I have arrived in Estonia! And what a delightful day it has been. I only have a moment to write tonight, but I will fill in more details later. On my flight over I had a very interesting conversation with a gentleman that I sat beside. He is not a Christian, and we ended up talking about God for over 2 hours. As I was talking with him, I realized how much I love the Lord. It was a good reminder to me why I am on this journey. My heart broke for this guy beside me b/c he could not even define who God is. It was an opportunity to tell him how much God loves people. I pray that God will use our conversation to help this man.
When I landed in Tallinn, Estonia this afternoon at 1:55pm (6:55am EST) Viktor, the pastor of our sister church, along with 3 teenage girls (Christina, Victoria, and Tonya) were there to greet me with flowers! What a treat! We drove to Vikor's home where his wife Raja (pronounced Rye-a) was making lunch. The 3 teenage girls jumped in immediately to help her finish cook. It was fun to watch Viktor and Raja interact with these 3 girls from their congregation. They were like family. Well... the first meal began - and it was a spread - chicken, rice, cut up veggies, sliced solomi, and beans. Directly afterwards they brought tea cups in for hot tea and dessert - another spread. It was delicious! And such a blessing to be sitting around a table with people who barely speak english. It makes for good conversation - add in a little hand motions and dramatic facial expressions to get your point across! Funny! Oh, and yes, it does get dark around 3:30pm here... and it is pitch black - like middle of the night. That's going to be interesting. : )
After lunch Viktor drove the 3 girls and I to the local community center in the village where Viktor lives (it's not in Aseri - or Tallinn). There they had a big gym. The youth pastor from Tallinn's Methodist comes often and plays games with local childern in this village. Well... I jumped right in. I played my first game ever of floor hockey, then we played Russian style dodge ball, and finished with soccer. After 2 hours of running - I'm pooped to say the least.
We have sat around tonight and just chatted. Viktor played a little guitar. Christina sang a little. Good fellowship. And something that has stood out is that we pray together all the time. The 3 teen girls are having a slumber party at Viktor and Raja's house tonight, so before we all went to bed Viktor prayed with us. Of course I have no clue what he is saying, but even when we don't understand a language, things can be communicated. I really feel the presence of God.
Good night to you all. Will try to post pictures tomorrow...
Rachel
