The above photo is the result of our team ugly sweater photo shoot 
I should have more on Facebook sometime!
It seems like when ever you get Jeff (our DTS leader) and Jed (our brother-in-law and CommTrans alum) together crazy things happen! Its evident from the stories they came to us with from their trip in Amsterdam with the other outreach team. I think its because they just love Jesus and fire our teams up and we regain perspective on our situation from people outside of it. At any rate, having them here was refreshing and laughter filled!
We decided to do an outreach in the Kampii (city center) bus station which is huge because it also has a mall attached to it and is the hub for buses and to the subway. Its the junction of everybody in the city. We had about 14 people so we prayed and split up. I ended up going with Jed. The result of the next 3 hours was amazing. God moved in awesome ways many times with just small acts of kindness and love.
Jed and Calvin and a Divine Appointment
Jed wanted a massage in one of those massage chairs you see all over malls, so he sat down next to these 2 girls just talking in them. He happened to have 2 Euros and offered to turn on one of their massage chairs. This opened up the conversation to talk to them. Of course they asked what we were doing and so I told them we are followers of Jesus and part of a program through YWAM in Hawaii. She said that was a coincidence because one of her friends who they were just talking about when we walked up is going to some “religious” school in Hawaii too. I asked what her name was and she said, “Susa”. I was shocked! We were talking to a girl that was good friends with our friend in my exact DTS in Hawaii. What are the odds of us being in Helsinki, population 500 thousand, on this exact night in this mall on this massage chair unless God was wanting us to pour into her. She said Susa (we call her Silvia) always is praying for her but she said she isn’t romantic and feels like you have to be romantic to love God. Jed gave a great story about Jesus and God as a friend too. Aria and I were also able to give short testimonies. It was really interesting because she was so open like she wanted us to give her a reason to believe. I felt like her friend was soaking in all that we were saying and Aria was able to pray with her. It was cool to meet these two girls. We got their contacts and plan on hanging out again!
Kevin and a Simple Message
Jeff and Kevin were hanging out and Jeff felt like the Lord was telling him that Kevin should go talk to this one guy sitting down. I think Kevin had the feeling too and just felt like telling the guy that Jesus loved him. After that, Kevin talked to him more and later said he felt like it wasn’t even his words but he was speaking the words God wanted this guy to hear. The result was this guy accepted Jesus on the spot! Once he finished talking with the new brother in Christ, he saw a guy that he met at the soup kitchen we go to. He was so drunk he couldn’t even communicate well so Kevin decided to pray for soberness and laid hands on him and as he prayed in Jesus name the guy looked at him coherently in the eye, got up quickly, and said he had to catch a bus! He walked briskly away like a sober person would.
Jeff Street Preachin’ and God using Assa Mix (Finnish candy)
Jeff felt like there was a spirit of quietness/fear over this land (which we know is true because of being here and feeling the oppression). He decided to go in the opposite spirit and be bold and speak out loud a message of love to anyone who would listen. Petra translated into Finnish while he spoke. They were in the main junction where a lot of kids hang out and people are walking all around. After his message, 4 or 5 people got up to talk to him about Jesus. Seeds were planted and many of our team talked to this group of people for hours. Jeff also saw this kid with beer in hand nearby and felt led to offer him some Assa Mix. The kid had been listening to Jeff’s message and said his brother’s friend had talked about this Man (Jesus) and he had always wanted to know how he could know Him. Jeff was interrupted by a security guard kicking the kid out for drinking in a public area. Jeff walked with the kid and talked with him and the result was a tearful embrace and a salvation of one of God’s lost sheep.
Petra leads a new friend to her friend, Jesus
Petra had talked to a girl after Jeff’s message and got her contact information to hang out later. She invited her to the prayer night the next day. Petra hung out with her and ministered to her. Half way through the night, she made the announcement that her friend had accepted Jesus (she probably would have herself if she knew english)! We all laid hands on her and prayed for God to reveal his love and his Spirit to her even more.
Its important to know with all the people led to the Lord that we try to continue the relationship to disciple them. The relationship doesn’t end with salvation-that is just the beginning. Its so important to include new followers of Jesus into our communities to help them build a solid foundation on God’s love. For years I believed in Jesus but didn’t know Him. Just as in every relationship it takes time to get to know Him. There is nobody that can know everything about God, but he reveals his mysteries bit by bit through our life and every revelation is always worth seeking after!
These are just some of the awesome stories that came from that one night and 3 hours devoted to listening and obeying. It goes to show God uses everyone uniquely. We don’t have to be a bible scholar or a minister before He will use us. He knows all of our hearts and is pursuing all of his lost sheep to know Him and give their whole heart to Him. We just have to say yes in obedience out of love for Him and to what he is leading us into and watch what the living God does!
To end this post, here’s the results of a snow wrestling fight, haha:
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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2 Comments
This is so good guys. Come back to me.
Jeff Reid
3/5/2010
Starting our journey back tomorrow to Stockholm, then flyin’ half way around the world to HI
Calvin Hanson
3/6/2010
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