One man from Iraq was stunned by the descriptions he read in his Arabic translation. Markus gathered 10 to 15 men on a weekly basis to eat together, drink tea, read Bible stories and discuss what they learnt. He also started reaching out to Muslims directly, using ideas that had never worked in the UK but now clicked. In order to create bonds between churches and the country’s new arrivals, Markus began offering friendshipfirst courses to local congregations, a six-part study that helps ordinary Christians connect with Muslims. “Ok, this was the right time to come do something,” the family thought. According to Markus, the country wasn’t ready for the foreigners, and the churches were scared of the Muslims. Around 30,000 refugees arrived in Finland, a country which has a scant 5.5 million total population.
Nonetheless, the family moved back to their home country in May 2015.
Yet in Finland, where they wanted to continue their work with OM, few traces of Islam-or foreigners-existed.
The OM ministry where they had been serving in the UK provided close proximity to Muslims from many nations. When God called Markus and his family back to Finland, after four years of working among Muslims in the UK, they were not sure they had heard from God correctly.