Celebrations at VICF Church

Kimmo Sarajärvi shares:
For the past half-year, I have become acquainted with GNN’s ministry. It has been great to see how diverse the work is. A part of this is the domestic mission, Vantaa International Christian Fellowhsip.
The congregation celebrated its 15th year of ministry on Sunday 14.1.24. People from ‘every nation’ gathered together. People also sat in the balcony as the lower level promisingly filled up.
We also had Honorary guests who have been helping in this ministry over the years. The music-oriented program was uplifting and Pr. Reijo Blommendahl prompted the audience to sing along ’How Great Thou Art’ in multiple languages. Pr. Tony Ibarra from the Philippines who has served in Frankfurt for 40 years, shared a touching message of God’s grace. The message concluded with an altar call. Tony shared with me about receiving a new vision of grace a year ago after being bedridden for a week in the hospital.

The celebration finished downstairs with a tasty meal of international flavours. A Filipino kitchen team had prepared it with care. The crowd enjoyed themselves.
It’s a joy and an honour to serve the Lord alongside other internationals. Yet again, a big congratulations to the congregation of VICF on its anniversary!

Upcoming Program

Throughout the year, we plan to visit churches to share about the unreached peoples ministry. In March 2024, at VICF’s Easter Encounter, we will host our partners from Uganda’s radio ministry, Bp.  John Magaba along with his wife Nasta and their evangelist son, Jordan. 

At the end of May, the 39th annual course will graduate from the Bible school in Sumatra. Tens of graduating students will be sent out to new, unevangelised areas and tribes again. There are signs in Southeast Asia of national workers awakening to reach out to their own people groups. We plan a three-nation mission trip for October. This is an important area for prayer!

Indonesia pioneer ministry support reference: 3117
Southeast Asia’s unreached ministry: 3010

Changes in Finland

GNN Finland org. had its 15th anniversary in June 2023. When beginning this mission association, we could not imagine how extensively the work would be blessed. Without supporters and intercessors, this would not have been possible. Vantaa International Christian Fellowship (VICF) is our  domestic mission. Last year, two teaching series were arranged: 40 Days of Purpose in the first part of the year and the Alpha course in the second half. Encouraging teaching is always a necessity.

During Pr. Jonathan Lemmetti’s family’s farewell to  Australia, we blessed Pr. Edsel Klit (from the Philippines) on 4th of June 23 service as the new Associate Pastor. In Australia, Jonathan is promoting the GNN vision and joins GNN mission trips from there.

The very following week we met Pr. Kimmo Sarajärvi  who had just arrived with his family after 12 years of missions in Costa Rica. He became our new CEO after Jonathan. Thanks to Kimmo, our newsletter is also published in Swedish.

Overview of the Missions Carried Out Last Year

UGANDA
Along with Pr. Aki Miettinen, at the ’Joint Forces’ event, we held seminars  for the Christian army and police officers in the outskirts of Kampala. Many of them had been in peacekeeping forces in Somalia and Western Africa. During free time, they shared the Gospel with unreached Muslim villages nearby.

From Kampala, we headed towards western Uganda. There, in Mubende, we shared the Gospel in numerous radio broadcasts. Bp. John Magaba hosts these programs in the early morning hours. The programs even reach neighbouring countries and people get saved weekly. Also, we gave training to one Somali convert who came from Nairobi. Muslims are tracking her because of her faith. Before the Sunday services and our departure to Tanzania, we held a seminar for 50 pastors about UPG (unreached people groups).

TANZANIA
Thirty-five pastors who participated in our Sending Seminar in Dar-es-Salaam were interested in ’How to  Get Started with Missions?’. The host of the seminar,  Pastor Temba, began to expand his ministry into new  areas shortly afterwards. He also became part of the GNN -team which arranges children’s ministry training for the remaining national regions.

Last year, this team trained 583 participants in 6 regions. In three years, we have trained 1860 Sunday school teachers, pastors and bishops throughout 18 of the nation’s 31 administrative regions. The video teaching series (in Swahili) being used
comprises two 8-part lectures.

Note! We were forced to postpone these important seminars for this year to the remaining 13 regions. Contributions towards these efforts have been minimal. Yet, Children are the largest unreached people group in the world and children’s ministry has mostly been a key to reach families and new tribes.

African pioneer ministry support reference is 3560

SOUTHEAST ASIA

During the graduation ceremony of the Bible school in Sumatra at the end of May, 37 pioneers were sent to new areas and 9 of them to unreached people groups. God has surprisingly opened up new doors in Southeast Asia. During the latter part of the year, we began to put our focus more on those nations.

