It was a great day at Aseri. We started the morning with a relaxed timetable at Camp Gideon, where several of us sat out by the Baltic Sea. It was a good time of personal worship. We left to head to Aseri Church for the worship service starting at noon. This was a special day for the church because it was to celebrate the fall harvest. This is an annual event for churches and families in Estonia to give thanks for the food that God provides. There's no designated day for this celebration, so it's a blessing for us to be here when Aseri Church celebrated. They made a beautiful display of vegetables, fruits, and flowers grown by church members and offered as a thanks offering.
Church is normally two hours in Aseri, and today was no exception; however, we kept going for many hours with a fellowship time. It was a joyous time of worship together. There were many elements to our time there, including singing led by both the church and us and a solo by Scott. Pastor Viktor led a prayer time, including prayer for America because of 9/11. Kate, Rachel, and Jim shared their testimonies, and Jim gave a message from Colossians 2. Scott and Pastor Viktor together led in giving the Lord's supper. It was a great worship service. Even though separated by language and country, we have everything in common in Christ.
Then, following the 2-hour service, we started in on the time for fellowship. The women of the church prepared a feast for us, including lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. There was plenty of delicious food, and no one left hungry. A church from a neighboring town joined us for the meal and began the singing. We sang for the next few hours! It was fantastic and included an accordion, tambourine, guitars, and keyboard at various times. The children got up an recited thanksgiving poems, and several adults read poems and writings. We were sorry we couldn't join in singing the Russian songs with everyone else. Things finally began to wrap up around 6:30 pm, and it was about 7:30 when we left. How often can you say you were at a Sunday church event for 7 hours and loved every minute of it?
Even though we had feasted in the afternoon, we decided we should have a light supper. We went to a hotel and restaurant on the Baltic Sea not far from Camp Gideon. Wow -- it was a nice place with great food and a great location.
We're tired and ready for bed. Tomorrow we're off to the south of the country to the city of Voru.
