Update from Tallinn - December 2014

Remember us?  I've had it in mind to update everyone for sometime.  I didn't realise the last time we'd put an update out here was back in July! That is a long time ago!  In fact, looking at my frequency of blogging, this post will be number seven of the year, that's all.  That's the lowest annual total in the seven years I've been blogging!

It's not for lack of things to write about.

I guess it's not totally true to say I haven't been blogging entirely.  In November I was given a weekly spot on the Families First blog, my short posts on 'Mission as a family' go out every Friday and you can find the last one here. 

And if I'm brutally honest with you, as I've always intended on being on a blog titled 'hearing my heart' these last few months have been quite a struggle. We'll come to that later.

Here are the headlines for this update:

• POG Camp in Latvia in August
• NEW Weekend in Helsinki in September
• New School Term, New Job for Rachel.
• Regular Prayer Events Started
• Team Growth - Present and Future
• Parenting Course

In August (which does feel like a lifetime ago and it actually was, especially when I look outside!) we traveled down to the small town of Ergli in Latvia to join many others from around the Baltic region, as well as the UK, for the 'Presence of God' conference, hosted by Mike Betts and his team from Relational Mission.

Matt Medd, together with the other guys in the Riga church plant, had done an amazing job of organising the event for us all.

There were meetings for the adults and a whole program for the children who loved their time together.  Many new friends were made and existing friendships strengthened.  As well as the UK, there were people from Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden.

As you can see from these pictures, the weather was great and the campsite perfect for hanging around and spending time with friends. For the more adventurous, there was the zip line, which both Rachel and Mia tried out!

The lake was great for swimming in, though Mia did develop some form of skin infection that resulted in a trip to a local doctors there.

The teaching was fantastic.  Mike Betts and Angela Kemm, as well as Phil Whittall (Grace Church, Stockholm) really encouraged us.

The sense of being together, coming from similar situations and yet caught up in something bigger, was really fantastic.

Many people had been able to meet up at an event in Stockholm earlier in the year in May, when Terry Virgo had traveled to Sweden to speak on Grace.  This POG event in August, longer and with more people present based around a camp site, allowed greater relationships to be built and formed a second meeting point in the region for the year.

A third one was about to happen too, this time in Finland, the following month.

NEW Event - Helsinki

Kevin and Lydia Jones, together with their team in Helsinki, did a wonderful job of hosting a Friday-Sunday conference.  The NEW event has been around for some years in the RM family and I'd been to the last two, speaking at the last one, both hosted in Riga.  This was the first time it had come to Finland, the church plant there barely one year old.

Again this time I had the great honour of being asked to share at one of the sessions, speaking about the realities of church planting, but with faith.  I think I managed to stick to my mandate and in truth received the best feedback and encouragement I think I've ever had.  The other speakers, all from the UK, did a wonderful job in serving us over the weekend, as did the team that were looking after the children.

Rebekah had been able to join us from Tallinn, though sadly Arnoud and Elisabeth had had to pull out at the last minute, though their oldest daughter did also travel with us for the trip.

Again there was a great sense of togetherness. Latvia, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, The UK and of course Estonia was represented.

Looking back, I realise how much I cherish these times together.  The travel and time, and of course expense, is all worth it because of the chance to meet together, with people going through the same things you are, in contexts and nations very similar to our own.

And so we hit the Autumn...

The summer had been a busy time as I mentioned in the last update, with these camps and conferences following on as mentioned above.  Midway through August, the transition into a different time was already happening. Rachel started a new job as a class teacher in the Tallinn European School. The school itself is only in its second year, and Rachel is a class teacher to grade one children.  The job was only meant to be part time (Mon-Thurs) and while it has settled down a little, in time but not energy levels, in the early months it was fair to say it was all consuming, and in many regards still very much is.  There have been a few Friday's already when she's needed to be in, and one whole weekend when she had to be at school for some special training taking place!  Several months in, it's said she's got the most difficult class in the school. Much grace is needed and your prayers for her would certainly be good.  It has opened up new doors and many avenues of relationship.  It's another step at integration for us as a family.  And it's certainly one of the things that has added to a very real, very intense few months.

Prayer Events

On the back of the summer, with the sense of momentum and fresh vision seemingly building towards a key phase approaching, we entered September with a week of prayer, finishing on the Saturday night with a prayer and worship night, which we did in partnership with another local church.  It was thought this was just a one off event.  

For that night itself, events transpired that three churches were actually together.  By the end of the night, which was enjoyed by all, we were left with the feeling that God was in this, and maybe something more regular should happen, where churches come together, laying down agendas, gathering to worship and pray for Tallinn, Estonia and the nations.  I spoke with the other churches and settled on the feeling that a regular bimonthly prayer event should take place.  We held the next one therefore in November and saw four churches represented.  We're hoping there will be at least five present when we meet next in the New Year, on January 10th.  The photo shows the worship band for the last event, made up from people from three different churches.

