o
Let your song echo the fire of God.
Set your torch ablaze.
Head in the clouds, feet on the ground.
BLAZE
Anu, please say in Mari language: "Welcome!"
That's it. Welcome to our program, Anu and Juha Väliaho.
Juha, could you please say in Mari language: "God bless".
The word 'Jumo', God, is very similar to Finnish 'Jumala'.
They are kindred languages. The Finns say 'Jumala'.
The Estonians say 'Jumal'. The Maris say 'Jumo'.
In some Finnic languages they say 'Jomal'.
It became obvious that Anu Välimaa comes from Estonia.
Juha's native land is Finland.
What are your common countries at the present moment?
Russia, Finland and Estonia.
Now we are speaking in Estonian churches.
Then we'll return to Russia.
At the moment we have Mari national costumes on.
Maris belong to the Finno-Ugric family.
What other kindred nations have you worked with in Russia?
Besides the Mari people we have worked with the Udmurts, -
with the Komi people and with the Mordvins.
These people live between the Volga River and The Ural Mountains.
There are about 3 million inhabitants.
I have here the book which Juha has written.
There's a map. Anu, could you please show us your home town?
Our home is...
It's located in Central Russia -
between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains.
The Ural Deanery Churches -
in the Ingrian Evangelical Lutheran Church -
are located in the 7 republics.
Juha not only heads the Parish of Birsk, -
but he is also the Dean of the Ural Deanery.
Therefore we visit all the parishes in the region.
The region is some 1000 km wide 2000 km high.
We lived in Yoshkar-Ola for twelve years.
Now we live in Birsk, Bashkiria.
Yoshkar-Ola is the capital of the Mari Republic.
We live in the city of Birsk, but we work in the whole area.
We live in this region.
It's a wide area, indeed.
You'll return there... - At the turn of the year.
We at Blaze program are delighted to have you here.
We usually start with a question.
I was so excited that I forgot it.
Which passage of the Bible sets you ablaze?
I have opened 1 Corinthians 16:9.
The most famous missionary, Paul, -
was in a new working area in Ephesus and in its region.
Paul says: "For a great and effective door has opened to me," -
"and there are many adversaries."
Another translation says: -
"A wide and promising door of opportunity has opened to me."
Our ground in Russia has proved to be fruitful.
We say, as Paul did, it's a wide and promising door.
In order to work on a fruitful ground, -
the missionary must have provisions.
Anu, please tell us where you got the seeds -
which you share in Russia.
Where did you get the provisions?
There are many kind of provisions.
One is our everyday food. I have a birch-bark knapsack with me.
The Maris still wear them in the villages.
I got my spiritual provisions in my home land Estonia.
When I was a child I wasn't baptized.
I was born in 1952. Back then Stalin was in power in Russia.
My family wasn't Christian.
Somebody's grandma had an old Estonian Bible.
It was big. It had a wood cover and locks on the side.
When I was a child we went to see the Bible.
It was in old Estonian language.
We weren't able to read it. We closed the Bible and put it away.
Sometimes grandma sang spiritual songs.
We didn't hear much of God.
Then the perestroika began under Gorbachov.
The revival and spiritual freedom arrived in Estonia.
I started to go to church in 1989.
It was the time of revival and freedom.
The sunday school started in those days. I went there.
I was baptized in May 1990.
I was already a grandma.
I got my own Bible, when I already was a grandma.
This is how my spiritual growth started.
You are a deaconess, aren't you?
Yes. I have graduated from the Theological Institute of Tallinn.
Juha, how about you? You grew up in Pieksämäki, correct?
That's correct.
You became rooted in the missionary work.
Yes. My parents were believers.
I've been in a spiritual atmosphere early on.
I've been Christian all my life.
My parents were influenced by a revival -
that occurred in Southwest Finland.
This so called Hannula revival was their spiritual legacy for me.
It's been a blessing from God.
You share a vision for missionary work. How did it start?
We are a Finno-Ugric, a Finno-Estonian couple.
We became missionaries to Finno-Ugric people.
Back in the early 90s -
the first Maris from Yoshkar-Ola came to Finland.
They were university students and professors.
One of the professors was Valery Patrushev.
We became friends.
Since he wasn't baptized, he wanted to get baptized -
in the Lutheran church of Finland.
He was baptized.
After that he invited us to visit his home land.
We went there, and practically stayed there.
