Finland

It has been a while and we surely are living in times now when hate and violence is ruling the world. The assassination of Charles Kirk was so devastating that it is hard to take in. A good man killed for his opinions based on Christian values. So tragic and horrible. Pure evil!

End of August we took off for a short trip here in Finland. We started on Friday. We filled up the bus with diesel and hit the road. Our first stop was in Saarijärvi at Armon Tupa (Grace Hut).

It was a wonderful evening at a wonderful place hosted by wonderful people. Jimmy Huhtala was also there and had a really good message.

I played my music and shared my testimony and what God laid on my heart as usual. I could sense that we were in Finland. As soon as I mentioned rock music in my first opening words I could tell people already judged me but they cooled down after the heard the music and the message.

Afterwards I spoke to some people and once again I had to explain that all rock music is not of the devil. Some older believers live in some old weird and twisted belief that all rock music glorifies the devil The truth is that the style of music does not matter, it all depends on why we do the music and what we sing about. ALL styles of music can be used for the glory of God and rock music is part of my testimony and one of my most important tools.

From Saarijärvi we drove to Muurame and parked the bus at the church parking lot. Our brother Arttu was with us in Saarijärvi and escorted us to the church in Muurame, made sure we had power and took good care of us.

The following day we were outside the Halpa Halli supermarket together with the people from the local church. It was an outreach even so it was a location that I love. I love being out sharing the good news with my music and testimony.

The forecast showed rain but we did not see any rain. We had a wonderful day together and the team from the church were all wonderful and loving people. I really like the church of Muurame.

From Muurame we drove halfway to Kouvola and stayed over night at a campground. It was raining the entire evening so I think that God kept the rain away from our event in Muurame.

On Sunday we drove to Kouvola and hooked up with Pastor Mia Hagman who had invited us. She is a powerful woman of God. She showed us where to park the bus on the church parking lot and we took in our equp in the Maria hall in the community building.

It was kind of a celebration day in the church with food and fellowship. I did what I usually do and it was well received.

I realized that my Finnish language is a bit rusty and I had to think and search for words. I have not been doing so much here in Finland lately so I have not used the Finnish language and my mother language is Swedish.

On Monday we had a day off so I did some walking and it was a beautiful September day. On Tuesday we started our outreach at the market place in Kouvola.

The church had a stand there the entire week and were meeting people. We were there on Tuesday and Wednesday. People listened and we had some good talks with some people.

I have to say that I am surprised that people still live in the past. A man walked up to me and told me to sing some song in Finnish that I didn’t know. I told him I don’t know the song and immediately his Finnish mentality came out and he told me to accept Jesus Christ in my life.

I realized that there is a reason I don’t do much here in Finland and I started to miss all the other countries we are working in. You never become a prophet at home (my translation).

We arrived home on Wednesday evening and it felt so good to be back home, even if we had been gone only for a few days. Honestly the Finnish mentality is hard and takes lots of power as well as motivation. Still we had a good short tour.

I have had time to be out with my boat and we have had a warm September so far. It has been like in the middle of the summer and it has been really beautiful out there on the sea. A place where I find peace and get new strength.

Besides doing my daily walks, visiting mom and dad I have been working on new projects in the studio. I have several projects going on. Together with poet Mikko Talso we are recording some Finnish songs and a single should be out later this year.

I have also been writing new own songs and it is rock and roll in different formats. I am also doing a project with former Boppers member Pelle Karlsson in Sweden and everything taking place in the studio right now is very exciting.

I reflect many things that are happning around us in my music and my goal is to make music with a message that will plant a seed of faith in people who do not yet believe.

At the moment we are planning next year and booking dates in The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. We already have over two months of planned dates in The Netherlands and Germany next spring and I am so looking forward to that.

Now it is time for some time off and we have to do our best to survive. We had some un expected things happening this year like the accident with the bus so we are doing our best to pay off the fixing of the bus. Sometimes I think that I should probably do something else but I want to do things where my heart is involved.

Please keep us in your prayers and if you want to help us details are below!