“When Estonians were recently asked whether religion played an important role in their life, only 20% said yes. It suggests the Baltic country is, statistically, the least religious country in the world.” When I read this heart dropping sentence in an article by BBC , I became more excited to see what Estonia had to offer for our Unsung Hero month in the capital of a country that was so lost
This month has been so different than anything I’ve experience on the Race so far and far from what I thought it would be. After doing UH in South Africa where there were ministries abound and too many meetings to count, I was definitely thinking this month would be pretty similar. But I told myself not to have any expectations, let it be God’s will, not mine
We started off the month like any good racer during UH would, research. We all took to wifi and googled until our brains were fried and we couldn’t stare at screens anymore. We found a lot of contacts and we were all excited to reach out to them and to get meetings set up with different churches and ministries. We emailed, we called, and we visited. And the response started coming in! Unfortunately, some of them only spoke Estonian or Russian, many were on vacation since it is summer break here, and our contact list started to dwindle.
But we all knew that if we were meant to be overloaded with contacts, God would provide them. We had successful meetings with a couple of ministries and we knew that we were talking to those whom God had prepared for us
We continued to pray and see what each of us heard from God. We knew if we weren’t getting a lot of responses, God had another plan for what ministry looked like this month. The common denominator seemed to be that we felt we needed to create relationships with the people of Estonia. So we took to the streets. We’ve gone on prayer walks and treasure hunts, seeking out who God puts in our path. This month wasn’t going to be just about finding contacts, it was also going to be about spreading the love of Jesus through our actions and our conversations in everyday life.
We found that our biggest ministry with people was going to be the hostel we are staying in. The way we found this place was so obviously God that we knew he wanted us here for a reason, not just for a roof over our heads. As we started to create relationships with other people staying here, as well as the employees, we saw a hunger and a question for something more. We all felt the Lord telling us how much he loved these people and that he wanted them to come home. We have had an amazing time just loving on the people here and talking to them, learning about their lives, and their beliefs. Through our conversations we have been able to tell them about our beliefs and show them that Christianity isn’t something that is only for their parents, but for everyone. We’ve been able to share that it isn’t about religion and rules, but about a relationship with Jesus. We’ve seen wide eyes opened to things they’ve never heard before and minds start to wonder about something more. Even if we don’t see them accept Jesus first hand, we’re planting the seeds of his love and letting it grow.
The people of Estonia may not be religious, but they are hungry for something more. They have an idea of oppressive Russian Orthodox religious ideals, that Jesus is only for the poor and needy, and so many other harmful ‘religious’ beliefs that they don’t see Jesus as the answer. But through showing them that it’s about His love for us, and not about a church telling you what to do or not to do, the eyes of Estonians can be opened and the love of Jesus shared, their hunger can be satisfied. So that’s what we’re doing this month, sharing His love for his children
“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” – 2 John 1:6
Thank you for all of your support and prayers! I and my team leader, Sareece, are both still fundraising and we are both so close to being fully fully funded! Check out her blog as well and donate to help us both stay on the race!
