Spring Update From Tallinn: One Giant Leap for the Church Plant

It's March 10th.  To be able to call it spring already means something has happened with winter!

In the last update (you can recap here if you need as I'll be referring to it a little) in early December, I talked about how winter had arrived at last.  Well, it would appear it didn't fancy staying around for long!

Not only did we not actually have a white Christmas this year, but when the snow did properly come in January, and temperatures dropped to their normal -20c, by February we hit zero again, and now in March, all the snow has long gone, and temperatures are picking up.  These two photos were taken over the weekend just gone.

It's beautiful.  Dare we believe spring really is upon us - maybe.  It's two years since we arrived in Tallinn, which was on 1st March 2012.  Then, in April, it snowed. But it was already snowy in the March.  So we'll see soon enough.
What is funny, was that in the last update we talked about Rebekah who was joining us in February "the coldest month" and please pray for her to settle.  As you'll find out in this update, both prayers were very much answered!

Here are the headlines from this update:

• Team Growth
• 'Christianity Explored' course starting this week!
• Packed Events
• Breakthrough?
• Chart Topping Author?

St Petersburg

In December I took the guys from our core team to Russia to serve two churches in St Petersburg. It was great for the team to spend time together, as well as to work together in the settings we found ourselves in.  On the Friday night, we spent time with some friends at a coffee shop, one of the best in the city.  I'd love them to think about opening a similar venue in Tallinn.  We'll see!

On Saturday, we served at a Russian church called Open Heaven church.  I spoke for about 25 minutes (plus translation) and then the team got to share words etc.  Two hours later we were only just leaving, having prayed with lots of folks, which seemed to go well.

 

On the Sunday I took them to Hope Church, where I spoke again and the team shared words and we prayed for people after.  We were the last to leave again, walking with a group of the leaders from the church to the offices, where we were going to eat together and pray for them.  We did that over about two hours, hanging out there long after the crowd had left, as another friend dropped in and we spent time all talking together.  

That left time to eat together as a four before all getting the lunchtime bus home on the Monday, back in Tallinn at around 7 that night.  A busy but worthwhile trip. It was good for Hope church in St Petersburg to be able to make a wider connection (beyond me and Rachel) with the team in Tallinn, and also for the team here to see something of the history and connection with Hope Church.

Team Growth

On the 26th February, Rebekah Wisbey landed in Tallinn, the latest addition to team Tallinn.  As well as the favourable weather she has found since arriving, another remarkable answer to prayer is how quickly she has settled in.  She stayed with us for her first two nights, but did get her keys to her own flat on the second day, a place that up to that point, only Rachel had actually seen.  She is now settled there, still not used to waking up and seeing the sea (which is right in front of her building!).

Since the beginning of January, we've also had three YWAM workers, in Tallinn for 3 months, joining us.  Milena (a German lady), Stephanie (an English lady) and Daniel (an English guy) who have all been a great help, the two girls also able to get involved with the Thursday morning toddler group, which we'll come to in a moment.

It's had the effect to boost the numbers - a core currently at 11, if not all permanent people.  It has made a big difference though.  We're enjoying the extra bodies!  If it's right that any of them stay on after (which is a possibility, but they'd need God to make it very clear!) we'd be delighted!

The connection with YWAM has been positive, and as well as these three, there have also been two teams through Tallinn in the last month or so, bringing more people to the different events.  And sometimes crowds draw a crowd.  

The Big 'Next' Step

For a long time, we've had the aim to run an Alpha style course as a stepping stone for many people in the crowd we've gathered to have a place to explore a little deeper together.

A full 12 week Alpha course was a little too much at the moment we felt - both for the small core team, as well as for our guests.  Many are business people who would miss many weeks through travel.  We'd been recommended the Christianity Explored course, which goes a little slower than all that Alpha covers, and in seven weeks, worked with our timing.

So we are launching this course this coming Sunday, 16th March, in Tallinn.

