Game (WG) on Instagram. They had a picture of a building with the question, “What is the capital of Iceland?” (9 May 2019, Reykjavík, WG showing a picture of Hallgrimskirkja, the tallest building in Iceland).

  WG also shares maps with information to promote the game. Including statistics for individual countries, things like:

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  • Traffic deaths

  • Life expectancy rates

  • Country flags

  • Religions worldwide

  • Capital Cities

  • Political Systems

  • Birth Rates

  I followed the feed and pretty soon I saw something else. A map of Europe with the percentage of “Irreligious People” in each country (19 May 2019). Iceland shows 30% but then to the right a little is a big 62%. Almost the highest on the map; Norway. Sweden looked pretty high to me too (next one to the right, 50%). I began to look into all of Scandinavia. Scandinavia is Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

  There was one number higher on that map. The Czech Republic. Which made me think of Servy and Maria Pardo, a missionary couple that are currently serving there. So I reached out to them. While I waited for them to get back to me, I kept reading about Scandinavia.

  Researching religion, religious freedoms, Spanish speakers, immigrants, government systems, major industries, pricing indexes, leisure time activities, sports, achievements, deficits, languages, entry barriers… I dug in and tried to learn all I could about Scandinavia. And prayed. Prayed for God to talk with me about the people there. To point me in the direction He wanted me to go.

  I keep getting pulled back to that 62%though, so sad…

Other resources I used:

B Side Missions www.bsidemissions.com

CIA worldbook www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/   

Duolingo www.duolingo.com

Wikipedia www.wikipedia.com

World Game www.greatcardgame.com

World population review www.worldpopulationreview.com

Irreligious Scandinavia