October 1, 2026
The journey to Oslo didn’t get off to a good start. Their flight was canceled, and a day was lost at the Atlanta airport waiting for the next flight. When they finally arrived, they discovered their luggage had been lost. Most of the six-person team from Georgia spent four days wearing the same clothes.
Some also experienced the shock of being immersed in a foreign culture for the first time. Delayed, dirty, and disoriented, they were determined to press on, discovering in the process that it was well worth the effort.
This was Aaron Bell’s first international trip. A Moultrie, Georgia, native and business major at Valdosta State University, Bell fared better than most at the outset because his fiancée, now wife, the former Joshwelle Dela Rama, encouraged him to pack a change of clothes in his carry-on. It proved to be sound advice.
The Send Me Now team worked with International Mission Board missionaries Zack and Jessica Dove and members of Crosspoint Church in Oslo. Each day, they gathered at 10 a.m. for prayer, Bible study, evangelism training, and worship before heading out to share the gospel.
“The Doves’ leadership was probably one of the most impactful things that happened to me,” Bell said. “Seeing their love for the Lord and how they incorporated prayer into every activity. It didn’t feel like it was a box they were checking. It was as necessary as taking their next breath.”
Most days, they set up a bicycle-propelled mobile espresso stand on one of the city’s squares. Crowds gathered as they served free coffee, providing opportunities to express their faith over espresso. The team included the Doves and members of Crosspoint Church. About 90% of Oslo’s residents speak English, so communication was not a major barrier.
Bell noticed a man named Toby who had been sitting nearby, curiously watching as people shared coffee and talked. Bell approached him and, after explaining what they were doing, asked him about his faith. Toby shared his religious background but said he could best be described as an atheist. He also said his brother had been a Satanist but had converted to Christianity a few years before.
Bell began to share the gospel, and piece by piece, Toby affirmed that it was what he understood and believed. Then Bell asked if he had ever put his trust in Jesus. Toby replied, “How do you do that?”
“This is something you can do today,” Bell told him.
Bell said they had practically been shouting because of the noise in the busy square. After finding a place away from the crowd, Bell went over the gospel a second time. Then they prayed.
“We prayed together, and he looks up at me, and I look up at him, and he’s just smiling so hard,” Bell said. “I asked, ‘Hey, man, how do you feel?’ Toby replied, ‘I feel like 1,000 kilos just lifted off of my shoulders!’”
Bell told him, “That’s what everyone says, man, because it’s true. That was the weight of your sin off your back onto Jesus’s, and you are now a believer in Christ!”
Their conversation was far from over.
“Toby was asking, ‘Why did you tell me this?’” Bell said. “We told him about the importance of spreading the truth and the joy you have received. He resonated with that and came to our 10 o’clock meeting, where we did our evangelism training, Bible study, and worship, the day after he got saved. Two days later, he knew that God had called him to share his faith, and he was sharing the gospel with lost people in the same location where he got saved two days before.”
The Georgia team spent 10 days in Oslo before returning home June 6. Bell was married two weeks later, on June 20. Less than a week later, his new bride left on a Send Me Now trip to Romania. She is currently serving as the Baptist Collegiate Ministries campus intern at Valdosta State. They attend Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta.
“It was such a powerful experience to him, obviously, but it was a very powerful experience to me as well,” Bell said.
More than two months after their return, the report from Oslo is that Toby is still connected to Crosspoint Church and is on the streets sharing his faith with others. It is a new faith discovered when six determined Georgians serving as Send Me Now missionaries carried the gospel to Oslo, a trip made possible in part because of Georgia Baptists’ generosity and prayerful support of the Cooperative Program.
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