Latvia

Last days in Latvia were so peaceful and awesome. We had so restful days in Kuldiga in a real summer cottage (there was uusia perunoita and sauna!) and in Riga near by sea. The best thing was to see new people again, experience hospitality, share stories, see small piece of Kingdom.

We really enjoyed!

We arrived to Finland yesterday evening. Tired but happy. Waiting for new adventures!

tunnelmia Suomesta

Tiedättekö,

kokonaisuuksia näkee paremmin vasta pidemmän matkan päästä.
Katson valokuvia reissusta enkä voi uskoa, että vasta äsken olimme reissussa.

Eilen illalla kävelin Alepaan Helsingin valoisassa illassa ja tajusin olevani todellakin onnellinen.

Vaikka pelkäisi, on otettava riskejä.

Vain silloin voi todella olla onnellinen.

Tänään tulin bussilla Jyväskylään ja ajattelin matkaa. En vielä hahmota kokonaisuutta, reissun merkitystä ja todellista syvyyttä mutta vasta tänään jossain todella syvällä sisimmässä tajusin, ei tämä ollut tarkoituksetonta mun elämäni osalta. Tämä oli äärimmäisen merkityksellistä, en vain vielä ymmärrä miten.

Ja tänäänkin olen onnellinen.

heart breaking

This whole story with nations, people, languages, smiles, tears, sorrows, joy, stories, laughter, shabba, hugs, longing for the spring, travelling in the van, seeing places, mountains, kids, food, petrol stations, need of a toilet, supermarkets, running in the rain, singing, loving, praying...

In a really really good way it is heart breaking. I love Europe.

And kaunis Kaunas. You made my day, once again.

we are back in lithuania!

so, plans change at times!

and thats exciting.

its been nice to be on the road.

we stayed one night in bialystok, poland.

there we got help from the sweet mateus,

and slept at the floor of their church.

after seeing how their church works

with the kids of the town

we packed ourselves to the van,

and drove towards lithuania.

its so sweet to be back in kaunas.

we were lucky to have room in our

favourite hostel, R hostel.

we had good meal, rest,

songs, laughs. life is good.

on the road number 50.

I love sitting curled up at the back seat.
hear the rain hitting the roof of the van.
coldplay singing
and guys at the front
joking, laughing, sharing thoughts.

there were a lot of trucks on this road.
and then we saw the girls in their short skirts along the way.

we prayed,
and hoped we could do so much more.
but in the middle of all the heaviness of that reality,
my heart felt lighter at the thought, that these
lives and names are known by the creator of all.

sekalaisia ajatelmia

Ollaan tanaan ajettu Krakovasta Bialystokiin. Halki Puolan eika juuri eksyty. Voitteko uskoa, ehkapa. Kuljettiin tieta jota varmaan suurin osa venalaisista rekoista kulkee.

Taalla on kylma.

Eric opetti tanaan rahatempun. Taa reissu on uusien kykyjen loytamista, niinkuin Juliakin oppi soittamaan ksylofonia, Vilja sanoi.

John soittaa uutta soitintaan.

Tytot miettii, kuinka nukutaan kun patjojen maara on rajallinen.

Meidan puolalainen opas jutustelee mukavia.


Tekisi mieli jo tehda lista top asioista. Mutta viela on matkaa jaljella, monta paivaa.

Mutta luulen, etta monet parhaista asioista liittyvat mun kohdalla Balkaniin. Siella olen yleensa jotenkin kaikkein onnellisin. Se on jannittavaa kun tietaa vain olevansa kotonaan jossain.

Eras ystava kysyi minulta Makedoniassa, milloin olen muuttamassa sinne. Se tavallaan sarki sydanta kun ei oikeasti tieda. Joskus oikeisiin aikatauluihin luottaminen on vaikeaa. Siihen, etta Jumala hallitsee. Etta Jumala tietaa kaiken ja hanella on langat kasissaan. Se on myos syy, miksi tuntuu vaikealta palata Suomeen koska ei ole varsinaisesti mitaan erityista odottamassa siella.

