We made it to Finland on my birthday, the fourth. It was a crazy ferry ride from Stockholm to Helsinki because of the icy waters of the Baltic Sea. We heard another boat got stuck for a whole day this winter because the ice froze so quickly. We were on the bottom floor next to where the ice chunks hit the side of the boat. Surprisingly we were able to sleep even with the constant clunking of ice passing by. It was windy too so the boat gently rocked, which might have helped us sleep! We arrived in Helsinki only 30 minutes late.
We immediately noticed a change in the look of the people. In my opinion, the Finnish look more like what I pictured stereotypical Scandinavians to look (no offense Norwegians or Swedes!). They look much like my relatives and many people from my church back home most of which have Finnish ancestors. I’ve actually had 2 people come up to me speaking Finnish thinking I could understand huh.
The language also changed drastically. The signs and products are harder to read, but luckily most are in Swedish as well which is closer to English. There is something about worship songs sung in Finnish that I really enjoy. I think the longer words create more sounds and it just gives you time to feel what is being sung.
We are now settled in to a town 20 minutes outside of Helsinki called Espoo in this one bedroom apartment with 7 people. It actually worked out great. Kevin decided he liked the closet for his bedroom because of its cherished personal space which is like gold in a small apartment. Being married has its advantages like a spacious bedroom haha! Sorry to all you teammates who read this!
We have some awesome contacts, 2 of which are YWAM Community Transformations Alumni, Ida and Petra, and we have their friend who we’ve heard so many awesome things about, Tata. They will join our team in all the ministries we do here.
Our first chance for intentional ministry time was at a local youth group of about 13-16 year olds at Vantaan Vapaaseurakunta (not sure what it means, but its a church). We prayed and after a bit of seeking the Lord we felt like Camille should speak to the group. We prayed for her and for open hearts for her message. She felt like the Lord wanted her to speak on relationship with Him. We had a time of worship with Tata and Ida singing which really stirred up the Spirit in the room. Camille spoke next and delivered an amazing message that I feel touched the hearts of everyone in the room. Next our new friend Johanna spoke on the Church and missions. We then had a prayer time where we had 2 or three people praying for individuals in the youth group. I think many of the youth were touched by God and by the words we spoke over them. Camille felt we should pray for the piano player who was playing for us as we prayed so we asked him if he needed any prayer. He said he actually just hurt his knee playing sports. We laid hands on his knee and prayed. He said it felt really good and he had more movement but it hurt if he pushed on this one spot. We prayed again and he said all the pain had left except if he pushed really hard. Before that it hurt when he stood on it. We have faith it’ll continue to heal completely!
I love speaking and ministering to this age group. They listen and are more hungry to know about our Father God. Its been a nice change of pace so far with lots more specific ministries we can partner with. The time in Sweden was marked by leading of the Lord everyday, which is true here as well, but we have more ministry opportunities here and its more His leading to pick which path He wants us to take. I feel like this time will be growth in speaking in front of groups, developing gifting of the Lord and praying for people.
My wife and I are currently staffing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth with a Mission (YWAM). We both love God and are committed to following his will. I enjoys taking photographs of my travels as well as blogging about awesome things God does. To see more photos, visit our gallery. More about Calvin and Camille
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4 Comments
Go Camille! you rock! the pics of the boat in the ice is crazy, did you feel like the titanic?
Melodie
2/7/2010
haha not quite like the titanic, but it was crazy!
Calvin Hanson
2/8/2010
So good to hear that you enjoying Finland!! Miss you all. I’m praying for you and I know that God will use you in a big way. Keep living with the Holy Spirit as your source for life, be lead by him – don’t be afraid of man – only fear God!! Love you!!
Stina
2/8/2010
It was good running into you at the Kamppi. :p
Calvin Kim
2/24/2010
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