A recent adventure in central Helsinki

A few weeks ago, I was making my way to a meeting about an upcoming trip to Macedonia. I'd just come from a prayer weekend where I'd helped lead worship. As I was walking through Sörnäinen metro station (in Helsinki), I saw a man right in front of me who was stood there asking people something. As I got closer to him I asked him to repeat what he was saying. It turned he wanted 1 euro so he could go and get some lunch. The man had a crutch in one hand and his other arm was in a sling. So I gave him 2 euros, and then asked if I could pray for him. He said it was ok, so I prayed for him. Afterwards I asked if I could go and eat lunch with him, which he again agreed to. He was going to a particular place, where people in need can get cheap meals.

So we waited for tram, and then took the tram to this place. It turned out this man had visited England years ago, and spoke fairly good English. So on the journey I asked him lots of questions and got to know him a bit. We talked about everything from places he'd been to in England, to his favourite books, to his family and even at some point about Disney films. We then got off the tram and he lead me to our destination. When I walked in the place, I was pretty shocked. There were lots of people just sitting or lying down, all of them looking completely without hope. There were some in wheelchairs, and others who clearly had mental illnesses.

So I walked into the cafeteria with my new friend and he bought food for himself and me (he insisted on spending the extra euro I'd given him on me). We sat down and continued talking while we ate. Then at some point, the man kinda just wandered off, and apparently went to the smoking room. After that I didn't see him again there.

So there I was, sat in this place not quite sure what to do next. Pretty soon I overheard some guys speaking in English, so I got up, went over to the table where they were sat and started talking to them. There was one guy from Tunisia, another guy from Bosnia and then a Finnish guy. They were very friendly, and I spent a while getting to know them a bit and hear how they'd ended up here. The guy from Bosnia had left at the end of the war there. His words stayed with me: "I came to Finland for a better life - I don't think I found it."

After a while of talking to them, I asked if I could play them some of my songs (I had my guitar with me). They agreed, although one guy was very clear that he was a Muslim and I couldn't sing songs about Jesus (I had mentioned I was a Christian). Pretty much all of my songs are about God, so I sang a couple of songs that didn't mention Jesus by name. Then I just continued playing guitar for a while, and at times just sang melodies. I could feel God's presence in that place, and the whole room was silent while I played. I could see tears in the eyes of some of the people there.

At some point soon after this I left, and said I wanted to come back and visit again. While I was there I began to dream about what the Kingdom of God would look like in that place. I could see how the community that existed there could be transformed by Jesus. The whole experience was pretty challenging, being surrounded by people with very little to live for, knowing that Jesus in me is the only thing I have to offer them.
Somehow it's already been a few weeks since I was there, and I managed to forget their names. But I'm planning on going back there tomorrow and visiting more regularly.