OUR PASTORAL TEAM
Ndegwa Henry Maina
Senior pastor
Pastor Ndegwa Maina and his wife Wambui Ndegwa are originally from Kenya. Pastor Ndegwa came to study in Finland in 1996 and was later joined by His Wife in 2003. God has consistently made it clear that He has a purpose for Pastor Ndegwa and his Family in this nation.
Already while studying, Pastor Ndegwa began to serve in church as a worship leader. In the year 2000 God opened a door for Him to join Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for a six month discipleship training program. During the program, he spent two months as a missionary in Indonesia. After returning from the short mission, he worked with YWAM for another 6 months as Evangelism Coordinator and led a team of YWAMers on a mission that covered the whole of Finland. His one year period with YWAM served as a sabbatical from his studies, giving him a chance to reflect on life and know God better.
The whole experience radically changed his outlook to life after fully realizing how much God wants to speak to us, use us in impacting the world so that His will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven. After his sabbatical, he continued His studies at the University of Helsinki where he completed his PhD in Food Science in 2012. Pastor Ndegwa and his wife Wambui have four lovely children: Waithira, Wanjiru, Wariri and Thaburi. He is passionate about worship and calling the church to a deeper relationship with GOD.
Jonathan Lemmetti
Associate Pastor
Pastor Jonathan and Hanna have a heart to serve the Lord, and long to inspire others to find and walk in their God-given calling. They believe in God’s Word and want to help others grow in their relationship with God.
Despite being very shy and quiet as a child, Jonathan had a desire from a young age to be used by God in ministry, especially in missions. Fast forward to today, and Jonathan has served with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in his hometown of Brisbane, Australia, as well as in different cities within Finland for over 14 years, ministering in a number of different countries on short-term missions trips.
It was in his first year of ministry in Finland in 2002, that Jonathan met Hanna, a Swedish-speaking Finn from Pietarsaari, and they now have 5 beautiful children, Joshua, Sarah, Samuel, Naomi and Keziah. Hanna’s heart for missions also led her to serve in Kenya for a year as a teacher for Finnish missionary children, before joining YWAM. Most recently, the Lemmetti’s have spent three years on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, with Jonathan completing his Associate Degree of Ministry through Harvest Bible College.
Arto Sädeaho
Founding Pastor
At the age of ten, Pastor Arto Sädeaho was born again and got baptized. Then, as a young man, he found his wife Orvokki and
also became actively involved in missions. As a couple they served for seven years as missionaries in South East Asia – thus they know how it feels to live in a foreign land, far from one’s roots.
After returning to Finland, Arto served as a Pastor in two Finnish Pentecostal churches. In 2000, he started an international, interdenominational church in Espoo, west of Helsinki. In 2008, after Espoo International Christian Fellowship (now UCC) had been well established, Arto followed his calling, and handed over his pastoral duties to his young successor (2008). The same year he founded a mission association, GNN Finland (GNN=Good News Networking) to channel missions he and his wife had implemented for 30 years already in Finland and oversees. He has also been in the council of the Fellowship of European international Churches since its beginning in 2004.
In 2009, Arto & Orvokki, and a small team of commited believers, planted an international church in the northern part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Vantaa International Christian Fellowship is located just 6 km east from the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport. VICF, as it’s called, has grown and is also involved with mission work. Pastor Arto is a gifted person to start new things and an inspiring communicator in encouraging others to get involved with world missions. He does everything with a full heart and uncompromising commitment. At the same time he has a pastors heart. Pastor Arto, along with his like-minded wife Orvokki, have been a blessing both in Finland and abroad.