Community cuts both ways
7 hours ago
What is a Missional Community?
What is a Missional Community?
A friend passed this video along to me. I know often lately you have been hearing me from me talk about Missional Community instead of home group, small group, or life group. Here is a video from one of our partner churches in how they explain what a Missional Community is. I know that our prayer is to see something similar to this happening all over the city of Tartu. We want to send out God's people at Risttee to go make disciples who make disciples. The video is 15 minutes, but don't let that scare you.
Seasons of Change
Seasons of Change
I hope to get you caught up on what has been happening with Liina and I, but of course I am sure one picture has already spoken more than a 1000 words.
January
Yes in a way that only God can do, through a friend's prayer time and a prophetic e-mail from states, then after a pregnancy test to confirm, we found out that Liina was pregnant in the beginning of January. It has been a feeling of awe and amazement to moving to moments of shock and fear. Because of some personal situations that have been happening here, we have been slow to announce Liina's pregnancy except to a few people. But now we are excited to let everyone know and after an ultrasound this past week, in an unbelievable fashion, it looks like we will be having a healthy little girl in the beginning of September. Liina is now 23 weeks in and beginning to feel more uncomfortable as this little bundle of joy continues to grow and kick. She seems to be quite active already. We look forward to September and another new chapter in our lives.
Also in January, I really struggled this winter with sickness. Sometimes I felt like I was never not going to be sick. Liina was quite concerned about this because it felt like if someone would just sneeze I would be sick the next day. Every week I had one type of sickness or another, but after several trips to the doctor and several cycles of antibiotics, the conclusion was drawn that I have chronic tonsillitis. Because of this, I was scheduled to get my tonsils removed out in April hopefully, but because of some irregularities with blood work this did not happen a couple of weeks ago. I will have to update you later on this topic.
Ministry wise, we have been seeing a steady growth in numbers from month to month in our Risttee family. From much prayer as a staff together, we have set a goal to see God grow our Sunday morning gatherings to average 100 and then to see all of our Missional Communities double this year. This means seeing our 12 groups multiple and grow into 24. This will be a process for us as in order to grow we need to be investing more and more into see not yet believers come to Christ, but also to see new leaders spring up to help lead and take responsibility. Also, we had a winter camp for Risttee. It was a great time to come together and talk about what it means to be family. You can watch HERE a highlight video that I made for the camp.
Hello everyone,
January
Yes in a way that only God can do, through a friend's prayer time and a prophetic e-mail from states, then after a pregnancy test to confirm, we found out that Liina was pregnant in the beginning of January. It has been a feeling of awe and amazement to moving to moments of shock and fear. Because of some personal situations that have been happening here, we have been slow to announce Liina's pregnancy except to a few people. But now we are excited to let everyone know and after an ultrasound this past week, in an unbelievable fashion, it looks like we will be having a healthy little girl in the beginning of September. Liina is now 23 weeks in and beginning to feel more uncomfortable as this little bundle of joy continues to grow and kick. She seems to be quite active already. We look forward to September and another new chapter in our lives.
Also in January, I really struggled this winter with sickness. Sometimes I felt like I was never not going to be sick. Liina was quite concerned about this because it felt like if someone would just sneeze I would be sick the next day. Every week I had one type of sickness or another, but after several trips to the doctor and several cycles of antibiotics, the conclusion was drawn that I have chronic tonsillitis. Because of this, I was scheduled to get my tonsils removed out in April hopefully, but because of some irregularities with blood work this did not happen a couple of weeks ago. I will have to update you later on this topic.
Ministry wise, we have been seeing a steady growth in numbers from month to month in our Risttee family. From much prayer as a staff together, we have set a goal to see God grow our Sunday morning gatherings to average 100 and then to see all of our Missional Communities double this year. This means seeing our 12 groups multiple and grow into 24. This will be a process for us as in order to grow we need to be investing more and more into see not yet believers come to Christ, but also to see new leaders spring up to help lead and take responsibility. Also, we had a winter camp for Risttee. It was a great time to come together and talk about what it means to be family. You can watch HERE a highlight video that I made for the camp.
