"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other"                  

                                                                                                                    John 15:16-17

The beginning of the Finnish Pentecostal movement in Lake Worth, Florida takes us all the way back to 1957. In 1967 Lauri and Terttu Karhinen came to Lake Worth all the way from Canada.  Around the same time pastor Toivo Pajala from Thunder Bay, Canada and Arvid Leinala from Sudbury to help start the radio ministry. Our radio ministry has been on going ever since.  Now that's over 42 years! A long time member, Jorma Puranen, served in this ministry for 22 years.

The very first services were held at homes, the Free Methodist church on Lucerne Avenue and at the Lake Worth Civic Center located in downtown Lake Worth. When things started to move forward the Free Methodist church was rented for our regular meetings. The services were held Sundays at 3pm and Thursdays at 6pm.

  
After two years of activity in 1970 there was talk about forming a congregation. For an unknown reason it was still postponed for another year. However, on February 27th, 1971, a formal established meeting was held in Leevi and Siiri Varvas' home on 1028 South B Street, Lake Worth. Pastor John Sievanen was present assisting in the start of the congregation. He also blessed the first elders into place for the new congregation.  The first elders were Lauri Karhinen and Leevi Varvas. Reino Iskanius was blessed and joined the elders leadership shortly after.
   
The founding members of our congregation:

Lauri and Terttu Karhinen
Waltter and Lyyli Nordstrom
Reino, Sinikka Iskanius and Lea Iskanius- Uotila
Aino and Olavi Anttila
Leevi and Siiri Varvas
Anna Varjonen
Martta Raekunnas
Tyyne Mikkonen
Anna Jansson

The congregation was named the Finnish Pentecostal Church of Lake Worth and Lauri Karhinen was named as the pastor.

A visiting missionary, Spillenar, had a vision for our congregation. It was January, 1972 and he strongly believed in expanding the congregation and suggested the purchase our own sanctuary. In this same service a tithe was collected - $1,010! Then the sleeves were pulled up, and already in March a suitable lot was found on South A Street. Pastor Lauri Karhinen decided to call the lot owner to inquire about the price. (He knew it was worth $4000-$6000). The owner surprised him and said the asking price was only $2,300! Again another step had been taken. And there was another step coming around the corner. The lot purchased was not big enough for the sanctuary and a parking lot.  The lot neighboring belonged to the city of Lake Worth, and was for sale for a price of $8,000. This would have been a burden for a small congregation, but the people had a vision; A vision of God's ability of influencing peoples will and putting it into practice. The lot was purchased.

In June, 1973 pastor Karhinen resigned his duties and a young Heikki Ahonen with his wife Terttu were asked to come from Finland and shepherd the congregation. The Ahonen family arrived November 11th, 1973 and a new leaf was turned in the history of the Finnish Pentecostal Church of Lake Worth. The member account was already 30!

Leevi Varvas had experience in building two churches in Toronto, Canada. He had strong faith that the work started here would succeed and that the congregation needed their own sanctuary. And so the building work began in February. A lot of people came and took part in the building process.  There was excitement in the air, and the church members worked together with people from outside.

We were going with faith in building the church. There was no money.
Still the church was built swiftly and the first service was held already in November. When our church was completed, it was humble. There were no chairs or a pulpit! We searched around for single chairs and a home organ we had. Even so, we held the service! It was a wonderful service. There was a feeling of celebration in the air! The official grand opening was held in late 1975. At the same time, we had a farewell celebration for Pastor Ahonen and a welcoming celebration for our new pastor, Pentti and Marja-Liisa Leppanen.

With this new space, an opportunity for youth ministry and Sunday school began.  When the work of the congregation strengthened, so did the number of visitors. Many well known speakers came and visited.  Some came from Canada and even as far as Finland as well.

In 1980 Pastor Leppanen resigned from his position as our shepherd. In December, Matti and Liisa Kumpulainen with their children from Papua New Guinea came to lead our congregation. They served the congregation until 1984 when they moved back to Toronto, Canada. Lauri Karhinen accepted the position of the church leader until Hannu Vaurula with his wife Ruth came in 1986. They served our congregation until May, 1989.

