“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 

Today, Sunday (14.11.10), we are privileged to have a humble anointed man of God, Professor Norvald Yri as a guest speaker at our congregation. He describes himself with his own words as “A poor Norwegian saved by Grace.” He has been teaching Bible and theology in Ethiopia, Tanzania and the States, and a visiting professor at different theological schools in many countries.

He has special memories from the years he spent in Ethiopia as a missionary. He was a friend of the late Rev. Guddina Tumsa.
Dr. Yri begun his sermon today by giving a flashback of his mission work in Ethiopia during 1973-75 with the then general secretary of EECMY the reverend Guddina Tumsa. “I was privileged of being a family freind with Gudina Tumsa who was brutally killed by Marxists and his wife Tsehai who was in prison for 9 years” remembers Yri, “Tsehai continued preaching the Gospel to fellow prisoners and 200 of those prisoners accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior while in prison.”

Dr Yri still remembers after all these years the conversations he made with Rev. Guddina , and he explains as follows: One day GudinaTumsa called me to his office and said “I have to tell you something.” We had been to gather on many different meetings in Addis with church leaders and Marxists and he told me all the time how the Marxists were after him. That day he told me that the people from the western world wanted him out of the Ethiopia to give him protection. They would arrange a secret airplane so that he could be out of the country safely. This very high man, 2,05m, sited on his office chair with his legs stretched out on his desk and his hands supporting the back of his head, told me what he was planning. He said “I will not leave my country and my people even if they cut off my head!” For I knew him very well, I was sure that he meant what he said. This was in 1975/6, he was kidnapped in 79 but we didn’t know what happened to this man of God until 1993.

Dr Yri was a many years tutor at Fjellhaug Skole, Oslo. Yri is olso bible translator who translated the Bible into Norwegian. He is author of many books, such as NT theology, commentary to Romans, study on mission in the bible and through out 2000 years (To the end of the world). He wrote his Doctoral dissertation on Biblical Authority with in the modern ecumenical movement and the evangelical response (Quest for Authority). A main concern for Yri is to help churches and missions reaching out with the gospel according to the Great Commission. This has led him and his wife into voluntary ministries helping revival mission groups to follow God’s calling into mission and development.

Today’s teaching of this anointed man of God is based up on 1 Corinthians 2:2 -“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  A full length audio sermon is available now. To listen click her.