Costa Rica Dancecrew is a group of young dreamers going to Costa Rica to spread the gospel trough dance. It happened after 2 years of prayer, thought and preparation especially by two young leaders. Our role was to facilitate, support, organize and mentor. They ministered through street and contemporary dance. We traveled to different places in Costa Rica using dance for ministry in high and elementary schools, parks, youth events and the beach. After presentations they witnessed, connected with the people, had conversations and prayed them. Dance was an easy way to draw attention and to connect especially with youth. The dances they had were well prepared and excellent.

Watch a video HERE

STORIES FROM THE GIRLS:

“We had amazing time on outreach and it was wonderful to see a dream coming true. I didn’t know what it would look like at first. Besides touching and good encounters with people there, for me the best thing during our outreach was to see each our team member grow. It was a wonderful blessing to see how Jesus touched people’s hearts throught their testimonies, movements, ideas, courage and presence.
Everyone was so brave to come before God, go out of their comfort zone, serve others and trust God for taking care of them. I loved how God gave new dreams and gently called everyone to take further steps of faith in their lives. He is our true healer, meaning and inspiration in life. That’s what I could see God doing in our team and I am truly thankful for that. Seeing what God can do makes a person humble. All this truly blessed me and I can say that each girl’s life in our team is a miracle from God.
We are on a journey, all of us. And it is up to us are we willing to take the steps that God invites us to take with Him. Praise the Lord I took them. He called us, we answered and this makes me happy.”
-Kaislamari

“I find myself thinking about what an amazing experience our outreach was and how many amazing things God did in each one of us. Personally I experienced God’s care and provision throughout the whole trip and I was encouraged in so many areas. It was cool to see how dance opened doors for example in parks where we then were able to pray for people. One of the things that I won’t forget is a youth camp that we were part of and how well the local youth received us. Even though there was a language barrior, the unity we experienced was amazing. One night we even had a spontanious dance battle, which was super fun. 😎
I want to encourage you, if you feel even little bit that maybe you are supposed to go and take the Gospel for example to the other side of the world, be brave and do it! I promise that God will surprise you. ❤️”
-Janika

God has again provided and taken care of our practical needs. But it never stops there, He always does so much more, He definitely sees the big picture and with God things don’t just happen by accident.

Since last summer we have been thinking of and wanting to get a bigger car. We often have guests, friends or family members, so we don’t fit in a car of 5. For example right now we have our kids’ friend Jonathan from Costa Rica with us for two months. So we have been looking at different options, but at the same time been hesitant to spend money on a vehicle right now. Few weeks ago we did a trip to Oulu (500 km each way). After paying a train ticket to one of us on the way there and to another one on the way back, Diego decided it was time to get a car. He went online and immediately found a car that stood out to him and it had a good price and low mileage.

The next day Diego and Salla’s dad went to see the car. The owner’s daughter asked Diego which country he is from. Diego told him a little about Costa Rica, said that he was actually just returning from a trip there and went on sharing about the Homes of Hope construction project that he was part of. The girl asked which organization he was with and when Diego answered “YWAM”, she started crying. She was thinking about applying to do the DTS in Tampere ( the new Discipleship Training School starting very close to us in January), but was not sure and she had asked God to confirm it to her during that same exact day that Diego shows up at their house and starts telling about YWAM! Sometimes God answers our prayers in a very concrete (and latino) way!

It was so encouraging to see once again how in our “small daily things” we can be part of what God is doing in other people’s lives and even around the world. Even without a car deal the visit would have been well worth it, but we did end up getting the car as well. It was what we were looking for and after meeting Diego and hearing about the ministry the couple first lowered the price a lot from the original good price and then decided to take a huge amount out of the price as a donation. So Diego drove home that night with a car that meets our current needs and paid only 1/5 of the actual value!

We are thankful – praise God!

All of this is part of the big car story that has followed us since we got married. Cars in Costa Rica have always been a challenge – the roads are so bad and cars and their fixing are so expensive. We have had all kind of miracle stories of how we have got each one of our vehicles and five years ago God surprised us with a ‘every man’s dream car’ through a family that gave us a fancy Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck. The truck served us well and still continues being in a daily use in missions in Costa Rica.

