Coming along

Well - the trip is in process right now.  We have now met twice (once to celebrate a couple of birthdays, including mine), and I really feel like our team is starting to gel.  This may be one of the best mixes of people I've had an opportunity to serve with... three of us have been to Estonia before, one has been to Split a number of times supporting the team out there, and a couple of folks will be making their first journey overseas.

Today, I have been wrapping up my second support request push and I'm really thankful that I'm very close to my goal now (my team is only $5,000 off as of now).  The last item is this blog, so that I can get my support information out to anyone on Facebook that may want to support but doesn't know where -or- why to join with the six of us Georgians heading to Estonia to serve students.  Here's a little bit of the why and the how :-), as well as a little of my story... 

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Beginning in 2007, I have had the opportunity to invest in a community of students in a city halfway across the world that has a vision to influence their culture to know the unconditional & extraordinary love that Christ offers and see it take root in their lives.  This group of students lives in Estonia, a nation where when you walk the streets you will see...

• ·      Alcoholism is rampant and a persistent problem
• ·      Skepticism and mistrust is the norm
• ·      Even neighbors living in the same community, or in the adjacent apartment, will not speak to each other

It can be depressing; even though the Soviet empire has left almost 20 years ago, even in a culture as rich in cultural tradition and learning as Estonia is.  Somehow, darkness is still there; while Soviet Russia is gone it isn’t giving up its grip easily. One thing that Innar, a Christ-follower working on staff at Risttee and a good friend of many in the Buckhead Church community, told me as I arrived in Tallinn in 2009 during my third trip that stuck with me was this:

“Thank you.  For bringing light to this dark place.” 

On June 23^rd, I have the opportunity to return to Estonia to invest in a group of high school aged students that I had the privilege of pouring my life into in the Summer of 2008 during an English Camp trip. I am joining a team from Atlanta, GA to connect with students in an adventure camp that will allow us an opportunity to connect with these students in a way that a week of strict outreach would not allow, even though I am admittingly a little nervous about some of the crazy things the students may make us do (my team members in 2008 can attest to some of these J). 

I am excited about this opportunity to give a week of my life to these students because I believe that through this generation the culture can truly be transformed, and that transformation can start (as it did in the beginning) with a small group of people.  What also excites me, and what I’m praying for, is that the Risttee students will invite their friends… friends who need to know the love of Christ, and during this week they will catch it and come closer to experiencing the happiness that comes from this relationship during this Adventure Camp week.  I am humbled just to be a small part of that.

This is where I need your help, and invite you to join me in this investment in Estonia.

First, I am responsible for assisting our team reach a support goal of over $16,000 for our team members to participate in this journey.   I would be honored if you would assist us through supporting me in my goal to make this trip happen. 

You can give through making an online, tax deductable, donation on the GlobalX website.  To do so, go to this link: https://ssl.northpoint.org/ssl/globalx/

In the Country box, choose “Estonia”

In the trip box, choose “Estonia Estonia Camp 6/23 – 7/3/2011”

In the participant box, type “Chris Willis”

Thank you J

Second, we need your prayers.  Those of you know that have been on mission trips in the past know that if we are to “succeed” in what God has called us to do then we must follow his leading and not do things our way.  Pray that we catch His vision for this trip, and we are not just caught up in the “stuff we are going to be doing” on the trip. 

Third, I need your encouragement.   Those that have followed with me through my Estonia journey know that I have a blog from my prior trips that I would love for you to comment on.  This blog has been taken out of hibernation and I will be posting in here throughout the preparation for the trip and a few times while I’m in Estonia.  Letters and notes are really the #1 way you can encourage and drive me through this journey.  

So... I'm going back

I'm sure that this is coming as a huge surprise to you, but this summer I will be going back to Estonia to work with our partner in Tartu with students.  This will be my fourth journey to this country, and a lot of people, that has become very close to my heart and for some of you reading close to yours as well.

As you may or may not know, I felt called to take a step back after my last trip in 2009, and in that time felt God's calling me to spend an incredible time in Kenya serving an incredible group of people who have a vision for their community and lives and have partnered with 410 Bridge to serve as the enabler in this journey.  It was an incredible experience, and in it really caught more of a vision myself for how Risttee and GlobalX partners as well.

So.  I was in the same place at the end of this last year.  Kenya was amazing.  life changing.  deeply profound in growing my faith.  and... I fell in love with the people.  But, no clear call to go back.

