Day 3 - High School Estonia - Mitchell Saunders

Greetings to all of you keeping up with our mission here in Estonia. Today marked the start of our interactions with our Estonian and Ukrainian campers, but more on that later. Some of us started our day with an early morning workout, others Bible time, and some took the opportunity to sleep as much as possible to prepare for the exhaustion that is to come. For breakfast we had the option of bread with spreads, or a variety of cereals. 

After that, we went to a small Estonian church where the pastor and worship team were kind enough to work in both Estonian and English. Listening to the Estonian worship songs was truly a heartwarming experience because it showed me how music can bring together a community even if you don’t know the meaning. The message was one that I found to be quite profound and had many moments that made me think deeply about my faith, and myself. The main topic of it was Jesus’ parable of seeds in soil from Mark chapter 4. Some of the parts that stuck out to me were when the pastor asked if we are prepared to plant plentiful seed, and if we are open for God to show us where we aren’t in order to make us ready. It was also mentioned that sometimes in a Christian environment, we see evil as a force that is away from us when in actuality, it can be found within the church as well sometimes. I think I speak on behalf of our entire group when I say that I am thankful for the Estonian church both in adapting their ways to accommodate us and also sending us into this week with a lot of potential for spiritual growth.

After the service, we went to lunch where our team hung out and enjoyed a nice meal before the campers arrived at our octagonal building of worship. The camp officially started today, but it was mainly just about getting people comfortable with the environment we are trying to create so that we can share the gospel with everyone. The people attending camp are generally around our age, although some are around 12 or 13. We have already bonded a lot over games such as dodgeball with nerf guns, basketball, and even some games they taught us. I’m looking forward to bonding with them more over the next few days.

Right now, we are all off to bed (except for those who don’t realize what’s coming). Tomorrow is our first full day of camp and it will drain us all but it will also be a blast just like today. I hope all you folks at home are doing well and praying for the success of our ministry.

We shall see you in the next blog post.

-Mitchell Saunders

- Mitchell Saunders