Update... yes i am still alive...

A lot has been going on recently here in Pärnu with guests in the church this last month from Sweden, Greece, Finland, Malaysia, Germany, The US and the UK and with more to come next month from at the very least the UK (arriving in time for our joint birthday party) there has been lots to do!

Me and Maarja have been settling into and settling back into our jobs respectively and have been getting used to spreading our wings, being married, playing concerts, living together, cooking, cleaning, paying bills etc and have been getting stuck in together at Sool Ja Valgus working with the young people and getting stuck in with the worship team.

We have been very blessed with a wonderful apartment which is rent free (Thanks to Alari and Katrin) which is allowing us to both work part time and still have enough to cover the bills and feed ourselves and enough time to invest our time in the young people and the church.

We have also had the patter of tiny feet… shocking I know… WE ALREADY have mice! And not just mice… Super-mice, mice who steal mouse traps and whom we have been feeding 3 bags of poison a week to no avail! This has led us to make a rash decision and to decide that we would rather spend our rat poison money on a more joyous solution… We have adopted a kitten… Bosa… who we hope will solve our problem once she grows a little…

It has been quite a humbling experience for me to take a paid job out here, despite my Estonian being good enough for conversations and day to day needs it isn’t perfect and my Russian language skills are still non-existent both of which have limited my employment possibilities considerably

I have however been blessed with a job at a good friend from churches business… a car wash so I now earn pre-tax 21.5eek per hour (about 95p) and although the cost of living is lower here, proportionally (taking into account wage differences) the cost of living is more expensive..

Prayers for God’s continued provision and blessing on our lives would be much appreciated

God’s provision this month has been so incredibly visible, we have run out of money about 5 times (only having had left over English wages and left over gift money from the honeymoon and setting the apartment up) and every time just before we switched to a potato only diet (potatoes being in season and hence costing 20p per kilo) we have been given money or vouchers or food from friends and family without having to ask (anyone other than the big J), its been a lesson in worrying less and trusting God for me as every time we got low on cash I worried up till the last cent and then gave up and accepted that we need God to provide for us! At which point without fail, bam God provides..

Speaking of which we have been invited on a missions trip to Mongolia/China next summer which we both feel really excited about and have been praying about but we urgently need Provision for.. our wages here are enough… enough to cover our bills and feed us we have no money left over to save up for big things… like flights all the way across the world.. We need about 800gbp to get our flights and another 1200 to cover internal travel, food and other expenses for the trip the 1200 we don’t need until we go but the 800 grows with every month we can’t afford tickets.

We had in our hearts set aside my tax rebate which should be with us in a month or so to pay for one of our tickets but sadly this weekend my laptop decided its likes green! That is to say that it doesn’t want to display any other colours most of the time! It seems to be a connection issue to my mind but on the advice of 3 computer shops the only way to fix it... Is a new screen which would cost about 300gbp + labour which is slightly more than the value of the laptop

So it looks like that plan is out the window and I instead need to replace the laptop first as without it we lose contact with friends and family back in the UK and lose the ability to help out with the video and image editing which the church needs…

Anyone you know who is in a position to and of the inclination to bless us please encourage them to and pray that God will blow us away again this month with his incomprehensible massiveness, his father love and provision

Stay in touch

God Bless

Maarja and Paul

Time consuming business

OK so the last week i have been fairly busy... i made it to Sweden by the grace of God and the support of some excellent people and Scandinavian airways (i will explain later) and got back on Thursday last week, had a school tour on Friday to promote bible days (a multi-denominational gathering of christian young people which happens yearly (this was my 3rd))
We performed on Saturday and will be uploading the video at some point today the show was awesome we finished with amazing grace a rocked up but very congregational version with the crowd 5-7hundred young people singing on long after we left the stage.. for an encore we prayed for everyone from the stage...
So anyway Sweden first i guess, i had a brilliant time in Sweden really beautiful place and i got to see my really beautiful fiancée... oh yeah.. i proposed to Maarja while i was out there.. and she said yes :D
Which brings me nicely onto what is oh so time consuming... wedding preparation, not that i am complaining i am 100% over the moon to be spending time designing invites making clever spreadsheets on Google documents and sending out e-invites watch your inbox :D but its all filling up my day quite nicely...
Scandinavian Airways saved me from bankrupting myself to get to Sweden and buy a ring by overfilling my flight and taking volunteers to take the next flight one hour later for 250EUR compensation and 75 Swedish Kroons to buy some food in the airport.. Totally a blessing from God.. i was facing going overdrawn to eat this week before i came home to England and bam we are looking for volunteers to take money from us :D cant get much better than that it means my flights to Sweden where effectively including the money i got given by generous friends and relatives free :D

