Estonia

What a change Estonia is from Brazil where we lived for 6 years! We went on our first furlough at the end of last summer with the intentions of staying in the US and raising much needed support for three months. After many meetings and conferences, we only gained new support from one church and a dear loved one started supporting us each month. We could not go back to Brazil in the same financial state that we left. Our assistant pastor, Maurillio, was doing a great job and the church was growing. It was one year ago last month that Bob talked to Andrew Bunnell and he jokingly said, “hey, why don’t you come join us in Estonia?” Well, for the next couple weeks Bob could not get that invitation out of his mind. He spent 4 sleepless nights praying about Estonia. He just couldn’t shake it. So, when we arrived back to MN after a conference, he talked to our pastor and it was decided that Bob would take a trip to Estonia. It was during that trip, Bob made the decision to step through this open door of opportunity and join Andrew in the church work here and work with EurasiaOutreach. ( This is a ministry equipping converted Muslims to go back into their restricted countries to start underground churches. ) After Bob made this decision to relocate to a different missionfield, the new support started coming in which confirmed for us that Estonia is where God wanted us. Last January and February, Bob and I left Samuel and Sarah with their grandparents in FL and Sophie joined us in a trip to Brazil. We ordained Maurillio as pastor of the Igreja Baptista da Vitoria. Bob is going to Brazil this coming March and I am praying for the extra finances so our whole family can go. They are in the process of building a large auditorium – it is exciting!! This transition has not been an easy one but I am sure the longer we live here things will become easier. We are STILL waiting for our container to be released from customs. It arrived last week but there is a hang up in the documentation. To be able to set up house here will definitely make things a little easier on all of us. It really is beautiful here! We loved the snow storm we had last week. We love the Old Town – the castles and the beautiful walls around them and the stoned streets. It is so amazing!! It is so nice to be working with our American friends, Andrew and Sarah. We have met some other American families here and that has been a blessing, too, especially since they have children our children’s ages.