November 2022 Prayer Requests

Dear Friends of Estonia!

Thank you so much for your prayers! Your prayers are much needed in these challenging times!

We thank God for the wonderful fellowship time for pastors on October 21-22. It was a good time of prayer, fellowship, encouragement, and reflection on the church’s future. Please continue to pray for our pastors. Also, please pray for wisdom and guidance for the church’s leadership.

Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine, for the church’s work with the refugees, and that we could reach more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Thank you for your prayers!

Here are prayer requests for the seminary:

We praise God that the Holston Conference has donated $100,000 to the seminary for a wartime relief scholarship enabling the seminary to assist students during this time of war and assist the seminary related to accreditation.

Pray for the seminary as they continue to prepare for accreditation 2 ½ years from now.

We pray for the future of the seminary, which will be affected financially if/when the Estonian United Methodist Church splits from the larger United Methodist Church.

We pray alongside you for the uncertainties we all face in a world affected by the war in Ukraine and inflation affecting not only Estonia and the United States but the entire world.

Thank you for praying;-)

It has been a very busy and productive month. The Youth Committee organized training for youth leaders with the Aldersgate team. Seeing God’s amazing work among leaders in our church was wonderful.  We sold the old building of Räpina church. Now we rent rooms. Let’s pray that God will bring forth a construction consultant and missing finances. We have to empty the old building by the end of the month. Let’s pray together that it will be done. My husband and I went to Malta and had a little rest.

We are very grateful for the team in South Estonia. It is empowering and powerful work. God is bringing back workers who have been away from the church. This is a painful process where we need wisdom and God’s help.

October has been very busy – but at the same time, full of blessings. Early October, I was in Hamburg, Germany, and this was a double blessing: on the one hand, I could participate in the European Methodist Council meeting and rejoice in many encounters again after several years (when the EMC did not meet in person); on the other hand, this was the best location that EMC could have selected because this is where my daughter Liina and two of my grandchildren live. It was lovely to meet them.

Another meeting later in October was also in Germany. It was about worship renewal in European United Methodist Churches, and we were both with Meeli able to participate. It was inspiring and offered many new insights. Plus, connecting with old and new friends was heartwarming.

Currently, while writing these lines, I am in Nashville, Tennessee, where thanks to our great friend Andy Morris I have had several meetings where I have been able to share more of how we, as the United Methodist Church, are engaged in supporting Ukraine and refugee ministries in Europe. Andy and Roxanne have been wonderful hosts, and I am so grateful for their kindness and for their ministry.
Part of this visit here has been especially meaningful to me personally – I was able to visit Nancy Eubanks, a friend of ours for about 30 years. Many of the readers of this prayer letter may know her as she has been so instrumental in Estonia and in many other places in Eastern Europe.

My prayers for the upcoming month are related to two Central Conference meetings I am about to visit: one for Central and Southern Europe in Switzerland and the other for Germany.

October was a very full month – in the beginning, we celebrated Võru church anniversary with all 4 churches together and a wonderful family band of Toodos from Tallinn. The youth had great gatherings, Disciple Bible study group started again. Almost every Sunday, some people returned back to church whom we have not seen for some years. Seminar for boards of all 4 churches, Finally great time with youth-ministry Growth seminar – 6 young people gave their talks and participated in prayer-ministry.

Prayers for November:

• Youth ministry has continuous growth, some former youth are willing to volunteer; several new youths started to come. Discipling the youth.
• Aldersgate prayer seminar in Lahti, Finland (18-20 November),
• Tallinn youth worship team coming to minister
• restarting children’s ministry – that God will call new leaders to that team
• Preparing for Advent and Christmas
• Prayer-clinic team – new strength

I hope that all is well with you!

Pray for our congregation members who have lost their relatives recently. Pray for their healing and peace.

Pray for our church leaders to hear God’s will and act in His will.

Pray for our youth and youth leaders. That they will grow in faith and pray that they will see each other through the prism of Jesus.

Blessings!

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers during the difficult period with our rental place. Even though due to the circumstances, we have to move to another building, we do believe that through those difficulties and new challenges, we can reach new people whom we have not been able to help before.

We would ask for your prayers that God would help us with the moving process so that everything would go smoothly and that the changes wouldn’t be too troublesome or stressful for our children and workers.

Also, we pray that we could prepare everything (painting, building the water pipe system) in the new rooms before finally moving in and also that there would be enough volunteers who would be willing to help us with the wall painting and overall moving process

During this school year, the Seminary is planning on reviewing the curriculum. We have some exciting ideas to make the program more dynamic, effective, and attractive. But with all the uncertainties at this point in time, it is difficult to focus. Pray that God would give clear leading, a clear common vision, and the energy to make it happen.

Livia started teaching at a new school in September. While there are great possibilities, a couple of bureaucratic issues have arisen that are causing a great deal of stress. Pray that these will be smoothed out quickly.