Also in the end of January and into February, Craig and I shared a series at Risttee on fathers, but more importantly how God is our father. I know that this was a challenging series for us as many in our Risttee family had a bad father or a father whom was never around or just was a name on a paper. The concept of God as our father was a foreign concept. I know that God through his Spirit drew many of his people to himself through this series. Through preparing these talks, I learned a lot about myself and the relationship that I have with my earthly father and heavenly Father. This series impacted my life very much especially knowing that I will becoming a father in the autumn.
February
In February, I was able to go with a group of guys down to the Czech Republic for a conference on how to create gospel communities. The speaker was Steve Timmis who brought a new and fresh perspective on church planting and also how the family of God should live. He co-wrote the book Total church and is one of the pastors at the Crowded House in England. This was another time of encouragement and heart challenge getting together with other guys that have a heart to see new churches planted in their countries. I know that God used this event to move me in some new directions and to plant some seeds in me that are starting to grow.
Also in February, Liina finished up her six month residency in a family clinic. I know that it was a challenging experience as she began to take all of her knowledge and turn it into experiences. I know it is always difficult when you get patients that don’t fit into the boxes of information that you know. I see that these challenges are helping her to grow. I know that with anything that you begin to study, the more deeper you dive into things, the more you feel like you don’t know so much.
March
In March, I had some personal hardships come up with my family so I made a quick trip back to the states to see how I could help and be of encouragement especially to my dad. It was a great time for us to catch up and re-connect again. I don’t know if it is age or just personal growth, but I realize that it is getting harder and harder to leave my dad after spending time together. Hopefully if things work out, he will be able to come and visit Liina and I for Christmas. We will have to wait and see.
When I got back to Estonia, because Craig was gone, I was able to help with the Global Leadership Summit which is a part of Willowcreek church. John Burke came for a day to give a day of lectures to leaders on how their church looks like and how God lead him to start a new church in Texas. He was the author of the book, No Perfect People Allowed. I helped with setting up the facilities, running the slides and helping with any things on the technology side of the event. I had an opportunity at different moments to ask him some questions that we are facing at Risttee. He had some great words of encouragement along with some great advice from personal experiences. I know he challenged the 100 leaders that took part of this event.
April
In April, life was pretty busy with Craig and Peep gone for a couple of weeks. I was helping to hold down the fort so to speak as I watched over the Sunday morning gatherings. Also Liina and I got more involved in one missional community to help co-lead with another couple. It has been great for us and also keeps us quite busy with getting together often to live life together. Whether we get together just for a meal, play games, hang out in town, or just to be together, God has used this group to really encourage me and help me to continue to grow in areas that I need. It is great to have a group slowly feel more and more like family and to begin to speak truth and love into my life including the kids that we have in our group. In the picture below is Villu and Tiina with their kids whom are part of our missional community. Definitely because we are together and hang out together, I can say that God used their 3 year old daughter Agnes (left in the picture below) to warm me up to the idea or to begin the thought process of what if we have a daughter. A friend reminded me that having a daughter is exactly what God knows that I need in my life. I know that God put Agnes into my life to soften my heart and to open me up. God is amazing in how he uses a 3 year old to speak love into a 33 year olds life.
Easter was a another great time for our church to take time to remember, but to spend time celebrating that Christ was raised from the dead. Our young people wanted to celebrate it in a unique way with our band. Click HERE to see a video that brought much energy to start out our service.
In April, we had a friend Todd Morr come from Soma communities to help us with a couple of training's on Prayer and Spirit dependency. It was great to spend time with him talking about different ideas to help double our missional communities along with discipleship and training for this next year. He had some good insights and challenges for us. One of the nights, Liina and I hosted the training at our place. It was great to see a room of 30 leaders and potential leaders wanting to grow and continue to learn how to help make disciples who make disciples. I think that the biggest challenge from Todd was on the aspect for us as Risttee church in terms of church planting. He asked us what would it take to plant a new church in every city, town and village in Estonia? To be honest we didn't have an answer, but over the past few weeks we have taken that challenge and are beginning to figure out how to an answer that question. These past few weeks we have been re-evaluating what we are doing as a church and also with our role descriptions. We are also evaluating how effective and efficient we are as a staff and as a church. It has been a challenging time and a convicting time as well. We can often be very busy doing ministry but see that we are not being very effective. It is easy to get sidetracked by many different things. Through this process we see that we need to grow in certain areas and change how our staff works together and which responsibilities we take on ourselves. My role will be transitioning from being focused mostly on our Sunday morning gatherings to being more focused on helping our missional communities grow through discipleship. We are still figuring out the practical side of how it will really work, but I am excited for this new chapter and challenge. I know it will be hard, which will force me to become more dependent on God's Spirit.
