Testimony Video


Origin of Desire


From the moment Heidi and I met, Finland was part of the aroma of the conversation. The moment I heard that foreign accent, I knew that I would be somewhere intertwined with the Finnish culture and people. After meeting in September 2014, I set foot in Finland summer of 2015. That trip consisted of many things (one being rejected to marry my now wife haha) but the most memorable is my heart being drawn to the Finnish people.


We spent that summer exploring the country. One of the things I found in that time of exploration is the spiritual deadness of the culture. The Finnish people are well educated, comfortable, unified, and as far away from Christ as they can be. This probed us deeply. We found ourselves magnetically sharing the Gospel with family and friends that we interacted with. Though we received immense pushback, we were more drawn to bring the truth to this culture even more. From that moment, we knew that the Lord would eventually draw us to this country for his Gospel and glory.


Ministry in Finland


Our hope would be to partner with and work in United Community Church in Espoo, Finland. We, through God’s providence, have connected with an American pastor, Shaun Rossi, who we will serve under as missionaries in the Finnish country. The role at hand would be for me to serve as the Youth and Kids Director at the church.


I would do much of what I do here now over there. The role would consist of me leading the youth group at the church and running the kids ministry. I would oversee creating events in the community to help draw people to come visit the church and engage with the living God. This is something I have done since I became a Christian and feel honored to be considered for this church role.


The church office is in a new school building in Espoo. The hope is that I can serve the school with my educational expertise and sports knowledge. To be clear, I will not be working at the school. It would just serve as a great mission opportunity for UCC and the youth group.


Finnish Culture/Facts


The Finnish country is interesting in many ways.

  • Some fun facts about Finland is that it is where the Sauna was invented. It is actually a Finnish word.

  • Nokia and Angry Birds is a product of Finland.

  • The actual geographical location of Santa and part of the Northern lights is also there.

  • On a more serious note, the largest religion in Finland is Christianity. Though that be the case, it is rapidly becoming non-religious. The population is largely secular. Data would show that 84% of the population is Christian though only 8% consistently attend any kind of religious service.

  • The population puts a strong emphasis on the power of human reason and rejects the supernatural. The population of Finland is 5 million people (which is the population of Houston).

  • Ethnically homogeneous country. 97% of the population is Finnish.



Timeline


In terms of timeline, I have a meeting with the church and it’s elders in the Spring. I will travel up there March 11-21 to have some official meetings with the staff and body of the church. It will also serve as an opportunity to connect with the community and brainstorm what it would look like for the Gospel to infiltrate the city of Espoo.


The plan is for us to officially pack up and move to Finland at the end of Summer 2022. So, from here, we pray that C3 would be willing to support us in this endeavor. There is much more to this wonderful story that God is painting that can be said. C3 has greatly trained and equipped us for this next stage. We have served and been as active as we can be in this church since 2017.


Words cannot describe how much C3 means to us. Our hearts burst with tears of joy for what the Lord has done in us at this church. With the tools we have gained from C3, it is time for us to now go be the hands and feet of Christ elsewhere. I hope for the opportunity to share more with you all the vision of this missionary opportunity. We feel confidently called to this next stage of our life. We know that the Lord is with us and for us. With that being said, we look forward to talking with you all soon.