It all began with a miracle in a small congregation in Norway
The Journey from Norway to Canada
“Now marking seven years as missionary service”
By
Cecilia Skulstad Pedersen
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Photo
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↑ MISSIONARIES: Cecilia and Runar – serving in the world's second-largest country, Canada.
Join the journey from childhood’s first touch of God to a life of service in one of the world’s largest and most multicultural countries.
In June 2025 our family celebrated its seventh year as a family in Canada. Over the years that have passed, many people have asked us to share our story. What better time to do so than when we are celebrating our seventh year? Looking back and reflecting on the journey we have had, we feel the time is right to invite you into the journey God took us on when we moved from our beloved homeland, Norway, to Canada.
A Look Back
But before we tell you about when we traveled as a family from Norway, we would like to give you a little look back. Our story starts far back, already when Cecilia was only 11 years old. Cecilia and her parents belonged to a congregation in Os, just outside Bergen. One weekend she was to experience something very special. The congregation Cecilia belonged to had invited an evangelist who had lived in Canada, and you know him very well: Svein-Magne Pedersen.
↑ CANADA: Cecilia, 11 years old, listens to her future father-in-law as he talks about Canada.
With great expectation and curiosity, Cecilia sat on the front bench to listen to the evangelist’s many testimonies from Canada. Already then, a fire was lit in her heart, and this was her first encounter with the miraculous. In this first meeting with the man she did not know was her future father-in-law, Cecilia was healed of a crooked back.
Svein-Magne and the family lived in Canada from 1982–1988 and became Canadian citizens on July 13, 1989, in the city of Winnipeg.
Runar, Svein-Magne’s oldest son, spent a large part of his childhood in Canada. He was 13 years old when the family moved back to Norway. Runar had completed all his elementary school years in Canada, and he was a Canadian at heart. The transition back to Norway was challenging at times, but he adjusted surprisingly well. Already as a 15-year-old, he started working in Jesus Heals Ministries in Vennesla, Norway after school hours. Since then, he has been involved and worked in the ministry right up to this day.
The Journey to Canada
Cecilia and Runar did not know about each other until Cecilia was 16 and Runar was 19, and it would still be a few years before they met for the first time.
In 1997, the parents of Cecilia went out as missionary workers among the indigenous people of Canada, traditionally called Indians. Cecilia, who had just finished high school, decided to join them. Her time in Canada as a 19-year-old made a strong impression on her, and she forever held Canada in her heart. Ever since then, she has felt a calling from God to the country.
Cecilia and Runar met in 1997 for the first time in Abbotsford, the city they now live in. As you probably realize, Cecilia and Runar became a couple back then. They traveled back to Norway, where they eventually married in 1999.
Cecilia decided to train as a kindergarten teacher, and Runar studied for a bachelor’s degree in public administration. They started a family in Norway and were blessed with four children.
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The years passed, but the call to Canada never disappeared. On the contrary, it grew stronger and stronger. Over the years, they had many mission trips there, which further strengthened the call God had placed on their hearts.
In 2016, they were informed by the Canadian authorities that their children were born Canadian. This opened the door to what had been a dream and longing in their hearts, which could now become reality. God spoke powerfully during this period, and plans began to take shape.
“Canada, here we come!”
In 2018, they moved with their family of six to Canada. They sold and gave away everything they owned, traveling with only two suitcases each. Was it an easy process? Absolutely not, but God was strongly with them all the way, and they have countless testimonies of what God did for them both in the process and on the journey.
In May 2025, Cecilia received Canadian citizenship. After 26 years married to a Canadian, it was a real blessing from God.
↑ WITNESSES: Cecilia and Runar share the gospel with people everywhere.
Canada is a country of 40 million people, and only 3% of the population is saved. Cecilia, Runar, and their family live in the city of Abbotsford, which has 170,000 inhabitants. Canada is the homeland of multiculturalism and consists of many different ethnic groups. In the province of British Columbia alone, 5.7 million people live. It is a gigantic country with enormous opportunities for evangelization and mission work.
Mission tasks are lining up
Cecilia and Runar work in the Canadian foundation Jesus Heals Ministries Society. In addition to administrative tasks and contact with people who want intercession worldwide, they are passionate about reaching the Canadian people both locally and nationally. Their work also consists of constantly coming into contact with new people and cooperating with other missions to reach the country.
Canada is big, the need is great, and the need for mission work is enormous. In practice, Cecilia and Runar are out in the field evangelizing, doing outreach, running intercessory prayer ministries in various arenas, and mentoring. Runar also has a worship ministry where he plays the guitar both in church and at various events, including multi-church worship gatherings.
Over the course of the seven years, Cecilia and Runar have also attended Bible school for two years. The Bible school curriculum was from Bethel in the USA, and the teaching focused on evangelism, the miraculous, healing, and the prophetic. This time was amazing, and they can tell of many powerful encounters with God that have changed their lives. Cecilia and Runar practice the prophetic and healing in their daily ministry and in encounters with people—both planned and unexpected meetings with random people wherever they go. Many people have received inner and physical healings through their prophetic and healing ministry.
↑ PREACHER: Cecilia tells how God healed her from the inside out.
Missionary Worker and Author
In recent years, Cecilia has also written a book which was published in February 2025 by the publisher “Messenger Books” in the USA. The book is titled Never the Same in English, and is at the time of writing being translated into Norwegian. The Norwegian version is expected to be released next year. If you wish, you can purchase the English book through Jesus Heals Ministries or through Cecilia’s website.
In the book, Cecilia tells, among other things, about the journey from Norway to Canada and many other testimonies from their lives. The book is also about identity and how hearing God’s voice can bring both inner and physical healing. Since her book was published, she has also spoken in various places and arenas.
Cecilia and Runar view missions as their life’s calling. They both burn to see people break free from chains and step out into freedom, embrace their true identity, enter into their God-given callings, and experience inner and physical healing. Their greatest desire is to see people enter into a close and personal relationship with Jesus, which in turn will transform them from the inside out.
↑ A NARROW PATH TO WALK: Missionaries walk in faith, also as a family. Thank you to all support partners who remember Jesus Heals Ministries’ work at home and abroad, both with financial support and intercessory prayer for the work and our missionary workers.
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