May
It has been after much prayer and many conversations that this decision has come. I have been very thankful for the financial systems that Josiah Venture has provided over these past years in a time of need. Also they have been a great partnership with us here in Estonia. Though they have been great, I feel that I am moving in a bit different direction in life and they have also have felt this. We have mutually agreed that this change is the best decision for them and also for me. Though I am leaving them financially on the 31st of May, our paths will continue to cross as we will still be networked together on various levels. JV will receipt donations toward my ministry until May 31st.
As for where God is leading Liina and I at the moment, we feel a smaller organization would be a better fit for us. I will no longer be involved in youth ministries on the national level as my time is totally focused on helping the growth and care at Risttee Church. Also for Liina and I, with a smaller organization, we will get some more personal care that a larger organization can’t always provide because of the size along with receiving the same level of financial accountability. Also, being with a smaller organization will allow us to save money in some different areas.
I will be transitioning to the organization, Going UP Ministries-America, which was set up by my friend Craig Hamer, whom I have worked along side of these past 10 years and now at Risttee church. This is a non-profit organization that was set up to provide financial support systems to missionaries in Estonia and to assist with the vision of church planting here. This organization has an amazing board of overseers looking over it and who are passionate about Estonia and what is going on here. All donations that you send to this organization are tax deductible.
Please start to mail your checks to:
Going UP Ministries-America
3726 Four Mile Run Road
McDonald, OH 44437
Also, make your checks out to: Going UP Ministries-America
In the memo line, please leave it blank. For tax purposes if you put something here or put my name or Estonia in it you will not be able to get a tax deductible receipt. Instead, please put a piece of paper in the envelope with the check saying that it goes towards Chris & Liina Brock.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at: brockc9@yahoo.com or write me at this address: info@goingupamerica.org. If you write to the info address, you will receive a response in 24 hours.
I know that this will take a little time and effort to make the changes, but I thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. After so many years of preparing the hard rocky soil, we are seeing the fruits of our labors that were started 10 years ago. More people are coming to Christ and new churches are beginning to be planted around Estonia. I am excited for what God has in store for Liina and I. We have been part of an awesome journey of which your grace and generosity has made it possible. Thank you very much.
Chris & Liina Brock
brockc9@yahoo.com
February
In February, I was able to go with a group of guys down to the Czech Republic for a conference on how to create gospel communities. The speaker was Steve Timmis who brought a new and fresh perspective on church planting and also how the family of God should live. He co-wrote the book Total church and is one of the pastors at the Crowded House in England. This was another time of encouragement and heart challenge getting together with other guys that have a heart to see new churches planted in their countries. I know that God used this event to move me in some new directions and to plant some seeds in me that are starting to grow.
Also in February, Liina finished up her six month residency in a family clinic. I know that it was a challenging experience as she began to take all of her knowledge and turn it into experiences. I know it is always difficult when you get patients that don’t fit into the boxes of information that you know. I see that these challenges are helping her to grow. I know that with anything that you begin to study, the more deeper you dive into things, the more you feel like you don’t know so much.
March
In March, I had some personal hardships come up with my family so I made a quick trip back to the states to see how I could help and be of encouragement especially to my dad. It was a great time for us to catch up and re-connect again. I don’t know if it is age or just personal growth, but I realize that it is getting harder and harder to leave my dad after spending time together. Hopefully if things work out, he will be able to come and visit Liina and I for Christmas. We will have to wait and see.
