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MARTTI`S TABLE COMPANIONS
Welcome to my discussion programme.
Today`s guest is Sakari Yrjölä,
Welcome Sakari. - Thank you.
- Before we did let the cameras roll, -
we talked about the fierce battle -
which has been going on -
of your soul - up to this very moment.
The first critical moment of your life -
was when you were only 2 years old.
You were so sick then, that you could easily have died.
But God had other plans.
You had wondered about this period of your life.
You asked your mother about it first at the age of 22, in 1980.
Your mother then wrote a letter to you.
I`m going to read it now:
"Last time you payed a visit to us, -
"you asked if I ever had gotten any heavenly messages -
"concerning your life.
"It is, that about 20 years ago -
"I promised you to God -
"in order if He would not take you away from me -
"when you were sick and weak.
"I remember sitting at Vuorela`s staircase, -
"holding you warm inside your father`s fur coat, -
"thinking, that I can not do anything more for you, -
"than just talk about you to God. And trust His plan for you.
"After that moment I didn`t feel any anxiety
"for your sake anymore, -
"and you started even to get better.
"You were the joy of our lives.
"But things got scary at your puberty.
"I thought God had not taken it seriously, -
"my promise of you, back then, years ago.
"During these last years there has been -
"a fierce battle of your soul. "Fortunately the winner is He
who died for our sins. "The enemy is always
waiting for an opportunity -
"to strike at a weak moment, -
"if we are not alert."
- You mother carried quite a purden when you were 2 years old.
- Yes, I was the firstborn son, my parents must have been -
happy about me.
- Your health did improve, -
but later on came all kinds of troubles.
But in the midst of everything, God kept contact with you.
Would you tell us for example about the light you once saw?
- Yes... I went to a Lutheran church office, in 1978, -
and a clergyman working with young people -
asked if he could pray for me.
Please do, I said, and when he prayed, -
I felt like huge leaden weights would have lifted from my ankles.
Now that I think about it, I may not have understood -
what really happened then.
God took me right away to His crew as an intercessor.
I felt also immediately, how the evil spirits -
started to attack me.
But I heard this good voice inside of me, -
which told me to pray for all misery in the world.
I read the Book of Revelation and the Profets and I prayed.
My prayer was in the spirit and in the truth, -
but at the same time -
I was uneducated in matters of spirituality and -
Christian religion.
That kind of teaching and education I longed for-
is today available in medias like TV7.
But back then I knew nothing about the newborn Christians.
I took the praying seriously, because as a son of a farmer, -
I was used to work hard.
If I was given an order to pray, then I prayed.
But the enemy attacked heavily.
When the circumstances started finally to get better, -
I felt the Holy Spirit in me, -
but I was so weak, that I thought, -
my time had come to pass away.
But that was actually just the beginning: -
the Holy Spirit came in to me, and gave me peace.
And when I read the book of Nehemiah, -
I really understood, that Jesus has gained the victory.
And I am within the victorius team.
God gives us time to grow, without looking at our weaknesses.
I still did many wrong things; I drank alcohol, -
that was the spirit of the time.
Back then Finland wasn`t really atheistic country,
but the spirit of atheism was easy to gain.
A spirit of shame of God did rule, -
and shame of everything that supported the work of God.
Thank God, that kind of work
can be seen today in Finland and in the rest of the world.
At the time I had no ability to throw myself to God,-
I only dreamed about family and children,-
occupation and work.
God did give his blessing also over these things; -
I got married and I got two children...
I always thought and wondered about these blessings,-
and expecially one time in Kouvola, -
in Raimo Rahnasto`s meeting.
When I truly threw myself to God, -
I got a prophecy, that God is to give me-
strength to fulfil a task, He has planned for me.
That task due to my mother`s prayer.
When I got the knowledge of this, the Holy Spirit came to me,-
I started to be able to distinct things in the spirit.
But I still was a child of of that time; -
broken and distressed and also weak in belief.
At times I even thought that God had abandoned me.
By reading books of Seppo Jokinen, I understood-
that my feelings of abandon are the manifestation of weakness-
that God approves.
- Were the wounds from your childhood,-
and from the time, before you gave your -
heart completely to Jesus in 1982,-
were these wounds at the surface of your mind,-
so that God could heal them? - Yes.