FINLAND … the land of the midnight sun, bears and moose, the northern lights, wilderness, bravery, Santa Claus

…. and more than that… the land of the FINNS!!

Finland is a country of about 5 million inhabitants in Northern Europe between Sweden and Russia. The location in the North has historically meant fighting for survival with very hard work in rough conditions. The Finns have made their way to one of the top developed countries of the world even though natural resources and conditions are not as beneficial as in southern Europe. What mostly characterize Finland are the forests and the lakes. With its 188 000 lakes it is known worldwide as the land of thousand of lakes.

The location between Sweden and Russia has shaped the Finnish identity. It has had to fight for its independent existence between the west and the east. Historically it has belonged both to Sweden and to Russia, but gained its full independence 1917. During the Second World War Finland had to fight two wars against the Eastern Giant, was able to keep its independence, but lost parts to Russia and had to pay massive reparations. After the wars Finland showed it’s miracle story to the world rising from a war-torn country and poverty to one of the top developed countries in the world in just few decades at the same time becoming the only country in the world that has actually fully paid its reparations. This happened with hard work and determinations – both still being typical characteristics of the Finns. Finland has also strategically identified itself with the west through its economy and joining the European Union in the 90s. Now the big debate is whether to join NATO or not.

Today’s Finland is looking for its next success story after Nokia, Angry Birds and holding one of the 1st positions in the international PISA education qualification for a while. The economy is struggling, the age structure and the job market are changing – as many other nations Finland is searching for its place in a rapidly changing world and circumstances.

While Finland still has a very high standard of living and the society takes care even of the least, it cannot cover the spiritual emptiness. Finland has one of the highest rates for suicide and depression. Wherever you turn your head, with children as well as adults, together with prosperity you see mental illness, family break-ups, people losing the grasp of life, isolating themselves from others and the society. Immigration has changed the traditional dynamics of the society; it is very common to see darker people or covered Muslim women in the streets. They face a challenge of decades to learn the language and integrate into the society. The youth materially have all they could wish for, but there is emptiness and a lack of purpose. Many of them start smoking at a very young age and you see them drinking in the streets all over. Heavy drinking of all age groups is very common.

Traditionally Finland is a Lutheran country. The Lutheran church has set a strong Biblical foundation in the nation, the alphabetization of the nation happened through the church and the laws were set with a Biblical foundation. Finland experienced a revival in the 60s and some of those movements are still alive today. However today the state church has become very institutionalized and seems to please the world more than God. It is step by step compromising the Word of God, which draws more secular people in and pushes the believers out: many real believers feel forced to leave the church and on the other hand side Pentecostal, free and especially non-denominational churches are strengthening and growing. The population of true born-again Christians in Finland is still very small (my guess is much less than 10%) among a very secular, liberal and individualistic population.

The Finns as people are very generally speaking individualistic, appreciate privacy, hard-working, very honest, loyal and skillful people. Foreigners find them quiet and serious and usually they are reserved when you first meet them. But once you win their trust you find warmth, humor, hospitality and friendship for life. There is a saying that Finnish men talk only in sauna or when they are drunk… and it has a lot of truth in it. They are usually highly educated, organized, and skilled with their hands in different kinds of crafts and woodwork. The Finns generally love the nature and silence; they love to spend their free time in small cottages surrounded by forests on a lakeside.

When we moved we started praying and asking God to show us which are the most important spiritual strongholds in the nation. What we have received are these: loneliness, self-centeredness, depression and alcoholism. There is a longing for purpose, community, and acceptance – a longing for Jesus that people are unaware of. They are generally not receptive and reject opportunities to talk about God. But God, their Father, is patient, loving and creative to bring them home one by one.

Finland needs Christians who are willing to live uncompromised and obedient lives publicly. Finland needs prayer. Finland needs testimony of Christ. Finland needs the word of God. Finland needs renewal and revival. Finland needs evangelism.

