Thursday we played in a club in Turku. The church there did an amazing job of organizing the follow-up. They had an "after concert" party on the next day and alpha course type bible studies running on a weekly basis for those who responded.
 
We had about 50 people come to the show, but it was a hard crowd. People seemed closed to the message, but we have often found in Finland that people aren't quick to respond, and often need time to warm-up to you. So we spent a good while talking on a one to one basis after the show. I spoke for a while with the club manager and sound man. They both described themselves as atheists, but as they told me about some of the dark and perverted performances they had seen in the club it became evident that our show had stood out in contrast. Both said they had felt a power in the show and in our message. I witnessed to them of how Jesus rose from the dead and how I had seen that reality in my life. The sound man ended saying that he realized there was something more out there and that he would think more about it.

On Friday, we had what I would call a breakthrough considering our experience so far in Finland. Our concert was backed and funded by the Lutheran state church, and they provided a stage on one of Helsinki's main squares. It was called 'Rutopuisto' which means 'plague square' and it used to be a graveyard! I have never seen so many crazy looking punks, metalheads, goths, etc in one square! Many of them were already drunk or high at 7pm. The pastor said to me 'this is my mission field, these are the one's we want to reach'. A couple of girls came up to me and asked if lesbians were allowed to come to our concert. I said 'of course, bring them all!' 'Cool! What about gays?' they said, 'bring them too' I answered. And from what I could tell they did!
 
As we prayed before the show I felt like God's heart was breaking for those young kids as they just waisted themselves on alcohol and drugs. As we played we drew in a crowd of about 400 people and David ended by giving a straight message inviting people to meet Jesus. For the first time, including last years tour, I felt like people really opened up to God's presence and we had lots of great conversations and prayer with people. During the show I had spotted a young punk guy and felt I needed to talk to him, so after the show I went to find him. I told him I felt God had told me to talk to him and he was amazed. 'That's crazy! I feel like God is really trying to speak to me! This keeps happening to me!' He described various situations in which either he had felt someone calling him, or someone in the street had offered to pray for him, and the reality was hitting home that God really does exist and cares about him! I prayed for him and he was overwhelmed, 'this is awesome' he said. He told me he didn't want to become some religious guy, but that he wanted to know more about Jesus. So I shared more and encouraged him to pray and read his Bible. After exchanging emails I left him to think. God moved with power in 'Plague Square'!!     

Luke's conversations after the show on Friday were just a few examples of many that took place that night. Others on the NLM team and our local church partners prayed with many people and the Holy Spirit fell strongly as many came to know Jesus. Please pray for the continued follow-up that will take place. Pray that these people will grow strongly in their faith. 

Today, we are having an evangelistic artists seminar in Helsinki. We want to challenge Christian artists to boldly share the Gospel outside of the church. I'll be sure to share about it in a subsequent post.

In the mean time, we've added a few more pictures from this year's tour to our Steiger International fan page on Facebook. Check it out: 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98243&id=16823469806&ref=mf