Looking Back, Giving Thanks, Pressing Forward

We were greatly encouraged a few days ago when we reviewed a piece of video which we shot on a trip to Finland in May, six weeks before our arrival this summer. We had come for a long weekend, for Lydia to attend some job interviews, to explore areas to live in and also to connect with friends.

Watching this video helped us to feel the impact of how much has happened in the three or so months since the video was shot. We have since left our home in England, moved our family and belongings across europe, moved into an apartment, Lydia has started work, Edith has started school, we have been steadily making progress working through the immigration process, and much much more. Apart from this personal reminder of all that has happened, we were amazed as we observed the detail is what we were talking about in a very casual, unknowing manner.

 

Helsinki Trip - Part 4 from Helsinki Plant on Vimeo.

It is amazing for us to look at this video and remember things that we were chatting about and saying 'God could be doing this', or 'He may open this door for us', and to realise that everything we speak about here has come to pass.

Not only did Lydia get offered two of the jobs she interviewed for that weekend, but the interview which we both felt most positive and peaceful about, and the job that Lydia accepted has become the most enjoyable job she has ever had. We now live in an apartment less than 200 yards from where we sat on a bench that weekend and said 'this seems like it could be a good area for us to move to'! The apartment was eventually chosen and organised by Lydia's employer, so we had no say in where it would be, but God knew! Our friendship with the other family we mention has been brilliant and we see them most weeks. They are a family passionate for God and hungry to see many of the things we long to see happen through the church here in Helsinki.

God has been faithful to every seemingly off the cuff or insignificant remark which we made at the time of shooting this film. It is incredible to see His attention to detail and the prophetic merging together of our desires and hopes with the plans, job, home, friends that He already had mapped out!

Watching this film really is a source of encouragement. Firstly that we are here[!] and that something which was just a conversation back then is a reality now! Secondly that as we face fresh battles and uncertainties, He will continue to see things through to completion and He has His eye on all of the detail. We are now realising more fully that getting here [although it took huge effort and many miracles], is really just the beginning and that the hard work, uncertainty and challenges continue in various forms. We are still facing an uphill battle to finalise our immigration and become permanent residents. It feels like trying to push a boulder uphill, there is a tremendous amount of time and energy being expended just to move it along by a few inches. Edith is now at school, which is excellent news and she is really enjoying this, but Johan is on a four month waiting list and he misses the routine and friendship of his nursery in the UK. There is also some uncertainty about Lydia's contract. We had been led to understand that the one year contract was just a formality and that these were then automatically renewed. This may now not be the case, and the contract may finish sooner than expected, which could in turn affect our right to become residents. For me the days are intense looking after the children and running the house [not a natural strength!] and there isn't much free time to work on stuff connected to the church plant. We miss friends and family [although Skype and Google Hangout have been a lifeline], we had an amazing visit from our friends Luke and Alison [who hope to join us in a years time]. This was such a super time but a real wrench when the time came for them to return to the UK.

We are confident though that as we have seen from our film from a few months back, that God will see us through these issues day by day and step by step. I have been reading an old copy of A W Pink's book on Elijah. In 1956 the book cost six shillings, but it is very much speaking to me right now! He notes that as the Lord sent Elijah to the brook Cherith an important practical truth is exemplified:

'God leads his servants step by step. Necessarily so, for the path which they are called to tread is that of faith, and faith is opposed to both sight and independency. It is not the Lord's way to reveal to us the whole course which is to be traversed: rather does He restrict His light to one step at a time, that we may be kept in continual dependence upon Him. This is the most salutary lesson, yet to the flesh it is far from relishing...'

Please support us onwards through these steps by standing with us in prayer for:

• All of the bureaucracy to do with immigration, tax, bank account etc. to be processed quickly and finally settled.
• A nursery place for Johan in a convenient location and ahead of schedule.
• For strength for Lydia as she works hard at the daycare and for a favourable resolution to the contractual issues. Also for study opportunity or a full time job for Kev.
• Missional opportunities and connections and for one person to come to Christ!
• For team to build [which is a major key to move things on to the next stage with the church plant. Pray for wisdom and grace with the friendships and connections which have been developing.
• Alison and Luke as they make progress with their plans [job opportunities, timings etc]

We really thank you for supporting and standing with us and we thank God as we look back with huge gratitude for all He has done so far.

