[another testimony]

Looking back from a conversation I had with a lovely lady called Eva, I said I won´t be able to join the tour as much as I´d love to. However, after God told me to step back and cancel the School of Worship this year (supposedly in July), doors of opportunity to move around Finland were opened. Things I´ve never imagined God would do this summer.... First, I just planned to go to Ruurikkala to rest for a few days before seeing my friend in Oulu. So when the base leader of YWAM Ruurikkala called me that there might be a limited space coz they´re having a full house that weekend; also the BURN tour was coming, which I was not aware of. Anyhow, I asked God if I was to join the tour and when I finally talked to Tiffany, who was leading the tour, she mentioned that there´s plenty of space in the cars. Later that day, I really felt at peace and knew that there´s something He wanted to show me in the tour. I also realised that they had the same route as I had in mind - from ruurikkala to Oulu then down South!

 

Someone from the team encouraged me by saying "this is your school of worship, and we are the students". I think I´d rather say, God has put me on my own school of worship where the Holy Spirit is my teacher. I have learned so much from these wonderful, passionate worshipers and lovers of Jesus. I was reminded that to hold back and to not release what God has for His people is stealing the blessings from others. I remember one situation in Oulu, where I felt so strongly that God wanted me to do a joik. I argued with God that I don´t know how. And I heard Him say in my heart,"nevermind child, just open your mouth and I will let the sound out." However that sounds like, I said YES. When the time came for me to do it, I felt something was released. I belive I heard the sound God wants to release in this country. Then one of our team stood up to ask forgiveness on behalf of what happened in the past, where doing a joik was considered unacceptable in the worship service. After this, people were encouraged to bring their praises through joik. It was powerful! We all felt there was a breakthrough. And that´s when healing after healing happened; people were asking for prayers, the Holy Spirit moved among us.

 

Just before the tour was over, it dawned on me the significance of doing the joik - I realised that after this trip, I´d be off with a friend to Lapland for a worship and prayer drive. I felt God prepared me for Lapland.

 

I believe each one of us were changed during the trip. Personally, God deepened and widened my heart for His people in this land. I know that there will be more schools of worship I will be leading or serving with, but this is incomparable. He does makes things beautiful in His time and every single thing He does is unique.

- Mary

[Testimony]

I think that one of my favourite times of prayer on the tour happened at the YWAM base in Ruurikkala, long after the meeting had ended. We'd already seen in the meeting God do some awesome things: first releasing the Finnish men in the room to worship in this strong movement/dance which truly felt strong and warlike to me, and then also bringing the men and women together again in worship in a beautiful prophetic dance. There was more He did in that meeting, and we prayed with a number of people afterwards, listening to God for them and sharing with them what we heard. After all this had happened, the girls on the team went to where they were sleeping, and the boys headed to the kitchen for a snack before bed. It was getting late and we were all pretty wiped after a few hours of travel and a meeting where the Holy Spirit was doing a lot of unexpected and powerful things. There were others from the base in the kitchen hanging out, talking about the Holy Spirit, spiritual warfare and spiritual gifts with a young Catholic girl, which seemed to me to be the kind of conversation I'd really enjoy being a part of. So somehow I managed to find a way of subtly joining in.

The rest of the BURN Tour boys went to bed, but I'd already figured out that God wanted me to pray with her to receive the Holy Spirit, so I stayed behind with the YWAMers in this massive kitchen full of stainless steel worktops until we had an opportunity to offer it. While we were praying, I felt the Spirit was saying He wanted to give her the gift of tongues. This both delighted me and freaked me out all at the same time - what if we shared that with her and she ended up disappointed? But at the same time, I was convinced it was the Holy Spirit and was aware of His genius at work. She had been asking us how could she really know the presence of the Holy Spirit was in her life, and we spent some time encouraging her and explaining how we can know Him. I know speaking in tongues is a sensitive subject for some, and He doesn't give that gift to everyone. However, for those that the Spirit has given that gift to, it can perhaps be a visible way in which we know His presence dwelling within us - we can't operate in any gift from the Holy Spirit without the Holy Spirit living in us. Anyway, I figured I needed to step out and trust what the Holy Spirit was telling me. When I shared it with the others praying, it turned out they heard the same thing from the Spirit too. Well, that clinched it.

