This week in Helsinki, it isn’t only Päivi Räsänen who stands before the court. It is the future of free speech in Europe.
If the Word of God can be condemned as hate, then the freedom to speak honestly and live faithfully will have vanished entirely, not only in Finland, but across Europe and beyond.
As the world turns its eyes to Finland’s highest court, Päivi sat down with our Global Campaigns Coordinator, Sebastian Lukomski, to speak openly about faith under pressure, freedom under threat, and what it means to follow Christ when obedience becomes public, personal, and costly.
Päivi doesn’t dramatise her ordeal. She simply tells the story of a believer trying to live faithfully in a culture that confuses good with evil and has turned its back on God.
She recalls the early interrogations, the long hours of questioning, and how God turned a place of accusation into an opportunity for witness.
Through it all, her tone stays calm and clear, her words shaped by peace and the deep assurance that her life is in God’s hands.
“Jesus has been so faithful during these decades…
“Through this legal process, I have received a hundred times more joy than problems.”
In this short interview, you’ll see the same quiet faith that has carried Päivi through years of pressure and uncertainty. Her story is not about outrage or politics, but about obedience and hope.
Watch and see what courage rooted in Christ really looks like:
After you watch, listen to how Päivi reflects on what this moment means for all of us:
“Our societies have become more hostile against Christians, and this is now our calling: to defend the right to express and to live according to our faith. The more we are silent, the narrower becomes the space for freedom of speech and freedom of faith.”
As Finland’s Supreme Court prepares to hear Päivi’s case on 30 October, her words speak not only to Finland but to all of us living in nations where biblical conviction is increasingly treated as an offence.
While we wait for that all-important court date, consider sharing Päivi’s story and witness so that her faith might strengthen others to stand firm when the world grows hostile to what is good and true.
Let her example remind us that our task is not to win the world’s approval, but to be faithful to the One who is Lord of it.
As the Supreme Court hearing draws near, Päivi’s words sound a clear call to believers everywhere: “It doesn’t help you to be silent… we need to encourage and pray for each other, that we would have the courage to speak and to teach what is the standpoint of the Bible.”
Let’s take her words to heart, praying for her, for ourselves, and for Christians everywhere to have the courage to defend the faith and speak truth in love.