We wanted a venue to host this one - aiming to find somewhere catered, that allowed space for a separate area for children.  With Rebekah arriving, we at least had the right person to head up the care for the children.  But where to find the venue.  Would we find favour working in our situation?

Well, a church leader was passing through Tallinn, and I was meeting him one lunchtime with Arnoud.  We were due to go to a restaurant on the other side of town near to where Arnoud works, so as to be able to maximise his lunch break.  It so happened that the day before Arnoud had been a little unwell, so was instead working from home the day this meeting was to happen.  We therefore had the option of going somewhere much more local, and Arnoud had been recommended a place near by, in the part of the city we both live in.  It was whilst having lunch, that we spotted on the menu the facilities that were available to rent.  Soon we were speaking to the owner, having a good look around, and feeling very excited.  Just a couple of weeks later, all our seven dates are booked and we start this weekend!  

The venue offers excellent food, and space for adults to eat together, with another area where Rebekah and her team can run a kids club.  It was a real breakthrough and real favour.  You can even check out the restaurants Facebook Page as they too are advertising our event to their 3200+ followers!

Needless to say - please pray for us with this event.  It represents a huge leap for us, but done in an appropriate way. The catering is taken care of, and the talks will be done from the DVD, so the teams focus can be on the discussion and relationships element.

So far we have about twenty signed up, which includes around eight guests.

The Favour Word

I've picked up on the word favour above because when I was in Holland in October, there was a prophecy over us in relation to breakthrough, and while it started with finances, the main emphasis was in relation to favour.  Is this yet another example of the outworking to that word?

Hope:Tallinn Events

Last Thursday, at the regular weekly toddler group, there were 33 people in total!  This is the most we've ever had!  The breakdown was 16 adults and 17 children.  It must have been approaching a dozen nationalities.
It was so busy, that Rachel had not realised I was not there at the end - having gone off midway through to meet someone in town.  Running late for the bus, finding my coat proved a little hard, as it was TEN deep on the coat rack....I think I need to plan for this in the future, keeping my coat with me if I need to leave before anyone else!
Rachel took a photo of some of the coats, though this doesn't even tell the whole story.

And on Sunday, at the monthly meal, we had even more people - 34 this time!  Only about 10 of these where children, and of the two events, only about ten people where at both.  Needless to say, it was a little busy, and having arrived before 5, the last people were not leaving until 8:30, when the cleaning could begin!

We are so thankful that God has given us a flat with enough space (just about) to fit in all these people at the same time.

Invites for next Sunday were given to folks at both events, and I even made a public announcement at the meal yesterday, but it remains to be seen exactly how many people will come to the event next weekend.

Family

Finding your coat isn't always easy

Though life is often busy, and visitors to our home are plenty, we are all doing well, and trying our best to get a sensible balance between these two worlds, as overlapping as they are.
Anya turned 4 at the beginning of the month, and had a little party to celebrate the fact.
As her birthday fell on a special day in Estonia, she got to ride on a horse and cart at her kindergarten, which was hired as part of their celebrations.  An extra special treat!
Mia is continuing to do well at school, and has a little less commitments as we've made her have a break from ballet this term, much to her own disappointment at the time, but she understands it - and enjoys it all now. We'll look to get her started at a new ballet later this year.

I also managed to surprise my mum for her 70th birthday, flying back to the UK for the weekend at the beginning of March, turning up on her doorstep to her surprise.  All the family knew, my mum aside, so the details worked out well.  It was nice to have been able to be a part of it all, even if it meant I missed Anya's own birthday party - I was back in time for her actual birthday, which was a lovely day as well.

Breakthrough as an Author

Since the last update, things have gone really crazy with my writing side. Approaching the end of January, I was slowly approaching 200 likes on my official Facebook page.  The readership of my one published novel was in the 100-200 bracket.  Reaching the 200th 'Like' triggered a special promotion, which ran for three days on Amazon over the last days of January.  In those 72 hours, there were 2,566 downloads of my novel, and in the month of February, more sales than all the previous months, combined.  At the height of the downloads, Cherry Picking stood at #2 on the UK Mystery Chart with Amazon, and #6 on the All Books chart!
By the end of February, my Page stood at over 1,100 likes, an increase of 900 in one month!
My new novel is also approaching its final stages.  Over 100,000 people saw my page as I asked fan's advice about cover designs for the two books.  Is this another sign of favour coming my way - not to mention breakthrough!

