Jarvenpaa

Greetings from Finland! We arrived on Saturday evening after about 24hours of travel. My jet lag wouldn't have been so bad if I had followed my typical routine of changing my "clock" to the time of my final destination right when I get on the plane. I was hindered in doing this due to the fact that I had my personal TV screen and decided to watch movies the whole way over The Pond. :) I'm so responsible.

We arrived in London around 6:30am their time and with a 10 hour layover we were able to go out of the airport, catch the Tube to the city center, and walk around. Oh, wow. I love London. I was soooo excited to have this opportunity - such a treat - because I have always wanted to visit England. Now I have a dozen family members who live in England and will definitely be visiting them in the near future and exploring their fabulous country.

Our flight to Helsinki was only about two hours and I nodded off throughout the whole thing which was good. All of our luggage save one made it there and we caught rides to Arkki (pronounced ark-key) church with some of the young adults from the church. They are such wonderful people and their English is really good. Sunday we got to sleep in a bit which was really nice. The day was rather relaxing before the Sunday service at 4pm. It was good but I would love to see more freedom break out. After the service we had a "welcome party" which was more of a young adult worship set and that was good too. Monday we prepared for our school lessons for next week and others went grocery shopping. Today we went to Helsinki for some prophetic evangelism and sightseeing. It is cold here but it has been really enjoyable to walk around outside and not be couped up inside all the time. Tomorrow starts a youth conference which I hope is outstanding.


Some cool (haha) things that have been happening include the following:
1. Since being here I have gone a bit crazy meaning that I have reached the point where I am completely comfortable with my outreach members (or maybe I just don't care anymore) so that I've started making outlandish jokes that typically border on the side of inappropriate. Sunday I laughed so many times and so hard that I am sure that I took care of several months' worth of free radicals. It was so refreshing! And the fun has continued. I find it great when I get to this point with others and they always find it so surprising that I am an amusing person. haha. It's good to be myself for sure.
2. Saunas...so people go naked here and all of us except maybe the South Korean come from a culture that is completely not open in that sort of way. We have Canadians, Americans, and Brits so the idea of being in a sauna naked is absolutely terrifying or at least completely uncomfortable. However I agree with those who have gone before in that once you get over yourself and realize nobody's body is perfect then you find it's really no big deal. It is actually quite freeing and groundbreaking. Not sure how soon this practice will be adapted in the US but I think it would do the world a load of good.
3. Relationships on the team have definitely been strengthening or at least for me with certain people. Being open and going deep with others is so refreshing and encouraging and so important. We were made for relationships and it is so fulfilling when we are blessed with ones that help us and challenge us to be better individuals. And through our wonderful conversations I have had the unpleasant experience of having light bulbs click on in my mind of UGBs or unresolved issues that are still present in my life. Oh, the way God works.
Peace.