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

Christian Men's Meeting in Aachen, Belgium

These pictures are only a portion of the pics I took at the meeting this weekend. No commentary is necessary they all speak for themselves. Keynote speaker Paul Louis Cole of Christian Men's Network was a real blessing to all of us.

Enjoy the pictures and the fact that God is moving among these men of all ages to become strong men of God.

Travel Update
Just got word from my Finnish contact that the Helsinki airport will remain closed for another 24 hours, (8:00pm / 20:00 Tuesday). By faith, I'm packing and getting ready to minister in Helsinki this weekend.

The clock is moving but the volcanic dust is apparently not....

Blessings,
Rev. Lawrence Blakeslee

No Flying = No Travel

As you have seen on the new everywhere, there is the complete shutdown of air travel in Europe. It's been four days now that not a flight has left the ground in Central and Northern Europe and the UK.

I arrived back in Germany from the U.S. on Wednesday, 7 April and was glad I got here before the volcano eruption in Iceland. The problem now is that as of today, Sunday evening, they have no idea when the airlines will again be allowed to fly again.

KLM, British Air and other airlines are asking that the airspace over most of Europe be opened again by the various governments. These same airlines are also asking the governments to prove that the real threat to flight and aircraft still continues. This should be pretty interesting to see how this gets resolves.

The problem came close to home this weekend. Today, I just returned from the first of a series of Christian Men's Network meetings. This meeting was held at a church in Aachen, Belgium. Paul Louis Cole, of Christian Men's Network was the guest speaker. He and his wife Judi arrived the day before the shutdown.

This afternoon the Cole's were supposed to fly out to Budapest, Hungry for the next series of meetings. No one is flying, the trains are completely booked, and car rentals are all but completely sold out. While I was in Aachen this morning, I got a phone call asking if I would co-drive them the 11 hours from Aachen to Budapest. It would have a been a quick turn around literally dropping them off, getting some sleep and returning so I could make it back to Bonn to fly out on Thursday to meet them in Helsinki.

As it turned out two other men were found who had more time available to do the drive so that released me from the marathon drive. Although there was a tinge of regret, it could have been an interesting "road trip" in some areas that I've not gone before.

The no-fly shutdown is now hitting close to home. I'm supposed to fly out Thursday to Helsinki, Finland to minister with Paul Cole. No one has an idea if anyone is flying any where and when. The three days of Helsinki meetings might get canceled.

For the Cole's it would be a pretty hard drive from Budapest to Helsinki. The highways on the way there are lacking through the former Soviet Union.

If I can't fly to Helsinki, my next flight was to depart Helsinki on Monday, 26 April for a major church planting conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana but that might not be made either.

Mind you, I am not complaining. I am "stuck" at home not like literally thousands of people in air terminals just trying to move on to their destination.

By the way, the CMN meeting at Lighthouse Church in Aachen was really terrific. We had a nice turn out with a good mix of ages at the meetings. I met some incredible men at this meeting.

Be in agreement that "the cloud" will move on and allow safe air travel very soon.

Blessings,
Rev. Lawrence Blakeslee
Missionary to Europe & Asia

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

Miscellaneous Stuff

No Comments
I wanted to let you know that I have turned off the "Comments" portion of my blog. Hopefully this will be temporary. No, it's not because of my "thin skin". For the last few weeks, I've had people use it to promote their products for sale. Putting strange comments and links on it. Nothing really bad thank God, but it was spam and they can go some where else.

I'll try to figure out a way that I can "control" or delay the comments before they are posted. That will eliminate the problem. I'm always happy to hear from you.

Europe Advance
On a better note, I'm working right now on my next posting for this blog. It will be about the European church planting group, Europe Advance, that I am working with in a major way along with my other minstry areas. Stay tuned!


Traveling to America
I'm making my annual trip to America on 16 February. I'll be in Phoenix first for a couple of weeks. Then heading to Florida to see my sons and grand kids. Can hardly wait. I'll be in the States until roughly the first week of April. Then return to a very busy next few months ministering in Estonia, Latvia and Finland. My first time there.

Tosimies Lehti
Just a few days ago, I sent my second article to Tosimies Lehti, the Finnish Christian magazine, about father's helping to teach their kids to pray. It will be published in a few weeks. What a blessing God has opened up for me to reach the Finnish.

Ministry Opportunities
If you would like me to share what God has put in my heart about children's ministry, men's ministry or Europe Advance, the church planting group, I am available. Contact me by email listed here.

Blessings,
Rev. Lawrence Blakeslee
Missionary to Europe & Asia