Days before the Word - Easter blessings in Estonia

’Days before the Word’ has been a feature of the Estonia Region programme for many years. For 2014 the campaign was relocated from February into Holy Week.  The changed date coincided with unseasonably pleasant weather which encouraged excellent attendances at all 3 venues.

During the last few years many guests have helped explain and illuminate Scripture during these special campaigns.  Lieutenant Colonels Jonathan and Jayne Roberts (IHQ) kindly agreed to be our special guests this year and to extending the usual campaign to  also include the Easter weekend.  Their meetings also featured fascinating presentations on the work of The Salvation Army in Europe. It was great to see the interest that these presentations stimulated.

Fellowship at Tartu corps

The 2014 Days before the Word campaign was launched at Tallinn Kopli corps on Tuesday afternoon.  It was really encouraging to see 50 people attending an afternoon Bible study. Jonathan and Jayne carefully and thoughtfully explained the gift of Grace – using Scripture to focus in turn upon the Grace of Jesus, the Grace of the Lord and the Grace of Christ. After enjoying a beautifully prepared meal, Captain Ave and Major Julia led us in worship before the Word was again explained.

Craftwork on display at Narva

Wednesday morning found the team making the long journey east to Narva (on the Russian border) and witnessed a packed hall for both meetings, with Captain Ludmila and her worship team setting a wonderful worship atmosphere during the evening session.  After making the journey south on Thursday, it was great to see corps members from Tartu and Voru joining together to fill the hall at Tartu and share in study and worship.

At each setting, shared fellowship around the meal table enhanced the experience and gave chance to get to know each other better.

Sunrise service around the Cross

Easter weekend drew the campaign to a climax with Good Friday and Easter Sunday worship at Tallinn Kopli corps. The sun shone gloriously upon a crowd of over 40 who gathered early for the Easter Sunday morning Sunrise service at Paks Margareeta. The Cross lifted high on the hill provided a wonderful focal point for worship and the gathered crowd drew the attention of tram passengers as they travelled past.

In this largely un-churched country the numbers sharing in this campaign demonstrated a real hunger for God’s Word and a desire to better understand Scripture.

 

Our sincere thanks to all our corps and centre leaders for their practical help and encouragement, and to our good friends Colonels Jonathan and Jayne for their sensitive and helpful ministry.  Our prayer is that our minds will have been opened to  new truths from the Word and that our lives will have been touched again by the power and grace of God. Easter blessings!