English Camp

A lot has happened since my last update. On July 2nd, we attended the Song Festival which is a choral event that has taken place in Estonia every five years since 1869 and has around 25,000 performers. The song festival gave me another glimpse into the rich history of this country and the people who live here. After the festival, we had our final dinner with our first short-term team and said goodbye to them.

The next week was a week of rest and preparation. We visited Martin’s home in Märjamaa and celebrated the 4th of July there. I was thankful for a week to reflect on God’s hand in our first week of camp and to rest before welcoming another short-term team and jumping into another camp.

Our next short-term team arrived on Friday, July 14th. The short-term team consisted of twenty-two people from a church in Colorado and one guy from a church in California. Since we had three camps happening this week, we all got split up for the week. Half the team was with me and Hayden at the English camp while the other half went with Garrett to the music camp. Then Garry and Martin helped at the disc golf camp.

Our English camp took place in Kohila. Similar to the previous camp, we had two main sessions each day that included an icebreaker game, the camp dance, worship, a testimony, and the message. Each session was followed by small groups. Then we did our English environments. Rather than using an English curriculum, we encouraged English learning through games and activities which required the use of English and encouraged discussion. Then we had an all-camp activity each afternoon before dinner after which  we would have another session followed by small groups. Each night we had an activity as well. One night we did a Nerf war and another night we had a talent show which consisted of everything from a human pyramid to swing dancing to Americans trying to translate Estonian words.

I saw God in every detail of this past week. While the first week of camp consisted of numerous moments of perceived loneliness, God’s presence was undeniable throughout this week. Each day consisted of at least one moment I was covered in goosebumps as I watched God’s sovereign hand at work.

Highlights: One of these moments was when I got to share my testimony. Before each of the main sessions, someone would share a testimony related to the topic of the message. While one of the short-term team members was supposed to share, she realized a few minutes before that she had prepared it for the wrong talk. So Miriam (one of the amazing local leaders who also translated for us) asked if the topic would relate to my story. The topic aligned pretty much perfectly with my story and I knew immediately that I was supposed to share. I was not expecting to share and, honestly, I still struggle to put my testimony into words, but thankfully I did not have much time to worry or overthink. So I was able to share from my heart. After sharing, various people shared with me how they connected with my testimony and I was able to have good conversations with them which was encouraging and a reminder to me of why our stories are important.

Another highlight of the week was the Labyrinth. The kids walked through the stations and then ended up in the main room where leaders were available to pray with them. Three kids gave their lives to Christ. One of them was a boy from my small group. Throughout the week, he had begun opening up and sharing his thoughts about God in general even though he had not given his life to God. The day before the Labyrinth he had asked, “How do you become a Christian?” We were able to answer his question and he shared that he would think about it. Then after he got through the Labyrinth, he was ready! He went to one of the leaders from our small group and gave his life to Christ. His sister also gave her life to Christ. They do not come from a Christian home which makes me excited and expectant to see how God is going to transform their family. Another girl also gave her life to Christ that night. God’s presence was evident in that place as kids were giving their lives to Christ, people were praying with one another, and we were all worshiping the Father. I feel like I got a glimpse into heaven that night as we joined the celebration of heaven at the lost being found.

Since Hayden and I were the only people from Josiah Venture Estonia at the camp, we had the chance to step out and lead which grew both of us. It was a challenge to be one of the point person whenever problems arose. I also struggled with the moments where we needed to plan or prep things rather than getting to just be with the campers but I learned that ministry looks different as a leader. In some ways, leadership is stepping back and creating the space for others to pour into people as you pour into the other leaders.  Also, leadership involves stepping back and encouraging others to step into things that will help them to grow. At the same time, there were many things I enjoyed about our role. I enjoyed getting to care for the short-term team. We had a team of eleven, three leaders, and eight high school students. I saw a lot of myself in those high school students and I was reminded of the impact mission trips like this made on my life in high school. I loved getting to know them and seeing how God was working in their lives; cooking meals for them and serving them in whatever practical ways that I could; and watching the way that their team and all the campers poured into one another and came alongside each other throughout the camp. 

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

- 2 Corinthians 12:9

This week was a testimony of God’s faithfulness to fulfill this promise. We walked into this week with uncertainty and a lot of things still to be figured out. Our weaknesses were exposed, but as they were, God’s glory was revealed. Looking back on the past week, it does not make sense how everything worked out aside from God. I learned that when He promised that His power is made perfect in weakness He was serious and this promise does not serve as a consolation prize or a backup plan for when things do not go as planned, rather in our weakness He is more glorified because it leaves no question whose power was at work. As I look back on last week, I am amazed by the ways God was working and His power was moving and it was all through our weaknesses.

The last few days have contained some much-needed rest and time back together with the other interns. I can hardly believe that I will be flying home in two weeks but I am excited for what God is going to do in that time as we start our final camp on Sunday!

Prayer Requests

• Pray for the kids who have given their lives to Christ this summer. Please pray that they would get connected to churches and continue to grow.
• Pray for our final camp that we would commit our work to the Lord and that He would act in the lives of the local youth, the leaders, and the short-term team
• Pray for Estonia that God would continue to transform lives here and give courage and strength to believers here as they continue to follow Him and bear witness to Him
• Pray for intentionality in my last few weeks here that I would continue to serve God faithfully and be present to the people here

Short-term team training and our English camp team 

(Milt, Misha, Brendan, Ethan, Leah, Rhett, Ellie, me, Kendall, Rachel, Shelley, Bronner, Julia, and Hayden)

On our way to camp

Moments before campers arrived

While there were many activities at this camp, this table became one of my favorite parts of camp. People would sit and draw or play games or write notes for camp mail.

Very thankful for our amazing worship team and for Miriam for translating all the talks!

Some of the people who made this week amazing (left to right: Julia, who is full-time with JV in Czech, Pille, and Kadi)

I cannot explain how thankful I am for this team. While they were hilarious and full of energy, they were also flexible and continually stepped out of their comfort zones this week to serve God and love people.

Showed the short-term team around old town and had a debrief before saying goodbye

Ended the week with an afternoon with some Moody students who were visiting Estonia and an evening wandering around Tallinn with Mari from church here!