Christian Men's Network Meetings in Helsinki, Finland

The Icelandic volcano caused all kinds of chaos in Europe. It caused the cancellation of the Christian Men's Network Meetings on Thursday since no one was able to fly anywhere in Europe. My Thursday morning flight from Bonn was canceled Wednesday night but I found an early Friday morning flight on different airline.

Paul Cole who came from the U.S. had to be driven from the CMN Aachen, Belgium meetings to the mid-week meetings in Budapest, Hungry. He and his wife Judi were stuck in Budapest. Getting to Helsinki was impossible and getting stuck there, out of the question. They finally drove for 18 hours to Amsterdam on the hope they would be able to return to the U.S. for his meetings there.

The other team members, Daniel Kawku and Fred Fredricks could not fly from London to Helsinki. They finally arrived late Friday night and feeling good that they could get any flight out.

No one will forget those weeks when people were stuck in airports and the trains and ferries completely full. Rental cars were all sold out and on the roads trying to get their occupants to their destinations. But it was all worth the extra effort to get to minister to the people of Finland.

This was my first visit to Finland and the beginning of many trips in the future. The Finnish people were incredible to me. There was an instant spiritual connection. Making a direct connection to the Finnish men will help me in writing future articles for the Tosimies-Lehti Christian Men's Magazine. www.tosimies-lehti.fi

I've been invited by a local pastor to return in September and preach at his church plus it looks like we'll also have another Christian Men's Meeting while I am there. I'm looking forward to my return.


Our first meeting on Friday evening was at a beautiful downtown Helsinki Lutheran church built in 1826.




Meeting with my translator before the meeting.

The following are pics from the Christian Men's Network meetings on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's all day meeting was at Mission Church, a Helsinki inter-city church. The Sunday services were in a nearby city of Nurmijärvi at a local Pentecostal church.












The Old and the New in Helsinki


The First Lutheran Church in Espoo, Finland


The Ferry to Tallin, Estonia


Street Musicians & an Old Restored Fish Market



Larry praying for a Mia, a young deaf mother, as the other lady "signs" for both of us.
It was blessing. I found out later from Mia, the signer wasn't a Believer, "yet".





The final shot from a great weekend of ministry for the CMN Crew, Daniel Kawku, Kimmo Janas, Fred Fredricks, Larry Blakeslee, and Petri Aalto

Blessings,
Rev. Lawrence Blakeslee
Missionary to Europe & Asia

For More Info:
www.tosimies-lehti.fi
www.cmneurope.org