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

2010 Is Going To Be Great

I thought I'd update you on my current activities. Last month, Europe Advance held two Church Planter Roundtables. One at Thousand Hills Church, Hilversum, The Netherlands and the other at Power House Church, Zurich, Switzerland. The CPRs provide information to people interested in planting churches in Greater Europe.

Europe Advance's goal is to motivate others to plant churches and provide on-going mentoring and financial assistance during the start up phase of the church plant. The financial support is provided by established churches with the same vision. My role is to support the overall mission strategy and mentor in the area of church administration.

Europe Advance is working closely with an American based ministry called A.R.C., the Association of Related Churches. A.R.C. has been successfully planting churches in the U.S. since 2000.

Admittedly, I have a "selfish" motivation for helping Europe Advance succeed. Besides the obvious of reaching the lost adults in Europe, unsaved children must have a good church to attend so they can learn about the Gospel and develop their personal relationship with Jesus.

Kids are still my main thrust in ministry. Reaching them and adults utilizing every possible opportunity with the Gospel is the most important thing to me.

2010 = Unbelievable
Personally I think 2010 is going to be a tremendous year for ministry and impacting my part of the world for Christ. 2009 was an incredible for First Step Ministries. God opened some amazing doors and He continues to do so.

Tosimies Lehti Magazine
My first "How To" article encouraging fathers to teach their children to pray was published in December in Tosimies -Lehti, a Finnish Christian Men's magazine. My next article, which is part of a series, will be published in the February issue. I really believe that God is going to use these articles to motivate Finnish men to take an active part in developing the spiritual life of children.

Future Travel
I'll be visiting America from mid-February through March, for my annual trip back home to see my family in Florida and to minister in the U.S..

The Baltics and Finland
The last two weeks of May I'm scheduled to go to Hamburg, Germany, Estonia and Latvia with Paul Cole, the son of Ed Cole, founder of Christian Men's Network (CMN). I am also going to Helsinki, Finland and Budapest, Hungry for the first time in April. I am excited because these trips will open some incredible new ministry opportunities in the future.

Blessings,
Rev. Lawrence Blakeslee
Missionary to Europe and Asia.

For more information:
http://europeadvance.org
http://www.relatedchurches.com/
http://www.powerhousechurch.ch/
http://www.thousandhills.cc/
http://www.tosimies-lehti.fi