At the end of August 2024 we had the privilege of traveling to Estonia to teach a group of students from Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary at their annual study retreat. There were people from Latvia, Finland, Italy, Nigeria, New Zealand, America, Russia, and Estonia. We gathered at a Camp Gideon on the edge of the Baltic Sea.
It was remarkable to be proclaiming the Gospel and calling people to whole-life discipleship, on the very campground that had been a children’s Pioneer camp (communist indoctrination) when Estonia was under Russian occupation 30 years ago.
The challenges of translating everything into English, Estonian and Russian during the teaching sessions were overcome with the help of the amazing translators and the power of the Spirit. Language is no obstacle to the Spirit and we truly experienced what it meant to fellowship in the Spirit and share heart with heart. A few times Phil found he was actually given the gift of interpreting tongues as he listened to someone speaking Russian but heard English without the translator!
Over three days we shared teaching about missional discipleship as a way of life and how fellowship bands and house fellowship are means for making disciples who make disciples.
It was interesting to talk about ‘fellowship’ when there is no word for that in Russian or Estonia! And yet how rich it was to explain what we meant in lots of different ways. It was also a reminder that even in the West the word fellowship is rarely used to mean ‘koinonia’ – life together, communion, heart-to-heart relationship, communication in the Spirit, relationship, FRIENDSHIP.
We put people in fellowship bands each day – no small feat when you have to make sure everyone is in a group with people who speak a common language! They often ran over time by their own choice and the move of the Spirit in their midst was evident.
Please join us in praying for:
- Protection over the seeds that were planted and the fruit that was already beginning to show.
- Lives to continue to be transformed by Jesus through the work of the Seminary in Estonia and beyond.
- Sensitivity to the Spirit so we are ready to respond to any opportunities to develop deeper relationships with our new friends in Estonia.
Phil and Samantha
