March 2023 Prayer Requests

Dear Friends of Estonia!

Thank you so much for your prayers for the Methodist church in Estonia! We are grateful to all of you for your love and prayers!

We had a wonderful celebration of Independence Day on the 24^th of February; we thank God for the 101 years of the Estonian Republic. There were several significant ecumenical prayer events for our country; two took place in the Tallinn Methodist church building and were completely packed. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless Estonia and send spiritual revival to our nation.

But on the 24^th, we were also reminded of the whole year of war in Ukraine. Let us continue to pray for just peace, the end of the war, and protection for the people in Ukraine.
Please also pray for the upcoming called session of the Central Conference on March 18, which will deal with important issues for our area.

Please pray for the upcoming church conferences in our congregations. That will mean a lot of traveling and administrative work for me. Please pray for God’s blessing and safety in everyone’s travels.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We treasure the friendship and prayer fellowship with you!

Praise God that the seminary’s renovation of the teacher’s room is progressing. Many are noticing and approving of the project. When the Russian-speaking cleaning lady noticed the renovations taking place, she laughed and said “perestroika”! Pray that the renovations continue to progress well.

Pray for members of our student body and faculty who, in partnership with John Wesley Theological College in Budapest, will go to that city and college March 17-20 to visit Europe’s largest synagogue and receive instruction related to understanding Judaism and mission. Pray that both this trip and partnership will be fruitful now and in the years to come.

Lent began February 22^nd. As an outward sign of our communal desire to turn away from our personal and communal sin and toward God, the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary community has started reading through the entire New Testament and Psalms over the season of Lent. Each Wednesday from 10:30-14:00 (Estonian Time), alternating members of the community chronologically read these scriptures in their mother tongue while being live-streamed. Pray that this discipline brings all who participate closer to God.

As a member of the greater BMTS community, I should add that YOU are welcome to join us in this discipline by logging in via a link on the seminary web page and reading scripture while fasting from Wednesday’s lunch. You can journey through Lent with us as we attempt to grow closer to God through this commitment!

Warm greetings from Estonia!

• For me, the year started very excitedly because our son Benjamin got engaged to Maria. May God’s protection and love be over and with them.
• We started with the Alpha course, and a special bunch of young people joined. Let’s pray together for the team, presentations, and participants.
• We are organizing joint worship services for the four congregations. They have created a powerful unity and new strength, giving them the strength to dream again. Let’s pray for the teams of UMC Räpina, Võru, Ruusmäe, and Viitka congregations to find mentors and for God to bring additional workers. Also, we pray for the upcoming conferences and the future of our church.
• We had a lovely women’s day of prayer and fellowship with four congregations. Praise God!
• We organized a longer youth night during the school holiday, and many young people from all over the country attended. We thank God for His work and equipment.
• In February, youth leaders from many churches got together to be encouraged and equipped. Our leaders also experienced a new freshness.
• I attended the student and young adults conference with Meto-youth (Metonoored), which was very consciously built to help and teach young leaders how to say no, rest and avoid burnout.
• The 35th anniversary of the Räpina congregation is coming up. Let’s pray for this congregation’s future, the construction of the new building, and finding a construction manager.

Benjamin and Maria

I am thankful for continuing God’s grace in my life. I am grateful for opportunities to learn and grow. This month I have been involved with a research about how differently the Scriptures are interpreted in multicultural churches in Europe. It is fascinating and challenging, and humbling as well.

March will be very busy in terms of many travels, speaking engagements, and meetings. I ask for travel mercies and wisdom for many conversations and meetings. The first weekend will be in Prague, then Germany (including the Ukraine United Methodist refugee community there), and later Portugal and Spain and our mission partnerships there.
Thank you for your prayers!

Dear praying friends!

We are thankful that last month started Alpha course again / this time with R’pina, Viitka, and Võru people. Please pray for the participants.

Youth meetings are happening twice a month, and the group is growing. We are thankful that 3 young adult girls are planning to move to Võru for 3 months, and that the Lord will bless them and guide them

Prayer for Central conference and all the future of the Estonian Methodist Church

Lent season and the coming Easter next month

Praise God that children’s ministry has started again; please pray for Lea, as she is leading it, and for her children that the group will grow together.

• Pray for our annual conference on 26 of March. Pray for God’s guidance and wisdom to make the right decisions.
• Pray for all church events, prayer, worship meetings, bible studies, and especially Sunday services. Pray for the Holy Spirit`s touch for every person who participates.
• Pray for our worship team.
• Pray for our pastors and their families.

It is always good to have prayer support!

Here are my prayer requests for the next few weeks.

Please pray for the new Estonian Parliament. We had elections in Estonia on March 5th. It has caused a lot of rumors after getting to know the election results. Please pray that the new Parliament will get to work as soon as possible. Please pray that also the Government is good and serves the whole country. Please also pray for people who are so divided about political positions that families are broken, etc.

Please pray for the coming congregational conference in Agape church on March 25th. Please pray for people to come and join in it. Please pray that all the work gets done before and things can be worked out nicely on that day.

Here are the prayer needs from Children Center Lighthouse:
We are grateful to God that we had a good winter holiday and had the opportunity to go to many fun places with the children.

We pray for Johannes, an 11-year-old boy who visited the children’s center but was taken from his grandfather to a shelter two weeks ago, and also for his grandfather’s health, as he cannot get out of bed. His parents have problems with addiction.

This month, people from the International Women’s Club, mainly employees of various embassies, will visit the children’s center. We pray for this meeting to be effective.

March events and prayer requests:

• Every Sunday we’ll have a course for married couples.
• Every Wednesday, prayer for Ukraine
• Teens ministry – every Saturday.
• Young Adult ministry – every Sunday.
• Youth ministry – 5 and 26 March
• 26 March – Voting of church members in the community to withdraw from the UMC
• March 31- April 1. Meeting of Pastors