Last September/October we headed to Vietnam, the Bible school in Indonesia and East Malaysia in Borneo with a week of teaching in each place. Our Asian coordinator, Pr. Shierley Siwi, superbly arranged the teaching programs. Throughout our training, we strived to awaken the national workers to reach out to their own nation’s people groups. Even the shortfall in the budget was taken care of, confirming we were doing the right thing! God is never late!

At the end of the year, we also received donations for the purchase of 2 boats, it’s the only way to travel up the turbulent jungle river to a new tribe in the interior of Sumatra. The other boat is of aid to the work amongst the Akid tribe in the archipelago near Sumatra.

Christmas Greetings 2023

Dear friend and intercessor,

We are approaching Christmas time with gratitude!  We will share about our recent mission trip to three different nations in Southeast Asia. This was to have been done in 2019 but the pandemic prevented the trip. Now 4 years later, in the Autumn of 2023, the journey was finally made.

The backstory for this trip was a vision I had received decades ago for national workers to takeownership of shining the light into the darkness of the yet unreached people groups in their area. Only then can we fulfil the Great Commission. There are still 684 unreached people groups in Southeast Asia.

– Arto Sädeaho –

God’s Timetables are Reliable

Based on previous experiences, we knew that the fulfilment of this mission was not self-evident. Our trips have often been hindered at the last minute by various obstacles, illnesses, and even accidents. That’s why I appealed in the autumn letter for your prayers.

Thanks to all who remembered our journey in prayers and giving!

This time, the biggest challenge was the travel budget. Even on the threshold of our departure, it felt like it was still hanging by a loose thread.

GNN is a faith-based mission association that operates in trusting that God stirs up the desire and action within donors’ hearts to give. Even small gifts are important to see the task fulfilled. May the Lord bless faithful supporters!

Despite being short of over half of the travel budget, we decided to go ahead by faith. I trusted that “help comes from above” and so it did!

When the first training week in Saigon (HCM), Vietnam had already commenced, Orvokki sent a message on the 19.9, that a larger sum had been gifted into the account. It was encouraging to see the travel budget being covered over halfway now! During the following week in Indonesia, I received a message while at the Bible school in Sumatra, that on the 4.10, we had received another big donation. The budget began to come together promisingly!

And then during the last part of the third seminar week in Borneo, East Malaysia, we received a final gift from Australia. The remainder of the budget was complete.

Thanks to God who does not allow our feet to stumble! Although the answer may sometimes be delayed, in God’s Kingdom it is never late.

My new co-worker Kimmo Sarajärvi noted that giving is a part of spiritual warfare. Although the lack of funds may limit the fulfilment of our calling, it strangely invigorates the prayer life.

Would you like to be part of expanding the most important calling in the world – to reach the unreached? Donate by using the reference 3010 (greatest need).

Promising News from the Autumn Mission to Southeast Asia

VIETNAM

Pr. Kimmo Sarajärvi, our new CEO, shares

We were expecting pastors and evangelists to the training week in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), but a group of about 40 people, mostly young evangelists, were waiting there. Many of them seemed to be still searching for their calling. Thus, it was a suitable place where we were free to encourage the participants to reach out to the unreached people groups in their country.

The teaching team was made up of Pastors Arto Sädeaho (Finland), Dr. Paul Ng (Singapore), Shierley Siwi (Indonesia) and myself. This enabled versatile contributions to the training week. It was topped off with exciting field news from pioneer ministry work that Pr. Shierley leads from the Bible school.

Our host for the week in Vietnam was the IEM-movement (International Evangelical Mission). We heard of an outpouring of the Spirit that took place in the 1980’s has resulted in the birth of more than 200 congregations throughout the country and another 50 in Cambodia. IEM’s special emphasis has been to reach Vietnam’s 54 UPG’s, of which they have already begun work in 27 of them. They are currently in a phase of training young people to go into the remaining 27 people groups. They plan to build a training centre for this purpose.

It seems as though a new opportunity is opening up for us with the need to train and inspire people to reach the unreached.

 

INDONESIA

Pr. Arto Sädeaho shares

After Vietnam, we arrived to Jakarta for the weekend where we strengthened relationships with old contacts. Pr. Aki Miettinen from Finland joined the team and Pr. Jonathan came from Australia for the remainder of the mission. Pr. Kimmo preached on Sunday morning at our friend Joni Bangun’s church. (In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, Joni and I worked together to rebuild a village for 100 families in Banda Aceh. I launched that project on behalf of the Finns, with Nordic funding.)

