Last thursday I had the priviledge to ones again get out on the road for Jesus togther with two of my children, my youngest one Jeannette and the oldest one, Sebastian. We left home being excited to see what would happen along the road.
The road to Helsinki
Our first stop was just 70 kilometers outside Vasa in a village named Koskenkorva after the famous Finnish spirit or may be the spirit got its name from the village... Anyway we stopped by an old friend, Jari Mäki who is a real America fan and he has his own business in his own "little America" almost in the heart of Koskenkorva. He is specialised on American vehicles so we got new lights for our van as the did not work. It is alway good to have lights. Financially this change of lamps did ruin our trip but as I said it is good to have lamps when you are on the road. It was nice to meet Jari and his family again, I guess last time I met them was back in 2004.
Further down the road we visited another old time friend, Matti Nevalainen in Tampere. He is one of the best guitar makers here in Finland and he is also the creator of the Flying Finn guitars. I have the honor to have two of his handmade guitars in my collection and one of them is my snakeskin telecaster that never will be for sale. It was a gift from Matti a long time ago and it has been following me around the world and it is a great guitar.
It was nice to meet Matti as usual and I guess last time we saw eachother was back in 2006 when I did my last tours with the old bands I used to play with. Actually I dont miss those days at all. I would never change back what I have today and I am so thankful for everything. Thank you Jesus! It is all about Him.
Finally in Helsinki we checked in at our hotel and hooked up with a good friend and brother of ours, Linus Mickelsson. He is a riot and it is hard to describe him in words. There is only one Linus Mickelsson.
A busy friday
Friday morning we got up early as this day was the main reason for this adventure. I was invited to do be as a guest in a tv-show for TV7, our finnish Christian tv-channel. To me it was such a blessing as we spent most of the time recording five of songs live in the studio and I had some great company. My old time friend and most likely the best rock musician in the country Mikko Rintanen joined me on piano and I had two sisters, Isabella Ström and Petra Pagels singing backgrounds. It was all great fun and I believe that it is going to be a great show. It will be broadcasted june 20th and 24th, so if you want you can tune in TV7 or go watch on the wed.
As the kids thought it was boring sitting and waiting all day I decided to do something nice together. We took a boat from downtown to the local zoo where we spent most of the night looking at wild animals. We also found our good friend and brother Linus Mickelsson there togehter with his wife Christa and his daughter Juni. We had a wonderful time together and it was interesting to look at all the animals.
After being with the animals for some hours we ended up at a backyard party at the Filadelfia church in downtown Helsinki. We met some good friends, brothers and sisters had a cup of coffee and met a new brother whos is going to join the Ambassadors For Jesus Christ motorcycle ministry. It is such a blessing to me that this ministry is growing and that GOD is sending such great people to us.
A rainy saturday
As it was raining when we got up on saturday morning we did not really know what to do. I had promised the children that we would visit the amusement park in Helsinki but who would go there in the rain. We did some sightseeing in Helsinki and when the sun came thru for a short time we visited the amusement park for a short time before we left Helsinki for Ekenäs.
In Ekenäs we hooked up with my brother and good friend Oskar Sjöberg and his wonderful family in a village called Snappertuna. They let us stay there and all I can say is that I love these people.
Church sunday with divine apointments
On sunday Oskar wanted us to go to Hangö. That is a small town and also the southest point of Finland. In my past I used to do gigs there but know we went there to hook up with a brother that I never had met before. I had only heard things amout this man and I came to realise that all I had heard was true when I met him. Kalle Winberg is running a ministry and missionairy boat out of Hangö and it was such a blessed time to meet him. I wish all Christians had that same passion and love as this brother has. I am looking forward to stay connected with him in the future and I believe it was GOD who told Oskar to connect us. Thank you GOD and thank you Oskar for listening and doing what GOD tells you to do.
After our short trip to Hangö it was time for sunday church at the local methodist church in Ekenäs. I got to share my testimony ones again and it all went good. I love the Lord and it is always good to tell the people about what HE have done in my life. I wish we could see more of the power of GOD in our country as we really need it. There are so many out there who are still lost and we are living in a time when we dont know when Jesus is coming back. Every day is important and my prayer is that more and more Christians would go out with the good news.
After the meeting it was time to get back on the road and drive all the way back home to Vasa. It took us nearly 7 hours with all stops and we arrived home late last night, tired but blessed and happy.
Ones again I have had a chance to do both ministry and spending time with my children. It is amazing what GOD can do and last night when I was driving up to Vasa I did lots of thinking and I realised that there is no reason to look back at the days that have been or at the past. GOD took care of everything and this is the new life together with him. I love the Lord and my family so much for this second chance and this is just the beginning of something great, something that is eternal.
Next weekend we are heading to Rauma to have one meeting there and on sunday june 6th we have a meeting here in Vasa at Keidasseurakunta. GOD is good and I am happy! Hope you are happy too. If you dont know it I can tell you something that changed my life; YOU are loved!
Stay Blessed!
Pontus