Six Days Later!

Over the last few years as we have pushed on the door to arrive in Helsinki, God has put us on a course, which has required us to trust him. As an individual who is not naturally disposed to this and as one who normally gets through life with a large scoop of self-sufficiency topped with a drizzle of I can make it happen and a sprinkling of I am in control, it has been a challenging personal journey!

Through the last year or more, God has been working things out to address this and teaching us to trust in him. Throughout this process we have faced a number of Israelites at the Red Sea type moments [although far less dramatic by comparison, but in some ways equally scary for little us]!  He had spoken to us about these things and the journey he would be taking us on, directly and through words from friends. Emma Whittall last year, when visiting us in Helsinki from Stockholm with Phil and their kids said that there would be lily pads and large turtles appearing on the surface of the lake to step onto, rising up at the last moment before each step forward.  Jonathan Farnham in Canterbury echoed this, he felt God say that he was wanting us to learn to trust him more deeply and that there would be times when we would have to go ahead, when everything was not yet in place, a bit like the Israelites at the Red Sea – God would provide at the very last moment! More recently Mark Nottage said that as we were sharing with The City Church Canterbury about some of the challenges we were facing, he could see a picture of a magician, dazzling a group of kids with tricks and them really not knowing what was going to happen next and witnessing hilariously unimaginable things, but the magician and others who could see from behind the stage knowing exactly what he was going to do next and how he would do it. We were like the children and God’s promise to us it that he is orchestrating everything together in complete control, but for us it will seem hilarious, unexpected and impossible. There were many other similar words to these.

Barry & Barns Removal Co.®   

Two weeks ago, after incredible support from dear friends and family helping clean our rented house in Canterbury and packing up the van with our furniture and belongings, we prepared to leave England without a house to move into when we arrived in Helsinki.

Sad goodbyes to dear friends outside a spotlessly clean   

25 River Court, Chartham   

Early in the morning the next day, Lydia's father Barry and I left the UK to drive across Europe to Helsinki via Stockholm. Barry drove a hired van loaded with our furniture while I drove our family car. The day after, Lydia and her mother Maureen flew to Helsinki with our three children, to stay in temporary accommodation, house sitting at a friend’s place. At this point the thought of arriving on the dockside and sitting there wondering where to go next with all of our stuff was looming large in my mind! But in reality, I was driving to our destination with the conviction that the God who would put the initial seed into our minds to do this in the first place and who had provided so richly so far, would continue to provide and see these and other plans through to completion. Suffice to say we got halfway across Europe and things started to happen. Lydia had heard from her employers [who knew of our situation] that they had gone ahead of us and found us a flat at the last minute, renting it through the company and thus avoiding the impossible situation we had faced with not being allowed to rent any property in Finland due to us not having a Finnish identity number. The 

Lydia after rushing across the city to collect the apartment  
keys, last minute on a rainy Friday afternoon. WooHoo!  

apartment, not only meets our very immediate need to have a roof over our heads, but it's within one minutes walking distance to Lydia's work and is a really nice place that we know we'll be happy in.

So at risk of sounding like a Craig David song [and showing my age]:

We packed up the van on Tuesday

Started our drive on Wednesday

Heard we have the flat on Thursday

Lydia collected the keys on Friday

We arrived in Helsinki with the furniture on Saturday

And moved it all in on Sunday!

Barry, Maureen & Edith on a day out to Suomelina Island

It has been an amazing but hectic time!

Barry and Maureen stayed with us for a week. This was a mix of spending time together [for the last time in a while], seeing some of the sites and enjoying some of the good weather. But, for them and us, lots of hard work helping move us in, unpacking boxes, trips with us to IKEA, looking after the children while we got things going with bank accounts, immigration stuff etc. It was hard work, but a great time together and we couldn't have done it without them.

