God in the midst of agony.

The word agony is found 86 times in the finnish translation of the Bible. This weekend there was a music festival named TUSKA (which means AGONY) here in Helsinki.

A bunch of us went down there nearby the festival area to hang out in a park. We had few signs with us with these Bible verses, and the word agony standing out from the texts.

The idea to go there was just planted to some hearts, and we got together, and went, waiting what God would do. As we sat down, someone asked: so whats the plan? I dont think anyone of us had a plan.. To some people God had said that Go Without Nothing of Your Own and see what happens. To me God gave the instructions of making these signs. We also had kinda like a questionnaire and as a price you could win a copy of the new testament and psalms where we had underlined all the agony words.

So, as we sit down and just said out loud that we dont have a plan, the first four people just rushed to us, sat donw on the grass next to us and started to chat. A guy with a cross upside down in his neck, a girl who longed to have believers friends of her own age, and many kinds of people we met during the evening. It was blessed, and prepared.

I think one of the biggest blessings of it to me personally was just being active. The spiritual athmosphere here in finland is often quite passive, and doing things feels many times too hard. But now, as I stepped this small step forward I felt He asked me to, I saw that He grabbed that little step and did His thing.

In many situations I felt myself hopeless, and lacking the power of God, wishing to have words of knowledge and wisdom, to be able to reach the hearts of these special people. But at the same time I realized, that as I go, I grow. Getting to know these people from so different world and mindsets was challenging and refreshing, and gives new perspectives to prayer and what to ask for from God. How can I have the attitude and love of the Fathers heart towards these people, if I dont even know who they are, what they think and what challenges they have in their lives. I long to be able to offer something real, what Jesus really is, not just empty words and promises that dont touch peoples every day lives. God is relevant to these people, Im sure of it, as He is relevant always, and the kingdom of God is intended to be lived out radically. It was really encouraging and a good reminder to see that people are interested in God, in spiritual things and want to talk about them. There is hope rising, that God can do something, even in Finland!

where east meets west

Hey Nordic family.

I and two dear friends just spent nine precious days in Macedonia. Thought about sharing something about it with you guys. As I attended the 24-7 gathering about three years ago in Belgrade and met a bunch of these amazing macedonian sisters and brothers I started to hope and pray, that some day I would be able to go and visit them in Skopje.

Many times during our stay there I just found myself returning to that hope I had, and the small sighed prayers. God is faithful and has his timings on everything. And its quite great how simple life in the end is.. Like you just plan a trip, get the tickets and think that ok, this is just happening, cool, and then in the end it really has a purpouse and meaning, that actually its something God is doing. So, the trip to Skopje became reality.

There was actually this 24-7 Balkans gathering for the weekend when we arrived to Skopje, so we were really priviledged and blessed to join the meeting. It was so good to pray for people from Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia, and for the whole Balkans. How amazing it is to be a part of this kingdom family, learning to let love flow between people from different nations and journeying together.

During the weeked we heard some really good stories and sharings. Some wiser and older (should I say more experienced :)) guys were sharing, and somehow just giving out a really father-kind of approach. Stable, yet inspiring and encouraging. The talks were mostly about communities, and just basicly about your own identity and living the kingdom way. Us three finns that were together on the trip also were living in a communal kind of way- sharing our wallets, thoughts and hearts during the trip. All this woke a lot in ones one heart, process, renewal of mind and learning to be in the light. Its great, and painful, when while feeding yourself with the truth, your lies start to be seen in your own thinking. I found myself wrestling a lot with my wrong kind of self-dependency, individualistic thinking and un-certainties. It takes God to change my heart, so Im able not to act based on greed, selfishness or fear. But how blessed it is, that Jesus promises to do just that, to circumsize my heart, to give his Kingdom in me and renew my mind. Come on!

Our british friend Scot, whose family has now moved to Skopje, shared about communities, and the thing that stayed to nag my thinking from his speech, was the idea of Christ-centered community. For the first time I really started to think, what is the difference between friends just living together under the same roof, a community based on friendship, and between community that is Jesus centered. Where I also would like my heart to step in to is a communal lifestyle, that would be true on many levels, with people I live together with, and with people I maybe travel with, or people I facebook with. I dont actually have a lot of answers on these, how its done, but these are questions Im asking, and travelling life to get the answers.

There would be a lot to write about. The labyrinth-streets of old Skopje, the coffeebars and great ice creams, the beautiful hearts of our macedonian sisters and brothers, the mountains, views of lake Ohrid, Albanians, balconies on 15th floors, dreams and so on. But then Id go on and on. I recommend you all to travel and see it yourself!

Maybe next summer there could be a small nordic team travelling to join these precious people to lake Ohrid, to hang out, pray, share the kingdom and listen to the huge frogs that sing in the lake during nights.

lets talk community

Sometimes God interupts our well-meaning plans and replaces a good idea with an even better one. So instead of having another Nordic Family Gathering in the fall, we felt led to move the larger 24-7 Nordic Gathering to the spring, and instead have a smaller gathering focusing on communities this August. God has made some divine connections between people in the Nordic nations. As our histories are entertwined, so are our futures. However, going about this has been confusing. How do we build an international community when we, at best, only meet 2-3 times a year?

We believe that a strong Nordic community must stem from strong local communities. The international cannot support the local, but the local can support the international. What we want to explore during this gathering is the practicalities of living in local Christian communities. How do our rosy ideas meet the reality of dirty kitchens? Should a community be value based or rule based? How do we as a small community interact with local congregations? With our neighbours? What about shared economy? Do we have to live together or just live close together?

We believe that 24-7 communities are more than just a challenging thought. Rather, it is a way of life we believe is key to our spiritual growth and the Church as a whole, as well 24-7 prayer as a movement. Most important of all, we belive this is something God is interested in right now.

To facilitate this, we will gather in Gillingegården, a lovely place 30 minutes bus ride from central Stockholm. We do this because we figure it is silly to discuss community without living it out for a few days. This will include taking part of the daily cooking and cleaning that are essential to community life.

We ask that everyone attending read the book Punk Monk by Andy Freeman before attending the gathering. It can be bought from the 24-7 shop here. There are also a few copies floating around Finland and Sweden if you want to borrow from someone. We ask everyone to read it as it is a good book, is written from the perspective of the 24-7 movement and values and it raises some of the things we will be talking about. We feel it is important that we all start off on the same page to make good use of our time together.

Cost and accomodation: There are two living options. The gathering will cost 600 SEK for people who are staying in beds (only 30 bed places) and 350 SEK for people who want to sleep in tents. We will have a military tent with nine places. When those are full people will need to bring their own tents. The cost includes all food and fika. As usual, you are welcome to pay more so that we can cover the gathering costs for others. Ask us about fees for children. There are a few rooms with only two beds for couples/families. Payment is upon arrival.

Registration: Please let us know as soon as possible if you are planning to attend. E-mail info (at) tjugofyrasju.be with the following information:
Name
E-mail
Telephone
Address
Any allergies, food preferences or medical conditions we should be aware of.
Accomodation choice, bed or tent (and whether you are bringing a tent).

We hope that these discussion will be an instrument for bringing God's plans for the Nordic nations into being, and that dreams of communities will be birthed into the “real world”. If this is what lies on your heart, we are looking forward to see you in August.

//The 24-7 Nordic team