- God, you must be with me. Because I am scared now.
Aviaja Rohmann Hansen has her eyes closed. She is sitting in the priest’s room in Hans Egede Church – a small, enclosed room with whitewashed walls and a wooden door.
Outside the hallway, the smell of coffee – from inside the large church room, organ music can be heard.
- You must give me the strength to overcome this anxiety, she says.
- I pray that you are with me and watch over us, and that we maintain our unity and not become divided in this unsafe world we live in. God, give me strength and comfort me, she concludes and opens her eyes.
Aviaja Rohmann Hansen is a priest. The prayer she has just recited is her suggestion for a personal prayer, one that you can say out loud or think to yourself if you are scared about the things that are happening in Greenland at the moment.
- You formulate your own prayer and use your own words – say something that you find comfortable with. Because if you say the words and put words to what makes you scared, it also takes some of your anxiety away, she says.
In light of the tense world situation that Greenland has been in since the beginning of January, there has been a great deal of focus on mentioning and handling the difficult feelings and concerns that many have had.
Something that Sermitsiaq has also covered and focused on in the last few weeks.
Politicians, organizations and experts have particularly recommended taking breaks from the news and getting your mind on completely different things.
And here the church can both function as a space that you can go to if you want to find peace in the chaos, and if you need someone to talk to about the chaos, says Aviaja Rohmann Hansen.
- You can always come and talk to a priest. We are always available, she says.
Doesn't preach about politics
Most people who go to church probably know Aviaja Rohmann Hansen best when she holds Sunday services in the old, red Annaassisitta Oqaluffia (Our Savior's Church) by the allotment garden in Nuuk.
But when she's not there, she often sits in her office in Hans Egede Church. It's also here that citizens who need to talk to a priest come and see her and her colleagues.
Although the number of direct inquiries she has received as a priest from citizens who need to talk about their concerns about current developments in the country is limited, she has easily noticed that it has been on people's minds.
- If you go to a coffee shop or meet people on the street, it's something they talk about, she says.
That was also the case in January 2025, when the country was in a similar situation. At that time, Aviaja Rohmann Hansen and her colleagues decided to change the church prayer that they usually use in connection with church services.
- Right when it started last year, we got a request from someone asking if I couldn't pray a prayer for peace. So I made a church prayer where I wrote that we pray for the church and for peace in the world, she says.
Praying for peace in a time of power struggles and war is the closest thing that Aviaja Rohmann Hansen can think of to bringing big politics into the church, she says.
- It is only in prayer that I pray for peace. Otherwise, my sermons are not about politics, she says.
Is it a conscious choice?
- Yes, it is very conscious. I think they hear about it enough in everyday life and in the media, so I don't include it. But I say that God is with us, and that we should trust that God is holding our hand over us.
- Come to church and use it as you want
January has been an overwhelming month – also for Aviaja Rohmann Hansen, she says.
- You ask yourself what we have done to make it go and stay like this, she says.
However, she finds comfort in having her faith.
- It means that I am not quite as scared as I think I would be if I didn't have it. Because then I say a prayer, read the Bible and try to avoid watching too much of the foreign news – because I can't handle it, she says.
In addition to trying to put your fears into words through prayer, you can also try to immerse yourself in a hymn you like – or read the Bible, suggests Aviaja Rohmann Hansen.
- There are some texts in it that can provide peace, she says and continues:
- Or you can go for a walk. I use nature a lot. Because God is omnipresent.
Not everyone is religious or believes in God. Can you still use church or come and talk to a priest about your anxiety?
- Yes, we don't judge. And we don't stand out front and ask if people are believers. We invite everyone: come to church, and then you can use it how you want, she answers.