Finland has been an active missionary sending country. The founder of YWAM has had a repeated vision for Finland of 2000 young people going as a wave from the North to the nations as missionaries. There has been unseen growth in YWAM Finland in the past 10 years and a moving of the waters for that massive wave has already started. There is work to do to reach these youth, to disciple, train and send them out!

We want to challenge you to become part of our sending team through your prayers and financial support to see the nation of Finland transformed!

Greetings from a sunnier and lighter Finland! The days are now getting longer, the sun shines more, the snow and ice are gone… we are really looking forward to the summer that is starting to peak from around the corner! Just yesterday we noticed the first tiny leaves in the birch trees.

After four months here, everything is still fresh and new, we definitely consider ourselves still in the process of adaptation. We miss Costa Rica very much even though we have seen God open doors here and feel we are where we are supposed to be.

We have found a church community where the whole family feels they want to be in. That should not be taken for granted. We are getting to know people there and finding our place to serve in the church.

A month ago we moved again. We found an apartment that has one more room, so now we have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We live in a complex of two buildings with almost 50 apartments and many families with children in them. Nikkis has many friends to play with in the surrounding fields. We are making an effort to get to know and build relationships with the neighbors. The kids are finding their way to our place more and more often. Friends in Costa Rica helped us to sell Diego’s old drums and some other friends helped some more and now we have a beautiful electric drum set in our living room. Diego and the kids get to play and grow in their skills.

We feel very proud of our children as we have watched them bravely facing the challenges of a new culture, a totally different school environment and new relationships. It has not been easy – for the whole family it has been emotionally draining. However they have shown maturity, courage and trust in God in their every day walk. Academically all of them surprise their teachers and us; there is a lot to learn and catch up with, but they are doing great. All the new subjects that they have never had before make school exciting and fun. They have made friends, but finding their place is still very much in process.

DIEGO has been diligently studying the language, attending a course every day. Handling every day situations in Finnish becomes easier and more natural day by day. In February-March Diego was invited to Costa Rica by one outreach team going there. He was able to drive, translate, help around the base, distribute Bibles and see people. He wants to continue supporting the base in Guanacaste, travel when needed and be part of the continuation of the ministry.

After our support suffered a major drop we felt peace about Diego continuing as a ywam missionary and me looking for a job. I was preparing myself to do any kind of work, just to get an income for the family, but God opened a door that we had not even wished for. I got a paid job in a Finnish missions organization that has a large local ministry in Finland, but focuses on sending missionaries to the nations, especially the 10-40 window. They have 70 missionaries in 13 different countries. I went for an interview for a different position, but I ended up being offered and accepting a position as a fundraising developer for the organization. They have been praying for the right person for a while, because they want to shift the mentality and the organizational culture to be more relational and faith-based. So pretty much my job description is to teach, share and put into practice what I have been living for the past 17 years. I feel God designed all this and want to do this as service to Him and a continuation of walking in obedience and by faith. But what a privilege to be able to continue being involved in missions instead of spending my days doing something else! However my long days away from home are quite a change for the whole family. I am also continuing with university courses on International Relations.

AS A FAMILY we continue striving for the things that God has brought us to Finland for. We don’t want to stop the lifestyle of asking God, listening and obeying to serve and to reach out. We feel that God has brought us here to live out our faith and testimony among the Finns, to be an example of a Christ-centered family to the youth and other families. We feel we are here to do our part to rise a wave of young missionaries from Finland.

King’s Kids is one of the largest ministries of YWAM Finland. Next week we will be attending a national KK camp to see how involved we will be with this ministry. The defining factor will be our children and how involved God leads them to be. This was such a big part of their lives in Costa Rica that now they are having difficulty just switching to the same involvement in a different country with different people. Julia will be attending a mini-DTS organized by KK this summer; three weeks of teaching, discipleship and an outreach to northern Norway.

We are already having the first opportunities to challenge Finns to missions. On Easter we were able to speak to a full church in Kangasala. This weekend we are speaking in another church. Next Tuesday we are hosting a meeting in our home where our co-workers from Costa Rica and a staff member, who has been in the Middle East, are coming to share and encourage people. In May we have a public event in Tampere to share more specifically about missions in Central America and challenge people to participate.