Churchplant Ladies want to help…Estonia?

Grateful to the Lord that the churchplant we are blessed to be apart of wants to do some sort of compassion outreach. I am talking the ladies, gifted leader and friend wanted to know if they could somehow be of help in Estonia. Baby blankets? Socks? Women Prisoners? What do you think Thom?

Love Goes for a New Wash Machine

Few weeks back a neighbor came to  (Heidi Sivonen) me and told me about how she has to go back to work in a Day Care and leave her almost 3 year old twins…in a DayCare. She is quite positive all the time I have hung around her. She then was saying how funny it was that her washmachine broke, coffeemaker broke and now her vacuum hose is shorter because one of her girls poked a hole in it. Not only that, she lost her dad and mom to differents cancers within the last few years. To make things more interesting, she is a single mom desparate for love.

Mikko and I devised a plan to present to the local Finnish church a need in our community. They approved 300 euros to buy a new washer. Mikko, a friend and my son B then journied to a local electronical store. He told the worker it was from our church and that we were helping a local single mother get a new washer. The guy gave a discount and sent Mikko to the airport area to pick up a well made wash machine from Italy, (better than our original choice).

They arrived and Mikko called to make sure she was home. I new she had guests staying over so I called and she asked “What surprise? Tell me Heidi, what!” I explained that I new she had need of a new washer and I asked the local body of believers if they would help. She answered, “LORD GOD!” Mikko explained why we were doing this with no strings attatched. The crew set it up and now she just can’t understand why some people she does not even know (the church plant that is) would provide such a gift.

The only reason I would share this is to generate a vital ministry in sharing love. We hope more importantly that the Gospel is going forth, and that it is the national believers who are supporting this. We hope it becomes contagious, and that people come to Christ (not to get a wash machine ofcourse). Your acts of kindness does not even have to cost anything, perhaps your time!

Pray now, that she does come to Christ. There are probably so many emotions running around her mind and heart this time.

Praying for ICELAND

Okay, if we could sum it up, over the next few months, please be in prayer for two new Bible studies that have just started here.  One that is English speaking and one that is Icelandic speaking.  We please pray for Helgi and Guðrun as they are leading the Icelandic Bible study (No….our Icelandic is not that good yet!)  and Colby as he leads the English one.  We pray that many will be confronted with the gospel through this and that God’s Spirit will draw people to Himself.

English classes in Reykjavik (I couldn’t think of a more creative title than Heathers!)

Here’s a post from our blog getagarman.blogspot.com that I wanted to share as a prayer request:

When I first came to LU as a freshman, I was a declared missions major. I was going to Ecuador as a single woman missionary and “I didn’t need no man.” After my first week of freshman orientation in a classroom full of boys, my advisor Harvey Hartman gently counseled me to find another major. He thought it would be wiser for me to find a trade to bring to another country, and after much praying and thinking, I switched my major to ESL (a brand new major at LU).

ESL teachers were in such high demand in 2001 after I graduated, that I was able to get a job immediately even though I didn’t have a teaching license (all I had to do was have a successful year of teaching and take a class, and I could get it easily). I had a love/hate relationship with the elementary school I taught at. The principle, Ms. Jessie’s philosophy was that kids shouldn’t be doing workbooks all day (which I agree with), therefore I had ZERO curriculum to work with when I arrived (a little extreme…). Everyday I would wake up in a panic, because I constantly was forced to create some lesson plan out of thin air. It was stretching, but I became more creative, resourceful, and learned more than I ever would have if I had just been handed a curriculum manual.

The last four weeks I have been thanking God for Harvey Hartman and Ms. Jessie. Last month our Icelandic teacher told me he had started running ads for the English class I was going to teach in his back room. I laughed and told him that I didn’t think it would work out. I was wrong. We got back from Greece on Friday night at midnight, Saturday and Sunday I was decorating my classroom, and on Monday I had students!

***********************************************************************************************
Please pray that I have strength to teach these classes as it requires a lot of energy and I am still recovering from the miscarriage. Also, pray for connections to be made with the families
of my students.

Here’s a post from our blog getagarman.blogspot.com that I wanted to share as a prayer request:

When I first came to LU as a freshman, I was a declared missions major. I was going to Ecuador as a single woman missionary and “I didn’t need no man.” After my first week of freshman orientation in a classroom full of boys, my advisor Harvey Hartman gently counseled me to find another major. He thought it would be wiser for me to find a trade to bring to another country, and after much praying and thinking, I switched my major to ESL (a brand new major at LU).