And a final off shoot of this was being contacted by Amazon themselves, who are discussing enrolling Cherry Picking into their Daily Deals program (a huge honour!) because, according to their message, my book "had come into view and they thought it could do really well if selected for the promotion."  It remains to be seen what will come of this.
I've also had another publishing company contact me, also stating they were impressed and wanting to know if I'd be interested in working with them.

Is this favour or distraction - or something else?  I guess only time will tell for sure.  But with my new novel set to come out later this year (I hope!), and a readership approaching 3000 people now, its a great platform for launching the new book onto, so I'm excited by what might come of it all.

Because last time around, we talked about needing breakthrough.  And while none of this mentioned above physically represents that (yet - as exciting as it sounds), we are still in that place of not fully knowing what the future needs to look like.  No job options have yet come up for me.  Not even one interview.  The record book sales of February, are not continuing in that pattern for March.  God did do some extraordinary things in December, so that things are a lot calmer financially at the moment, for a few months.  We are so thankful for that.  But still the medium term solution is unsure.  Does this look like more work locally?  Will this be even greater breakthrough in book sales and the like?  Is it something else entirely?  We do not know - but we ask you to pray.

And pray all the more.  It came to light yesterday at the meal, that while in the UK my part time job is under the tax limit, so not subject to payment, in Estonia this is chargeable - as is all charitable giving we receive!  And while I was ignorant of that before, now aware of it, it's a situation that is a little concerning, but also one we need to resolve.  It seems gutting that while our UK support was not 'acceptable' by the Estonian banks (meaning we were penalised and put onto a much higher interest rate mortgage), this same income source is acceptable to the tax office!  Potentially losing a big percentage of this 'income' to tax is another little issue for us.

But praise God he is the God of breakthrough - and favour!

Prayer Pointers:

• For the start of Christianity Explored this Sunday at 17:00
• For continued growth for team Tallinn, and the protection of all here
• For wisdom regarding the growing events - space and numbers are becoming an issue!
• For more breakthrough, especially in my writing life

Thanks for reading.  Sorry it's been such a long time since we've updated you all.

Tallinn Update - Winter at Last!

As we hit the first of December, so we had the first real snowfall.  Winter has come at last!  Over night, the temperature has dropped down to nearly minus five.  The rain and overcast (slightly warmer) days have given way to sunny, clearer skies and noticeably colder days.  But these are what make Tallinn winters so beautiful!  And I much prefer sunny days in winter.

So, as we hit December, a busy time of year for all, we wanted to send out an update in good time, before things get too festive, with all the news from us in Tallinn.  As usual, our now annual (it will be our 5th one!) Christmas musical photo/video card will come out later this month, so keep an eye on this blog for when it does.

Before we get stuck in, and so that you can see what's coming, here are the headlines for this update:

• Continued favour on the Toddler group
• Core formation and hopefully soon growth
• More Visitors - though finished now for the year
• Job Challenge
• St Petersburg trip coming up
• Health challenges as we mark one year since my back injury

The Winter Market in Tallinn has opened - this photo, I guess taken a few years ago, shows the setting for the market. The huts are set up a little differently now, but with the snow and lights, the effects are still as magical. It makes the Old Town, just that little bit more special.

Toddler Group

One thing we've often mentioned but not said too much about, is the weekly Sing & Play children and babies group we host at ours every Thursday.  This is certainly Rachel's 'baby' - if I'm home, apart from being around to help set up a little (though not as much as Rachel needs often), I tend to get to listen through the walls as the flat fills up, talking to the parents as I make the odd drink, while working in the office.  This group has continued to do really well.  Please pray that Rachel and Elisabeth (who runs it with Rachel but has her hands full with 3 children of her own!) are able to get more help with it.  Rebekah (who we'll mention again later) was able to help while here for ten nights recently - staying with us, and therefore here for set up and clear away, it really showed the great value this adds, and something Rachel is now missing with Rebekah being back in the UK!   The other mums are getting involved too though and are now making a cake for the group each week.