So... I'm not sure, do I take a year off?  Do I go somewhere else?  Waiting on God for direction can be a little frustrating (at least for self-starters like me), because I am 100% on his timetable, and not mine.

And then around late January... looking at the GlobalX trips.  I just felt.

Estonia.

English Camp.

And in a process of praying, talking to people at church and over coffee, and stop-and-starts, I am excited to say that I'll be going back to invest in the same group of kids that I had the privilege of pouring my life into in 2008.  The only catch is...

It won't be looking like English Camp.

The students are planning out a week of "Adventure Camp" which both scares and excites me.  I love new experiences and this will be a new thing for me.  At the same time, English Camp was awesome.   I won't lie.  It was such a great experience investing in these kids... many of whom have stepped up and become leaders in the Risttee community as I found out the year later.  This excites me to no end because I know that if positive change can occur in a culture (and I believe that it not only can but in God's grace will) it will happen through this generation that we are investing in this year.  Having poured time and energy into this group over the last 4 years, I truly believe that.  I wouldn't be in, I believe, if I didn't.

So - I'm sitting here at Starbucks thinking about what I'm going to write to my friends and supporters about this trip, and thought it would be best to let myself do a little stream of consciousness on this blog that has been dormant for a year.  I hope that you read the stories from the past, and get excited about what "could be" for the future.  Because these students, while they live in a culture that still has many remnants of the darkened world of Soviet communism remaining, have a light in their lives that we want to in some way help to further ignite.  And this light... what John calls the "light of men" that lives within them... can spread.  And I pray that it will spread, and lighten up a dark world that needs to know hope.

More to come... :-)

Sauna

Greetings again from Estonia.  Today's been a little unusual, as our pancake stand has been rained out for the day :-( - sad, really.  So, instead we spent the day hanging out with the Risttee staff and giving them (and I suppose, us, but we really are here to encourage and build them up) a day off.  We are about to head over to Innar's house for a prayer walk around the area of town that he lives in, and then go to hang out with more students from Risttee tonight.  

Please pray for tomorrow that the weather gets better and we can make the pancake stand work.... it has been really great for meeting people and helping us serve the students.  Unfortunately, I don't think that we have an indoor Plan B yet.  

Yesterday, as part of our activities, we invited students that we connected with and students at the church to hang out with us at Sauna last night... no strings attached.  For anyone that hasn't experienced the Estonian Sauna, there is really no good way to really explain it, and to do so may cause needless prayer requests so I won't.  I really enjoyed the experience both times we were invited to sauna and this "floating sauna" (sauna boat) thing was pretty cool (minus the skeeters, of course).  We were on this "Huck Finn" raft about 50 feet from shore which had a sauna inside and a grill outside we BBQ'd on... it was cool.  One of the students I met at pancakes came out, a really cool Physics PhD student who's going to see Michael Jackson play in London in the fall.  He had a good time hanging out.  

The Estonians say that Sauna is 10% about "sauna" and 90% social, that a lot of deep conversations happen here.  In fact, and probably not joking, sauna would represent the next step environment beyond the "kitchen" (if you're following the Northpoint "Foyer - Living Room - Kitchen" house analogy) where accountability, authenticity, and that brother to brother connection happens.  I could see that... I'm not sure what the equivalent "room" would be in American culture that would represent the level of one-on-one, transparent accountable relationship that goes deeper than small group, but the Estonians definitely have a good one.  

At the beginning of this week, Peep mentioned during our initial meeting about (in their cultural context) rethinking the concept of "church" (Sunday mornings) as the "foyer," and I had an opportunity to ask him more about that during sauna last night.  I can talk to you more about this later (it would be too deep to put in a blog post), but essentially it is difficult to make the church a "foyer" because for an Estonian the act of even going to church itself represents a much higher wall that it does in the United States.  In fact, I myself found out in conversations with students that the connotation of "the church" represents the building, control, bureaucracy, etc... things that are very unattractive to Estonians (and I can imagine for us as well).  All of these things not what Jesus called his Ekklesia (the Greek word translated "Church" in the New Testament that is literally translated "Called out ones.") to be.  So, the question exists in a country and city where people need to see the love of Jesus acted out, how will anyone see the Ekklesia if they won't visit the church?   The answer is that the Ekklesia has to go outside of the church walls and show them in their apartments, malls, workplaces, classes... serve them, love them, and shine as the lights we are in the midst of the darkness.  