- This was the kind of teaching you hadn`t gotten before?
-Yes... There weren`t that kind of world of ideas in
Christian communities in Finland, not in the Pentecostal Movement,-
but God did guide my way well.
Even if I was joyfull -
and engaged in Pentacostal meetings;
my weaknessess, like stage fright, -
still tied me down, and I felt like I was ashamed of God...
It was a weird wound in my soul, and I didn`t understand it,-
but God saw it.
I took part in seminars on pastoral care by Erik Edvalls,
and I started gradually to understand...
I have also participated on courses in Perheniemi.
There I have gotten deeper teaching by Petri Välimäki.
God guided me also to read the calls of the prophets, -
and The Call of Jeremiah in particular touched my heart:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
"before you were born I set you apart."
That was an important message for me.
I talked about this with someone who
got abandoned first by his father, -
and at the age of 2, also by his mother.
I told him, that God had chosen him, -
no matter how cold hearted people treated him.
He found it comforting.
- This issue about wounds in soul,
touches today very many people also here in Finland.
We have a spirit, a soul and a body. These wounds in soul...
People haven`t found God`s cure for them.
You had to suffer with your wounds,
to the point, when you even were close to commit a suicide.
- Yes... It came from combination of feeling, -
that God had abandoned, -
and at the same time the enemy offered his false cure.
And there were cold hearted people around me.
All darkness seems so real, until God starts to talk about -
the eternal life He has planned for you -
before you were in your mother`s womb.
If you just manage through the wordly life, -
there will be a victory waiting. Just believe in God`s goodness, -
and spend your life praying.
- Sometimes the enemy appears as a person of light...
But later on the truth is revealed.
Would you tell us about the beautiful woman you met?
- It was right after I had been prayed for -
in the meeting for young people. My eyes had started to open, -
I was heading towards repentance, -
but I felt the enemy attacking me.
I saw the same kind of woman, -
that brother Jung (from China) talks about, -
the kind of, who draws you to something -
that can be recognized as ungodly.
I had a feeling; this might be the enemy in disguise, -
and after that thought, the attack came immediately.
I felt like a high tension electric power would have gone -
through me trying to kill me.
I fought against that power like never before -
against anything else.
After I heard this evil laughter in distance, -
the kind of laughter no man can laugh.
It was a laughter of a traitor. I felt betrayed.
- This shows how the world of God is good and loving, -
and how the world of the evil is deceitful.
Thank God, you can see now His light.
You have also had a lot of rejection in your life.
That has caused more wounds into your soul.
For example you got divorced -
because your unbelieving wife deserted you.
That must have been a sore trial?
- Yes... I believed then, as I do now, in monogamy.
I had tried to do my part in our marriage, -
and worked for it. I tried to be a man to my wife, -
but I felt my powers to die down. People prayed for us -
also in the church, -
but God doesn`t force anyone to Him.
- She didn`t find Jesus?
- Not during our marriage.
But possibility to find Him is always here.
- But God had someone new planned for you?
- Yes... But in 1990 I had to go through some more trials: -
I got into debt for a loan I had stood as a security for.
I felt again that I had been rejected by God.
But later I understood, it was just a lesson I had to learn.
Brother Jung, who almost got beaten to death in jail -
had to learn his lesson like that in China.
This was my lesson in Finnish style.
There was a possibility to try to solve -
the matter of loan security also in court.
But I wanted to trust in God, to see -
His plan on this matter.
The loan was for a house, that I then started to -
rent out to get money for debt payments.
God also provided me with some extra income, -
and it was possible to fix the debt more quickly -
than agreed with the bank.
I got my debts payed off by 2008.
After the divorce I also got a quite big inheritance.
God helped me to get rid of the debts.
But during the divorce, we had split everything in two, -
and I had had to raise more loan to deal with it.
Now I can say: God made it possible, I am a debt free man.
And my son is now living in that house -
that I had stood as a security for.
I`m very grateful to God, that he guided me through this lesson.
- You saw a special vision. I would like you to tell us about.
- Yes, when God started to carry out His plan for me, -
which I myself got knowledge of only after I was born again...
Something forced me to ask from my mother confirmation -
about a vision of a letter God gave me.
