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OUR VISION FOR FINLAND |
| FINLAND’S HISTORY |
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(The following is a brief
history of Finland as provided by the United States, Bureau of European and
Eurasian Affairs, October 2007.) |
| "The origins of the Finnish people are still a matter of
conjecture, although many scholars argue that their original home was in
what is now west-central Siberia. The Finns arrived in their present
territory thousands of years ago, pushing the indigenous Lapps into the more
remote northern regions. Finnish and Lappish--the language of Finland's
small Lapp minority--are both Finno-Ugric languages and are in the Uralic
rather than the Indo-European family." |
| "Finland's nearly 700-year
association with the Kingdom of Sweden began in 1154 with the
introduction of Christianity by Sweden's King Eric. During the ensuing
centuries, Finland played an important role in the political life of the
Swedish-Finnish realm, and Finnish soldiers often predominated in
Swedish armies. Finns also formed a significant proportion of the first
"Swedish" settlers in 17th-century America." |
| "Following Finland's incorporation into Sweden in the 12th
century, Swedish became the dominant language, although Finnish recovered
its predominance after a 19th-century resurgence of Finnish nationalism.
Publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala--a collection
of traditional myths and legends--first stirred the nationalism that later
led to Finland's independence from Russia." |
| "In 1809, Finland was conquered by the armies of Czar
Alexander I and thereafter remained an autonomous grand duchy connected with
the Russian Empire until the end of 1917. On December 6, 1917, shortly after
the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its independence. In
1918, the country experienced a brief but bitter civil war that colored
domestic politics for many years. During World War II, Finland fought the
Soviet Union twice--in the Winter War of 1939-40 and again in the
Continuation War of 1941-44. This was followed by the Lapland War of
1944-45, when Finland fought against the Germans as they withdrew their
forces from northern Finland." |
| "Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union
included obligations and restraints on Finland vis-à-vis the U.S.S.R., as
well as territorial concessions by Finland; both have been abrogated by
Finland since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union." |
| By this brief history, we can easily see that Finland has
had a history of war and oppression. Although they were not a part of the
Soviet Union, they felt the obvious weight of their neighbor in every
political decision. This weight caused the Finns to become strong and
self-reliant. Unfortunately, this also caused them to be closed to many
outside influences. As a general rule, although they were always a friendly
people, they were slow to adopt change. |
| This closed nature began to change with the collapse of
the Soviet Union. Today, the Finnish people are open to change and willing
to embrace new ideas. The younger generations have developed a willingness
to accept what the international culture has to offer them. Unfortunately,
this is being evidenced by their heavy metal rock culture, binge drinking,
and free sexual attitudes. |
| The family unit has been diluted with less than 40% of the
population being married. 288,000 of the 1.4 million families registered in
2004 were cohabitating and 687 were same-sex partners. |
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Unplanned Growth |
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This is the easiest and least
productive. This requires simply walking through doors as they are
opened. We will pursue these opportunities as they come available.
However, we only find a Biblical precedent for this type of evangelism
once in the Bible (Cornelius). |
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Visiting the
"Synagogues" |
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In Acts, we find that Paul
followed a process in every city he entered. He first preached in the
synagogues to the Jews before he turned his attention on the Gentiles.
In every city we enter, we must make an effort to reach the other
denomination’s pastors with the fullness of the Truth. This is the only
way to be able to support an exponential growth rate, as these pastors
are already trained in the Word and often have a local leadership
structure that is in the process of being trained. |
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“Special Forces” Growth |
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Our plan is to utilize six to
twelve Associates in Missions couples, operating in pairs, to reach into
the major cities to establish congregations. They would go into a city
in which there is no established work and develop a congregation by
teaching Bible studies and ministering to the needs of the people. The
goal is for this group to spend one year in each major city to establish
a local congregation of believers. |
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Evangelizing the Fringes |
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Once a work is established, the congregation will begin to evangelize
the fringes by establishing preaching points in the adjacent regions and
sub-regions. This will allow for the nationals to lean on a local
support structure to accomplish this task.
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(The above information is part of a plan that was submitted by Mark
Alphin to the UPCI FMRD for Europe. The actual plan goes into much more
depth, but this is the basis by which we will operate...we are excited
about what God will do in the country of Finland!) |
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WILL YOU HELP US? |
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Our family cannot reach this nation on our own—we must
have both financial support and “on-site” help from others.
We would love to hear from you if you are
interested in working with us in Finland!
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We believe that pastoral submission is
essential. If you are interested
in possibly joining TEAM FINLAND as an Associates in Missions
("AIMer"), we ask that you
email us and include the following: (1) your pastor's name, (2)
your pastor's email address, and (3) your church name. Please
include the level of interest that you have in our ministry to Finland;
we will then contact your pastor for permission to communicate with you.
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Click
here
to join TEAM FINLAND as a financial equipper, or a Partner in
Missions. |
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Click
here for information on the UPCI's AIM (Associates in Missions)
program.