Going forward, I do feel for next year these prayer events, happening across churches in Tallinn, are really important times for us and appropriate focus and time should be given to them.  The last move of God that happened in Estonia, whilst it was still part of the Soviet Union in fact, happened in the late 1970s.  In a Union that denied God, common practice was to force all denominations to use a single facility.  It was a clever ploy - rather than going as far as to outlaw the church entirely, they knew throwing them all together, each with their different traditions and beliefs, and the church would end up destroying itself.  Well, it didn't work, of course.  And what happened in Tallinn, in St Olav's Church in the Old Town, was they started to pray. Churches forced together and now praying together.  And dramatic things started to happen. Miracles and healings.  News spread right across the Soviet Union and people came to Tallinn, until the KGB forced the revival to shut down, giving the leaders at the time an ultimatum that sadly they agreed to.

Whilst we live in relatively free times, the spiritual climate in Estonia couldn't be darker.  It's sometimes tangible. We've had several people comment on passing through Tallinn how they had this spiritual sense of something, an oppression, not felt in other local capital cities, a region that is all very secular with very few churches.  What is it about Tallinn and Estonia that makes people say this?  I don't know, but we feel it too.  Prayer is the key because prayer is talking to God and He is the only one on which this matter ultimately depends.

Lights in the Darkness

We are of course called to be lights in the dark world.  The excitement and activity of the summer, with the events in Tallinn and relational events elsewhere, gave us sight of something beyond us.  It's as if the realities of being once more 'on the ground', with natural daylight drawing shorter each day, has taken its toll. The momentum and energy there was in September has come and gone. Whilst the midweek home group has always been weekly and still is, the autumn saw us launching a fortnightly Sunday gathering more like a church meeting than anything else.  Gathering events would still happen around them.  But we haven't seen the crowds coming and these meetings have slowed us down, if I'm honest.  With a new year approaching, I need to look again with eyes of vision and understand what God has for us next.

It's God Who Has Gathered the Team

One thing I keep coming back to, when I often ask the question "how are we possibly going to see a church planted here" is to remind myself that it's His church, and His job!  Also, I take great encouragement from the fact that the team that has already gathered, and which is still growing, is God's doing! Right from Arnoud & Elisabeth, the first family to move to join us, through to Enrico, Stephen, Ketlin and Rebekah, all have come because God did something in their hearts, which caused them to get in contact.  In August, Maki joined us too.  Japanese by birth, she'd just moved from Panama in central America to take a job at the International School.  She brings a lot of passion and is very much on board with us, which I'm so thankful for, even if I don't yet know what it is we are needing to do as a church plant!

God has also spoken to another English lady, Sherron Fensome, who is looking to move to Tallinn in April next year. Please pray for her as she makes final preparations, especially in relation to a job.

What's become clear to me, and something so different to our experience in St Petersburg, is that to plant a church in Estonia will take a long time.  It's like a warfare situation.  Some wars are won quickly, airstrikes, shock and awe.  Others are long and drawn out, person to person, decade to decade. In relation to church planting, Estonia is certainly the latter.

And we are prepared for the long haul.  We have settled here, we largely love life here and never felt this was going to be a quick effort.  But it also drains vision.  To see people not attending something, to hear other churches longing for the same thing we are - to see just one person saved!

So it's a time of assessment.  Of reflecting on where we've been and where we need to be going.  Most of all, it's a time where we need to hear God on what to do next.

Parenting Course

One thing that we have wanted to do for a long time and were able to put on recently was a course to help parents. Gary and Fiona Blackwell, from Stockport Family Church, UK, helped us greatly by coming over to Tallinn for a long weekend and as part of that putting on this one off seminar, that saw a largely new crowd of people gathered, if not a huge crowd.  It was perfect for what followed.  We were able to put on a Kids Club at the same time so that the parents, in theory anyway, could have time to talk during the seminar without the distraction of their children.  Future courses for parents, as well as courses looking at marriage, are still in my thinking, as we look at practical ways of really helping people in Tallinn.

Visits

Tallinn remains a popular destination and the last few months have seen people passing through.  Some just as tourists, others exploring opportunities here.  I mentioned Sherron above, who was here when John and Liz Barrett, from Alton, Hampshire, happened to be arriving for the day on a Baltic Sea cruise.  We all met up for some time. Rachel was taking this photo, and Mia was at ballet at the time.

Josie Rogers, a student currently in St Petersburg, is also a more regular visitor to Tallinn, having been over in the summer to help us with the team.  She is planning on coming to do a voluntary year (or more!) in Tallinn from September 2016.

John Putman, a church leader from the UK, was also passing through again. He'd traveled up from Riga and had two nights in Tallinn, sharing during our midweek meeting.

