Finland

Ruled by Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and by Russia from 1809, Finland finally won its independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and fend off invasions by the Soviet Union and Germany. In the subsequent half century, the Finns have made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.

YWAM in FINLAND:
YWAM Finland was first started in the 1970s under the name "Lähetysnuoret". The work grew to be quite big and effective in Finland, and ministries including a rehabilitation centre and a Christian school were started which are still running today. The work stopped for a few years in the late 80's, although King's Kids (which began in the 80's) continued to run throughout
this time. The work was restarted as "Missionuoret" in 1994 by Kari and Maija Tassia.

Currently, YWAM is operating in four locations: Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu, and Rovaniemi. At the moment, Discipleship Training Schools are run once a year and seminars are held in many locations. YWAM Finland's mobile team travels around Finland inspiring youth groups. The King's Kids ministry is continuing to expand throughout the country, with around 40 different KK groups now operating in Finland.

prayer needs:
- for a base: housing is expensive so we are looking outside the city.
- for [particularly international] staff in many areas - that this would break isolation and independence in the ministry/nation.
- for the youth of Finland who are mostly unchurched and unreached.
- for more prayer and the presence of born again Christians in the area of
politics.
- for more Finns to be released into world missions.