This is essentially the challenge... one I am earnestly praying for them on, and praying about how I can help through encouragement, support, and (of course) prayer.  And it's also convicting me too, because I am also called to "be the Ekklesia (church)" in my world, and sometimes I admit that I don't represent so well all of the time.  I can guarantee now, that this thought will be on my mind a lot in the coming weeks/months.  I know it's been on the minds of those in our singles ministry at Buckhead Church with starting events like Giving Up Christmas and do.justice to spur this movement, so perhaps there are some ideas we can share and perhaps some things that may translate (after all, Gen Y and Millennial generation Americans have a fairly skeptical outlook on Church too).  

Anyways - I've gotta run.  I hope your day is great and thanks for your prayers!! :-)

Pankooks

Greetings from Tartu! I'm excited to be back here, and glad to report that I am now stitch-free (for those that don't know, I had to have my left foot stitched up a week ago Sunday because of an unfortunate glass accident. I actually did take the stitches out myself... it really wasn't that big of a deal. But, considering how much walking we will be doing this week, I'm really glad to have them out.

The trip so far has been really great. Very Bear-Week-esque except without the Big Ben concerts. This is final exam week for the University, so one thing that we are doing that is really bringing some smiles to the students (and great conversations) has been setting up a pancake (crepe-style) station near the library to catch students and offer them a free snack and a friendly face. We've had a chance to meet some really cool students and sometimes talk to them a little about the "why are we doing this?" question. And it really is, quite simply, that we're a group of Christians that love Jesus and really want to do something nice for you guys. I think it's catching on because we did have a crowd around our pancake tent today; the second day we've served the students in this way.

What's also been really awesome to see has been how a lot of the High School students that were involved in Risttee and attended (not led, attended) English Camp last year were really stepping out and serving/leading in what Risttee was doing.  These students made up a good bit of the worship team that led on Sunday morning (including Betti, who has a really great voice!) and most (if not all) of the KidStuf actors (Risttee has been doing KidStuf for about a year, starting a little after taking up their new residence in the Atlantis on Sunday mornings).  My heart was really encouraged to see them really involved and leading at such a young age.  Makes me think of the words Paul told Timothy when he said "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young."  Well, they aren't.... so rock on :-).

Hope you all in the States and in Estonia reading this are doing well :-)

(I had been writing to our team blog until Tarmo told me this afternoon that he was looking here and hadn't seen anything yet... oops.)

Dessert Thoughts with Peep, Mart, and Tarmo (Repost from 10/30/2008)

Some thoughts... since I referenced some of the things Peep said at this dessert several times during my prep for this summer's Connections team trip :)

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Tonight after work, I made my way over to Daryl and Betsy Griswolds' condo to again have an opportunity to hang out with the friends I have made in Estonia, have some dessert (always a plus), and listen about what God is doing 7 time zones across the world. It was fun and of course great to see Peep and Tarmo again since being at English Camp in Estonia last July.

The cool thing about Daryl and Besty's place is this really huge clubhouse on the first floor of their building that is really perfect for events like this (that, and their amazing knack for hospitality). When we all arrived, the desserts were all set and we mingled for a while catching up, followed by Peep, Mart, and Tarmo each talking about Estonia, the Going Up/Risttee ministry, and what God has been doing over the last year.

What was really cool about the evening, other than seeing these friends again and hearing their stories, was the cool "déjà vu" moments I had from the evening... I'll share a couple:

At one point, Tarmo got up and talked about his cousin Ragnar and the story about how he had come to faith in Christ and about his baptism at English Camp this year... especially relating the difficulties that reaching family can be. I got a chance to meet Ragnar at English Camp and witness his baptism :)... he is a great, quiet yet strong guy with a good heart. I felt a swell of (good) pride swell up when the story was told and the pictures from the baptism was passed along. It was encouraging for me... especially to keep praying and being Christ to family and seeing what God will do in their lives.

Second, Peep told us about Daniel's rise to leadership in Going Up (he was... sadly... unable to be at dessert... boo!) and how God has been growing him. Again, I had a chance to serve with Daniel before his being given the mantle of leadership (at Bear Week in 2007) and after as he led the English Camp we attended in July. I have been able to see first-hand how much Daniel has grown and matured as a leader and I am excited to have witnessed it.... and look forward to serving with him again (praying about English Camp again) real soon.

