Finland

We've got just 2 weeks left in our journey and a lot yet to see. Tomorrow afternoon we make our overnight journey to Sweden. Finland has been fantastic! I think everyone on the team has had a great time here. We started our time here by going to Camp Jumi a fews hours north of Helsinki. It was a beautiful camp and our hosts were very gracious to us. The camps here aren't like the camps we have in North Carolina. They are very simple, but it just goes to show that we don't need big flashy forms of recreation or entertainment to experience God's presence and enjoy genuine Christian community. There was a family work camp going on while we were there and it was a very cool thing to see whole family units present, working together. There weren't a lot of people there and that just made it seem all the more intimate, as we were able to get to know all the families. I think a couple of us fell in love with a couple of the babies and toddlers there. Anyway, we were able to share in some of the work at the camp on Saturday. We did a lot of manual labor, moving branches and logs, cleaning cabins, etc. But it didn't take up the whole day so we were able to enjoy some fellowship and relaxation. The evening sauna was the most relaxing. I learned that the sauna is one thing Finnish people are known for so we all got to experience life as a Finnish. It was fun. We've also been able to enjoy a lot of traditional Finnish food. It's all been very delicious. We finished our time at the camp with worship on Sunday morning, which the caravan was responsible for. The students did a wonderful job, once again.

After a three hour train ride Sunday afternoon we were back in Helsinki. We went to the Methodist for what they call a "three quarter service". Though the service was in Swedish (Finland is a bilingual country with Swedish and Finnish-speaking Fins) it was nice to be back in a church setting (all our worship experiences up to this point have been at camps). After the service we had a wonderful opportunity of hearing the Bishop Hans Vaxby, from the Eurasia Conference, talk about the UMC in Russia. It was fascinating. Like much of Europe, the UMC in Russia is small and faces many challenges, especially where the country's politics are involved, but I heard hope in the Bishop's words. I enjoyed hearing that many of the congregations in the Eurasia are house churches! It was quite a gift to get the pleasure of meeting him and hearing him share with us. I will tell on myself, though, that I was talking to him for a little while without realizing he was a Bishop and made a bit of a fool of myself because apparently I was the only one that missed his introduction as the Bishop. During the worship service, I could not hear our interpreter so perhaps that's where I missed it. Anyway, it was a very pleasant surprise, and again I loved to experience how we are all connected.

I am staying with a lovely family and have had wonderful accommodations here. We had very stimulating conversation yesterday evening as we heard about the culture of Finland and discussed education in our countries and a whole array of topics. Finland has many interesting aspects to their culture being populated by both Finnish and Swedish-speaking people. It sounds like the two populations are having a difficult time getting along and the Swedish-speaking Fins are being discriminated against. I've enjoyed hearing about Finnish people and how they are. Drinking is a huge problem here and one theory I heard as to why is that Finnish people do not talk about feelings. So they end up holding everything in, not getting it out because they just don't share things with others, and we all know that if you do that too long it will explode within, and the Fins let it out through alcohol. The theory makes sense, and the person who shared this with me thinks it started during war times. Finland is the only country that was not occupied by the Soviets, but it did not mean things were much easier for them. People still died and families still lost loved ones.

At a barbeque we went to this evening, I had a great conversation with the host about the UMC in Helsinki. He noted that in worship on Sunday 50-60% of the worshipers are young people. I was shocked by that statistic because that is not how it is in the States. He said about 10 years ago, after major decline to almost non-existence, the churches realized they had to do something. So the people took a risk on change and have found a way to worship in different styles that are more welcoming to young people, yet still meaningful to older generations. I was very encouraged to hear this gentleman's observation that they all seemed to experience more genuine Christianity and passionate faith. He noted that the change was not easy for everybody, but well worth it to see the passionate faith of those in attendance.

I know in America we recognize we have to do something in our churches to make a way for the future, while respecting and learning from the past, but I don't know that we've figured it out. What works here in Scandinavia may not work exactly for us, but I wonder more and more if the churches here have something right when much emphasis in ministry and church life is about raising children and youth to not only be in church, but to be excited and passionate about their experiences of God. I think we do this to a certain extent, but I'm left to continue to reflect on this as I am continually encouraged by a Church that is very small, in comparison to the Bible Belt, but filled with hope because young people are coming and excited about being there.

Everything I have written to the point, was written yesterday, and I am now sitting on the ferry (more like a cruise though) headed to Sweden. We'll be there tomorrow morning. I've never been on a cruise before so this in itself is another new experience added to everything else I've been experiencing. Everyone has split up and we're all just doing our own thing. I'm enjoying the "alone" time, even though there are people walking all around as I sit in one of the lobby's writing. If I might be personal for a minute, I'm missing home a bit this evening. It always seems to hit when we're traveling and have a lot of time to just sit. I'm excited about Sweden and Denmark, but in this moment I miss home. I read the church newsletter this afternoon just to see what's been going on, and I want my Aldersgate followers to know that I miss you all. But you don't want to hear about that. So let me tell you about some of the things we saw today in Finland. The day started out with rain, but cleared up in time for us to walk around the city. Finland is a beautiful city. I think I took more pictures today than I have in the other countries we've been to (you'll have to wait to see the pictures). We saw some beautiful churches. I can't remember the name of my favorite one (Finnish words are ridiculously hard to pronounce, much less remember), but it was built into rock so the walls on the inside were stone. It was beautiful! The ceiling was circular and I later learned that it was made of a single copper wire, which, if stretched out, would equal something like 50 miles. It was pretty incredible. There was also a concert pianist playing on a beautiful Steinway so we sat, listened, and prayed for a while. We also got to go inside the Finland National Library, which was beautiful and it was fun to go to the theology section and see a Duke professor represented in the Finnish library :)

It was a bit sad saying goodbye to Finland, but I look forward to saying hello to Sweden in the morning. All the traveling and late nights are starting to wear on me, so here's to hoping for a restful night's sleep.

God's peace,
Katie