Tallinn Update: The Winter's Over edition..

Hello from a Spring-like Tallinn!  The snow is (nearly!) gone!  Only the last sections of the huge piles remain, and they are getting smaller by the day.  Winter was long this year, but we are greatly looking forward to summer, which we know will be light, and hopefully warm too!

The photo above was taken from Tallinn's newly reopened Seaplane Harbour museum, which is meant to be the best of it's type in Northern Europe.  And having spent a day walking around, and on, submarines, aircraft, ships and much more, we would not argue with that fact!  In this photo, we got to dress up in our choice of costume, much to the girls delight, and in true Estonian fashion, not only is there a camera to photograph us, but then it emails us directly with the photo!

It's been two very busy months since our last update, so here are the headlines as to what has been happening!

Following on from the last update

Anya started kindergarten on 1st March and has made friends there already, ironically one boy being an American whose family are also here to church plant!  They are part of a team running the Serve the City events, and we have been getting to know the founding couple, Brett and Tammy Toft, who also came around for dinner at ours last Tuesday night.

Our Estonian classes continue, and we have intensified our supplementary internet courses to often doing them every night, and with the lighter evenings already, have often had to stop ourselves at gone ten.

We are continuing to gather, having put on an excellent Easter meal as a team, for a few people.  A roast dinner was followed by an Easter egg hunt for the children, before separate discussions were had looking at what Easter is all about.  For one visitor, it was her first ever experience of Easter.
Earlier that day, I had also spoken at Praise Chapel, a small local Estonian church where we have been getting to know the leading couple.  And as also mentioned in the last update, I visited Hope Church St Petersburg again, this time preaching there, which was my first time doing so since being sent to plant in Tallinn.  It was my second return trip to Russia, this time going on my new multi entry annual visa, so for this next year at least, I will be looking to go regularly, maybe every 6 weeks or so.

Prayer for Business

Last time I mentioned how things had opened up so that I had founded a new business in Estonia, which long term we hope to be able to help support the work we are doing in the nations.  I'm looking to be able to combine ministry trips with business, so for example, when I was in St Petersburg in March, met with two schools in relation to study options in the UK.  A third school has since been in touch (they were unable to meet with me then because of a vacation).  Around Estonia I have also been having a little growing interest, but overall, still nothing concrete.  Please pray, therefore, for God's favour upon this new business, and for contacts to emerge all over Estonia, and wider in places like St Petersburg, Riga, Vilnius, Helsinki and Stockholm.
And as I said before, being in business has continued to open up opportunities with others in Tallinn - I met with a Canadian business man last month, and also will catch up with another Dad from Mia's school when he returns to Tallinn in May.

One Year On+

We've now been in Tallinn for over 13 months.  For those with 3 minutes to spare, I've put together a photo collect to reflect the changing seasons of Tallinn.  And here it is;


Team Growth

Last time I talked a little bit about folks looking to join us, and since then the young Estonian/American couple have confirmed they are moving to join us this year, arriving at the end of August most probably, ready for her studies to start in September.
And the British young lady I mentioned has also booked up a trip to Tallinn, coming for a month from 22nd July, initially, depending on what work options open up for her.  Please pray for her, and this other couple, that God would bless their plans over these next few months.
Today I also had confirmation of a UK church leader coming to visit us during his sabbatical this summer, coming for a long weekend and being part of our monthly Vision Sunday.
With summer fast approaching, the Hope:Tallinn team are looking forward to putting on a combination of indoor and outdoor events.

Social Action that impacts the city and effects the region

For a long time we have had a heart to bring genuine change for the good of this city.  We believe that is what the church is for.  And this was particularly highlighted when I was in London last November and met with a homeless lady called Anita, as mentioned in this previous update.
Two areas that are opening up are the following.  The first is with Rachel and a women's refuge centre here in Tallinn.  Many are women who have previously been trafficked into the sex industry.  This centre empowers them to get regular jobs and rebuild broken lives.
The other development, which is still in it's early days, is with the charity Care for Children, which up to now has been working mainly in Asia.  A mutual friend, after visiting us here, asked the director of this charity if they would consider working in Eastern Europe, and to our surprise and delight, said yes.  So far in Asia, they have placed 250,000 children from state systems, like orphanages, into loving homes.  They work at government level and God has opened some amazing doors for them in the past.  So please pray as we are at a very preliminary stage here in Estonia, but our hearts are to help support a similar ministry in this region too.