Lydia outside her new classroom   

Lydia has started a new job as a nursery teacher and is settling in well. She has been busy planning, producing resources, and making stuff to make her classroom feel more vibrant and creative. The last few days have been spent welcoming the new children and dealing with anxious parents! So far it seems like a good working environment with nice staff. Although Lydia was a school teacher for many years back in England, she is new to working in a nursery or daycare and has some difficult kids who don't speak or understand English. When she applied for the job it was for a classroom assistant type roll. But she has actually been made the main teacher. This is a great compliment, but also adds to the challenge and level of responsibility.

We had a super time with our dear friends Steve & Hanna who have been developing a house church type group over the last year. We don’t know them extremely well, but it feels as if we have known them years and there is a sense of joined hearts. Steve collected Lydia and the family from the airport when they arrived. They had put together a bag of groceries for the first few days and a houseplant as a welcome-to-Finland gift! Their group has been built on strength of relationship and a desire to be open and hospitable, welcoming in anybody. They have seen success through running an English speaking group in their local neighborhood. As a result there are several families who have joined the group and become knitted in – but have not yet come to faith. It is exciting and inspiring for us to see what has happened through them and from such small beginnings. We are delighted to be in relationship with them and are interested to maintain this and explore possible ways to work together and support one another, we eagerly look forward to further opportunity to get to know them.

We too are eager to find opportunity to form relationships with those around us. This is most likely to happen through getting to know others in our apartment building, putting on social gatherings, Lydia building relationships at work and also through the open daycare groups, which serve children not enrolled onto formal daycare, and their parents. This has been a great meeting place so far. As we continue to try to get to know people and build genuine relationships, our prayer is for the miraculous to break out. We are asking God for this to happen through anything from just forming some solid relationships in what is an individualistic and suspicious culture, to opening hearts to be receptive to the gospel as we chat to people, or for opportunities to pray with folk and demonstrate the reality and personal nature of our faith in Jesus. As a family here with no actual church as such, we are praying for a miraculous door to be swung open to enable us to grow even by just a few. We do ask you to join with us in this prayer.

We have had a few setbacks to do with our immigration stuff. Lydia has received a Finnish identity number as she is here with a job and the number is essential for taxation purposes. But as things stand myself and the children will have to go through a lengthy process to be regarded as connected to Lydia and counted as one family unit living together in Finland. This means that we cannot register with a doctor, begin the process of registering the children into kindergarten, I cannot be added to our bank account to make it a joint account. The process will require having our documents [birth certificates, marriage certificate etc.] certified and legalized in the UK before they will even look at them. This is an expensive and time-consuming process [which we were not informed of during our recon visits and meetings with immigration staff prior to our permanent arrival]. Once we get through this and can become residents, we can then get the children registered into Finnish kindergarten. The priority here is Edith, we really want her to be in Finnish kindergarten as soon as possible. With a year to go before she starts in a Finnish school, we had been banking on her having this time to learn enough language ready for school [apparently nine months to a year is enough for this to happen]. However, we have learned that after becoming residents it then normally takes four months to register and start at a Kindergarten. This is obviously not ideal and we are praying for an unusually quick route through these obstacles.

That’s the main headlines from us so far. 

We do ask you to continue to pray for us and to keep in touch [we are delighted to have resolved our internet connection problems so are back in the contactable realm!] emails, tweets, messages really are a source of encouragement to us and we are so grateful to those who have made contact. We are also grateful to those who have given financially to us. You know who you are and we are so appreciative. It has been an expensive process to get here with many hidden, unexpected costs on top of what we had already budgeted for. But, thanks to God's provision, through the generosity and mission heartedness of his people we have had all of our needs met so far. We really are grateful to Him and to you! 

Apologies that this is a bit of an epic, there has been so much to include [compounded by over a week without internet], and these are just the headlines.

