September 2019 Prayer Requests

First of all, we thank God for the wonderful summer conference we had in August.  Over two hundred people attended from all over Estonia.  It was a spiritually refreshing time.

We are in the middle of forming a new youth committee and we are thankful to God for young people who are willing to serve and develop the youth ministry.  We had a great youth leaders’ training seminar where 25 young people, Estonians, and Russians, spent two days together learning and growing together.

Young People Leader’s Training

Please pray for the School of Congregational Development as we host about 200 leaders from Scandinavia and the Baltics (September 19-22).

We are excited about the new academic year starting at the Baltic  Methodist Theological Seminary.  Please pray for the teachers and students to have a blessed and productive year.

We ask for prayer for our congregations and pastors as the new season begins.  Sunday school, youth ministry, and small groups are starting again after the summer break.

Pray for our pastors to have wisdom as shepherds of their congregations.

Thank you so much for your prayers.  May God bless all of you!

We rejoice over 14 new students beginning their studies this year.

We are thankful for the timely arrival of new translation equipment to serve students in three languages. Our previous equipment was 25 years old.  We can do more now.

Please pray for our faculty that their teaching would impact lives and nurture faith.

Pray that we soon find needed help in the form of the right administrative assistant/registrar.

Pray for finances – after necessary but large purchase (translation equipment) we need to raise additional funds to recover.

Glory to God always!

On September 1, the church begins a new season of youth services, bless the development of ministry and the rooting of youth in Christ Jesus.

Also, this year, we decided to take only one participant in the “Year for God” project, pray please for the improvement of the financial side of the project, so that we would be able to serve more youth.

Three Students who completed the Year For God program this year.

Bless the new Sunday school season so that children learn more about God’s love and accept God as their Savior.

We are thankful this month that the cooperation between Estonian and Russian youth work has started to become stronger. Estonian UMC’s Church Board and our Superintendent Robert Tšerenkov have made an effort to increase the knowledge of the youth, pastors, and congregations in strategic youth work. As an initiative from our youth, there have been a couple of youth evenings for the young people across Estonia and we’ve seen how these events have strengthened youth’s contacts between themselves and the Estonian UMC youth work in general.

Prayer requests:

•  The new Estonian UMC’s Youth Board’s growth into a team.
• Ability to reach Estonian youth outside of the church (social projects, evangelism, etc.)
• God’s wisdom in growing the current youth in their relationships with each other and God
• Young people’s challenge today – disobedience to parents, leaders, teachers, and God
• There’s a lot of harvest and our society is full of challenges, but there are few workers.
• We pray that God may bless Estonian UMC’s youth work abundantly and would expand it.

• Pray for a new year at schools, that every child will be safe and grow in faith.
•  Pray also for seminary teachers and students and their families.
•  Pray for all activities in the church, that every member serves God as well as they can. Pray for new people coming.
• Pray also for some people, who are fighting with severe illnesses: for an 11-year-old boy (autism and epilepsy), two people with a cancer diagnosis. Pray for their health and also grace for their families.

I am thankful for the 98th Anniversary of Agape church. I am thankful to the Lord because He has carried the congregation so far. I am thankful to all of the people in the congregation who have given their love over the last 98 years. I am sure now it´s time to enjoy what people have done with God before that generation.

I am thankful to God for the new members. We have gotten 3 new people joined with Agape congregation in July and August.

Please pray for the new starting season in the church. We have had a nice summer here and now it will be time to turn back into the busier period. Please pray for the great wisdom to everyone in the staff and let people follow their calling from God during the coming season.  Please pray for more new people to find a way to the church and make the connection here with one of our groups.

Please pray for my other work, out of the church. I am very sure, I cannot work at the same places as I have done until now. It is time to let some things go and get more focus for the congregation. I still need to keep working out of the church but less than I have done in the last years. Let our Lord show me the way, what it could be and how things will work out the best.

We praise God for the summer!
Summer conference went well with the record number of people and as we prayed the number of families with children was growing. New encouragement and strength have come with Robert´s leadership and some special new speakers from East.

Viitka church anniversary.

Food project in Võru church, about 30 children with parents have received warm meals from the church and all social department people have been helping.

Prayers:

• After two days in my workplace Estonian president is visiting children’s home. Some very difficult children in the children’s home. Pray that the Lord will free them.
• Last food project meeting tomorrow, plan to have a gospel-bus there.
• Võru church 25th anniversary – celebration and to finish the sound project.
• School of congregational development in Tallinn
• Aldersgate development – right now we do not have calls to churches, that the team-members would experience personal growth and nurture and anoint with Holy Spirit.
• Young and children ministry start in Võru.

Please pray for a blessed new school year at the Seminary, for strong spiritual unity among students and staff.

Pray for Livia as she starts a new school year in a new school. Pray that she will adjust and build relationships that will allow her to be a testimony and a blessing. Pray also that she will be able to maintain the relationships with her co-workers in her old school so that the work that was begun would not come to an end.

Mark & Livia will be organizing Bible study days for the Tapa, Sakusaare, and Rakvere congregations during the new school year. Pray for our first session in Tapa on September 28th, that God would use this teaching series to instill a new desire among church members to grow closer to God through His Word.

I am writing from Stuttgart, Germany where we are right now conducting a leadership training (Institute for Multicultural Ministry) for pastors and leaders of multicultural churches from many places in Europe: UK, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, plus USA. The planning and preparation of this event have taken several years and many hours and hard work for me. I am so blessed to see how beautifully this has all come together. Thank you, Lord!

My next months will be heavy on traveling, with only a little time at home. Please pray for travel mercies and strength.