Singing

Mia is part of her choir at school and does love to sing (and dance!).  Recently, they sang as part of a kindergarten's graduation.  This is, of course, all in Estonian.  Mia has been taught the Estonian national anthem, and in this little video, standing on a large pile of snow outside our apartment, sings the first verse;

Prayer

So the above gives you a little more ideas to pray for us all here in Tallinn.  I am also personally having continued treatment for my back and leg, which is currently sessions of physio.  It's been over 4 months since the initial injury and I pray it is finally starting to get better.  I have at least three more physio sessions, which are good but quite painful, and maybe another 5 water sessions too before further assessment is made on my condition.  I'm still praying for total health, especially with summer coming, and life speeding up even more in Tallinn.

Sorry it has been a long time without any updates - as always, because so much is going on, it makes it hard to actually share what God is doing!  We value every single prayer, and thank you all deeply for the love and ongoing support you have been showing us.

An Interview with...A Church Planter - 7 - Tallinn, Estonia - Series Conclusion

What's been great in hearing back from guys planting churches into The Hague, Stockholm, Riga, Smiltene, Helsinki and Spokane, in the USA, is that there is so much overlap in what they are all saying.

In bringing this series to a close now with my own input from having planted into St Petersburg, Russia, and now starting again in Tallinn, Estonia, I'd also like to draw together the common held views and hopefully further encourage you along these lines.  Because, having read what has already been shared by these great guys in these six other nations, I am certainly encouraged by their words.

This series has been a very popular series indeed.  It leads me on to mention the next series, where again we will hear from other men and women, looking at the subject "How God Speaks to Us" - I'm sure it will be fascinating to read!

So here are my answers to a few of the same questions I've asked the guys in this series:

Some people might look at church planting and feel they have no idea what to do - what would you say to help them?

This is the reason I wrote this series - looking at the question 'What actually IS church planting?' Do any of us really know what to do?  We helped plant Hope Church St Petersburg, which launched in 2009.  Moving to plant into Tallinn in 2012, it doesn't mean we know how to do it here - we need to learn all over again.  So I would say, don't focus on getting to 'know how to church plant' but instead focus 100% on 'getting to know God' and I assure you, the church planting bit will flow easily!

Called to just church plant, or called to a specific city - or both?  And does it matter?

Obviously if you know the city you are called to, it helps a lot.  For instance, is a new language or culture involved?  That changes things.  Can someone be called to church planting in general - yes, absolutely.  I've met lots of people like that.  But at some point God needs to speak (through all the ways He does - and let's see how that is in the new series coming soon!) with the specifics of the city you are to plant into.  So if God has not yet given you the specific location, then I suggest you wait in the place you are in until that is clear.

Calling verses Gifting - where do you stand?

For me, it's got to be calling.  Especially from a cross cultural perspective (which is my only experience).  To go somewhere that's very different to your own background, you have to know you are called when the hard days come (as they will).

When planting into your own culture, gifting will get you so far, but I would still say calling is also vital.

If you have planted into another culture & language, talk through some of the issues and experiences you've come across so far?

It's been a huge honour to have lived in the different places we've lived these last four plus years.  With this also comes testing, faith and responsibility.  

All of our personal experiences are found recorded on the pages of this blog so I won't repeat myself here. What I will say is this; in the modern world, nearly anyone can live anywhere in the world and feel happy and secure on a good day - it's when the issues come and problems arise that makes living in a new culture so much harder.  It doesn't matter how simple the issue, until you learn what to do and who to contact, it's at these times that you feel most alone and vulnerable.

What challenges have you had to over come?