Plans changed

We are in Bialystok now. And we are already tomorrow continuing to Lithuania.

And,

interesting change to our plans. We are not going to Riga, we are going to Kaunas again!!!

We just had this idea when we arrived to Bialystok and we prayed that and got really excited. So, back to Lithuania. (to same hostel where we stayed last time, Julia ja Anna olisittepa mukana viela!)

This is so interesting.... :)

te dua kosova

on a playground in priština it goes like this:

heeey

hello

hello

hello

...john and vilja going to play on a ropething

one child, two children, three, four, five... the whole playground meeting at the ropes

the children talk to us in shqip, we don't understand, then they start with some english sentences, so we give it a try.

hey, whats your name?

medina

whats your name?

i'm vilja and whats your name?

argenta

erina

besjana

zili

hamde

ryad

altin

taulat

jon

melos

and whats your name?

john

o john... john is beautiful...:)

we have a fun time, playing and chasing and taking pictures

it gets dark, but they don't want to go home now

there is so much joy and laughter and light in their eyes

then we finally say goodbye, love you, te dua, give many hugs

they slowly walk off, looking back and we return to our hostel

a highlight of the trip

poland again.

we drove from slovakia to krakow today,
left the swiss girls in bratislava.
so now its only a crew of five.

with brilliant directions we made it to
the wallets place,
visited krakow and ate ice cream.

moments in the garden were like
refreshment to the soul,
and tomorrow we continue early in
the morning towards bialystok.

its really warm here,
and just read that its only
plus 14 in finland.
Im thinking about staying here.

the one who is.

the ability to be present is a great gift.
we got to ohrid, where the air was so blue,
you almost couldnt see the mountains of albania.

I got burned by the sun,
saw fireflies and dear, dear friends.
its not the country, its the people, one dear friend
said once, and how true it is.

we prayed, laughed and ate.
basked in the truth that God is good.

after precious time in macedonia,
our van continued its journey with two
new passengers. julia and anna flew to finland,
and regula and lea joined us.

for the last two days we have enjoyed the amazingly
beautiful views of kosovo. driving through a national
park and the mountains would have been perfect,
but the creepy sound from our brakes ate a bit of
the amazement.

-God was on you side,
said the guy at the garage,
showing us our brake pad.
there was none left.
we got it fixed, and were happy to continue our way.

being in kosovo has stirred our hearts in many ways,
and left a defenite yearning to be back in this torn,
beautiful, hope thirsting country.
tomorrow is time to hed to serbia via montenegro.

kommunikoinnin monipuolisuus

Meilla on ollut mahtavia keskusteluja eri kielilla,

foodlanguage on yks parhaista,

tanssi ja musiikki kay sydameen,

eilen piirreltiin kerjalaistytolle kuvia servettiin ja han otti sen onnellisena vastaan,

hymyt, halaukset ja kiitos-sanan osaaminen vie pitkalle,

seka ihmeelliset saksan alkeet ja makedonian yliluonnollinen ymmartaminen.

Nautin sellaisista hetkista kun ymmartaa ja tulee ymmarretyksi.

Oh Macedonia

This has been just truly amazing.

Mountains, lakes, rivers, clouds, ice cream, people, new places...

I lost peace of my heart for Shutka kids. In Ohrid, it was so beautiful. My heart is almost empty because it's so full.

The Balkan gathering was good. It was about being sons and daughters. Love His heart to be Father.

Yesterday we were driving up and down in a roud to Kosovo. Our breaks were a bit in a bad condition... But God really protected us! No they are fixed (just for the information for all moms :))

Goodness is good.

Home

I woke up about 37 hours ago in Ohrid. After that I´ve not really slept (except about 15-20 minutes at a time). Now I´m sitting in my kitchen in Espoo and missing Macedonia.

So as you can guess, we found our way back home. When there was no place in night buses, we went to Shanti hostel to use internet and there we saw that there was a flight going from Skopje to Belgrad at 6 in the morning. We still tried to get to buses at 23.30 and 2. When there was no space, a friendly man who is working in bus station said that we could sleep there on the benches. We tried and slept maybe 20 minutes.

