Charity begins at home.
Finnish Evangelical Lutheran parishes have begun organising confirmation schooling for Muslim asylum seekers who want to convert to Christianity.
Although no exact figures on converts are kept, even careful estimates put the number of emigrants who have renounced Islam in favour of Christianity in recent years at several hundred, according to expert Marja-Liisa Laihia from the church's central administration.
Some twenty young Afghani men are currently enrolled in pre-confirmation teaching at the Tainionkoski parish centre in Imatra, Eastern Finland, where they have copies of the New Testament in the Dari language at their disposal. The teaching itself is in English, with a Dari interpreter on hand via Skype.
Many of the new confirmation school students cite a dissatisfaction or disillusionment with the Islamic religion as the reason behind their conversion. All are essentially in exile from their homes countries and have been through a harrowing asylum process.
Switching faiths can also ease the transition into Finnish culture.
"It's easier to live here because most people are Christian," Hossein Mohammadi says.
We have a saying in Finnish: Ei kannata mennä merta edemmäs kalaan -- "Not worth it to go further than the sea for fish." Traditionally, we have gone to the foreign lands for missionary work to serve people, do what Jesus would do and lead by example.
The Finnish churches were on the frontlines of the refugee crisis by opening parish homes and church camps for shelter and companionship. Bishop Sippo of the Catholic Church in Finland says that no less than at least 10% of their 15,000 parishioners are refugees from Asia and Africa. "When we take care of them as parishioners, we support their integration here [in Finland]," says the bishop.
Finnish Evangelical Lutheran parishes have begun organising confirmation schooling for Muslim asylum seekers who want to convert to Christianity.
Although no exact figures on converts are kept, even careful estimates put the number of emigrants who have renounced Islam in favour of Christianity in recent years at several hundred, according to expert Marja-Liisa Laihia from the church's central administration.
Some twenty young Afghani men are currently enrolled in pre-confirmation teaching at the Tainionkoski parish centre in Imatra, Eastern Finland, where they have copies of the New Testament in the Dari language at their disposal. The teaching itself is in English, with a Dari interpreter on hand via Skype.
Many of the new confirmation school students cite a dissatisfaction or disillusionment with the Islamic religion as the reason behind their conversion. All are essentially in exile from their homes countries and have been through a harrowing asylum process.
Switching faiths can also ease the transition into Finnish culture.
"It's easier to live here because most people are Christian," Hossein Mohammadi says.
The Finnish churches were on the frontlines of the refugee crisis by opening parish homes and church camps for shelter and companionship. Bishop Sippo of the Catholic Church in Finland says that no less than at least 10% of their 15,000 parishioners are refugees from Asia and Africa. "When we take care of them as parishioners, we support their integration here [in Finland]," says the bishop.