We prayed for her to receive that gift, and then I encouraged her to try and copy me speaking in tongues. After a minute I stopped speaking and she carried on, in a completely different tongue to the one I'd been speaking in. She was so surprised and happy! She couldn't believe that God would want to bless her with a gift like that, one that she could be certain meant the Holy Spirit was living inside her, and yet that was exactly what He'd done. I was so glad I'd stuck around in that really functional looking kitchen with complete strangers to pray for this girl. I went to bed very late, but praising God!

Ben

[Looking back]

Looking back at the 9 days of the tour, I'm pretty amazed at what happened. Before getting on to any of the ministry we did, the team itself, which grew to about 22 people during the trip, was such a living representation of God's family. There was such care, love, forgiveness and unity among the group which had a wide range of ages, personalities and giftings, and God seemed to have placed each person in the right role for them. I believe that this atmosphere of joy, love, freedom and family that we carried as a group had an impact on the places we visited.

The meetings that we held in each place were marked by these things as well. There were people who led worship and did teaching, but beyond that in each meeting different members of the team would step forward with what they sensed God wanted to do. There was such an ebb and flow about team - people could freely move from playing music to prayer ministry to releasing prophetic words.

Personally, the chance to travel around Finland, worshiping God and interceding for the nation, with a family of people with the same heart was simply amazing. This stuff is a big part of what I was made to do. Of course there were challenges involved, and it was also a learning experience. I feel like I'm gonna be involved with these sorts of tours more in the future, so this was an invaluable experience, being surrounded by people who I could learn so much from.

It was also such a privilege to see more of what God is doing in Finland, and I really feel there is so much more to come. Throughout the tour we saw that God is releasing joy, freedom and healing to Finland, restoring men to their place and uniting men and women, and restoring families and the Church as His family. We were able to glimpse something of this, and we look forward with expectancy to what is to come.

- John

God has been doing deep things!

God has been doing deep things! Not just in our hearts, but to everyone who we have met along the journey across Finland. It has been a deeply humbling experience...

The reason I have entitled this update 'Breakthroughs and Births' is because these two words have been almost like the theme of the experiences that took place in various towns and cities around Finland. For me, the most incredible time was the first night in the Oulu Mission church! Following on from a dream I had over a month ago and then to see that dream become real during the course of the tour was so surreal! The word 'läpimurto' meaning breakthrough came into my mind while I was praying for one young lady in our group. For her it was a direct word from God, even though I wasn't quite sure what it meant. The first night in Oulu was evidence of that as this same young lady experienced something that she will probably never forget! We also saw, as a group, births, not just in the natural but also in the spiritual! During our time in Tampere, I was staying with a couple and their 2 children. These guys had been friends of mine during my time in Kotka. The mother was expecting any day and after the meeting in their city, she gave birth just a few hours later! The great thing was that we were able to see the new born baby when we were in Renko!

Every night that the Burn group led worship was different. The group of guys from various places and countries were just awesome. There was such a unity among the group due to having prayer partners and group prayers every morning at breakfast and before going to bed. Of course there was opposition, but what I felt we did during those 6 days made a HUGE difference to the spritial condition of the nation of Finland! Words truly fail me at how God had used us, especially in Oulu. So many things happened that I feel it will take me several days to process and ponder at what the Lord had done in and through us. May His name be forever glorified in this nation! Kiitos Herralle!

