Pastors Felt the Viking Love

A new feature at the 2008 conference was the Viking Games, which saw one international team and teams from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland battle it out against each other in various fun disciplines. One of the disciplines that left a mark was the highly popular "Shoot the Pastor", where each team got a chance to shoot water balloons at their pastor of choice, who was left fighting for his dryness on a moving swing.

Each team was awarded points for a hit, while points were deducted if any shots hit the pastor's head. In a final twist of fate, the Viking Games ended with a reversal of roles as the pastors had a last chance to deduct points from the teams by taking shots at the team captains. Pastor Stan Block describes the feelings he went through while trying to dodge the incoming water balloons:

"Frightened, terrorized, heart racing! I now understand the feelings of villagers as they would see the boats in the distance with no place to run or hide. I was grateful for the moments when my three partners [pastors Kevin Fitzgerald, Glen Nudd, and Brenten Powers] were called on to take their place in the line of fire instead of me! As to the opportunity for revenge, I regret that our aim was off so much of the time, to have left them all with no points would have been perfect but it was some consellation to drive the Swedes back to Stockholm in disgrace. May the Games live on in the coming years and may other foreigners experience the same Viking hospitality shown to us! All said, I felt sad to say goodbye and that speaks to the depth of relationships that were built in the four days."