I saw something in the sky, and I had to look many times, -
did I really see what I saw?
I thougt it was a weird vision.
I hadn`t read about the scrolls in the Bible by then.
At the same time I had to go and buy me a new purse.
I saw one with a picture of a letter with a golden net on it.
I bought it as a remembrance of -
the vision I had.
Back at home I saw, that there were no letter on that purse!
There was a cross, an anchor and a heart.
I didn`t even know the symbolism behind them.
Now I know that they symbol the most important themes -
in God`s world: -
You should be anchored in God`s word, -
the cross is the cross of Jesus, -
and heart stands for the belief of your heart.
I was still confused and asked God to clarify this message.
I talked about it also to my sister and her husband.
My sister was not religious, but God had led her -
to a work as a proofreader at Aripaino.
She read many religious books, and was born again due to that.
She brought me a book called:
"The Happiest People on Earth"
about Demos Shakarian.
There was a story about a prophet, who opened a scroll,
and God showed me how I was opening a letter or a scroll -
in front of many people.
I thought it was an awful vision. I was a soul of guilt and shame.
Then once in Betania church, during prayer, -
one person said to me, that God is going to give me -
strength to fulfil a predestinated task.
I felt I knew there was a task for me.
I did brood this in my mind, -
doing nothing about it, -
talking noone about it.
Then in 1990, when my lesson in finances started, -
I felt rejected by God and I thought He had "fired me" -
because I had done something wrong.
I felt it was time for my punishment -
for not giving up one particular sin or something.
I felt my task had been removed to someone else.
In spring 2009, son of my new wife found TV7.
I was happy to watch religious programmes -
through the internet.
I had talked to God about the internet -
and the wrong kind of material in it.
I was sad and asked God: why are You not in here in the internet?
When I was reborn in 2009, -
God reminded of this matter and showed me: -
"I am in the internet."
Anyhow, I was sad and cried because I felt -
that my task was now someone elses to do.
Then I felt the Holy Spirit come to me.
I felt love and then God said to me: -
"You are the apple of my eye" - Amen...
- He told me, that he does not remove anyone`s call or task.
He told me, that I am, where I am supposed to be.
I got my confirmation.
- It is amazing how God gives His love, -
and chooses us without looking at our faults.
He knew for example all odysseys of your youth, -
and all of your days, before giving your vision.
He has chosen you.
Now this is a quite fresh message from God, -
from last year.
We can only wait with excitement for what is to come.
- I would like to tell also about the vision Demos Shakarian -
and his wife had in the book I talked earlier about.
There were people from all over the world -
praising joyfully God.
I feel it is going to happen.
It is going to happen in our time.
God also says, that everything we have, is a gift from Him -
so we could get the good news about Jesus.
That includes internet, TV, aeroplanes, cars, cell phones, -
text messages... Everything, so that the message about His son -
would be available for everyone.
I sometimes feel like the Apostles would have, -
wanted to live at this present time.
They got to start to spread the news about Jesus, -
but they did not get to see, -
if the message really was from God, -
that the message didn`t vanish with the passage of time.
The message has not vanished, we can say it is from God, -
now, 2000 years later.
- True. We started this discussion -
with reading your mother`s letter. We also saw -
how there has been a battle of your soul.
Your story shows, how the enemy works against those, -
who are God`s chosen ones.
Thank God you are now here with us.
You can now start to do the work God has planned for you.
We still have couple of minutes, -
is there something the Holy Spirit wants you to say to us?
- Let`s pray: -
Thank you Jesus for your Gospel, -
thank you, that it works through the Holy Spirit, -
thank you, that we can testify in Your name, -
thank You Father, the Creator and the King of the universe, -
that we do not have to fear,
even if our earthly house is dashed to pieces, -
or destroyed. Thank you that our souls are eternally in your hands.
Thank you for what Jesus did for us.
We are imperfect and incomplete, You know our faults -
in Your perfection.
- Thank you Sakari Yrjölä for being my guest, -
and for telling us openly about your life and experiences.
You have still many years in front of you, -
to work for God and for His miracles -
at these times, when the end is near.
God is for sure going to give you the courage to fulfil your task.
He is giving you the strength to spread the news -
to a big audience.
God bless you and your family.
- Thank you.
Subtitles: Marika Finne