Tim the Writer

A growing part of my professional life over the last few years has been in relation to writing, as I hope many of you already know by now (or I've been doing something rather wrong in my communication of this exciting fact!)  How I balance the increasing demands of a writers life with that of church life (not to mention, of course, my higher priorities as husband and father!) remains a challenge I need to still understand. Clearly, with church at the stage we are still at, there is less of a clash - I dare not ask myself the question that am I part of the reason we are still at this stage?

With my second novel due out next month (January 2015 - and yes, you will hear a lot more about that in the coming weeks!), I'm working hard to develop this important next step in my writing career.  Over the last month or so I've seen an explosion of followers on social media, my author account on Twitter has gone through the 5000 followers mark and grows daily.  It remains to be seen, following on from the relative success of my debut novel, what this translates into take up for the new novel, titled The Last Prophet.  

A third novel is already written in first draft form and I will start a fourth novel in January.  One thing that is coming to light over recent weeks in Estonia is that in certain circles, I am becoming known because I am an author.  And this is leading to questions of why I chose to live in Estonia if I can write anywhere - which leads onto church.  Just last night, having introduced myself as Tim, two internationals were talking with me, and when I said I was an author, they both said "Oh, you are Tim Heath.  Yes, we've heard of you.  We should have guessed!"  That doesn't happen too often, I should say.  Not yet, anyway.  But it does show me that maybe God would open a door into Estonia, through my writing life, that raises the profile of Christianity?  Last week I was also in a conversation with an Egyptian businessman, a fan of my book, asking me about making the film version of it here in Estonia.

And I like to write.  I'm sure if you are still reading this, you know that by now.

But let me ask you a few questions.  If I was to publish a Christian book called "Adventures of Faith" which detailed our journey and what God has done, what else would you like such a book to cover?  What elements would you like to know about?  The Adventures of Faith series has been a long running part of this blog - there are six parts already written and my thinking is that part seven, the seven years on reflection, could be exclusive for the eBook? 

What else would be good to be included?  Let me know.

Also, seeing as this is the first update since July, would you like to hear news more frequently, or is it okay as and when?  Let me know too!

Finally, even as I've been writing today's update, I'm more aware that 2015 needs to have a strong prayer focus, central to everything we are and everything we do.  Would a Tallinn prayer weekend in 2015 be something you'd get excited about?  A time to come visit, walk and talk lots, see the sights and have a night of praying together.  A come see, come live weekend that is lite on structure and meetings, strong on relationship, fun and prayer! Would this be something you and/or your church might be excited about?

As you can see, I'm looking for feedback this time.  Feel free to comment wherever you saw this post - either here on the blog, on Facebook, Twitter or as a reply email.  

In case we don't get a chance to say so otherwise, have a wonderful Christmas and New Year - and maybe we'll see you in Tallinn too in 2015?

Easter Update: Salvation, Favour and Team GB

It's not been all that long since the last update, but quite a bit of fun stuff has been happening, so I wanted to update you all on this.

We shared news last time about the start of Christianity Explored.  I also talked about favour and in the past we've asked for prayers for the first person saved.

Well, in different ways, we've seen these happen this last month, and I'll share today what that means.

Here are the headlines of today's update:

• A Young Girl makes a Big Decision
• Christianity Explored Update - What We've Learnt and Where We Go From Here
• Helsinki/Espoo Visit
• Writing Favour with Amazon
• My Team GB Footballing Debut!

Changeable Seasons

The photo above is from nearby Tabasalu, and is part of my growing collection of beautiful nature photos that have been taken around Estonia.  Here is a link to the album.  

Last time, I mentioned that Spring had come early (for Estonia, anyway!) and it has really stayed - we did have some funny weather, as this next photo shows.  Knowing snow was forecast, I managed to take the same photo, at the same time, exactly a day apart, to show you the contrast we sometimes have to.

It shows (in the sunshine!) an outdoor temperature of 25.1c on the first day and then it dropped to just 1.9c on the following, slightly snowy day.

And in many ways, the changing seasons of weather are models of the changing seasons in a church plant.  One day its like one thing, the next it's something totally different. We've certainly seen that with the CE course, and we've learnt a bit from it too.

Christianity Explored

The great news for our launch was that people came!

We had the venue - a restaurant not far from home, that did great food, at a good price, and had space for us to run what we wanted.  They'd even advertised the course for us on their Facebook page, as I'd mentioned last time.  We'd printed off 500 leaflets, most of which got given out, and had some large posters put up, including at the University.

And then people who said they were coming, started pulling out.

Maybe no one would come?

Thankfully, our first guest turned up - an Estonian mum, with her little boy, from the weekly toddler group.

And then, once we'd started the food, a Russian dad also turned up, with his two children.  The oldest daughter goes to school with Mia.  The kids were brilliantly entertained in the Kids Club, and the adults got to eat, and discuss together.

Whether it was the content, or the perception that this was going to be too 'religious', we don't know, but for various reasons (some very genuine as well!) nobody came to week two. Though many had expressed interest, actually committing to coming turned out to be too much.  One family even asked us to stop inviting them to these 'religious' events (though only these - they remain friends and want to come to other events still).  So it's been a real eye opener as we've begun to scratch the surface and see what actually lies beneath this culture.

