Estonia
Situation in the country
Estonia is the northernmost Baltic state on the Baltic sea. The Russian occupation of the country in 1940 brought death to many Estonians and is responsible for a reserved relationship with Russia. After the collapse of the USSR, Estonia focussed clearly on the west, becoming a member of the EU and of NATO. First and foremost, Finland invested a great deal in its neighbour. After the collapse of communism, Estonia was economically the strongest of the former states of the USSR. But since the world-wide economic crisis, things have been looking much bleaker for the economy.
The high rate of unemployment threatens the economic existence of the population.
In the Soviet Union, all religious persuasions were persecuted, but independence led to religious freedom. Over 50 % of the population do not belong to a religious body. The Orthodox (mainly Russians) and Protestants (mainly Estonians) are well-balanced with approx. 14 % of the population each, and 4.9 % of all Estonians are evangelical Christians.
What we do in Estonia
Our mission "Valgus Estonia" is situated in the town of Narva, in the northeast of the country. Here, Russian-speaking people are living. Once this was Estonia's industrial region. After independence was gained most of the factories were closed, and the unemployment rate is still very high today. That is why it is our aim to help the churches and the people to live under these conditions. We work together with the seven Baptist churches in our region and hold joint camps. The TROPINKA holiday camp for children and teenagers has been held now for over 20 years.
Some years ago we began to run week-long day clubs on the premises of the Baptist church in Narva. We then suggested this idea to other churches: Small churches that had no possibility to hold this kind of club with their own people, asked young people from other churches to help them. In this way in some churches a ministry with children and teenagers was started.
Later we developed the concept of mobile children's playgrounds, which are visited by up to 400 children in the course of a weekend. We also hand out literature and magazines and offer subscriptions to the magazines. We have subsequently suggested this ministry to other churches.
In the meantime, we also hold meetings for youngsters in the youth club and in the town's "House of Nations" where we rent a sports hall for games and Bible study.
In our churches we endeavour to convey a vision for evangelisation and to gain as many helpers as possible for various ministries. When we hold children's clubs on the grounds of the church, we are helped by about 40 volunteers - young and old - from our churches.
Day clubs or mobile children's playgrounds are generally run on the grounds outside the church hall so as to reduce people's reservations.
"You are just quite normal people", a father once said who had come with his child. We offer various attractions for children aged three to seventeen, for example we rent roundabouts, a large bouncy castle and a candyfloss machine. For taking part in the various stations points can be scored, the highest number for participating in Sunday school lessons.The points can then be exchanged for candyfloss, a ride on a roundabout or bouncing on the bouncy castle. Or pencils, notebooks or our magazines can be "bought" at a stand.
We have discovered: When we simply give away our books, nobody wants them. But when we offer them for sale, they all sell. Apart from this, we offer a trial subscription for our magazines and hand out invitations to Sunday school. People are keen to leave their address so as to receive information about further meetings.
We help out every year at various holiday camps, hikes, paddle and bicycle tours. In doing so we consider it to be our responsibility to encourage young people and train leaders for this kind of ministry.
Every year we hold evangelistic evenings in connection with the Christmas gift box initiative, with performances in our own church and now, too, in neighbouring churches. These events are for children from the church and their school friends, but also for children who we reach through contacts with the Association of Families with Many Children and the Association for the Handicapped. We also invite adults to these events and afterwards hold an evangelistic evening for them.
Some years ago, the Lord opened the door for us to collaborate with "Radio Eliâ". We had never dared to dream of this kind of ministry. The transmission range spans an area from the north of Russia across the Urals to the Black Sea. At that time we began to work on five programmes. Today, one of our co-workers is chief editor of the Russian-language broadcasts.
For a long time there were only two of us in the mission. Meanwhile we have gained a third colleague for the ministry to children and teenagers in the town. Once a week he leads the youth club in a room in the town centre which is made available to us free of charge. Besides this, on Saturdays he organises a meeting for teenagers from the church and their friends in a sports hall. Up to 20 people come.
Prayer requests
It is our wish that we ourselves might live in a deep relationship with God. Then we can recognise specifically where the Lord would like to use us, so that even more churches and Christians in our country might be encouraged to make the Gospel known in different ways.