- Sean

Joy in the Family

After all that God did amongst us and through us in Oulu, and an epic all day car journey the day before, it would have been easy for us to have rested and just coasted along in Renko and the meeting there. But that would have been holding back, and we felt as a team that we needed to remain focused on Jesus and all that He wanted to do. When we gathered together we sensed that the Spirit was leading us to celebrate and declare out over Renko, the church there and Finland His abundant life and fruitfulness. In the context of the tour so far, we had no idea the Spirit would lead us like that, but it made so much sense and was so obvious once He revealed it to us. This week we've seen Jesus restore men and release them into a free and joyful expression of their masculinity in dance, and then we've seen Him restore relationships between men and women, which we've seen is also prophetic of His relationship with His Bride here in Finland. So of course it made sense when He began to show us that He wanted us to celebrate His life and speak it out over Finland, especially when there were so many families in the meeting, with very young children present too. It was also Hannah's 10th birthday while we were there. We couldn't have planned it that way at all. Jesus is so clever!

As we worshipped, joyful sounds of adoption were released, songs that reminded us and everyone present that we are sons and daughters of the Father. This seemed so appropriate after He was restoring men and women and covenant relationships, to then restore family. We may only be going to a few places on this tour, and yet He is doing some big time prophetic things in a such short period of time every place we go to. After we worshipped we had fellowship together with the families and church at Renko before moving into some prayer ministry where God brought more freedom and joy. Later before hitting the road back to Helsinki we stopped at a friend's house to bless them and their family. The joy that was released there during that time together with them was so full and abundant! Yet again we're discovering how determined the Lord is to release people into more and more freedom and joy, and that no situation is too big or too deeply rooted to be transformed for His glory.

- Ben

More from Burn: Oulu

Valmistauduimme Oulun tapaamisiin huolella, sillä tiesimme vierailun tärkeäksi. Meidän otettiin Linnakodilla todella lämpimästi vastaan ja kuulimme miten Jumala on synnyttänyt sen paikan Jes 58 oikeudenmukaisuuden kutsun innoittamana. Ensimmäisenä iltana muutama kymmenen oululaista ja muutama kauempaakin kokoontui Lähetysseurakuntaan ylistämään. Tiffany opetti Daavidin ilmestysmajasta ja miten Jumala haluaa ennalleen asettaa läheisyyden Hänen kanssaan jatkuvan ylistämisen kautta. Opetuksen jälkeen jatkoimme ylistystä - ihana laulu nousi, jossa Kristus kutsui morsiantaan Oulussa nousemaan. Laulun jälkeen Pyhä Henki ohjasi kutsumaan kadonneet miehet, sekä pojat ja tyttäret takaisin kotiin. Seuraavana iltana Tiffany opetti siitä, miten ylistys muuttaa ilmapiirin. Pyhä Henki rohkaisi uskomaan siihen, että missä pimeys on suuri, Jumalan kirkkaus voi tulla suureksi - missä synti on suureksi tullut, siina armo on tullut ylenpalttiseksi (Room 5:20). Loppuillan rukoilimme paikalla olijoiden puolesta laulun ja tanssin jatkuessa myöhään iltaan. Päällimäiseksi jäi ilo ja kiitollisuus siitä, mitä Jumala on Oulussa tekemässä, tapasimme mahtavia ihmisiä ja jano jumalan puoleen oli monilla suuri. Rukouksemme on, että paikalliset uskovat voisivat jatkaa Jumalan läsnäoloon hakeutumista ja Hänen kasvojensa etsimistä.

Healings in Oulu - 28th July

So much happened over the two nights spent in Oulu, so I will just focus on one of the main highlights for me - Mark

On the 2^nd night of meetings in Oulu - I had a real expectation for healings to be released after seeing a guy's leg grow out a couple of days earlier. There was definitely an expectation and a release of faith following that in the team. When the time came for prayer ministry that night, we prayed for a lady who had broken her finger earlier in the summer and it hadn't been reset into place properly and she was unable to bend it. God completely healed it, this definitely released something in the Spirit and we saw more healings after that:

• A women's leg grew out

• Fibromyalgia – pain left

• Glaucoma – restored clarity & brightness in her eyes

• Shoulder pain - totally healed

  God is releasing supernatural power in Finland where there has been so much religion and knowledge to show people His love and that He is real!