On Monday, we began our training week at the Bible School. Last June, 37 graduates from the previous course were sent to pioneer in 24 new areas and 9 others went to work amongst 4 different tribes. This is currently the 39th year course with 96 young people. Aki’s standard topic for the 2nd level class was spiritual leadership, whilst Kimmo and Jonathan took care of teaching the 1st level class.

With a strong friendship formed 20 years ago in YWAM, they taught the lectures with excitement which inspired the students while I was fighting against the flu. On Thursday, these 2 friends were able to visit a pioneering ministry. Having already recovered, I took care of that day’s 6 lectures in Indonesian.

Why Southeast Asia

In the August Newsletter, I shared how the Lord had spoken to me in 1984 about Southeast Asia. This is why GNN has had long-term plans focusing on the unreached people groups there. The calling has awaited its time and it does not progress with human strength!

Now, it is time!
The only way
To fulfil the vision, we must proceed with steps of faith. During our visits, we aim to ignite national spiritual leaders with prayers to evangelize their unreached people groups (ownership). Then the coming of the day of the Lord can be hastened, as Peter writes. Although only God’s Holy Spirit can make all things happen, we too have our share.
Context
Since 2007, we have cooperated to train and send pioneers to such tribes in Indonesia and its neighbouring countries. The work has already been opened among 24 tribes.

A Three-Country Tour to Southeast Asia in Autumn 2023

Next September I’ll fly to Singapore with Kimmo. There we will join Pr. Shierley Siwi, our Asia coordinator, and Dr. Paul Ng, our Mission Advisor from Singapore. Dr. Paul has organized a seminar to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. During that week, 50 representatives from the local partner’s 240 churches will participate.

The following weekend, we will be in Jakarta. Pr. Shierley has arranged for me an appointment with key leaders of the GpdI -movement.

Pr. Jonathan Lemmetti from Australia joins us in Jakarta. He still coordinates our Africa operations. Pr. Aki Miettinen flies there also from Finland. He is a GNN board member of many years and my regular partner on mission trips, Aki’s topic is Spiritual Leadership.

On Sunday, we will distribute our team to speak at several churches in Jakarta before our next day flight (Monday) to the Sumatra Bible School. That school has started the 39th annual course with two classes and approx. 120 students.

Our third mission week will take place in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, a province in East Malaysia. This time our team consists of Prs. Shierley, Kimmo, Jonathan and myself. That seminar week is expected to have 40 participants from various church backgrounds.

Dream

Southeast Asia (10 ASEAN countries) has over 700 million people residents. The numbers cover 1,748 ethnic groups, 665 of them still unreached (44% of the population).

In 1984, I was searching for direction for my life. I fasted and prayed for 10 days. At the end, Southeast Asia appeared before my soul’s eyes, shrouded in darkness. Here and there were small points of light that stood out, somewhere larger concentrations of light were visible. I understood that those who have light should take it into the middle of darkness.

Four years later I headed with my wife Orvokki to Indonesia. The relationships formed there have lasted until today. Even though that sight is sometimes forgotten during everyday life, I am reminded of it from time to time.

Before setting out for the mission field in 1988, Ps. 2:8 came to life for us,

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

We have often asked the nations according to that verse.

Ask of Me

As I recently told my wife,

Would it be possible to get a 10th from those nations?

She answered that in our partnership, Indonesian pioneers have already been sent out to among 24 such tribes. The contribution of one Bible school, no matter how significant, is still not enough!

Spiritual leaders of Southeast Asian countries should be awakened more widely to reach out for their own UPG’s. For this reason, we now expand our seminars to those countries.

GNN’s New CEO

Last Spring, after having heard of Pastor Jonathan’s migration back to Australia, many worried where we would find a suitable person to continue the work.

I told my wife Orvokki,

If this work is from God, He too is powerful in appointing the work to a suitable person.

On Sunday, 4th of June, we held a farewell party for Pr. Jonathan’s family. The following evening, when we met, he asked if I wanted to meet a missionary who had returned to Finland that very same day. It was Pr. Kimmo Sarajärvi, Jonathan’s friend from his past YWAM years. Kimmo arrived with his family to Finland after 12 years of missions in Costa Rica.

The next day, when we met in a shopping mall, it shortly unravelled in our conversation that we both share the same vision about the unreached people groups (UPG). The following meetings lead us to sign his employment contract. Kimmo Sarajärvi started in his role as CEO from the 1st of August. He will develop our operations both locally and internationally with the same vision in mind.

I will continue as the Chairman and help orientate him to GNN’s network operations and key persons involved. We also aim to develop fund-raising and awareness level of our missions.