I am currently in Estonia, which is located in Eastern Europe next to Russia. I am learning a lot about this country and its history. I’ve learned of their victories and their hardships. The younger generation here are facing many tough things when it comes to living a life with Christ. There isn’t persecution like we see in other countries, but they face other trials. It is a spiritually dry place and religion has held many people back from experiencing an abundant life with Christ.
One of the days I was doing outreach and was playing various sports with two teenagers. After playing with them for a few hours, we got into a conversation about why we were there in Estonia. My teammate Sarah and I talked with the young guys (12 and 13 yr old) who were both atheists. They said how a lot of Estonians do not believe in God. When I asked them if there was a chance that they would believe in God they said “Yes”. I then asked what would make them believe, and they answered “If God appeared to me and did a miracle in front of me”. Then they continued saying “Ya, I would even go to school the next day and tell people what happened”. Then they hesitated and thought for a second. “But, then the people at school probably wouldn’t believe me”. These two boys were bothered by the fact that they would probably be made fun of for their belief in something they couldn’t see. Belief in God wasn’t just a mind thing, it was a social one as well.
So far in Estonia we have had various types of ministry opportunities. Our first week we went to 2 different youth groups and hung out and played with the youth. We also went to a mental hospital and put on a service where we got to share our testimonies, sing some worship songs and pray for them. On Independance Day we had a day off and visited an old city called Tartu that has a famous University there. Kyle, Alyssa and I got to explore a 1500 year old church and we finished the day by eating a delicious American meal where Kyle ate the best burger in his life. (I had a bite of it and agree that it was probably the best burger I had too!)
The next week we did ministry at a church on Sunday. Sarah shared her testimony, Kyle and Joel led worship and I preached. In the past few years I have come to really enjoy preaching and I love being able to share with people about Christ from a stage. I believe I am getting a lot better at it. Another day, the church we are helping with had a fundraiser/outreach event. They had a bunch of clothes that were donated and were selling them for very cheap. In the morning we were deciding on who was going to share their testimony throughout the day and Sarah was one of them. She was feeling led to dance for the people at the event. So we all agreed she should do that. Whlie she was dancing, the presence of God was very evident in the room. There was a woman who was frozen in her tracks. Most people kept looking at clothes, but her eyes were fixed on Sarah dancing. Chenea then got a word of Knowledge that this lady’s left knee needed healing. Later the lady approached the pastor saying that she wanted prayer for her left knee! So the pastor told Chenea and she grabbed me and Sarah to come pray for her. As we walked up the stairs with this lady to pray, there was a major limp in her walk. I was suprised she even made it up the stairs. We began to pray for her and anointed her with oil. As we prayed, she felt her leg get really hot. And after we prayed she said her leg got really cold. After we were done praying, she was healed! She walked down the stairs perfectly! After talking to her and hearing about her life, we found out her husband and her had walked away from the church and God 10 years ago. She only came to the church to help look after her daughters kids. She ended up getting healed and now her husband and her want to find a good church and come back to God. She prayed and dedicated her life back to Jesus. It was amazing to see what happens when we listen to the Holy Spirit and act on what He tells us to do.
During that 2nd week we left for 4 days of Bible Camp. The church we are staying at puts it on every year and we were able to come along side and help in any way we could. There were about 20 youth there in total and we got to connect with them in an awesome way, despite the short amount of time. I loved being at the camp. Every year since I was about 5, I have been going to a Bible Camp that my church puts on. I am missing it this year for the first time, but God knows my heart. He blessed me with a few days of camp. My biggest passions were all there. I got to share with people about Jesus, take pictures, pray over people and get words for them, hang out and play sports with youth, be in a different culture with a different language, and have many deep, spiritual conversations with people. This week was probably the best week on the World Race so far. I had never been so filled with the Holy Spirit for such a long period of time. It seemed like every time I opened my hands and put them in a posture of receiving I would get those “Holy Spirit shivers”. It was an incredible week and God used my team and I in awesome ways.
This past week we partnered with an organization called Josiah Ventures. They put on English Camps every summer and preach the gospel to youth that come to learn English. We did outreach during the day and befriended people, then invited them to come back to the church for supper and a service. It was a very busy week and our team was quite exhausted at the end. We have Monday off and will be getting some much needed rest. We will be helping run a VBS on Tuesday to Thursday. Then I’m not quite sure for the last few days. At the end of the month our Squad will be meeting in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, for a debrief before we go into our last 4 countries. We head to Laos next, then Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
I am still needing to reach my final deadline for my support raising. I am about $1200 away. If you would like to donate, click the “Support Me” button or donate to Christian Fellowship Assembly. Thank you for Your support!
Some things I could use prayer for include rest, financial provision, and for God to prepare me for transitioning from Europe to South a East Asia.