We will be taking the ones who are interested through the rest of the course - this will be starting in a home soon, a smaller setting.  There seemed no reason for us to run the rest of the dates at the restaurant.

We're at the planning phase of running an Easter event for our Toddler group families, plus a few others.  That will be in less than two weeks, so please pray for favour and attendance to this new event, whilst continuing to pray for the two or three that will continue, in time, with the CE course.

Sow in One Place, Reap in Another

It's been a Biblical principle that's been around for a long time - and how true it proved with us recently in Tallinn.  With all the efforts going into the promotion of the CE course, the leaflets and posters and Facebook events, something else was happening.  Something unrelated to all this.  An eight year old was sharing the gospel with her class mate.

To retell the story fully, we need to go back a few weeks.  'N', as we will call her, is a student that Rachel teaches English to.  In a lesson maybe one month ago, a date (eg 50BC) came up, and there was a question about what BC meant (in Estonia, they have a different dating system for the years before Jesus, which does not include reference to him).  When Rachel explained it related to Jesus, the girl had never heard of Jesus (not uncommon in Estonia!)  So following that lesson, we were praying for N.

Now, about a week later, Mia came home from school to say that there had been an interesting conversation among her friends.  N had said something like "One day the world will end and everyone will die, including God" to which Mia replied "No, I don't believe that to be true - this is what I believe" and she went on to tell N all about heaven, Jesus and forgiveness of sins.  A few days after this N came back to Mia and told her she'd prayed the prayer Mia mentioned, asking Jesus into her heart and saying sorry for all the wrong things she'd done.  Mia then lent her a copy of a children's book she had which explains more of the story.  A few days later, the book was returned - she didn't need to borrow Mia's copy any more, her mum had ordered her her own copy!  N came to church yesterday to be part of the Kids club that Rebekah runs.

I was younger than N when I first prayed the prayer - and it's all it took for me.  So while she might not understand everything (what adult ever does anyway!), we are celebrating a young life saved, in a girl choosing from an early age to allow Jesus to shape her future.  Yes she's got some way to go, but praise God for that first step!

And we are also so proud of Mia who feels able to stand up for what she believes, in a context of absolute unbelief, and communicate this in a clear, childlike way, to her peers.

Finland Trip

In March, I also did an overnight trip to Finland (it's easily done in a day from Tallinn) where I got the ferry across to Helsinki, and made my way to Espoo, which sits to the West of Helsinki, about 15 minutes by train. Dave Henson met me there, with Kevin Jones, who moved with Lydia and their three children within the last year to start a church plant. Whether the church will be in Espoo or Helsinki, is yet to be clear.  Espoo has a population of, roughly, 300,000 and needs churches too.  

It was great to spend time with the family, and with Dave.  On the following morning, we went to a nearby lake and chatted while the youngest son, who is not in kindergarten, played in the park.  Finland has many lakes and forests.  It's the trees I remember most, and why moving to Estonia so reminded us of everything we love about Finland.

I then traveled with Dave on the two hour crossing back home to Tallinn, where Dave spent a couple of nights in town, sharing brilliantly at the Wednesday home group, before flying out early on Thursday morning.

Amazon Promotion

Last time up, I mentioned having been contacted by Amazon about possible inclusion in their Daily Deal.  Well, the story develops.  They wrote back last week, to not only say that I had been selected for inclusion (my novel Cherry Picking, to be more precise) but that it wasn't just for one day, but for three weeks as part of their Spring Deal!

So please, spread the word.  Cherry Picking has been included with other great books, by Authors like John Grisham.  I've included some Social Media links below to make it easy for you to share with others.  Every sale does matter, and it also helps push me up the charts, which results in more awareness (especially if it can make the Top 100 again!)

Facebook - Post
Google+ - Post
Twitter - Tweet

Tim Represents His Country - Finally!

It was always a boyhood dream to play for England.  I didn't really care in what sport, or field really.  Aged maybe 15, I remember clearly feeling disappointed when my Head of Year suggested I change something in my Record of Achievement, which was being written at that moment.  I'd put that I wanted to 'Represent my country' at some level and she'd changed it to "Play to my highest ability" so as to not 'disappoint' me in later life.  I felt dejected.  It's certainly one of those cutting to the heart moments I remember (for the wrong reasons!) from those, now less significant, school years.  I was writing short stories at the time - who would have thought that this would form such a part of my future!