At 4 we took a taxi to the airport (the friendly worker helped us to find one) and when they started to sell tickets at 5 we were almost first in the line and got tickets. Well, it was more expensive than the bus tickets but cheaper than to buy new flight to Finland.

And now I´m home. It feels strange. In Alepa I almost said zdravo and fala until I remembered it´s moi and kiitos in Finnish.

During these two weeks I have been in places I´ve never been before, met people I´ve never met before and experienced things I´ve never experienced before. And still I´ve felt like being home. Because I think home is not just a place where you live. It´s something more. It´s the feeling that you belong to somewhere, the feeling that you are loved. And that´s how I´ve felt.

Ohridin aamua

Ohridissa on kaunista! Vuoret ja jarvi. Todella kaunista.

On ollut hyvaa aikaa taalla. Ihana nahda ystavia ja tutustua uusiin ihmisiin. Makedonialaiset erityisesti, heilta oon taas oppinut viime paivina niin paljon. Ja onhan taalla vaan niin kotoisaa.

Anna ja Julia lahtivat eilen, niinkuin jo tiedattekin. Se tuntuu oudolta, aivan kuin matka alkaisi uudelleen. Mielenkiintoista kuulla loppuosa tuosta seikkailusta viela jossain vaiheessa...

On vaikka minkalaisia ajatuksia paassa mutta vaikeaa viela saada niita ylos. Ehka myohemmin paremmin.

Julia's and Anna's adventure after Ohrid

We had two wonderful, wonderful days in Ohrid. Thank you everyone!

But now we have a problem: how to get home? We are writing this in Shanti Hostel in Skopje and we were supposed to go to Belgrad by bus. Unfortunately all night buses are full and our flight is leaving at 13.30 tomorrow.

So this is our plan:

a) Go to the bus station at 2 o'clock and pray that someone has canceled their trip and we can get two places in the bus.
b) If there is no place, to go to the airport and fly from Skopje to Belgrad at 6 o'clock (if we still can have tickets)
c) Take a taxi from Skopje to Belgrad (400 euros)
c) Book new flights from somewhere to Helsinki
d) Go to sleep????

So pray, friends, pray. We really need it now :)

PS. Aidit, jos luette tata, ei tarvi huolestua. Skopjessa on ihan turvallista. Nahdaan pian Suomessa!

today I saw the kingdom come in smiles.

days in skopje have been hard.
but amazing.
something in this country stirs my heart.
yes, I guess it is so,
best things in life dont come always easy.

Ive enjoyed it, all.
the heat,
rain, and thunder.
getting soaked.
the irritations inside of me,
and the happiness that I cant contain.

coffee by the river,
dear friends,
flowers raining on me,
feeling at home.

and today, in shutka.
joy, hope. smiles.
I saw the kingdom.
in the eyes of the child swinging,

felt so much hope, peace and joy,
and also helpless thoughts.
came once again to the reality of it,
that at times
prayer is everything I have.

and walking back to the hostel,
with the man I love besides me
carrying a grill on his shoulder,
friends dancing, playing and singing,
happiness in their hearts,
not minding the dirt on the road,
I felt really really happy and at place.

On toivoa.

On ehka hieman vaikea saada ajatuksia ylos,
on tapahtunut taas niin paljon muutamassa paivassa.

On ihana olla Skopjessa,
nahda tuttuja paikkoja,
rakkaita ihmisia,
tuntea olevansa kotonaan.

Nauttia romanilasten naurusta
ja olla kielitaidotonmutta kommunikoida silti,
enemman kuin voisi kuvitella.
On toivoa.

Huomenna Ohdidiin. Ihanaa!

a lovely day in Skopje

Today I got to visit Šutka, an area in Skopje which has a large community of Roma people. We spent the morning at a pre-school group run by some local Christians, which was great. Then in the evening we had a grill with the kids and their parents. We spent lots of time playing with the kids, it was pretty amazing. The kids were so adorable, and it was so much fun just to hang out with them.