  Once a month Rachel has now started including a Baby Massage class within the group.  This is a skill she picked up when she had Mia back in the UK.  She was given training and taught some classes in the UK at the time.  It's funny the things that come back years later - like her Body Shop training with make-overs and facials that opened the door to working with the Butterfly project in Tallinn.

The group of mums (there was one dad for a while, though his working pattern changed and he's not currently able to come) is a mix of several nationalities, but there are several Estonian mums coming, including one neighbour from the fifth floor of our building.  She has helped with doing some of the songs in Estonian.  These babies are all going to be singing in many languages!

Core Development....and Growth?

The last two weeks have seen some challenges - but I write this saying that as a team, we are in a much stronger place because of it all.  I think the adjustments that we have made to our program, which came out of long conversations over about three days last week, have put us in a better position to move forward.  It was as if God was in the midst of the conflict, bringing us safely through to a much better place.  It gives us all more room to grow, and helps launch a weekly home group meeting which should really serve the core, as well as being a building point for those that have shown an interest in what we are about.

And on the back of this, Rebekah, who we've mentioned already, and talked about praying for in the last October update, has stated that she is planning on moving here in February next year, to help out with the church plant!

This is fantastic news, and though the details are not sorted out (like job, where she will live etc!), it is a great statement of faith.  Please pray that she gets some great options offered to her, that allow her both to build relationships and flourish, whilst giving her time to get stuck in with Hope:Tallinn events.  She is wanting to come and help establish a Children's ministry, serving both those within the church, and as options develop, those outside.  She would be a great blessing, so please be lifting her in your prayers as she outworks the practical elements of this over the next two months.  

Arriving at the coldest point of winter, pray for a great adjustment - I guess, it can only get warmer for her!

She would be the 8th adult member of the team - and we are praying that the current core doubles to 14 (very quickly!!??) in order for us to think about launching the church plant into the next phase.  

Visitors
Last month saw some more visitors, and actually the last for the year.  As well as having Rebekah with us for ten days, we also had a visit from Colin Baron (Manchester, UK) with Dave Henson (Cardiff).  They spent a few nights in Tallinn, having come from St Petersburg.  Dave, because of his back, stayed in a local hotel, to give him space to move around in the night, without disturbing anyone.  They spoke at our midweek meeting, and I had as much time as I could with them.  For Colin it was his first time in Estonia.  I don't think it will be his last.  And then just a few days after they both went, Rachel's mum and dad came to stay for five nights.  They were a real blessing and Mia and Anya especially enjoyed having Grandma and Grandad around for the weekend.

December and January are clear, and will be kept that way.  As a family there has been a lot of pressures, which is natural in our situation, but it seems a good time to pause a little, and enjoy the holiday when we get to Christmas. The girls are also getting busy with school plays and ballet concerts, as is normal for this time of year, so it gives us the space to enjoy these events with them.

Taken the other month looking towards Tallinn in the distance

As a numbers man, I totaled up the visitors this year.  March and December will have been the only months that no one was staying with us, but if you take each nights sleep someone has had, and put them in a row, it comes to 136 nights out of those 10 months.  Of course, most of these have been multiple people staying at the same time.  On the other side, there were also 54 days when one (usually this, and usually me) or all of us where away from home, often in another country.

This fact alone is so different to what life had been in Russia, and especially in England.

Events - Gathering of a Community
The main events that are now happening each month are a big meal together once a month, as well as the focused men's and women's events.  For the men, this has been Poker nights at our home which I have hosted.  It's great for building friendships together, creating a bridge in our relationship where we can meet at other times to talk, and is also just about having some fun! I'll say it again, as I've said before - we do not play for money!  