God Bless and see you soon
Paul Davidson


My fiancée Maarja Theresa Allikas

Motivation

I guess in a way its fairly funny for me to be writing this, I am going to write (a little) about motivation or rather my recent (last 2 days) lack of it... And my blog is one of the things i find it hardest to want to do (but ironically i want to today)...
The last few days i have had a fair bit to do... which is good... But the bad bit is that i haven't had very much motivation to get any of it done...
This week i have needed to re-edit a bunch of videos and set up the play list for the place: next step in Torva, We decided to take the same show but with a new name and image to bless the youth work which we have some links to...
Using the same programme is great... it means the play list will be real simple.. as soon as i get the rest of the stuff all edited and compressed.. which i now have about 8hours to get done.. (That would be 8hours without any sleep) I got a little bit done today but it took 3 days to decide to do it...
So yeah early morning tomorrow... no wait.. today! we are heading out to Torva to do some promo in school to try and whip up a crowd for the event in the evening..
The good news... (and at the same time the bad news for my bank balance) is that i booked some flights to go out to Sweden to visit Maarja for a week so i will be going straight up to Tallinn after the event and early Friday morning flying out then getting familiar with Swedish public transport for a while and in the afternoon seeing Maarja :D
So for the next week i will be working on a ship in Sweden..
Prayer points then... Motivation obviously and energy... Pray that everything comes out well at the show and that i make it to Sweden safely and i don't get lost between one of my 10 minute train connections... Also keep praying about my finances my overdraft is pretty much finished now and although i have been blessed to receive some financial support which is absolutely incredible and i couldn't be going to Sweden without it.. my finances are still going to be at a stretch to keep me fed until i go home.. (and yes even when you are my size you still need to eat)
God Bless and please feel free to give me any tips for getting motivated when your mind is stuck on other things...
Thanks

Paul Davidson

the background image which the slides are based on for the event tomorrow... courtesy of Mihkel Peterson

Epic blog - Part one - This blog is like a typical English bus… you wait around ages for one and then 3 turn up at the same time…

Hey, so sorry to everyone who feels a little bit left in the dark about how things are and what I have been up to the last few weeks it was my intention to keep this up to date and flowing this time so that if and when you got that I” wonder what Paul has been up to feeling”(not 100% confirmed to exist) you could pop over and find out what I need prayer for and how our prayers had been answered..

Long story short the reason I have not been online is absolutely, breathtakingly, gobsmackingly brilliant but I am going to explain that in epic-blog part 2 (sorry) this part (part 1) is to let you know what I have been up to “work” wise and just in terms of life in general..

• 23^rd Friday night youth meeting sang in worship team
• 24^th my memory is a bit foggy but I think I just chilled in Pärnu
• 25^th Sunday meeting sang in worship and went to meet with lots of English people over from England in Tallinn
• 26^th I think I hung out with the English girls showed them the sites a little and helped them change money
• 27^th Handed out fliers with English girls ready for the place
• 28^th As Tuesday but with worship practice in the evening
• 29^th lots of last minute play list tweaking ready for “The Place”, full practice/run through and sound set up at church
• 30^th lots of post practice tweaking on videos for “The Place” (big youth outreach) which went great 2 people got saved everything went smoothly for a change BoB played all round good fun
• 31^st relaxed a little and slept in hung out with the band a bit and Maarja a bit then traveled to Turi for another gig there which went well had lots of fun despite having a sound tech nightmare the show was well received and we prayed for everyone at the end
• 1^st lead worship at church, ate and rested
• 2^nd Took English girls back to Tallinn on the bus showed them the city a bit then took them to check in, after check in I hung out with Heigo for a while and ate Turkish food
• 3^rd Did nothing of significance as far as I recall... Possibly grilled with the youth at Papsaare
• 4^th Adventure trip to a village called haademeeste (good men) on the bus which consisted of 2 churches, a beach meadow (grass next to the sea), an outdoor stage and a closed museum… evening worship practice followed by a trip to the theater
• 5^th 7am flyer production for soon arriving Swedish young people (more specifically the Friday event) trip to Allikas holiday home at Kastna for a break with Kata, Maarja, Me and Mattheus
• 6^th came back from Kastna midday and got ready for “the place underground” handed out flyers etc (Christian youth meeting) including Swedes from salt and light much fun and lots of new faces
• 7^th Swedish fun and games at the beach with some new kids from the night before followed by winning at football, eating lasagna, watching basketball and eating Indian food… midnight Easter meeting
• 8^th Easter church meeting, sang in worship then left to Tallinn with others to send Maarja to the ferry (Sweden till June)
• 9^th cable and adapter shopping and coffee drinking etc with pets in Pärnu then bussed to Tallinn to return Kristjan his school bag books etc from the day before
• 10^th chilled in Tallinn met up with (soon leaving) Canadian friend Steve ate pizza and watched 24
• 11^th chilled in Tallinn with Kris worked on new bob song watched 300 (which is very good)
• 12^th went to Tallinn city centre to buy some adapters for the sound equipment and get the bus to Pärnu ended up traveling in by lorry as a met a lost German when I was buying my bus ticket so I directed him where to go in the passenger seat… in the evening went to Torva played guitar in worship and preached a little in Estonian 4 young people got saved
  