Last week, I played for Great Britain (representing the British Embassy in Tallinn, anyway!) in the Diplomatic Cup that is held annually in Estonia (and probably many capital cities) among the various Embassies.  The UK team were a little short of numbers, so I got involved.
We were never going to win the cup - most of us had never played together before, and the one lady on our team had played 'maybe once' when she was 15.  But it was fun to wear the shirt, and play in the four group matches.
Rachel, Mia and Anya cheered us on well from the stands, watching the first two matches before leaving for a birthday party.  We played France and Moldova (both narrow defeats, one literally with the last kick of the game) as well as Georgia and Armenia, who both won by bigger scores than just 1-0.
But it was the taking part that counts, and as the first sport in 15 months since I hurt my back, great that I made it through the day at all!  I was rather sore on Sunday and unfortunately I'm having a few back issues with it going into spasm but maybe this isn't related.  If I'll play again next year, we will have to wait and see.  There was talk of the 'team' doing some actual practice together before hand, and if that happens, and my back improves, maybe I will play - next year, maybe we will have a little more chance.

So it just goes to show - don't take the words that were spoken over you in your youth.  It doesn't limit who you are, or what you can be.  Only God gets to set your destiny.  And maybe, one day, you will get to represent your country. Regardless what your Head of Year might have otherwise said.

'Missions' Week

For want of a better word (mission is a mindset remember, not a thing we turn on or off), we have the formation of a special week of mission happening in Tallinn from 18th July until 25th July 2014.  There will be more on this in the future, but anyone who might be free and would like to get involved, at least you have the dates.  So far, it seems we have a group of students coming over from Manchester, with Colin Baron and another one or two church leaders, and it's proving a bit of a focus to pull others to come and join us that week as well.
So if you are interested in joining us, in what will obviously be the highlight of your summer, please book those dates off and we can let you know details of what will happen in the future - most likely inclusion will be a three day Kids Camp (and probably time on a beautiful sandy beach too!)

Family

The gaps between school holidays (and the recovery time they allow) is starting to show a little as health has been a challenge, and not just for our family.  The team seem to be showing some strain at the moment, with various illnesses going around.  Please pray for healing for all.
Home life is very busy for another two weeks, before the weeks holidays that comes for Easter.  Please pray for health and rest, especially for Rachel who has a lot of teaching on at the moment.  She also might (or not?!) hear back from the European School this week about a possible job share option from September onwards.  It has to be the right option if they do call, otherwise it's not worth pursuing.  

Prayer Points

• Easter weekend event
• July 'mission' week - that we plan it well!
• For 'N' and those that will continue with the CE course
• For the nearby church plants we are connected with - Helsinki, Riga and Stockholm (incidently, me and Rachel are visiting Stockholm next month, as the church plant there have managed to get Terry Virgo over for the weekend.  Rebekah will kindly look after our girls for the two days).
• For continued favour on my writing life

Thanks everyone!

Next time, it already sounds like we'll have a lot more to update you all on.

News from Tallinn - Autumn Update

It's great to actually get to appreciate the changing of the seasons here in Tallinn.  I guess it's the trees that are so plentiful around us that make us notice the change.  Summer is certainly gone, and while winter is at times making itself known that it is on the way, it's the lovely colours of the increasingly falling leaves that tells us we are in a season of change between the two.

And that change of season for the church plant, mentioned and talked about in the last family update, has been one of amazing speed and encouragement!

So we want to bring you news on what is happening, some of it a development from the last update, much of it just answered prayer to the requests we made last time.

Here are the headlines for what this update will go on to say:

• Core Team Growth and fresh momentum
• Packed out social events
• The four guys go to Holland
• Football fever hits Estonia
• Early answers to prayer
• Treasure Hunting to start in Tallinn
• Toddler group is flying

Hope:Tallinn core group and momentum

We mentioned last time how things had been progressing, but there has been an acceleration since September that has taken us all by surprise, in a wonderful way!
Over the summer, we certainly had been talking about a sense that this Autumn we'd be moving up a gear, even if that didn't come through on here. The natural addition of Stephen & Ketlin to the core (we mentioned they were about to arrive last time) we'd see as giving increase and therefore faith.
We were not wrong!  In fact, it feels with a core of seven now together in September, we really were starting the church plant.
One thing we have been reflecting on, which has been amazing to realise, is that none of us knew each other as we were each heading towards being a part of Hope:Tallinn.  It was God who pulled us together, which is hugely encouraging and hugely releasing.  Had we 'recruited' our own team, we'd have fallen so far short of what God had for us.  They are an incredible bunch, and the chemistry and connection is so releasing.
While we continue to have a gathering focus, we have increased intensity in prayer and worship together.  The weekly prayer meetings since the beginning of September have been electric.  There has been a very strong prophetic sense, a wide use of spiritual gifts, prayer for the lost and worship that has touched heaven.  
Stephen has been able to slot in, playing guitar for us so well and leading us in worship.  Both he and Ketlin have a keen prophetic sense, which works with the incredible gifting in this area already obvious in the others.
We said before how our basis of team is relationship, but with that strongly in place already, each has been able to serve with their gifting.  It's team how we love it and team as it's meant to be.
Hunger for God was such that we've now started doing 'mini' church together, taking an hour before/after a social gathering to worship together and study the word, so these are happening every weekend now, with once a month a longer, Vision Sunday.  That happened last Sunday, and we had two visitors with us from other countries - an Estonian lady who is married to an American, and mother to five, who might one day all move back to Tallinn (!), and Veronica, from Hope Church in St Petersburg.

