When we were in Malawi, the squad was asked to pray about spending two months in one country. After a day of prayer, my team volunteered. So when we traveled to Estonia, it was with the knowledge that at the end of March we would not be moving on, but (thankfully) keeping our bags unpacked where we were. After the first two months where the ministries did not give us an opportunity to build relationships, it has been fantastic to be in one place and really invest. Our ministry this month is working with an Estonian man who has set up a café in a small town called Valga. We’ve got a bunch of the locals who come play cards or music, they speak in English while we butcher Estonian and Russian, and just hang out. It’s such a blast. God has had His hand on our little team and we’ve grown closer in the few weeks we’ve been here.
We all live in a small apartment, complete with a “wall” made of a wardrobe, tents and chitangue’s hanging from the ceiling, and a curtain door to separate the men’s sleeping area from the women’s. There’s also a random staircase in the room going to the blocked off downstairs apartment. Our work is approximately a one-minute walk from our house. Maybe a minute and a half when we have to wait for a car to pass so we can cross the street. We eat lunch at the high school up the street. When we first got to Estonia, it was approximately 35 degrees., and hasn’t yet warmed up. Vastly different from the 85 it had been in Malawi. But God hooked us up with an amazing ministry contact, who owns second hand shops and allowed us to go shopping for warm clothes at no cost! So we got many bulky sweaters, coats, and winter shoes. We were also able to get things for our apartment. My favorite may be the electric kettle that allows me to have hot tea or coffee within 3 minutes! Which is really good since we are expecting snow! We have wifi, but only on the windowsill. So it’s entertaining to see multiple people standing against the window and teasing each other when one person “steals the wifi”.
So I may not be going to all 11 countries I initially signed up for. But I do get to run a café in Estonia for 2 months. And since Valga is on the border of Estonia and Latvia and I can walk to Latvia in under 5 minutes, I may technically count it as 11 in 11!
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