Also in the afternoon we had ice cream in the rain, skipped through torrential rain, and sorta got lost in the old section of the city.

It was an amazing day.

John

Mahtavaa

We are in Skopje!!!

about being loved

We were driving trough Poland,Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia... It was tough to visit Auschwitz, huh. Later crying in the garden of loveliest hungarian people. But only answer I got was "I was crying". He was crying. What else can be as amazing than God's heart.

Today it was soft. Driving and loving the view.

I feel so loved.

did you know

that there are beautiful castles in czech,

that hungarian ladies can smile and cry at the same time,

that pedestrian streets echo beautifully when playing the guitar,

that the speeding ticket in slovakia is 20 euros,

that getting lost is tiring, exciting and shows you a lot about yourself and others,

that laughing is such a good thing,

that no one should be seen as a lost soul,

that God is God even in the middle of the greatest sufferings,

that poland has zillions of different kinds of sausages,

that we are going to macedonia tomorrow.

Finally in Sosnowiec

Yesterday was a long day. We woke up at 5.15 Lithuanian time and left at 6.30 to Poland. At 23.30 Poland's time we finally got to our destination - Sosnowiec - after x times of getting lost. On top of that our tyre burst. Fortunately we had an extra tyre with us. And fortunately we had good company and a good time in the van (which we call Toivo, Hope), because 18 hours in a van is a long time (okey, we had stops of course). And luckily the weather changed and it was very cool in the van.

Now we are staying at Marta's home. She's a friend of Laura and Vilja. Today Marta took us to sail on a lake. We also grilled at the Yacht club and the food was delicious! Now the weather is cold (Anna: cool, Julia: freezing) and we're looking forward to getting to the heat of Macedonia. :)

Anna and Julia

The Gang.

"In Lithuania"

Today was a good day, hanging out worshiping in a park and also the centre of Kaunas. We got to meet various people and pray for some. The story in the previous post was a pretty great experience - i formed the chords while Tomas strummed the guitar and sang, it was a beautiful moment.

This evening we were hanging out in the centre of the city, playing guitar, eating, and meeting some locals. We also came up with a spontaneous song, in which every line finished with the words "In Lithuania" - it was pretty great.

John

I love cities with rivers

morning sun is so warm here.
we climbed the hill,
up to a park.

a guitar, beautiful trees,
and under them we sang.
how he loves us.

tomas stopped,
the music drew him in,
a blind boy with a worried mum.

our prayers got tears in her eyes,
and clapping with the music smile on her lips.
and tomas,
he sang.
he played the guitar,
and he sang.

we prayed, open the eyes of his heart,
and open his eyes to see.

Taman paivan 5 parasta asiaa

1. We are still alive
Meilla oli aika pelottava hetki matkalla Latviasta Liettuaan, kun bussi lahti ohittamaan rekkaa eika huomannut meita. En olisi ikina uskonut, etta tavalliselle tielle mahtuu rinnakkain bussi, rekka ja pakettiauto. Thank you Jesus and thank you Eric (for driving so well)!

2. All the friends in our van
On ollut mahtavaa tutustua muihin matkalla oleviin, koska joitain heista en tuntenut juuri yhtaan ennen lahtoa. Porukka on kuitenkin tosi hyva ja toimiva ja olen iloinen, etta saan olla taalla juuri naiden ihmisten kanssa. <3

3. A swing and a restaurant
Pysahdyttiin Latviassa tankkaamaan autoa ja luultiin jo, etta joudutaan syomaan Hesburgerissa (joita on muuten nakynyt joka maassa), mutta toiselta puolelta tieta loytyikin tosi kiva pieni ravintola, josta sai hyvaa ruokaa ja jonka pihalla oli lasten leikkikentta. Parhaat laitteet oli iso keinu, johon mahtuu kaksi kerrallaan, ja trampoliini.

