ECM Netherlands (previously EEZ) started working in Sweden 1991, in Lapland, much through the vision of the Willemsens.

Gerard & Gerdien Willemsen live in Swedish Lapland, near the arctic circle.  Living conditions are naturally quite different to any other work we undertake in Europe, with long, dark winters and temperatures permanently below zero, and very short summers in sparsely populated surroundings.

But spiritually, the needs are much the same. Sweden is known as the most secularized country of the world. The northern part of Sweden is quite different from the south. It is very sparsely populated and there are two ethnic minorities living in the area. One of them are the Saami. They have their own culture and language. They were the first inhabitants of the area and are regarded as the indigenous people of Lapland. The other minority, living along the Torne River, are the Kvens, speaking a language closely related to Finnish.

The ECM couple works with the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden. From 1993 to 2004, our ECM people worked along two lines: Church planting and re-planting in the Storuman region and Outreach to the Saami people. In 2004, they returned to Kiruna, in the uppermost north, where they had been between 1991 and 1993.

Their tasks are developing the local churches in Kiruna and Malmberget-Gällivare and outreach and church-planting among the Saami. Until rather recently, the Saami language and culture were not appreciated by the churches and even now it can be controversial to use for example Saami music in church. To reach the Saami, it is important that they can find a Christian community which appeals to their own culture and where they can use their own language.

The local churches in Kiruna and Malmberget are very small and have been without pastor quite some time. Both churches have a vision for evangelisation. Their witness is important since there are few churches in this area.