It was in 1993.
Recently we had our 15th anniversary.
Actually the trip to Mari land was our wedding trip.
Anu remembers it better.
You are still on the same trip. - Yes, we can say that.
We went there for the first time.
Valery Patrushev met us at the train station.
He took us to a sacrificial feast.
It was new to us, but it was very interesting.
We saw how people prayed for gods in the forests.
People asked us what kind of God do we believe in.
They asked if we have sacred forests in Finland and Estonia.
There were so many questions.
They invited us to come again and tell them about God.
The atmosphere was hospitable and interesting.
It was very different from Finland or Estonia.
The excitement hasn't ceased.
There's always something new.
I have met Valery Patrushev many, many times.
He was the first baptized Mari professor.
Please give my regards to him, to his family, -
and to his daughter Ilona.
"For a great and effective door has opened to me," -
"and there are many adversaries." 1 Cor. 16:9
You mentioned the sacrificial feast.
If we think about the Mari nature religion, -
in what ways is it contradictory to Christian beliefs?
In the areas we work in, -
80 % of the Maris worship nature.
Most of the Maris are shamanists.
Almost every village has a sacred grove of its own.
In many places the old tradition has been forgotten, -
but in some places people still go regularly to the sacred groves -
to pray for the nature gods, such as mother of the water, -
mother of the earth, god of thunder, mother of the wind -
and the great white god.
There are dozens of nature gods for which people offer sacrifices.
The Maris offer animal or food sacrifices.
They pray to the nature gods in front of a holy tree.
There are priests who pray.
The cover of Juha's book illustrates a sacred grove.
There is an old lady who brings cakes as a sacrifice.
She has baked them at home and brought them to the grove.
It's called a food sacrifice.
There are big feasts in which the Maris offer animal sacrifices.
There are a lot of people in such feasts.
In the early 90s the feasts were really big.
It was a national festival.
The Mari people was searching for its national identity.
They prayed for the gods.
It was important that people got together -
and spoke the Mari language.
It's been 15 years since then.
Today people don't go to big feasts, -
but back then, 15 years ago, huge crowds got together.
Is it idol worship? - Yes, it is.
Paul says that these people worship creature more than the Creator.
It's idol worship.
Therefore we work to tell the Maris about the God -
they've been seeking.
To God be the thanks, many Maris have become to church.
We began the work in Birsk 6 years ago.
Now the congregation has over 200 members.
Many of them are converted shamanists, -
like this grandma, Arina.
She went to the sacred grove for centuries.
When the church was founded, she started to go to church.
She went to the confirmation class and was baptized.
Now she attends regularly our services.
What kind of changes there are in the life of a Mari -
after the nature gods are replaced by the True God?
They turn to the Creator instead of the creature.
The concept of sin and salvation becomes clearer.
I, as a sinner, can come to Jesus and Savior.
My sins can be forgiven.
It's a totally different concept.
Which causes more problems in your work, -
the atheists from the time of the Soviet reign -
or the Mari shamanists?
The atheist upbringing is familiar to me.
I lived for 40 years in the Soviet Union.
I gained the education in Estonia under the Soviet rule.
There aren't many people who say there's no God at all.
Most people believe in something.
They may believe in a greater power or in a horoscope.
The Maris, who worship nature, believe in something.
They are searching for the Living God.
When they hear of Him, it brings them joy.
The gods of the nature religion punish people.
The spirits must be appeased by sacrifices and prayer.
People are afraid that the spirits cause them harm.
They must be offered a sacrifice.
The Living God, however, is a loving God.
The love of God brings joy to a man's heart.
I'm happy for all of the old ladys -
who are used to offer the gods food sacrifices.
Such food had to be something delicious.
Now they are members of our church.
They come to church every Sunday.
They heat the oven on Sunday mornings.
They bake cakes in the oven.
They bring the freshly baked cakes to church with them.
We usually drink tea after the service.
Women bring cakes, jelly, pies etc.
We have a fine bring-a-dish party.
It brings joy to everyone.
The Cristianity has brought joy and freedom.
This lady doesn't bring cake to appease gods -
but for common good.
Couple weeks ago I heard a sermon of yours -
at Mikael Agricola Church, Helsinki.
The topic of the sermon was 'Truth'.
You compared the Mari nature religion -
to idol worship here in Finland.
There are certain things around us which we worship.
Could you explain it a bit more?