So basically it’s been pretty eventful and by no means have I written everything I don’t remember 100% and some things I remember very well but they would considerably extend part 1 and completely ruin part 2 it’s been a fun few weeks, packed full with answers to prayers…

To summarize for you incase your memory is as rusty as mine, we had been praying for the place for sometime and it went great bar a few financial issues a total success, making a change to the way we arranged worship finally happened was a big personal answer to prayer as before we didn’t get to practice which is something I surely need… part 2 is all about a massive answer to prayer for me something I have been seeking god for over about the last 5 years… basically one of my most common prayers is for a interesting, eventful and fruitful day and over the last 3 weeks I have had a lot of those…

One new prayer request would be that God would take my finances in hand despite his provision after the loss of my wallet I am starting to feel the squeeze and indeed I am not sure if I will make it home with my relationship with my bank in a healthy condition so please pray that I will use my remaining money wisely and that I will get work as soon as I get back into the UK to start sorting my overdraft…

My reading has fallen a bit as I have been so busy and tired I am keeping up the bible reading but not at the level I would like to be I am not currently on track to finish before I am home...
God Bless
See you in Part 2
Paul

BoB @ Turi - Giving our all

Epic Blog - Part 2 – The exciting part

So this section is as I mentioned all about a huge answer to prayer it is also probably the most significant piece of news you will have ever read on my blog (not such a big achievement but hey it really is big)…

For the last 5 years I have been praying for and waiting for God to give me someone to be with in this life… a partner in crime, a girlfriend and long term… a wife

And in fact about a year ago I was fairly sure he had as I started to have feelings I hadn’t had before for Maarja Allikas (the pastor’s daughter)

4 weeks ago tomorrow me and Maarja went on a long walk and talked for ages we ended up sitting in a castle (children’s playground variety) and talking frankly about how we feel about each other… We decided to pray and seek God until the Wednesday…

3 weeks and 2 days ago we spent the day together and I asked Maarja on a date in the evening, we went out for a meal and walked home in the dark afterwards I don’t think I had ever been as certain about anything before as I was about this and I still feel the same way…

The last 3 weeks have been without a doubt the most incredible of my life, it has been so amazing that its hasn’t felt real at points it’s been like watching a movie... On the second day of our relationship we went out in the middle of the night and sat on the roof while the young people all enjoyed a sauna and swimming in the still icy lake, we sat there and watched the stars together and talked I don’t think I ever saw so many shooting stars or wanted anyone to know me so completely ever before…

The next day me Alari and Katrin (Parents of Maarja, SV Pastor and his wife) went for a long walk to talk about me and Maarja and despite it being fairly intimidating and just the plain difficultly of explaining in Estonian things I could barely express in English it was good, and apparently they were really pleased with me for initiating talking with them… I had been warned before hand by Kata to expect a lot of mention of marriage which there was I am fairly sure they had a bet to see who could mention it the most times in the duration of our conversation… it didn’t bother me..