4. The beautiful city of Kaunas
Tultiin tanaan Liettuan Kaunasiin, joka on lammin ja kaunis kaupunki. Saadaan olla taalla viela kaksi yota ja yksi kokonainen paiva. Myos hostelli on tosi kotoisa.

5. John s crazy instruments
Mun lemppari on mehupilli, joka kuulostaa valaalta.

Kaunis Kaunas

Paiva autossa. Loistavassa seurassa. Pitka ruokatauko jossain keskella Latviaa. Nyt Kaunasissa.

Kaunas nayttaa kauniilta kaupungilta. Huomenna on mahdollisuuksia nahda enemman.

Rakastan matkustelua. Se innostaa mua niin paljon. Uudet maat, kartat, seura, uudet ihmiset ja vanhat ystavat, ihanat maisemat, hostellit.

Rakastan tarinoita.

Ihanaa kun niita syntyy matkoilla, aivan yllattavasti, mielenkiintoisia ja erilaisia.

Tanaan mietin sitakin, miten mahtavaa on, kuinkameidan seitseman elamatkin ovat kietoutuneet yhteen vuosien varrella ja lopulta nyt taalla. Taa on vaan niiiin siistia.

top 3 of the day

1. Prayer walk at Annelinn area

2. Running by the river in the morning

3. Julia, who learned how to play `My heart will go on` on a xylophone

Armastan seda elu siin Eestis!

John's thoughts on Tartu

It's been really cool being in Tartu, it's my first visit to Estonia. It's been really cool to meet new people and see Dan again (who lives here, and was in Lapland with some of us in February).

Last night we spent time worshiping and praying together with some locals, which was great, and tonight we're gonna be doing the same sorta thing. It's so great to be able to pray for different people, places and nations, and such a privilege that we'll get to do this in many different places in Eastern Europe.

I'm really happy cos the place we're staying has plenty of instruments - piano, glockenspiel, xylophone, and loads of percussion instruments. I also brought my guitar, ukulele, melodica and tin whistle with me, so the trip is gonna involve lots of music, yay!

John

the van has started.

so, we have arrived to Tartu, Estonia,

and enjoying it.

early sunday morning we packed the van with ourselves,

and heded to the harbor of Helsinki. And also managed to

get lost in the harbor area, finding the check-in was

surprisingly challenging :)

The boat trip we just chilled, prayed, and listed

the states of America. (we have two missing though)

The drive to Tartu from Tallinn was about three hours,

and during that time we already got the van looking

like we had been living in it for weeks! The journeying

was easy and nice, the sun was shining and the storks

had their homes in the chimneys of Estonian houses.

In Tartu we are staying in a house owned by the lutheran

church, and have a really nice place for us here.

Miika, a finnish friend living in Tartu helped us out

to find the place. In Tartu we also met up with Dan,

a british friend, living here now.

Sunday evening we gathered together with some estonians

to pray and worship, and had a really nice time getting to know them

and praying for them.

Today, monday we have been chilling out together,

went to eat in the city centre, and visited Dans churches office

and took a stroll in Annelinn, an area in Tartu, where there is along row

of soviet time apartment blocks.

Feels really good to be on the road with this bunch of people.

Tomorrow we will have our first serious driving day, seven

hours from Tartu to Kaunas, Lithuania.

three days to go

so friends,

this is the plan.
seven people and a van, heding to the beautiful town of Ohrid in Macedonia. We are going to journey there to be a part of the legendary 24/7-prayer balkan gathering.

our loyal van (a former police car, by the way)
will start on sunday, as we take a boat to Estonia.

The travel plan looks something like this,
5-7th of june to stay in Estonia, Tartu

7-9th of june staying in Liethuania, Kaunas

9-10th of june staying in Poland, Sosnowiech

10-12th of june staying in Hungary, Budapest

and we plan to arrive to Macedonia, Skopje on the 13th.

there we will visit the preschool in the romani area,
and just hang out with dear macedonian friends.

When possible we will update our adventures on this
blog, keep an eye on it! and keep us in your prayers.