In September we also held specific men's and women's events.  A 'high tea' for the ladies which saw eleven come together and was a real success, enjoying delicious cakes and plenty of tea.  Also a success were the two men's Poker nights (not for money, before you comment!).  There were about a dozen over the two nights, and one guy commented the following week that he realised he'd been laughing all night, and hadn't drunk any alcohol.
This Sunday we have a meal together that we hope a great crowd of people will come to.

Trips & Visitors

Last time round we mentioned both of these taking place (in various quantities), and the same has continued.  In the time of writing this so far, Rachel has had a message confirming another visitor is coming for a week, which is happening when we have two others with us.....the logistics will be fun, but it's an exciting development.  But more on that some other time.
I went to St Petersburg in August, spending time with the core team there and wider leaders, having traveled while Dave Henson was also in the city.  Dave himself also came over to Tallinn a couple of weeks ago, and is coming back in November with Colin Baron, from Manchester.
Also from Stockport we have Rob & Sarah Walters coming over for a long weekend later this month.  They will share at our Vision Sunday as well as helping with an informal marriage seminar we are putting on at ours.  We are keeping this one low key, inviting just four ministry leading couples.  A strong marriage is key to serving best in the local church, and all marriages take input.  We are taking this encouragement to build in help before we need it!
We also had Matt Medd briefly visit from Riga and Sveta from St Petersburg.

Holland

Last week, I also went to Holland with Arnoud, Enrico and Stephen from Tallinn, to be part of a church planting conference hosted by Relational Mission, which is Mike Betts' apostolic sphere.
It was a timely visit, stirring in many ways.  We've come back with a greater sense of salvation, and prayer to that end.  One phrase I have taken away with me was this:
"No to conversion without the church and therefore no church (planting) without conversion!"

My other three highlights were; team time together.  It was brilliant to do this trip together (even if not possible for all 7 of the team) but as guys together, we really moved things on, within our friendship and understanding of each other, a long way.  Secondly, it was great to be in a bigger context of worship and teaching, to connect with new people, and experience something of Holland.  And thirdly it was great to be encouraged prophetically for Tallinn, to connect deeper with friends, and build closer.  One particular example is with Phil Whittall, who was over from Stockholm.
Some more photo's from Holland can be found here.

Football

Future England players signing their autograph
resting on a copy of Cherry Picking!

Something a little different in September was the chance to go to two football games in two days.  Firstly, via our friends from Võhma, Simon & Heloise, they were coming up as a family to watch the Estonia Vs England under 19s match in Tallinn and asked if we'd like to join them.  England won easily, and it was great for Mia and Anya to celebrate their first ever game with a win.
The following evening was the World Cup qualifier between Estonia and The Netherlands.  And for but the final minute, when Van Persie equalised, it would have been an unbelievable win for little Estonia. The game finished 2-2.  For this second game, I'd taken a group of about 11 to the match, and later found out there was at least another 6 people we knew who were at the game.  It's part of the joy of living in a capital city with a small population.  It was a great night, especially for the Dutch friends who went with us, as well as Arnoud and Elisabeth from the team - it was their first ever football match!
Here is a video Arnoud took while we were standing behind the goal (including the penalty that made it 2-2 in stoppage time!):



Prayer update from last time

Mia's party at a soft play area with girls from her class

Rereading the areas we asked for prayer from the late August update, there have been some noticeably positive developments so far.  As said already, the Stephen and Ketlin arrival and settling process has been brilliant.  Rebekah is very positive about the prospect and chance of moving to Estonia, and is now planning to come for a week in November to look for jobs possibilities.
Our call with Open Door church, made available through the connection with Adrian Horner, also went well.  They even clapped as we finished and burst into prayer for us.
In relation to the prayer about finances, the teaching I had coming up did not go past the two week trial period, the Finnish student feeling he needed American English (!) more than British.  One Skype option might be opening up for teaching a lady in Moscow.  We never cease to be amazed at how God works!

A lot of girls!

Business wise, there have been some positive developments in relationships.  I got to meet with Mia's school Director in September, and he was very positive, even wondering if something could be built into their school curriculum!  Another school in Tartu is looking at options, that came about through a 'divine appointment' through Rachel, but we'll have to save that for another time!
My writing has been consistent too, and there has been some publicity for Cherry Picking, in rather surreal circumstances!  Angela Kemm, who is part of Mike Betts' team, recently was also in Holland for the conference.  Coming over to pray for me, publicly in front of others, she started with "Oh, I bought your book - nice to meet you!"  Needless to say, I was blown away by the encouragement!  She even went on to mention it during her session at the conference in front of everyone there.  Because of that, at least another person there said they'd buy the book!

