Each day here seems to be led by God. Today's theme was prayer. We left Camp Gideon in the bright sunshine. We prayed before we left that we might be open to what God brings our way. We drove south past lake Pepsi (not the spelling but sounds like it) on our way to Voru to see Kaupo and Thea Kant. We stopped in Tartu for lunch. Tartu was a large university city, Estonian for sure and very hip and trendy. Cafes all around. We visited the UMC there. It was beautifully constructed only 9 years ago. Pastor Priit happened to be at the church and he gave us a tour. We prayed for him and the ministry there in Tartu.
Next we drove south and met Kaupo and Thea Kant. Scott and Kate were in small group with them in Asbury Seminary. It was soooo good to see them. We ate with them for lunch (awesome as usual) then gave a tour of their church under construction. They are people of faith and deeply value prayer. We prayed for Voru church on the building site. We saw all the work of FBSUMC on their mission trip a month ago and how much progress has been made. After Kaupo picked up Tea, pastor of Viitka church south of Voru. This church in Viitka has great God stories that time does not permit me to write. Bottom line, God provided this small rural town with a church, a building, and a ministry to youth. The pastor has so much faith and pastors while still looking for a full time job. We prayed for Viitka church.
We then drove to Russian Border, saw it and prayed. We drove to Latvian border (15min away) and took pictures. We drove to another church south west of voru and heard great stories of how God is working in rural areas. We saw another UMC there and prayed for it. We then went to highest mountain (hill) in Estonia and Baltic Region and prayed for the whole country of Estonia. We closed our evening with Dinner at the Kants. Once again, great stories of how God is working and providing. Thea's father is very ill and we had to leave. Please pray for Rein right now in Tallinn.
We left our extra supplies from Aseri with Kaupo and Thea and their ministry to children and outreach. We closed as a team debriefing the day and in prayer. God has shown me a couple things. First, what we are seeing here is apostolic Christianity. one believer bringing in someone to faith, discipling them, training them and moving out. Kaupo led both people who are serving as pastors in Viitka and other church in southwest to the Lord and later discipled them for ministry. This kind of ministry is slow and does not have large numbers at first, but shows fruit over the years.
Second, I see the value of staying in one area for time. Pastors here don't move, much, they are called to regions. Pastor Viktor in Aseri for 9 years, Pastor Priit in Tartu for 16 yrs (he is only 42), Kaupo in Voru since 1996 (15 yrs). Imagine all leaders of Estonian Methodist church were the size of crusaders sunday school class (40 ish). Imagine them covering a whole country. Their job to advance the church is to grow it by conversions, not to move up the ladder. Many of the pastors are bivocational and have it extremely hard. I realize I have to do a better job in prayer.
Third, seeing five different church locations today including camp Gideon, helps me place Aseri building and ministry needs in larger context. There will be more discussions when coming home on how to best partner with Aseri Church.
Tomorrow off to Tallinn for two days. God Bless you.
Scott for Team
