Hundreds of students across Finland are establishing "Jeesus-välkkä" (Jesus break) clubs in their schools, a grassroots movement sparked by The Send Finland event held in Helsinki in June 2025. What began as a call to action at the Helsinki Ice Hall has now grown into a nationwide student-led initiative, with dozens of schools across the country hosting regular gatherings where young people pray, worship, and share their faith with classmates.
The Send Finland, a major evangelism and missions gathering that drew thousands of participants, deliberately targeted schools as one of its key mission fields. During the event, youth heard testimonies from fellow students who were already living out their faith on campus. A video shown at the gathering challenged the notion that faith should be kept out of schools, declaring, "The truth is, He is already here." The presentation invited participants to imagine Jesus walking the corridors of their own schools and to consider what it would look like for His love to be visible in every classroom.
The response was striking. When an invitation was extended from the stage, 350 young people publicly committed to serving as witnesses for Jesus in their school or university setting. Notably, a significant portion of those who responded were teenagers aged 13 to 17 — a demographic for which Finland has relatively few organised activities that empower young people as active agents of faith rather than passive recipients of ministry. Sanna Stolberg, one of the event organisers, shared her vision that every school in Finland would one day have its own Jeesus-välkkä, and the gathered crowd prayed together for Jesus' love to be visible throughout the Finnish school system.
(Originally published in Finnish. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
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Source: Suomen Vapaakirkko / Suomen Viikkolehti — svl.fi