Prayer points:

• Speedy and miraculous journey through the immigration system [avoidance of unnecessary red tape].
• Edith [and preferably Johan] to be quickly registered into kindergarten.
• Language learning for us all – [it was a long night of working through pages of internet configuration settings with a Finnish-English dictionary!]
• Wisdom and the right path to emerge with a small house church we have been relating to. Ways to support them and informally connect them to RM where useful.
• A clear door to open to birth something, which is more than just our family. A relationship connection, opportunity to share the gospel, someone coming to The Lord, miracles, divine appointments. That sort of stuff to really open a door which, we cannot open based simply on our own efforts (that one is a bit vague, but hopefully you understand what we're getting at!)

Follow on twitter @Kevin_J_Jones

Email: finlandvision@gmail.com 

Stand With Us!

It has been a while since the last post. Things have been extraordinarily busy here with getting ready for the off. We leave our home in the UK for Helsinki this coming Wednesday [17th]. So this Sunday will be our final Sunday with our friends at The City Church Canterbury.

Last night our wonderful small group gave us a super send off by arriving on our doorstep dressed as The Moomins [a Finnish national treasure!]. I opened the front door to nine Moomins characters clutching trays of food, cakes etc. for us to share together. They even had the theme music playing as I opened the door! What a great bunch and what a special evening!

I never want to hear anyone say that a Moomin doesn't make a great lasagne! Never!   

We were also thrilled to once again be contacted by a friend Susan Mack, from the church at Hedge End in the UK, who along with her husband Iain have supported us in prayer since the small beginnings of our journey to move to Helsinki to help plant a church. Before hearing about us they had been praying with a Finnish friend of theirs for many years for breakthrough in Finland.

Susan wrote to me as she has the opportunity to share prayer requests on our behalf with the international prayer group she attends. They have asked her to feed back about our latest situation to help focus the group to intercede for us. Hearing about this sort of thing [that people we have not met will be gathering to pray for the nations and that we will be part of their prayer agenda] is humbling and is such an encouragement to us! God shares his heart for the nations with us his people in so many ways. Some are called to go while others are stirred to an ongoing commitment to pray. 

As I wrote back to Susan with some thoughts on what she might be able to encourage the group to pray for us for, I also felt stirred to put these out there as an encouragement to friends and readers of this blog who we may not have met, to partner in what God is doing and going to do in Helsinki, by standing with us in prayer.

Many of the things you can pray for at this time will be stuff you may already be familiar with if you have followed our journey.  

A few key areas though include:

• Finding a place to live. Due to various pieces of red tape, we have not been able to rent a property from the UK to move in to when we arrive. We do have a week of house-sitting, so we have somewhere to go when we first arrive, but after that nothing yet. This is scary stuff, but we have peace that God will provide for us in a hilarious way.   
• Travel. Lydia will be flying to Helsinki with the three children and her mum on the 18th. I will be driving our car in convoy with Barry [Lydia's dad] who will be driving a van with our furniture etc. to Stockholm, where we will catch an overnight ferry to Helsinki. This journey will take four days. Pray for safety, good connections and lots of fun and a great sense of God's love and presence going with us.
• Finances. As a young family, we don't have huge financial means but, God has provided every step of the way for our various essential trips, and having accepted the job and fully committed to go [without the money to cover the relocation costs] we have seen the money come in  in order for us to be able to go! Praise God! This has come through support from Relational Mission and the the local church, but also from much anonymous giving. It has been amazing! Looking ahead we need God to continue to provide – not just to get us there, but to resource planting a vibrant Spirit filled church. A couple of families have committed to give on a monthly basis, this is so helpful as we move to an expensive part of the world and will be vital in sustaining the work we hope to do.
• Settling in. Lydia's new job [a heroic effort after five years as a stay at home mum, to put herself out there and secure a job meaning we can move and become residents in Finland], family transition etc. general stuff about adjusting, finding our feet, the children feeling secure, speedy processing to become residents and receive Finnish social security numbers etc. 
• Doors to open for the church plant itself. A lot of our prayer requests are to do with the immediate practicalities, but please pray for immediate breakthrough and for God to open doors for the church plant at its early stages. As we have been rather swamped by working through the inevitable practicalities, please pray for a fresh sense of how God wants to shape things and particular areas he wants to use us in. For the right relationships to be knitted together, and for clarity and insight on how to move forward with the group of friends we have been connecting with. Pray for a particular culture or distinctive flavor of church to begin to form which will be authentic, but also relevant to the people in the Helsinki area.