For the ladies, Rachel has recently hosted a SPA event, which is the second time they've done that.

And all of them together are building community.  It's ironic that while most people in the world now live in cities, statistically mankind is now the loneliness we've ever been.  Simply having people living around you doesn't cut it - unless you are part of a community.  And we've seen, through the meals and these other events, a community emerging.  Having come here not knowing anyone, we've seen friendships developing.  And as life gets busier, our prayer and battle will be to keep space for relationships, and building others into communities.

And it's also just a good principle to bless the city - to be a blessing to those around us, regardless of their beliefs.  

The view from our window the other day

Another way this was recently outworked, was Rachel hosting a baby shower at ours for a lady from another church.  We are really friendly with them, have served them on a Sunday a couple of times, and it was great to help make the event possible, by hosting and organising the event.  It's Rachel working to one of her main strengths - hospitality.

The Challenges

Health has been a bit of an issue with the girls (Rachel included!) over this last month or so.  Both Mia, and Anya more so, have missed days at school/kindergarten.  Rachel has been fighting something for some time - and if I'm honest, as I'm writing this, I'm starting to not feel so good myself.  It seems we really do need a cold snap to kill off these nasty viruses.   Your prayers for health would be appreciated!

It is also now a year ago since I was taken to hospital in an ambulance, not being able to walk.  And twelve months later, the time they said it would take to fully recover, I can say I'm getting better all the time.  I will of course be careful - it was when the snow first arrived last year, and something I did moving the snow, that caused it all in the first place! So while it has been a challenge on many fronts, I am looking forward to really enjoying this Christmas and winter, which were a struggle last year.

The Job Challenge

Something that came to head with the visit of Dave last month, was this issue of family income.  While we are only in the early phases of church planting in Estonia, we have also already been away from the UK for over five years now. So it's been natural that churches and individuals have felt they were unable to continue with their monthly giving.

While we continue to live by faith, with about half our income coming through faithful giving (not only from the UK), we are thinking about ways to press through with finance.  For the last few years, we've been living on a very fine line, and this last year in Tallinn actually spending more than came in.

In relation to paid work, I am now working two days a week for my old full-time UK job, which I've been doing some hours for ever since we first left the UK.

This year, I launched a business as a language agency.  While that is getting some teaching work in (all Rachel's lessons are now going through the company) it's yet to really stand up on it's own two feet as a business - please pray for continued favour on this - as well as with my writing.  My book is continuing to sell, and I am well on my way to finishing the second novel as well.  I really hope that this can be released in 2014.  My official Author Page recently went live on Facebook - please be sure to connect to it here. By liking the page on FB, it allows your friends to see the page, and increases my reach.  I am so thankful to everyone that has already done this. If you haven't yet, please do. It means so much to me. And long term, I really hope to be able to focus solely on writing as my trade.  I believe this is the career God will open up.  For this, I really do need your prayers.

This all being said and done, there is a real need now for income, so I am exploring the options of increasing my working week to full time - by either finding a part time job in Tallinn for three days a week, and still doing my two days in the UK, or needing a full time job here.  

This option does scare me if I'm honest.  It would be a huge change to life here, and a real challenge to fit everything else in with church.  The wider travel side I would need to lay down, and as the church grows and approaches its launch, again, that would be a challenge for time.  

But I do tend to focus on the specifics and not look too far ahead.  While I would love the business to take off and my books to sell rapidly, it might well be that in the mean time I need to take on some more work.

Please pray for the right job - the perfect job that pays well and matches my skills.  Having started looking, I am already really limited with options. Due to language and experience, my skills are more easily fitted to the UK market.  But I only need one job that's right for me.  Please pray, in what ever God wants, that this whole situation changes rapidly.  We know God has the perfect way through.

St Petersburg - next week!