I've definitely covered these in some detail already in older posts, but it's amazing how quickly you move on.  We had huge issues getting what we needed in place for us to own the home we were trying to get.  Some of that came out of not knowing the system, but much, as I understand now, came from a cultural misunderstanding which meant I wasn't asking the right kinds of questions, and I wasn't being told the right answers because for them, at the time, it didn't matter what the answer was, there was nothing to act upon, so they agreed with what I was saying.  It's when they actually had to do something about it that the banks told me what they really thought!

What challenges remain?

The Estonian language is a hugely difficult language to learn, so there is a challenge there.  The fact that, as a non-linguist, I'm now learning my third language, it makes me smile at what is possible with God - all things!

For many reasons, Estonia is a divided nation on ethical lines between Estonians and Russians. To plant a church that reflects the city of Tallinn, bring unity to a divided nation, is going to be a huge challenge.  With very different languages and personalities, we need to find God's way through in what we go onto do.

Can people still move to join you?

Absolutely!  We are at the exciting pre-launch phase. We've seen some team coming together but for us to truly reach our vision here in Tallinn we need others, called of God to be in Tallinn, to join us and together help us plant this church.

How can someone pray for you and your church?

Pray all sorts of prayer for every occasion!  As the most secular nation in Europe, Estonia needs God's powerful hand of breakthrough.  Tallinn represents a third of the whole population of Estonia - if Tallinn gets a new heart then so does the nation.

We need to see vast numbers of people saved.

Do you need a team to go church planting?

I love team.  While I agree you don't need a team to move to church plant, I would say that you can't start the church plant phase without a team.

It was an honour to be part of such a great team in St Petersburg, and when our time came to move to plant into Tallinn, while we went alone, the value of team was there.  We knew of someone from Russia wanting to join us, but they'll need a visa for here and that has still yet to sort itself out.

As team was such a high value we had, we didn't start doing anything in the city regarding our own church plant until Arnoud & Elisabeth had moved to join us during the summer.

What challenges do you face with raising children in a 'foreign' setting?

What might be a challenge is also an amazing opportunity.  If you can see through language learning issues and culture adjustment, raising your children bilingual (or tri-lingual in our case) is an amazing honour.

We of course have no way of knowing how our kids would have been growing up in our own background. What they do have ahead of them is a rich, multicultural understanding and experience, which I hope is all the better for them.

Personally, with Mia, I think we've got her into a better schooling system than we ever could have had access to living where we did in the UK.  For that, and so many other things, we feel blessed.

Is outside financial support vital for church planting?  What other ways are there that you've come across? What advantages does having financial support for at least the first year have in the life of a church plant?

I'll answer these together.  In the UK I have always worked in business (I mean, I was never paid as a full-time church leader).  Moving to Russia, and now Estonia, the issue with all my experience and ability (as good, or bad, as that might be) is that it largely doesn't matter - without language you are rather unemployable.  In fact, my English language became more valuable in the fact that I could teach - something I had no desire or passion to do in the UK!

The point is, things change when you move countries.  What outside financial support offers is time.  This is the most valuable thing we have and it allows us to learn some language and build relational links into the city - links that will lead to church plant growth - the very reason we are here in the first place!

Church planting into a new culture has huge pressures - so to have the financial issues removed by outside support, while things are getting off the ground, is a huge help.

Finally, if giving for the right reasons, having outside sources of financial support, helps build relational links with those people and churches.  A Kingdom connection gets established - one that prayers, sends and supports.  And that is a very worthwhile thing!

What one piece of advice would you give to someone feeling called to plant a church somewhere?

Enjoy it always, endure it at times, and let me know if there is anyway I can help.

So that's it.  The end of this Church Plant series - though maybe we'll revisit these churches at some point in the future to see how they are getting on!

I am part of the team leading the Hope:Tallinn church plant.

Contacts:

Church Email: hopetallinn@gmail.com

Twitter: @timinthenations

Tim's Email: timintallinn@gmail.com

Blog: you are reading it!