July 2024 Prayer Requests
July 8, 2024
September 2024 Prayer Requests
September 10, 2024
Below, find the prayer concerns and requests from leaders of the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary and the congregations in Estonia.
Robert Tšerenkov
District Superintendent, EMK
Dear friends!
Thank you so much for keeping the Methodist Church in Estonia in your prayers!
We are so grateful to the Lord for the wonderful summertime and the many different camps and events that have taken place! It has been a time to pour into our young people, encourage young believers, and serve Ukrainian refugees.
We are so grateful for our friends who have come to Estonia for mission trips this summer. We are thankful to the Calvary UMC for doing the camp for the Lighthouse children; to the Asbury Church for serving in Pärnu, at the youth camp, and the Lighthouse Children’s Center; to the First Broad Street UMC for renovations at camp Gideon! Also, we are so thankful for the members of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary and pastors Jody Ray and John Williams from Mt. Bethel Church for their dedicated work. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends, and we keep you in our prayers.
Please pray for the Summer Conference at Camp Gideon from August 8 to 11. Methodists from different congregations across Estonia will gather, and this may be a blessed time to grow spiritually and have a wonderful time of fellowship.
Please pray for the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary as they work on accreditation and prepare for the new school year. Please pray for the enrollment and that we will have a wonderful group of first-year students.
Thank you so much for your prayers, and may God bless you!
Robert Tserenkov
Taavi Hollman
Interim Rector BMTS
Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary
prayer requests for August 2024
Gratefulness to God
- For the nice summer we have had for time off and gaining new strength for the fall semester;
- For the award BMTS got during our 30th Anniversary Celebration from the UMC in Latvia for the recognition of academic and mission work the Seminary has been doing (picture of the Award is included);
- For the Giving Day donations totaling about $8,000 (US Dollars)
Please pray:
- For the Accreditation process, so that we may complete all the details, we got the initial feedback from the Estonian Quality Agency for Education (HAKA) (the leading competence center in Estonia in the field of external quality assessment of educational institutions). We got some extra time to present the Self-Assessment document, which needs to be presented no later than August 26th.
- For the start of the Fall semester on August 28th and the worship service where we ask the Lord`s blessings over our new rector, Dr. Laur Lilleoja;
- For the first session, August 28-31, which starts in Tallinn in BMTS and continues in Camp Gideon where we have the guest teacher/lecturer Dr. Philip R. Meadows from Asbury Theological Seminary;
- For the new potential students who have already applied and for those who are still making up their minds,
- For my trip to Sweden in August to the World Methodist Conference in Gothenburg;
Vilja Ventsel
Tallinn Lay Person
Dear Praying friends!
Pray for our Summer Conference from 8. to 11.08. Pray for all speakers, helpers, and especially for the organizing team.
Pray also for participants. Pray for a spiritual atmosphere, relations, and security.
Pray for our seminary. Pray for students and teachers. Pray for new students that many people should start learning.
Vilja Ventsel
Lemme Aulis
Pastor, Reeküla Church
Dear Friends,
The past few months have been very busy for us in Reeküla since we celebrated our 114th anniversary on the 21st of July. We put a lot of work into it. We held a concert service in Church with a well-known Estonian singer and vocal group from Tallinn´s congregation. After the service, we held a Reeküla´s cafe in our Churchyard where our church people and local people sold food and drinks, had a lottery and musical entertainment, and put the money we raised together to buy street lights for our dark streets in Reeküla. We had a blessed anniversary, with about 50+ people visiting us, and we are grateful for the good relationships we have with local authorities. Joy filled my heart when a village leader announced that she appreciates the local people the most in Reeküla and has good relations with our congregation. We are very grateful to God for this special day that united all villages, and please pray that these good relations will grow deeper and God’s kingdom will come through our work.
We are also very grateful for our new partnership journey with Calvary United Methodist Church. Please pray that this relationship will grow to be a blessing for both of our churches.
I am also grateful that God provided me with a job at the same real estate company where I was looking for a real estate agent job at the beginning of this year. They invited me back to be a partner-relations leader, so I started my work there last week. There are many problems and hardships in the company at this point, and I have been assigned to solve them. Please pray that God would give me the wisdom to find solutions and help me unite the divided teams.
Thank you so much for your love and prayers! May God bless you and keep you!
With much love,
Lemme from Reeküla
Marjana and Lemme flank an unnamed Reekula Village leader.
Reeküla village cafe hosted by the Methodist Church
Ele Paju
Estonian Language Youth and Räpina
Warm greetings from Estonia,
There were two youth camps in July. The youth camp (15+) was attended by 27 campers (including a team). The theme of the camp was “Reaching Out”. Older young people are very devoted and yearn to grow up studying the word of God, praying, and gaining new knowledge. On the last night of the camp, we made a prayer in a circle, where each young person prayed loudly for the young person next to him. And later, they shared what God’s words they received. It was a wonderful experience to see how many young people received pictures, messages, and encouragement from each other.
The team then had one day off to rest and prepare for the new camp. At the teenage camp Fearless Faith, 50 campers participated in teams. All camps were characterized by a powerful sports program, mighty worship, interesting programs, super meals, and transformed youth. I am grateful to God for the holiday and, specifically, God’s speeches on how to continue my work at EMC. I am making several strategic changes and need your prayers to do so. In mid-July, our youngest son, Daniel, went to serve in the Estonian Defence Forces. A few weeks later, our eldest son Benjamin got married. The next day, I had a planned operation, from which I am still recovering. It has been a very intense month. I hold God’s hand, try to listen to his words and move forward in faith. I am grateful to God for all my prayers.
Let`s pray for God’s wisdom and leadership for the new season.
In Gods love,
Ele
Youth Camp
Benjamin’s wedding photo
Kaupo and Thea Kant
Tree of Life Church – Võru
This summer has been hot and sunny!
Võru church has been blessed to have special guests from Tallinn Methodist church—a group of singers with beloved choir conductor Piret Rips-Laul. The second Sunday was a very touching service with the Blowers family choir, who sang revival songs and touched many hearts.
At the beginning of July, one couple from Antsla became church members. They are active and gifted Christians. Their wife, Piret, joined immediately to become a cook in the Children’s food project, and their husband, Ain, became the leader of the building project—a man for whom we have prayed since the beginning of the church. I have added a link for our renovation campaign to prepare our church for its 30th anniversary at the beginning of October!
https://coda.io/@ove-palo/emcvoru/
Praise God today ended the annual children’s food project and our city mayor and his wife made waffles with ice cream 🙂
Many praises are for two youth camps: This year, for the first time, it was the 15+ camp and the 11-14 camp – God changed many young lives, and the Holy Spirit was very near!
Võru city Mayor helps make icecream waffle-cones as part of the city food-project with the food bank.
Prayers for August:
- 20th Summer conference in Camp Gideon 8-11,08
- Building project in Võru (volunteer works to renovate entrance stairs and cross lights
- Viitka church anniversary in 26.08
- Team training for three churches in 25.08
- Youth ministry new season
- Wisdom for our government and peace in Estonia – Ele´s son Daniel and Thea´s son Joel are in the army – that the Lord protect them.