ESL teachers were in such high demand in 2001 after I graduated, that I was able to get a job immediately even though I didn’t have a teaching license (all I had to do was have a successful year of teaching and take a class, and I could get it easily). I had a love/hate relationship with the elementary school I taught at. The principle, Ms. Jessie’s philosophy was that kids shouldn’t be doing workbooks all day (which I agree with), therefore I had ZERO curriculum to work with when I arrived (a little extreme…). Everyday I would wake up in a panic, because I constantly was forced to create some lesson plan out of thin air. It was stretching, but I became more creative, resourceful, and learned more than I ever would have if I had just been handed a curriculum manual.

The last four weeks I have been thanking God for Harvey Hartman and Ms. Jessie. Last month our Icelandic teacher told me he had started running ads for the English class I was going to teach in his back room. I laughed and told him that I didn’t think it would work out. I was wrong. We got back from Greece on Friday night at midnight, Saturday and Sunday I was decorating my classroom, and on Monday I had students!

***********************************************************************************************
Please pray that I have strength to teach these classes as it requires a lot of energy and I am still recovering from the miscarriage. Also, pray for connections to be made with the families
of my students.

Upper Cut, Right Hook, Left Jab

Not too long ago in sunny California I’d hit the kickboxing studio for a little bit of tension release.  At 5:30 pm I showed up ready to sweat and knock somebody’s head off.  I loved the fun enviroment, thumping music and sweaty boxing gloves, okay, not so much on the sweaty boxing gloves.  

Since arriving in Finland I’ve noticed the obsession with working out.  I’ve seen families running together, bike riding and nordic walking.  I’ve been trying to come up with a way to build relationships with young women in Finland.  I don’t sew, don’t scrapebook and although I’m a mother and LOVE my daughter, you generally won’t find me at the playground.  I’ve been praying, “Please Lord, show me a way I can do what I love to do and still be able to meet ladies.”  I’ve been certified to teach aerobics and Lord willing we will offer a FREE cardio kickboxing class in a local school gym. 

This is a PRAYER request.  We hope to have classes start by mid-August (when the university students arrive).  Please pray for the space we will be renting, that we will find one in an ideal location and that the cost is minimal.  Pray that the students will show up.  PRAY that relationships will be formed and souls saved. 

I’ll keep the blog updated…until then…KICK, KICK, KICK!!

Heather in Finland

Hello from the Training Team

Dear Cluster,

I am really grateful to Derek for allowing me the chance to join the community and begin at the beginning! I will be in Greece and get a chance to meet those of you from the former CEE for the first time. As a short intro, Laura and I have been in Europe for 19 years and have raised our 4 daughters here (Scotland and Germany). in the late 90′s, I related to the Baptist Unions of Sweden, Denmark and Norway as the IMB rep and supervised personnel in Norway and Denmark. I look forward to seeing all the Scandi countries connected under Derek’s leadership.

I want to encourage you to be disciplined in getting out in these summer months and being with people. Enjoy the sunshine while you have it and make friendships in the parks, etc. that will carry indoors when the weather turns. When we look at the cycles of harvest, farmers do a majority of work in the summer and we should be no different. Build now for the winter. Gather as many relationships as possible for nurturing later.

In Grace and Peace,

David Moench

Day Of Prayer/Fasting

During the day I was impressed with this thought - 

What would an expression of the gospel look like among what all statistics tell us are the happiest, wealthiest, best educated and most content people in the world? 

I don’t know, but I’d love to be a part of bringing it to pass…that the Scandinavians would fall in love with Jesus, and display that love and His worth to the world, even when they have all the other stuff that the world has to offer. I pray that they would see how He is so much better, deeper and richer than the best the world has to offer. Maybe that will be their contribution to the Kingdom…and maybe God will let Jeff and I walk with the people of Norway toward this day. 

Deanna Davis

re: calypsocafe

The CalypsoCafe is a page for feedback/suggestions on how to make our communication strategies, external and internal sites better.  I don’t have all the ideas or all of the answers, so all suggestions are welcome.  BTW, you can challenge/discuss ideas in the CalypsoCafe so that the best ones come out in the “press”.  Sorry, that pun was “grounds” for groaning.  :)

- Derek

Andy and Kaye Martin

 

Hey all!  If you haven’t yet heard my interview with Kaye, check it out on our internal podcasting page.  BTW, the username and password for that podcast are the same as the ones you used to get into the teamonly pages.

Welcome, Kaye!  Kaye will be posting regularly on her page (Sage Advice) on this wordpress blog.  You can ask her any questions and/or read her posts and/or comment.  You’ll have opportunity to see her and Andy in person in Athens, Greece.