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Acts 16:31
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
I love family. I love the family that God has put me in physically - my wife and daughters and the wider family connected with them. I also love the family God has put me in spiritually - His church - around the world. Many nationalities, many skin colours, yet all brothers and sisters in Christ. I love the whole family set up.
And what is really exciting at the start of life here in Tallinn is the numbers of whole families, households, that are joining what is starting here or starting to come to events - it's great that God is helping us meet whole households as new friends here in Tallinn.
At the two international meals we've hosted at our flat as part of the gathering for Hope:Tallinn, each time we've seen husband and wife with children coming along and meeting other people that are already involved with us.
And our prayer is that, as quoted above from Acts, we see whole households coming to know the same love and acceptance that we have found in Jesus. The same forgiveness of sins. The same freedom from the fear of death, with absolute knowledge and confidence of eternal life to come.
The battle is being fought for the souls of these dear people of Tallinn - living in the most secular and godless nation in Europe. The Mormons are here, preaching a twisted truth. Jehovah's witnesses are here looking for people to trap into law and working for salvation. The simple message that Jesus has already done everything for us and we just need to accept his gift of life to us needs to be preached to set thousands of people free. And it's to this end that we are here - the harvest field needs so many more workers - but we are here with others at least making a start.
Autumn is a really beautiful time of year in Tallinn. We never really noticed Autumn too much in St Petersburg, largely because we couldn't see any trees from where we lived so didn't notice the leaves changing colour. But we can't help but notice them here and it's great to really appreciate this time of year, even if it is about to usher in wintertime - I am really looking forward to being blown away by the beauty of wintertime in this part of Tallinn! We know, having arrived in March, that the sea shown in these photos will be frozen, as it was still frozen when we first got to Tallinn. So it'll be great to get to walk on water, just a little...
In the last update I mentioned about our first Vision Sunday which is happening once a month. That was 8 days ago now, and the symbolism was encouraging. The previous weekend I'd been in St Petersburg, meeting the crowds at Hope Church as I've talked about in that last post. Four years ago that all started with 6 people. So with just the three couples making it to this first vision Sunday (plus another 6 children) it was great to reflect how, with the same number of people four years previously, a vibrant church had since emerged in St Petersburg. All God's doing, of course. But great to think that we can see God do it again here in Tallinn!
So we are believing in God for a lot more to come! We are believing for whole households to be saved. We are believing for musicians and leaders and servers and welcomers and children's workers to come and join us and together reach this great city of Tallinn. We are believing for a church that unites a broken and divided nation - for Estonians and Russians, as well as Latvians, Finns, Brits, Dutch and Americans to worship the same God, arm in arm, hand in hand, united in a way that no human ideas or initiatives can. United as brothers and sisters of the same God, the only God - our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We are believing for the outbreak of healings and miracles. We are believing for the prophetic to cut to the core of the coldest hearts. We are believing for God to do all that God can do.
10,000 reasons - no, it's not reference to a song by Matt Redman, but the fact that this week should see the 10,000th viewer to posts on this blog, since I started tracking the stats. That is so amazing and encouraging! To know that people all around the world are reading and following this adventure with us. For example, this last week has seen readers from the USA, UK, Estonia, Sweden, Netherlands, Latvia, France, Russia, Ukraine, Columbia, Hong Kong and Rwanda! This post going out will also mark the 6000th view on this blog since we moved to Tallinn - which was just 7 months ago! We are so encouraged by this and every comment, reply, email or call - knowing we are not alone in this adventure, but together through your prayers, with thousands around the world.
Please keep praying for us as we continue to face challenges in a few areas that we await God's wisdom and clarity on, but continue to walk through all the doors that God has opened for us.
Next up on this blog I continue with the Church Planter series featuring our first entry from a church planter in the USA...
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
And what is really exciting at the start of life here in Tallinn is the numbers of whole families, households, that are joining what is starting here or starting to come to events - it's great that God is helping us meet whole households as new friends here in Tallinn.At the two international meals we've hosted at our flat as part of the gathering for Hope:Tallinn, each time we've seen husband and wife with children coming along and meeting other people that are already involved with us.
And our prayer is that, as quoted above from Acts, we see whole households coming to know the same love and acceptance that we have found in Jesus. The same forgiveness of sins. The same freedom from the fear of death, with absolute knowledge and confidence of eternal life to come.
The battle is being fought for the souls of these dear people of Tallinn - living in the most secular and godless nation in Europe. The Mormons are here, preaching a twisted truth. Jehovah's witnesses are here looking for people to trap into law and working for salvation. The simple message that Jesus has already done everything for us and we just need to accept his gift of life to us needs to be preached to set thousands of people free. And it's to this end that we are here - the harvest field needs so many more workers - but we are here with others at least making a start.
Autumn is a really beautiful time of year in Tallinn. We never really noticed Autumn too much in St Petersburg, largely because we couldn't see any trees from where we lived so didn't notice the leaves changing colour. But we can't help but notice them here and it's great to really appreciate this time of year, even if it is about to usher in wintertime - I am really looking forward to being blown away by the beauty of wintertime in this part of Tallinn! We know, having arrived in March, that the sea shown in these photos will be frozen, as it was still frozen when we first got to Tallinn. So it'll be great to get to walk on water, just a little...
In the last update I mentioned about our first Vision Sunday which is happening once a month. That was 8 days ago now, and the symbolism was encouraging. The previous weekend I'd been in St Petersburg, meeting the crowds at Hope Church as I've talked about in that last post. Four years ago that all started with 6 people. So with just the three couples making it to this first vision Sunday (plus another 6 children) it was great to reflect how, with the same number of people four years previously, a vibrant church had since emerged in St Petersburg. All God's doing, of course. But great to think that we can see God do it again here in Tallinn!
So we are believing in God for a lot more to come! We are believing for whole households to be saved. We are believing for musicians and leaders and servers and welcomers and children's workers to come and join us and together reach this great city of Tallinn. We are believing for a church that unites a broken and divided nation - for Estonians and Russians, as well as Latvians, Finns, Brits, Dutch and Americans to worship the same God, arm in arm, hand in hand, united in a way that no human ideas or initiatives can. United as brothers and sisters of the same God, the only God - our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We are believing for the outbreak of healings and miracles. We are believing for the prophetic to cut to the core of the coldest hearts. We are believing for God to do all that God can do.
10,000 reasons - no, it's not reference to a song by Matt Redman, but the fact that this week should see the 10,000th viewer to posts on this blog, since I started tracking the stats. That is so amazing and encouraging! To know that people all around the world are reading and following this adventure with us. For example, this last week has seen readers from the USA, UK, Estonia, Sweden, Netherlands, Latvia, France, Russia, Ukraine, Columbia, Hong Kong and Rwanda! This post going out will also mark the 6000th view on this blog since we moved to Tallinn - which was just 7 months ago! We are so encouraged by this and every comment, reply, email or call - knowing we are not alone in this adventure, but together through your prayers, with thousands around the world.
Please keep praying for us as we continue to face challenges in a few areas that we await God's wisdom and clarity on, but continue to walk through all the doors that God has opened for us.
Next up on this blog I continue with the Church Planter series featuring our first entry from a church planter in the USA...
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