April
Over the Easter weekend with our missional community, we had a Greek food party. We all collected different recipes together. We went to the store to buy everything together. Then we meet together and begin to cut, mix, and cook everything. We used this time to invite our friends who are not yet believers. Those that came and help us make food together and of course feast together really enjoyed it and are already asking when are going to do this again. We hope to come up with more ideas of how to be family and invite our friends to come and feel apart of it. A friend told me that statistically in the states, a not yet believer needs to get to know 4 - 7 believers before he makes a statement of faith. I am seeing that to win people to Christ here in Estonia has to be a group effort not just an individual effort especially when it comes to helping make disciples. Here are some pictures of finished masterpieces. Unfortunately, there is no way to e-mail smells to you yet.
In April, we had a friend Todd Morr come from Soma communities to help us with a couple of training's on Prayer and Spirit dependency. It was great to spend time with him talking about different ideas to help double our missional communities along with discipleship and training for this next year. He had some good insights and challenges for us. One of the nights, Liina and I hosted the training at our place. It was great to see a room of 30 leaders and potential leaders wanting to grow and continue to learn how to help make disciples who make disciples. I think that the biggest challenge from Todd was on the aspect for us as Risttee church in terms of church planting. He asked us what would it take to plant a new church in every city, town and village in Estonia? To be honest we didn't have an answer, but over the past few weeks we have taken that challenge and are beginning to figure out how to an answer that question. These past few weeks we have been re-evaluating what we are doing as a church and also with our role descriptions. We are also evaluating how effective and efficient we are as a staff and as a church. It has been a challenging time and a convicting time as well. We can often be very busy doing ministry but see that we are not being very effective. It is easy to get sidetracked by many different things. Through this process we see that we need to grow in certain areas and change how our staff works together and which responsibilities we take on ourselves. My role will be transitioning from being focused mostly on our Sunday morning gatherings to being more focused on helping our missional communities grow through discipleship. We are still figuring out the practical side of how it will really work, but I am excited for this new chapter and challenge. I know it will be hard, which will force me to become more dependent on God's Spirit.
It has been after much prayer and many conversations that this decision has come. I have been very thankful for the financial systems that Josiah Venture has provided over these past years in a time of need. Also they have been a great partnership with us here in Estonia. Though they have been great, I feel that I am moving in a bit different direction in life and they have also have felt this. We have mutually agreed that this change is the best decision for them and also for me. Though I am leaving them financially on the 31st of May, our paths will continue to cross as we will still be networked together on various levels. JV will receipt donations toward my ministry until May 31st.
As for where God is leading Liina and I at the moment, we feel a smaller organization would be a better fit for us. I will no longer be involved in youth ministries on the national level as my time is totally focused on helping the growth and care at Risttee Church. Also for Liina and I, with a smaller organization, we will get some more personal care that a larger organization can’t always provide because of the size along with receiving the same level of financial accountability. Also, being with a smaller organization will allow us to save money in some different areas.
I will be transitioning to the organization, Going UP Ministries-America, which was set up by my friend Craig Hamer, whom I have worked along side of these past 10 years and now at Risttee church. This is a non-profit organization that was set up to provide financial support systems to missionaries in Estonia and to assist with the vision of church planting here. This organization has an amazing board of overseers looking over it and who are passionate about Estonia and what is going on here. All donations that you send to this organization are tax deductible.
Please start to mail your checks to:
Going UP Ministries-America
3726 Four Mile Run Road
McDonald, OH 44437
Also, make your checks out to: Going UP Ministries-America
In the memo line, please leave it blank. For tax purposes if you put something here or put my name or Estonia in it you will not be able to get a tax deductible receipt. Instead, please put a piece of paper in the envelope with the check saying that it goes towards Chris & Liina Brock.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at: brockc9@yahoo.com or write me at this address: info@goingupamerica.org. If you write to the info address, you will receive a response in 24 hours.
I know that this will take a little time and effort to make the changes, but I thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. After so many years of preparing the hard rocky soil, we are seeing the fruits of our labors that were started 10 years ago. More people are coming to Christ and new churches are beginning to be planted around Estonia. I am excited for what God has in store for Liina and I. We have been part of an awesome journey of which your grace and generosity has made it possible. Thank you very much.
Chris & Liina Brock
brockc9@yahoo.com