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Thinking about all that has transpired in the past year... with heartbreaks, missions, job transition, and the like... I'm starting to see now in this season that God was working in it all to bring about His purposes... trials are in many ways God's way of strengthening our faith and letting us know that it really is He who is sustaining us... Risttee had the same story last year when they got kicked out of their facility in December and God used it to position them for greater ministry opportunities today (for a later blog for anyone who doesn't know this story).

You know (another thing that was really cool), in a moment of unscripted spontaneity, Peep said something about how God has been molding him this year and that they weren't any longer about "doing church" but about "being the church." You know, being the body of Christ out in the world loving each other and letting a world that needs to see the hope of Christ in us SEE that hope played out in our love for one another as Christians. I was really encouraged and got a little swell of pride when I heard that... it's cool when you see a people that truly get the gist of what the church is and I've seen them live it out in Tartu. This is something I hope for us at Buckhead Church and also for all of us that hope in Christ :-).

In closing... thank you Peep for coming and sharing your lives and your hearts with us here in Atlanta. And also thank you for inviting me to participate in what you are doing and what God is doing through you through Bear Week and English Camps! It has been a privilege and I look forward to serving with you again real soon. To all reading this... he encouraged us to say "YES" to participating with them... through praying for Estonia, through giving of our resources, to GOing to Estonia to serve, and through telling others what's going on... which is really my point of writing this blog tonight.

Five Words

Today's a day that I'm spending doing some of the "administrative" preparation for my upcoming Connections trip to Estonia in June.  During my time with God this morning, I started to think about my testimony a little bit and what I would say during our team retreat when I share.   Among other things.  

Two years ago, when I went during Bear Week, each person from our team shared our "testimony in five words" which was really moving and powerful as we explained to each other the story of God as it intersected with our own stories.  I thought I would do something similar this year, except I'm finding that I would use different words this year than I did in 2007.  I believe that is in part because our relationship with Jesus is not static... and if it is growing the different seasons of our lives and dynamics of our relationship will bring out a different story... same thread of grace, forgiveness, and dependence but different paths as we have walked with God in new and fresh ways.  

So, what were my five words 2 years ago?... Feel free to read :-)  http://estoniasept07teambios.blogspot.com/2007/07/chris-willis.html

What would my words be this year?  Here's what I'm thinking:

• Providence
• Remembering
• Dependence
• Anticipating 
• Enough

Feel free to ask "why these words?"  I'm noodling more over that over the coming weeks :-).

Wondering what to write

Less than one week from my first team meeting with the Connections mission team I am going to Tartu with in June (leaving May 30st, actually), I am throwing around ideas about what I want to write in my support letter for this upcoming trip.  That's one item on my busy "to do list" for the next couple of weeks... also included are renewing my passport and saying "hey" to the peeps that I want to touch base with when I get over there.  But, the agony of raising support is there and it's important.  

There are a couple of reasons for this... first, I like to put some thoughts into this thing because the whole exercise is really about recruiting a support team that goes far beyond finances for the trip.  I'm really liking some of the things that Peep shared with us at the last support dinner in Atlanta about Give-Pray-Go, as well as his vision of the church being the church versus "doing church" in Estonia.  Believe me, I've got ideas... how to get these into a concise format is going to be the challenge :-)

Second, a thought I've had in my recent quiet times has been about Paul's letters to the churches... things that we today in modern Christianity analyze, go to seminary and Bible Study training classes to understand, and pour over the words to apply to our lives... but also letters that contained a significant amount of emotional capital.  For the vast majority of these letters (such as Ephesians, Galatians, Corinthians, etc.), they were written to people that Paul spent months, sometimes over a year doing life with during one of his missionary journeys... and he wasn't just writing theological treatises but instead an intensely personal letter to people whom he knew their names and could see their eyes and their smiles in his memory... 

In a way, this trip is a lot like that for me; where it's not really now about Estonia as a category anymore... it's about people... it's about Tarmo and Ragnar... it's about Daniel... it's about Evelin and Hannah and Kati and Timo... and there's more names that I can list.  People that I care about that live and truly desire to see God move in mighty ways in their city, their circles of influence, and their country.  

It's hard to convey the personal aspect in a support letter, but somehow I feel that I should.  I think it's my prayer that through this trip, that we can all touch their city in some unique way that God uses to transform a country... and even more important that we can, as Paul told the Roman church, to "impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong - that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each others' faith." (Romans 1:11-12)  I pray that you reading this, and those that read that letter that's in my head that will be in paper soon, may catch that vision and choose to participate in the way God calls them to.