I hope this is of some use and that you can feel stirred to remember us and battle through in prayer for us at this time. Feel free to drop me a quick email or post a comment below if you like as we would be super encouraged to hear of folk praying for us.

Once again, a huge thank you for your ongoing interest and commitment to us and your perseverance in prayer. We really do need people like you backing us particularly in prayer, so we really do thank God that he has given you all to support us in this way!

Follow on twitter @Kevin_J_Jones

Email: finlandvision@gmail.com

Who is The One We Are Asking?

I flew out to Stockholm on Friday filled with expectation for what God had in store for us all at the Stockholm prayer weekend, but also still feeling somewhat shell-shocked over what had happened in the last seven days and the tasks that lay ahead.

Last Thursday Lydia and I were in Helsinki for a long weekend. We had booked flights for these dates in faith, not knowing if in fact there would be any reason for us going at that particular time, but hoping that these steps would bear fruit. As the dates came closer Lydia secured three job interviews – two on the Friday and one on the Saturday. Suddenly our trip had a clear focus and purpose.

It has been around three years since God shared with us some of his heart for Helsinki and drew us in, compelling us to co-labour with him in the plans he has for this city, Finland as a nation and the Nordic and Baltic regions. Since then it has been a journey of preparation, patience and prayer as we took gradual steps toward pushing on this door and God making his plans a reality.

Lydia on the train to her first job interview    

We were thrilled to discover before leaving Helsinki last Monday that Lydia had been offered two of the three jobs. One of these was the job she really wanted, in an area we were feeling increasingly drawn to and nearby to some of the friends we have been getting to know. God has been so faithful to us and has broken through at the right time. In Helsinki it is often difficult to even be invited to interview, which makes the two job offers even more impressive.

Suddenly the wait is over. Lydia has a start date of the 29^th July and has organised flights for her, her mum and the children to travel to Helsinki on the 18^th July. We have a short period of time where some friends have said we can housesit, but we really need to find a permanent address in time for us to move in, before this period of housesitting comes to an end. Barry [Lydia’s father] and I will most likely be driving a truckload of our furniture to Helsinki at the same time that Lydia and the children travel.

There are obstacles in the way. The main one is that as non-residents we do not yet have a social security number. We’re discovering that without this it is difficult to do a lot of important things such as: open a bank account, rent a home, register children at a state run kindergarten, sign up with a doctor, the list goes on! It’s nail-biting stuff, but we trust that this is God’s initiative and not ours. We trust that he will provide and bring things to completion. We trust that his attention is on this and he won’t forget us or let us fall.

Phil, Emma, Noah & Anna Whittall visiting us in Helsinki last summer. Great memories!

The Stockholm prayer weekend was excellent. A great time of being with dear friends from Relational Mission and other leaders from the Baltic/Scandinavia region, some of whom are at a similar stage to us, if not further ahead. I enjoyed spending time with the Whittalls, seeing their home and neighborhood and being able to finally picture them in Sweden. They are devoted to God & devoted to Stockholm. God is blessing the nations through this courageous family. It was thrilling to feel God’s heart for Sweden and the Scandinavian nations as we enjoyed his vital presence together. We went out in groups around the city to pray. The groups were each given a theme for their prayer walk and a particular route. The surroundings, the people, shop signs, the architecture provided constant stimulation and inspiration for our prayers and gave shape to prophetic words for the Stockholm plant, there was time back at the meeting venue to feed these back to the others and celebrate what God had been saying. I cannot emphasise enough what an excellent time this was. This model  could be used in all cities, towns and locations and not only reserved for very special weekends like this.