Having brought these back from Holland, and starting to
eat them, we were told they are for St Nicholas's day
in December.  Oh well, tasty all the same!

And this kind of thing is exactly what I asked to pray for last time.  Thank you for your prayers!

Treasure Hunting in Tallinn

It's nearly three years since I started taking teams out onto the streets regularly in St Petersburg, as talked about here. And this Saturday at 4pm, the whole core team is meeting to go out around Tallinn and do the same.
One of the big stirrings that came out of our time away was the call for real gospel proclamation, and the awaited celebration of the first person to give their life to Jesus.
Please pray for us all!  God often does as much in the team who are stepping out in this way, as He does on the streets. But having said that, we are excited by what will happen, what will open up as we look to follow His lead and go where He will show us.

Parent and Toddler group growth

Another area of rapid growth has been the Thursday morning weekly children's group that meets at our house. Rachel and Elisabeth have been faithfully running this for a year now, but like everything else, it's started to take off this last month. The other week there were three new people that morning, and since starting to write this update, Rachel got a call from someone asking if it's OK to bring three new people tomorrow!
Rachel is also going to start doing baby massage regularly within this group, a skill she picked up some years ago in the UK and yet again, God is using this to further open doors of relationship with people.

Family, closing and prayer!

It goes without saying, life at times has been rather fast paced but through it all, though often tired, we are enjoying the ride!  The girls continue to do well.  School for Mia is often some long days and/or early starts, with typically an hour or two (sometimes more!) of homework each night.
Anya is starting to speak away in Estonian.  Both girls are starting to understand so much - unlike their parents who are working hard but it's not coming so naturally!
When I was in Holland, Rachel took the girls to the International Horse Show that was happening in Tallinn last weekend, and it was a great hit with them all!
Mia is well liked within her class, and some comments made at her birthday party in September show that she is kind, caring and helpful to her class mates which is encouraging to here!  
I'll end with the prayer points for this update:

• For the Treasure Hunting this Saturday
• For the meal this Sunday
• For Rebekah to be offered a great job that firmly opens the door for her to move and join us in Tallinn
• For the first person to be saved

Thanks everyone!  Your prayer makes the difference!

News from Tallinn - The Mid-Summer Update

Midsummer falls on the 23rd June in Estonia - and the holiday of Jaanipäev (St John's Day) is a two day event and is probably the biggest party of the year.

Though we missed the bonfire, we did hang out as a group on the beach, watching the sunset late in the day and letting off our own (less than successful!) lantern.  The photo below was taken quite late:

Since the last update, Mia has finished school - her school broke up on the 6th June, though she went to a summer camp for a week from 17th June.  This was with a friend from church.  The photo below shows Mia on her last day of school, which seems to be as big an event as the first day, standing next to her two class teachers and her PE teacher.  As also mentioned last time, at the end of May we traveled back briefly to the Stockport Family Church weekend away, which was held over the bank holiday weekend.  It provided once again a great time, spending lots of quality time with old and new friends alike.  Two years ago, at the last one they held, Mia managed to make a really good friend, and break her arm.  Thankfully arm unharmed this time, and friendship continued!  Anya too was making friends.  It was great for us to be in a context of wider fellowship, worship and the opportunity to step out in spiritual gifts, something that has continued since coming home.

Arriving back in Tallinn at the beginning of June, we had the first of a steady flow of visitors already arrived.  Wei-Jin, originally from Malaysia, but living in Cambridge, UK, was here for about 3 weeks, and it was good getting to know him, show him some of the sites (though in the few days before we'd seen him, he'd already seen a bit of the Old Town and done a day trip to Helsinki!), and share a bit of who we are as a church plant and what the vision is.

As it proved with others that would follow, just having some extra folks around for our gathering events helped give that sense of something bigger, a direction we are certainly keen to head into!

Not long had he left (he only actually stayed with us for about 5 nights during his time here) we had family friends from Finland come and stay, a family of four who came down for the Jaanipäev weekend.  They joined us on the beach for the Sunday night gathering on the evening of the 23rd itself.

Leaving on the Tuesday, with Rachel's birthday on the Thursday, little did Rachel know at the time but a surprise was in store - a big one at that!  Offering to get the sheets washed and things clean again, though there were no visitors due (as far as she knew), I was able to put the final touches on a plan that I'd thought up some months before.

Kate Tolhurst, is one of Rachel's closest and dearest friends, and for some years has been working in Uganda with orphans and special needs children at New Hope Uganda.  Their last time they saw each other, ironically in Tallinn on a short weekend as the obvious meeting point (Rachel from St Petersburg, Kate from the UK), whilst Rachel was looking at rental flats in January 2012, they'd not spent any real length of time together for years, each of our UK trips being at times when the other was abroad.  So the plan was that Kate would come for a surprise visit for her birthday, and that's how things worked out!  Rachel opened the front door, only to find her best friend standing there, a friend she was unsure when she'd see next!

