Liina and our City Christmas Tree...
Town Square filled with activities for families.
Dear friends & family,
With the celebration of advent in the city square to Christmas, we managed to get through another busy time of the year. We definitely had a white Christmas as we have had snow since November and then have been hit with several snowstorms. One of the biggest snowstorms decided to arrive Christmas Eve dropping around 15" - 20". We are still working on digging ourselves out. Luckily for the holidays, we made it to Võru where we celebrated Christmas with Liina’s family. This year Liina and I helped prepare the Christmas meal, so we added a little American culture to it. We cooked a turkey, made some mashed potatoes and gravy, tossed green salad, and Liina finished it off by making a carrot cake. Liina's father even found some cranberry sauce to finish it off. Liina’s family was quite happy with the results, so it looks like we will continue to be charge of the holiday meals. The other days we spent playing Mexican train, cross-country skiing, and catching up. I know that Liina’s family celebrates Christmas during this time for me, but we look forward to celebrating Russian Christmas on 31 December with Liina’s family again. Liina's mom will take care of this one which will be filled with another night of celebration, fireworks throughout the city, along with watching the Estonian president's speech to the country about his plans for next year. Oh, and not to forget we change to the Euro on 1 January.
Main University building...
This year, we held the Risttee Christmas service at the Athena Theater. Because of availability, we celebrated one day before the traditional Christmas eve services. We did take a risk this year feeling the venue was a little small and had 2 services on the 23rd. Up to the evening it was a little scary thinking everyone would show up to one and not the other, but this was a great decision as both serviced were quite full. We never would of have enough room with just one service. As a Risttee family, I know we were all excited to see so many of our friends, neighbors, and classmates come to Risttee for the first time. Our prayer is that this service opens the door for us to have future conversations. From experience, I have learned that anytime you want to reach out to friends who are not yet believers, the weirdest things happen. For instance, right before our first meeting, we lost all the electricity because of a short-circuit in a power source, but in the end God worked it all out for His good. I was encouraged to hear from my friend today who came with his family that he felt it was quite a homey atmosphere. I pray that he will come again and possibly his wife who is not yet a believer. Our main theme for the evening was focused on "What is home?". It was great to hear different stories about what "Christmas" and "Home" meant for different people. In the end, my friend Peep would say it was great success.
Finalizing the program and sound.
Band leading us in Holy Night!
Rewind!!! October...
The past few months have been super busy building up to Christmas. In October, Liina and I celebrated our 4th year anniversary. Liina was gracious to let us celebrate it a week earlier allowing me to to a training in Romania. We were able to take a few new guys to Romania, which was put on by the Romanian M3 network, along with a couple of elders from Soma Communities, Tacoma. It was a great chance to get to know these younger guys whom have great potential to become future leaders at Risttee. We were able to spend a couple of days in Bucharest, but the majority of our time was spent in the beautiful city of Cluj. It was a grueling 8 hour drive by car, but we managed to arrive safe. We almost died twice, but comparatively we were with a really good driver. You could say Romanian driving is a little bit crazy, so we opted to make the journey back to Bucharest by overnight train. We managed the classic european trip: planes, trains, and automobiles. The training was a good review of things, but I know it was very helpful for the younger guys to really grasp the missional model and gospel mind-set we are working towards at Risttee. I know as leaders we were hoping for something a little more, but I think it was probably in the end exactly what we needed. Since the trip, we have been busy as a leadership to really stay on track during this transitional time for us as a church. It has not been an easy transition, but we know it is the path that we need to take. Change is what keep us from getting comfortable.
Hanging out at a park in Bucharest...
The People's House - second largest building by surface area...
In the the end of October, Risttee also celebrated its 4th birthday. We did it by celebrating the family of Risttee. It was another blessing to see and hear of how so many lives have been changed and how lives have been challenged as they encounter God and His gospel. We also had many visitors that Sunday, which made for a really full room. God has truly been faithful to us.
November...
In November, I helped out Craig run all the technical things for the Global Leadership Summit in Estonia. It was a little crazy at times, but all the sessions seemed to run fine. I admit that I was quite exhausting weekend for me, but I truly believe this is one of the best conferences for leaders in Estonia. Willow Creek Association really does an amazing job of getting the best leaders and speakers from around North America to speak. I know there is still a lot of information from this conference to discuss and put into action as leaders. I look forward to seeing how God continues to use this conference in Estonia. Leadership and character development are never an easy process.
Also in November, Liina and I started helping out with the Big Sister, Big Brother program here in Tartu. It has been a cool experience. I have a cool 14 year old guy. It has been great to just hang out with him and talk. In the beginning there was some awkward circumstances, but slowly he has begun opening up more and more about his life. I am happy to be his sounding wall. It is also a great time for me to listen and work on my Estonia with him. Liina has a 17 year old girl who struggles with many different challenges. Liina is doing her best with trying to help, connect, and serve this girl in what ways she can. I know that things have been difficult, but I am proud that Liina keeps pursuing her and working hard to keep this relationship going. We will see what God does with these relationships in the future.
Thanks
We want to thank you again for all of your prayers and support. We want to thank the many of you who sent us a Christmas card. They always came in the mail on the days we needed a little boost of encouragement.
Chris & Liina
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