From YWAM Koivumäki Base Leader’s heart

As I was seeking the Lord for His message, this scripture came to my mind- John 15:14- “You are My friends if you do what I command you”. It is all about being close to Jesus, listening to know what is in His heart, then doing whatever is pleasing to Him. Let us be His friends and seek Him daily because He delights so much when we do it because we love Him.

Visiting Teams

Our base hosted a team of DTS students and staff from YWAM Ruurikkala who were doing an outreach week in Finland. The purpose of their outreach was to bless others by serving in different ways and sharing the Gospel through their testimonies, songs and drama. Next, we hosted two teams from the DTS in YWAM Perheniemi. They had just returned from Estonia and Argentina where they had their two months outreach.

We are so glad to have these teams who came to help us in serving in several churches in the Savo area. They also blessed us by helping us in some of the practical things that we have to do in our base. What a blessing they are not only to us but also in different places where they shared what God did in their lives and to the people they ministered to while they were outside Finland. They also encouraged and challenged the people who came to the different churches they visited to be involved in showing and sharing their faith in Jesus to others who do not believe in God.

Adventures in the Savo Area

Our team’s new adventure with the Lord started on the 1 of February wherein we were invited to minister and encourage the young people in Iisalmi Pentecostal Church. We led the worship, shared our testimonies, words of encouragement and prayed for the young people who came to the meeting.

We were also invited to a youth café in Rautavaara. Our team encouraged the couple who are leading that ministry. The young people who came on that Friday evening had the opportunity to hear the Gospel preached through testimonies, drama and songs. They were able also to talk with the team about the message that they heard. We had also the opportunity to share God’s love to students and their teachers in a Christian School in Kuopio. From there, we went to the Elderly Home and to a hospital wherein we were able to present the Good News of hope to the patients and the staff who were around.

While most of the base staff were in Ruurikkala attending YWAM Finland Staff Conference, we who stayed in Koivumäki were invited to serve in 2 different places. In Nilsia Pentecostal Church we had the privilege of encouraging the church members who were there through the Word of God and praying for each of them. We also enjoyed serving and ministering to the young adults who attended the Youth night at Eelim church in Kuopio. What a night, God is so awesome! He met each of them. We were also blessed to pray for them.

Our team noticed the openness and interest of the people on spiritual matters in different places we have been. We are so thankful to the Lord for the work that He is doing in those places and the way He encouraged us to continue going to other places in the Savo area to serve the people in many ways according to His leading and guidance.

We marvel at the greatness of God’s love to the people of this land. We are also humbled that He called us to be part of what He is doing and to share HIS love and message is a real privilege for all of us.

YWAM/Missionuoret Finland National Staff Days

This Spring’s Missionouret/ YWAM Finland’s national staff days were held at the YWAM Ruurikkala base in Evijärvi on 26-29 March. The purpose of this gathering is to encourage, strengthen and refresh the staff and leaders in their commitment to the Lord, their calling and passion in reaching out to others who do not know the Lord, training and discipling young people and serving in different churches where they are.

It was a blessed and historical time, as we connected with the swedish-speaking Finns in YWAM in their mother tongue. Ruurikkala’s KaksiSpråkig (Fin/Swe) DTS joined the days through leading worship and attending the evening sessions. A powerful word was shared by Maggie Jägerhult about the future growth of YWAM, as we continue to listen to and obey God with humble hearts. We were also challenged by Riku Rinne about the current situation of the Finnish youth. Anointed prayer, worship and teaching times were intermingled with spending time getting to know each other more. We look forward to our next staff days in November to be held in Helsinki.

We would like to ask you to join us in praying for the following:

1. People in different places where we are invited to be prepared by the Lord to receive His  Word/Truth.

2. Wisdom, right message for every group and boldness to share the Gospel. Health and protection of our team as we travel to different places.

3. Our team is in need of a van that has room for 8 people so we can continue serving in different places.

4.Our base needs new partners who would consider giving to the different ministry that our base is doing.

Cultural Outreach Team

If there’s a team that the base regularly hosts, it’s the Korean DTS from Restenäs, Sweden. They stayed with us for about three weeks going from one place to another in the Savo Area. They blessed the community with their cultural dances, testimonies, songs, food, and most especially their lovely smiles.

Thank You Dinner

We wanted to show how much we appreciate the people who have been of support (finances, time and skills, and prayers) to the YWAM Koivumäki Family, by setting a banquet for them. And we have been really blessed by the Koreans for serving us with their delicious foods. Not only did they cook for us but also shared their talents and stories. It was really neat that one of our staff, Liz, shared a few things about the Snowboarding DTS outreach. Everyone had a great time hanging out together.

Love Story of the Year

Koivumäki Base is probably not just a place of migratory birds. This year, it has been a great joy to share the happiness of a new-found couple at the base. Who would ever think that Bendert de Kloe of the Netherlands would find his fiancéé in Finland after the DTS? Yes dear friends, Bendert and our very own Jessie Voutilainen have just recently engaged. A couple days after the Koreans gave us a thank you dinner, we had an engagement party.

International Staff

Finnish, Swedish-speaking Finns, Australians, Filipinos, Americans, Canadian, and who else are joining us? The end of last month, we finally got a Latin flavour into our community. Hellan Dellamycow Viana from Brazil joined us; so thank you for those who have been praying with us for him to get a visa. Since one of our staff is engaged to a Dutch, we will most likely have him on board too!!! We are just waiting for the African flavour into the colourful community God has been bringing together in the Savo Area.

Base Staff Outreach

On the 14th of July, some members of our family will be going for a ten day- outreach to Tallin, Estonia! It’s been great to hear stories from the DTS so we got inspired to do a follow-up visit and assist in any way we could to the re-pioneering work in Estonia. If you are interested to hear more about this, tune in for the next news update. Thank you for taking interest with what God has been doing in our community!

This is a second level school in the University of the Nations, so you need to have completed a Discipleship Training School. The Lecture Phase will be held in two places: the first half will be in YWAM Koivumäki Base (East Finland); and the second half will be in Perheniemi Institute (Southern Finland).

Outreach Phase: Northern Europe/Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Åland, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Shetland Islands). One or two of these places could be the outreach focus this year, which will be determined after the orientation week.

Start your applications now, especially for applicants coming outside Europe. Please be aware that June and July are the busiest months in the Nordic nations so it’ll be wise to start the visa processing a month or two before the school starts.

For further information, please write to schoolofworshipsuomi(a)gmail.com