The city centre was a sea of yellow last Saturday as Christians from various denominations in the city united to evangelise through a series of events including rock concerts, plays and even foot washing.
The annual event ‘Totuus’ (which translates as ‘Truth’) aims to ‘tell everybody in Oulu about Jesus,’ according to one of the organisers giving out biscuits and free coffee in Otto Karhi Park. Totuus organisers were also happily fixing people’s bicycles as they handed Bible tracts and other evangelical literature.‘We are Christians here from all around the world,’ said one of the organisers who had been in Oulu for three and a half years but was originally from Brazil. ‘Feel free to have coffee. How long have you been here?’
Down by the market square, Esther Koskela was washing people’s feet with warm water and her bare hands. ‘People are sweet when they are well cared for,’ said Esther. ‘We do this because we want to tell people about Jesus Christ,’ the Totuus organiser continued.
The people having their feet washed were certainly rather impressed. ‘This is fantastic!’ said one shopper who had earlier been lucky enough to have her feet massaged.Throughout the four days of ‘Totuus,’ organisers have attempted to ‘covey God’s love’ through a free car-washing service, a volleyball game and visiting a number of old people’s homes. Round the side of Oulu’s theatre, there was another stall giving away Christian literature and a big outdoor stage on which various Christian bands played throughout the day. The yellow-shirted evangelists offered ‘not just coffee but prayer and fellowship,’ according to another of the organisers. There was also a prayer service which, according to organiser, Ari Kauppila was ‘sensitively done’ in an attempt to introduce non-believers to prayer. Kauppila is the Oulu organiser of the course Alpha and Totuus website advertises this. Alpha began in a Charismatic church in London and aims to ‘introduce to Christianity’ to Non-Christians over twelve weeks with the slogan, ‘Is there more to life than this?’ Critics have claimed that the course only teaches about a highly conservative form of Christianity and have compared to McDonalds claiming that it is bite-size and superficial. According to Kauppila, Alpha teaches ‘the basic facts of Christian life.’ According to the literature provided by the Totuus organisers these facts include that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth to take the punishment for the sins of all humanity. If you accept him as your saviour then your sins are also taken away and you go to Heaven for eternity rather than Hell. Other Christian groups involved in organising Totuus include the Lutheran Church of Finland, the Free Church, the Children of God, the International Church of Oulu, the Pentecostal Church and the Salvation Army. The prayer service – which went on until well into the night – included various Christian bands such as Lumina Polaris, a group of Pentecostal students who mix Christian lyrics with heavy metal music.
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