Hugh's News & Commentary

JUHANNUSKONFERENSSI
Mid-Summer Conference in Finland

As reported by Bishop James D. Leggett, President of Holmes Bible College

It was a great joy to attend Juhannuskonferenssi (Mid Summer Conference) of the Pentecostal Church of Finland the last of June. I have heard a lot about the Finland Mid Summer Conference, but I was unprepared for the greatness of the conference. Brother Arto Hamalaein, had told me about the conference of 30,000 people, but I could not imagine it. Ms. Pirjo-Lisa Perttinen, who serves with me on the CCT Executive Committee and is the General Secretary of the YWCA in Finland, had given me the same report. Yet, I was totally amazed at the size of the camp and all the people moving between the tents and the services.

It was the 65th anniversary of the mid-summer conference, and I was honored to preach the anniversary message. The service was broadcast over radio and live streaming. I also had the opportunity to speak to the pastors at their coffee and in the same afternoon to speak to the veteran pastors and missionaries (retired).

The conference has an annual World Missions service, and I participated in that service as well.

The camp is the site of the Bible College, but the meetings are held in many large tents. When you drive on the camp grounds, you are struck by the sheer number of tents, campers and people. There are ten to twelve large white tents. The largest tents are 8 poles, reminding me of the Oral Robert’s tent. Two of these tents are joined side by side to seat 8,000 people for the main services, and they are filled for the evening and special services.

But that is not all; there are more 8 pole tents, one of which houses the exhibits and activities of the great missionary program (fida). There are two large tents serving as the cafeteria as well as other smaller tents for coffee, snacks, pizza, fish, etc. When I say smaller, I am only saying that in light of the great big tents.

There is a tent for the children services and there are other tents scattered around the campus for special services or events. Many of these services are going on at the same time.

It is not only the tents which catch your eye. Everywhere you look you see hundreds of caravans (campers). I was told there were between 1,500 and 2,000 campers on the campus. Then there are many, many tents for personal use under the trees and down by the lake.

One has to be impressed with the major emphasis on World Missions. As I mentioned earlier one of the large tents housed the mission’s exhibit with a coffee shop. It was one of the most used tents with many people viewing the exhibits or sitting in the coffee shop fellowshipping with the missionaries and attendees. It appeared that everyone was a missionary or had been a missionary. World Missions seemed to weave itself into everything that we did. Rev. Arto Hamalein, who serves on the advisory board of the PWF, was the Director of World Missions (fida) for many years. He still serves as senior advisor for World Missions with offices in the Helsinki office.

Marko Halttunen does an outstanding job directing the camp. It seems impossible to handle that many people, but he is very organized and everything flowed smoothly. He has 2,000 volunteers to assist with the manifold duties of managing the camp.

The conference adopted a letter to the President of the country as well as the Prime Minister. The letter stated that Dr. James D. Leggett of the Pentecostal World Conference was present for the celebration and shared with the conference the growth of the Pentecostals worldwide.

The Bible College actually makes the tents used for the conference. Students from the Bible College are involved in the making of those tents. They have turned the tent making into a business, and they make tents for sale.

It was a great joy to be with the Pentecostals in Finland for this awesome conference. Many of the people are planning to attend the Pentecostal World Conference in Stockholm in August.

[Editor's comment: I was privileged to see and talk with Bishop James D. Leggett at Youth Quest in Orlando, FL a week ago. He came down for a couple of days. Holmes Bible College was well represented at Youth Quest. Albert and Wanda Bucklew were present daily to man the display booth for the college. They are a dedicated and loyal couple who are giving sacrificially of their time and talent to the school in Greenville, SC. Although Bishop Leggett did not mention Holmes Bible College in his report, I know that he is giving his all to see the college grow. He has a goal of 100 students for the fall semester, and he needs monthly support for operating expenses. There are other financial needs that only he can tell you about. Let us lift up his hands with our prayers and giving to Holmes Bible College in these days of this new administration. You made send contributions to Holmes Bible College. Here is the mailing address:

Dr.. James D. Leggett, President
Holmes Bible College
P. O. Box 14188
Greenville, SC 29610-4188

You may reach Bishop Leggett by calling Holmes Bible College at: (864) 246-3566.