The idol worship takes place when people worship creature -
instead of the Creator.
The western materialism has also grown in Finland.
The greatest idol of materialism is money.
I also want to mention the worship of celebrities.
The materialism is spiritually empty.
The celebrities and pop stars step into God's place.
It's idol worship.
It's common in Finland.
Where my heart is there is my God.
The situation is similar in Estonia.
Estonia is a welfare state.
Estonia has changed much -
since we left 15 years ago.
In the countryside people are poor.
They don't have welfare.
Unfortunately the revival of the early 90s seems to have gone.
However, there are believers in Estonia.
The church is active.
It's a waveform.
There was a big wave when I became to Christ.
Sometimes they say it was fashion.
I say it was good fashion.
It brought salvation and peace of God.
You can't get it from the wealth or money.
Those things cause just worries.
We need to ask ourselves how do we spend our time.
Do you have time to go to church on Sundays -
and to take part in Communion?
It's possible to listen to radio or TV services, -
but attending Holy Communion is necessary.
It's important to spend time with other believers.
The Maris like to spend time together.
They hang out and mingle for hours after the service.
People can attend the Holy Communion, pray in the church -
and hear the Word of God.
In Estonia people say they pray and read Bible at home, -
but they are too busy to go to church.
The society offers a lot of entertainment and culture.
However, the Living God is always with us.
We are spreading our missionary vision in Estonian churches.
We are encouraging the Estonians to missionary work.
We hope to draw people back to churches.
Are people coming to churches in Mari land?
Are they active church-goers?
Yes, people attend church.
We work mainly in villages.
The Maris live in villages.
The church of Birsk works in 10 places besides Birsk.
We travel around the villages by car.
Our work is much like this.
You are certainly aware of the situation in Finland.
The Agricola Church was full, -
but this is not the correct picture of Finnish churches.
The churches of Finland are empty.
What is your opinion on that when you see the situation from abroad?
It's western secularism.
It has become real in Finland, too, not only in Central Europe.
This tendency is growing.
It's typical to western countries.
In the Mari land people attend church.
We work in areas where the Christianity has never been before.
Some may have heard of it in TV, -
but when we began our work in the Birsk area, -
we went to schools.
We asked if the teachers and students knew -
why people celebrate Christmas.
Nobody knew why Christmas is celebrated.
It was an opportunity to share the gospel.
There are wide areas where people don't know Jesus.
We began our work in an Udmurt village with 800 inhabitants.
None of the villagers was baptized.
There are many such villages.
Approximately 85 percent of Finns are baptized.
85 percent of the people in our working area aren't baptized.
You have a great export article. How would you describe it?
It's the gospel, God's good news for a sinner.
On my own behalf I want to say -
that visiting sacred groves and appeasing gods -
is not neccessary, because Jesus died for us on the Cross.
Jeesus was the perfect sacrifice.
The sacrifice in the groves is not needed anymore.
Jesus has given His life for us.
We must gladly receive Him -
and thank God who loves us and who has given the sacrifice for us.
The only thing we have to do is to believe in Jesus -
and be children of God.
We want to share the good news.
It's great to see the joy and freedom thereafter.
We have recorded a CD with some members of Mari congregation.
They visited the missionary feast held in Hyvinkää, Finland.
We recorded some spiritual songs in Mari language.
The songs are joyful.
The songs are about salvation, love and freedom God has given us.
We give these CDs to local people in villages and schools.
The gospel goes forth this way, too!
It's good news, and it brings joy!
I would like to stay with you in the flow of joy for hours, -
but unfortunately we're running out of time.
Before we end, I'd like to ask you to read a passage of the Bible -
as a God's provision for our viewers.
It's a scripture from Paul, the great missionary.
The opening text, too, was from Paul.
It's the letter to Romans, starting from the beginning of chapter 9.
Paul says: "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart."
"For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ" -
"for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."
Paul had continual sorrow in his heart.
His brethren, his kinsmen didn't understand -
God's purpose for their life.
Therefore Paul reached out.
We can say, as Paul did, when we are there with our kinsmen.
We have great heaviness and continual sorrow in our hearts -
for our brothers and sisters who are our kindred nation, -
who speak our kindred language and who are our genetic relatives.
We want to work for their good, -
so that they could find the God we have come to know -
and who is not very well known among them.
This is the cry of our heart.
Subtitles: Marianne Tenetz
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