As I check the calendar to see when it is that I am going, I had a mild panic to realise it's only the end of next week when I am going back to St Petersburg.  I am travelling on the Thursday with Stephen from the team here, and Arnoud and Enrico will be joining us on the Friday.  We'll have the whole weekend in the city, encouraging the church there, and exposing both groups to each other.  Please pray for a blessed trip, and like in Holland, as the four of us spend more time together, for great fun and memories to be formed. We travel back to Tallinn on Monday 16th December.

Family and Prayer Points

Mia had a small part in a ballet show yesterday and has a bigger role, where we will all be there to watch, in the middle of next week.  Both girls are continuing to enjoy life.  Both are so much fun, though we are aware with Mia's school, there is a lot of pressure put on the students.  She gets hours of homework each week.  It's often hard for us to keep on top of it.  They are both speaking Estonian well, in their own little way.  Anya certainly understands a lot, and is the one most surrounded with it, when she is in kindergarten.  Mia's Estonian class teacher has mentioned to Rachel how well Mia is picking up the language and that she has surprised her with the things she has understood.

We will be staying in Tallinn this Christmas - the tree should be going up next weekend, which I guess will also feature in the annual Animoto video greeting that I will try and get around to doing soon!  We'll leave you with some prayer pointers.  Thanks for reading this year - the blog went through the 20,000 visitor mark last week - an incredible thought!

• Pray for God's abundant breakthrough with the job/finance situation
• Pray for a quick recovery of this nasty virus
• Pray for Rebekah as she makes final plans regards moving here
• Keep praying for salvation 
• Thank God for every visitor we've had this year!
• Thank God for the great communities that are developing!

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.

The Tallinn Church Plant - Story of the first month

The story of our first month in Tallinn - a series I called 'Breaking New Ground', as I wanted to record the journey of our first month as we look to get started with life in Tallinn, who we met and what we had to get sorted in order to register our arrival - plus a whole lot more, as it turned out!

Below in the BNG links you will find each entry that takes us through the first month.  Below that is a link to the story behind our arrival, looking at the journey and how God got us this far - the first is titled 'Where is Tallinn?' as this is also something many of you might be asking if you've just come across this blog for the first time.


Breaking New Ground - March 2012

BNG - 1

BNG - 2

BNG - 3

BNG - 4

BNG - 5 - The First Week

BNG - 6

BNG - 7

BNG - 8

BNG - 9

BNG - 10 - Two Week's In

BNG - 11

BNG - 12

BNG - 13
BNG - 14
BNG - 15 - 25 Days Later
BNG - 16
BNG - 17
BNG - 18 - End of the First Month

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with our new friends here, leaders of another local church, at their home in Viimsi, which is north of Tallinn - here we tried the traditional Estonian swings!  You stand up to make them go faster - we are told that the locals get it so that they are basically horizontal at the top of the swing!

The Story of Our Journey To Tallinn

We were sent from our wonderful base Hope Church in St Petersburg to plant a new church into Tallinn.  I detailed that transition and how God had first called us in a mini series called Towards Tallinn - and here is that series;
Part 1 - Where is Tallinn?
Part 2 - He's Got Us This Far
Part 3 - A Storm Is Coming
Part 4 - Are You Up For A Challenge

The Original Journey to Russia - Adventures of Faith Series

Four years before moving to Tallinn, we were well on our way to moving to St Petersburg, where we were to join Dave & Hannah Henson at the start of what would become Hope Church.  And at that time, in a series called Adventures of Faith, I covered the whole process, from God first speaking to us, through to the challenges, then leaving the UK, our first insights into life in Russia and then finally after living there for a year and the last one after three years.  So to complete this blog entry, below are links to all these posts, which I hope, along with what's been shared above, will encourage you that you too can go and plant - whether it be the next city or another nation.  God bless you!  And may God go with you!

Part 1 - The Build Up
Part 2 - The Six Month Countdown
Part 3 - The Going
Part 4 - First Impressions
Part 5 - One Year On
Part 6 - Three Years In

Tim & Rachel Heath
Tallinn church plant (a part of New Frontiers and plant from Hope Church in St Petersburg, Russia).