Again we started to look for a new leader. It made things easier when Pastor Erkki Ahonen promised to temporarily look after the congregation. In Finland the financial well-being started to grow and it was noticed here in Florida as well. Our congregation started to grow as well. A flood of tourists came from Finland and the church on A Street started to be too small. Our friendly volunteers were organizing transportation from motels to the church and so a thought was crossed in many minds. A thought of a bigger church.

In 1989, Erkki Ahonen and Jorma Puranen informed the congregation that a church on High Ridge Road, Community Covenant Church, was for sale. It was decided that we would hold a trial service in this new church. This was considered also as a worship & music festival. The festival exceeded everyones expectations and the church was full! The owners were amazed! They had never seen so many people in the church. One thing led to another -God leading- and the official opening of Kotikirkko on High Ridge Road was held in November, 1990.

It was a big blessing when Pastor Erkki Ahonen with wife Taimi accepted to lead our congregation. With a bigger church we were able to expand our Sunday school, and a boys club was started. The tourist ministry grew astronomically. It was God, the new church building and the efforts of Juhani Waarna. Countless is the amount of people who have visited Kotikirkko in Lake Worth. Finnair had a video on their flights, marketing Kotikirkko as a place the tourists should see. And so it is to this day!

When pastor Ahonen moved to Vancouver, Canada we got a new pastor. Timo and Hanna Puustelli came from Finland. Beside his young age, pastor Puustelli made history:  he was the oldest Pentecostal pastor in Finnish North America and Canada. We were blessed and he served our congregation for the longest time, 10 years!
Youth ministry strengthened as well when we decided to ask Lasse Ripatti to come from Finland to lead our youth. He served us for two years and then returned to Finland. After him, Kai and Marjo Partti joined us and continued to lead the youth.

Singer-Evangelist Eija Merila-Kymalainen and her family moved to Florida. With their joining, we got a great help and an addition to our church. Music has also been a very special and important part of our congregation.  We have been greatly blessed with Eija's talent and commitment!
From the beginning, our Choir has been a great success. During the years many people have served in the choir, both men and women. We have been privileged to hold many music events at the Finnish-American Club House, Finland House, the Finlandia Days festival and of course our own church services, because of our talented and devoted musicians. We are, and have always been very grateful for our choir. People have heard about Jesus and the Good News in a comforting way, presented by our own members. Many lives have changed because of our choir.
People have been saved.

In 2002 Kai and Marjo Partti's contract ended and they returned to their homeland of Finland. In 2004, we contacted Hannu-Heikki and Anne Hypponen in Finland to come and continue Kai and Marjo Partti's work with our youth. As pastor Timo Puustelli, with his wife Hanna, returned to Finland in 2005, Hannu-Heikki took on the responsibility of our Shepherd. Together they served our congregation loyally and welcomed many new Finns to our church!
All the children in Sunday school were greatly blessed while in Anne's care as we all in the congregation! The era of Hannu-Heikki and Anne Hypponen ended in the summer of 2008 as they also returned to Finland. In September another era started when God led another pastor to us. Pastor Petri and wife Caroline Kosonen with Esther and Reuben arrived from Thunder Bay, Canada to serve our congregation. Now with great joy we are anticipating what the Lord has in store for us in 2009 and beyond.


During the years we have been blessed with others who have served our congregation.  To mention and few, Niilo Hyytiainen and Markku Vainio. Loyally, many of the church members have worked for the Lord in the congregation, both day and night. The main sanctuary has been renovated, decorated, many songs have been sung and played, meals have been cooked, coffee has been brewed, the youth have been taken care of, as well as the Sunday school and many audio tapes and CD's recorded. People have served the Lord, voluntarily. People have been helped and loved, with the grace and love of God.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain"  1 Cor. 15:58