Mike Betts had taught from the parable of the persistent widow, emphasizing that there is nothing about this story that is like coming to God. The unjust judge gives in to the widow because he is irritated, but if is possible to lobby someone like that and eventually receive a favourable outcome, how much more will God stand with you and me for what we are asking. My favourite quote from that session was ‘Prayer is laying hold of God’s willingness, not overcoming his reluctance’. This has been resonating in my heart ever since. Our prayers make a huge difference and our weak attempts are not discarded by him, but are welcomed by him. We were challenged that ‘have I got faith?’ is an unhelpful question, and that the true question should be ‘who is the one we are asking?’

As we edge closer to our moving date, realising the increasing, unanticipated challenges we face just to rent an apartment, formalise logistical plans to get us out to Helsinki and begin to settle there we would do well to focus on who it is we are coming to. Not an impatient judge but a loving father and saviour who is immeasurably for us and has opened the door to us to Finland and can be trusted to complete what he has started.

Please pray for us for:

• Favour with the necessary companies and organisations, and that they will deal with us despite us not yet having the social security number. 
• A good, affordable family home, which works well for us, but also works as a place to host guests, meet & launch a church from. 
• God’s wisdom, despite all of the unknowns we currently face as we make decisions about how and when is best to move our stuff to Helsinki
• Us as a family as we invest much of our time and energy into doing what we can to resolve these issues, that we know God’s peace and security throughout this pressured season [please pray this especially for the children]
• The Stockholm and Riga church plants also, that they quickly see signs of fruit and breakthrough as a result of battles won in prayer over this weekend.

Follow on twitter @Kevin_J_Jones

Email kjones@ucreative.ac.uk

kaupungissa! [in the city!]

Tomorrow morning Lydia and I leave for a four-day trip to Helsinki. We are very excited at the thought of being back in Helsinki again, walking the streets, hearing the language and enjoying the sunshine. It is a great place to visit; the perfect city break! 

One of the many busy squares in the city centre   

There is however a real urgency to our trip this time. Since the summer, when we spent over a month in Helsinki, we have been working on a relocation plan to allow us to be back there on a permanent basis this summer. This has involved research, language lessons, maintaining contact with the super friends we have got to know out there, job applications, Skype interviews, writing speculative letters and emails to possible employers and of course much prayer. Even with the wonders of modern technology, there is only so much we are able to do from our home here in Kent. We are therefore desperate to see some tangible positive steps and doors opening as a result of this trip. Lydia now has three job interviews lined up for positions in kindergartens. Two are in Espoo [a neighbouring district connected to Helsinki], this is a family area which is slightly cheaper than the expensive city centre. The third interview is in Helsinki itself. This is very positive; we now need one of these places to make a concrete job offer. 

Lydia at the tram stop   

We are also delighted to have opportunity to see the friends we have been in regular contact with from our visit in the summer. They have since the summer pioneered a small house-church type missional community. They are a super bunch and have been so kind to us translating letters, giving advice and generally being so encouraging and behind us. We can’t wait to see them again and are thrilled to have been invited to a get together with their house church friends who want to meet and hear from us also. It is such a privilege to be invited into a network of relationships, which they have fought so hard to establish.  We value their openness and commitment to us.

Finally, we have had great difficulty affording this trip. Although in Europe, Helsinki is not a cheap place to get to or to be in. Like many we struggle to manage financially as a family without adding expensive trips into the mix. We are so thrilled though to say that through various gifts and expressions of support that we have ended up just £4.00 short of all we need to cover the entire cost of the trip! We are so grateful to experience the love and support of the family of God who catch the heart of our calling and are so eager to partner with us!

Please pray for:

• Lydia’s interviews, for a job offer[s] which will also give us some clarity as to which neighborhood we can focus on. 
• Developments with finding suitable and affordable accommodation. 
• Our time with the house-church friends; that we can be a blessing to them, that our relationships deepen and continue to flourish, and that they feel encouraged to continue to help and support us too. 
• The children [Edith, Johan & Barnabas] as they stay at home with grandparents, but knowing that our trip is connected to our relocation to Helsinki as a family 
• Me as I meet with some university contacts with a view to finding a suitable career path for me in Helsinki. 
• On-going financial provision, that should we get a job offer that we will be able to afford all of the relocation costs [shipping, travel, deposit for an apartment, other taxes and fees etc.]