Kate was with us for a week, leaving yesterday.  Already planned before her confirmation, was the visit last weekend of a UK based pastor who was in the middle of his two month sabbatical.  Adrian Horner, from Open Door Church in Kettering, UK, had wanted to connect with some international settings in the Catalyst network of churches.  We'd been in touch for a couple of months planning the details, and Adrian arrived from 28th June to 1st July.  He was able to share at our Vision Sunday that we held on Sunday 30th June, our biggest yet.

And the visitors didn't end there - unable to meet a guy passing through Tallinn from St Petersburg on his way home, we did have another such person who we did meet up with - Flic from Hope Church in St Petersburg, who was literally picked up by Rachel on her way to the airport (to drop off Kate) and then came back to us.  Flic was herself dropped off at the airport last night, due for a holiday in England this summer.

There is a small pause in guests, with our next special guest due being Dave Henson, who comes for a night on Monday 15th July.

Estonian Churches Growing Desire to plant more Estonian churches

Last time round I mentioned about attending a church planting conference here in Tallinn.  Relationally it was really good, and personally great to see and hear, and feel, a hunger for church multiplication.  A New York church leader, Tim Keller, was quoted at the conference with something of the following: In a study he'd done, in cities where few new churches are being planted, ALL churches are in decline.  In cities where some churches are being planted, then most churches are about stable.  But in cities where lots of churches are being planted, then ALL churches are on the increase.

And that kind of summed things up for me, and for all the leaders there, whether representing the majority established churches, or the good number of plants, or soon to be plants, it seemed to envision the desire and need for lots of churches to be planted right across Estonia and even beyond.  There were several denominational leaders from Estonia and Latvia present.

And of course, as one of the new church plants in Tallinn, we are a part of all this!

Serving Local Churches

A great honour that recently happened was being asked to speak at a local church, Praise Chapel, as they moved into their new, bigger venue.  We went as a team on 21st May, and before I spoke, I really felt I needed to leave time for the prophetic, and not sharing what I was bringing, opened things up to the team to bring some words, having prompted them a few days before, saying I would give them time to share.  I had no idea if anything would be brought, or if things started flowing, whether I'd have time to speak after!  What was so encouraging was that all of the words totally linked into what I was about (and went onto) share!  One word even included a phrase, which word for word, was my third point!  And that was one of now three contexts, in this last month, that as a group we've had space to step out in the prophetic, and each time a good number of words have flowed.  I'm really encouraged.

A young Estonian/American couple are still very excited about joining us at the end of August, as they move from America.  They will really fit in well with this prophetic culture that is developing, and I'm personally looking forward to getting to know them both.

Another great encouragement, and yet more of God working behind the scenes, was going over and chatting with a small group of young Estonian's at our local beach.  One guy, who later I was to find out was not yet 15, really is growing in God, and though only a young Christian, knows God has called him to church plant.  Having spent all of Sunday night, after our Vision Sunday, with him and answering his questions, he feels that Hope:Tallinn is the place God wants him to grow in and wants to get involved with things from now on.  So we are encouraged to see that local people, who are invested deeper in life here than we are, are beginning to sense God encouraging them to get involved with what we are starting.

Family are continuing to do well.  I think in the last update I suggested how things might 'quieten' down for Rachel and her teaching, and while the hours of teaching no longer clash with dinnertime and bedtime, she has picked up about as many new students as those that she was teaching who have stopped for the summer.  And with both Mia and Anya now off for the summer, we are having to plan time carefully!

Next Monday for 4 nights we are managing to get away just outside of Tallinn.  Please pray for a great rest, for strong family memories and fun together, and especially for recharged batteries.  I'm already aware that this Autumn is going to be a busy period of increased growth, but there are two months of summer to go before that of course!

New Conference - Riga 19th - 22nd July.

Girl's playing 'Dentist' on the balcony

One thing that I will be going to later this month, in which I am also speaking at, is a conference in Riga organised by Matt and his team in the Riga church plant, as part of the Relational Mission sphere of churches.  It's a great chance to hear about church planting in this region, to get a taste for cross culture life, and visit a great city like Riga.  There will be a number of folks coming over from the UK - if you are interested, please get in touch.  The conference itself is free, you just need to get the flights and accommodation - all the information you need is found here.  Do let me know if you are coming!

Finally - our Beach Day this Sunday

This Sunday we are hanging out on the beach, and inviting everyone that we're in contact with to join us.  Please pray for great community, as we look to develop the Hope:Tallinn community, share our lives and enjoy the great Estonian summer together.  Here's our flyer for the event - why not come join us for the weekend!

Thanks so much for reading, for your prayers and such encouraging support.

There are going to be loads of really exciting things happening over the months ahead, so we'll do our best at keeping you updated on all of these as they happen.