The relationship so far has been by no stretch of the imagination conventional, we have been living under one roof for quite some time before we started dating (due to me living with her family) more conventionally but with a different reason during the first 2 weeks we spent as much time together as we possible could…
Around Maarja working, us having lots of foreign guests around and me having lots of events which I had to work on or perform at we managed to get quite a bit of time together… and the time we spent together has been awesome we have been on random bus journeys to seaside meadows took a trip to the holiday home to get some space watched shooting stars together and learnt with each other how to be a couple in different situations..
That was until Sunday on Sunday we went to Tallinn after church for the sole purpose of taking Maarja to the ferry to Sweden...
Maarja is in Sweden until June working on a mission ship over there…

In 3 weeks I will be coming home to Derby until September to work and save meaning we could potentially face 6 months without seeing each other right at the beginning of our relationship I am currently trying to get out to Sweden to see Maarja before I come home (despite the financial difficulties mentioned in part 1)... We both miss each other enormously I can honestly say I have never missed anyone like this before, these feelings are so new and I haven’t felt most of them before about anyone…

Despite the forced distance in our relationship at the moment it has been so incredible to think about how easy it would be for us never to have met and indeed for me not to have been shaped into the person I am had I never come to Estonia, Gods plan is mind-blowing we are so similar and I am so glad God has put me with someone who suffers from the same itchy feet as me and wants to go with God to the world on his call and lead someone who is spoiled and cant settle down for a 9to5 life…

Please pray that we both learn from this time apart and that we allow it to strengthen us individually and as a couple and that we keep God at the centre rather than how much we miss each other…

God Bless

Paul

missing her...

Epic Blog - Part 3 – Missing the point

So I don’t normally blog in this style but this blog is all about Easter and more to the point why I haven’t enjoyed Easter very much this year…

Easter this year has felt like a huge celebration of corporately missing the point…

I do appreciate that different people like different styles and that it would be unrealistic to expect myself to enjoy everything every other Christian enjoys simply because of one common thing (albeit a huge “thing”)

Why in charismatic free churches not tied down to traditional... well traditions do we make a big deal over Easter…

Don’t get me wrong I don’t think that the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ are a small thing, I appreciate totally how humungous the message of Easter is and in fact that is the very reason why I think its ridiculous to have one time each year to celebrate together and remind each other (over and over) than Christ is risen…

Yes granted He is risen but He was risen at Christmas as well and at any given day of the year for somewhere in the region of the last 2000years (give or take)

The fact that Christ died for me (and you) and is risen should be (in my opinion) the thing that fires us up EVERYDAY not just at Easter…

It shouldn’t just fire us up it should set us apart the fact that we have been set free should be the thing that defines us as Christians it should be what we are known for as apposed to the very visible gathering together in an almost mournful manner at specific dates dubiously ordained in a way that appears as the opposite of freedom..

Maybe you had a brilliant Easter and I don’t want to make you down or worry you about anything if you enjoy Easter and all that it entails then great but it feels so wrong to me inside out that I have to vent it to keep myself sane…

Since I am free I think that next year I might avoid Easter I might find myself a cave to hide in while people quietly contemplate that which should rightly be their every thought, that which should sustain them and inspire them everyday… That which should excite them… I will pray that maybe it will excite them so much that they break with the tradition and exercise the freedom that they accepted into their lives when they accepted that the price has been paid and go out and live differently EVERYDAY live free… free from the man made tradition of having a set time to celebrate the masterpiece or our salvation…

But you know… whatever

xxooXoOxXo

I know this may seem negative and I really don’t want it to be... I may not seem it but genuinely from the bottom of my heart I am very very very happy and all the little things over Easter which rubbed me up the wrong way are little things…

Maybe someone wise could explain to me why free Christians should be so institutionalized so traditional and why the pillar of our religion is more important at one time each year because frankly I clearly just don’t get it…

God Bless

Paul

p.s. for those of you interesting in such things and for some light relief happy easter in estonian in Head Munadepuha translated literall Good Eggs Holy hehe

Church/midnight/Easter *sigh*

Woop...

OK so i am not going to go into detail about anything for a while but i have experienced a massive answer to prayer and i am plain and simple over the moon, God is Good...

Pray for Wisdom, Guidance and that things will work out well these next few days as its a bit of a crunch time potentailly...

In other news... The Place Prep is kinda scaring me a bit.. we have the ideas solidly in place for the video but ideas are not a fun part of a show without the work being put in to make them a reality... long story short we have had some actor fatigue a lack of a camera and now one actor/director/camera arranger hanging out in Tallinn "Because its fun!" not seeming to appreciate that a week is not long enough to edit 4 videos...
Its also a little bit scary right now because the place always tends to pull together at the last minute which is never anything but nerve-racking and this time even more so.. no-one has so far done what the intended as far as i know so i guess we will be having a meeting soon to check people still intend to get everything done as for me i am going to be stuck behind my laptop for a week as soon as i get myself stuck behind a camera (which we still dont have) for a day
On the topic of the posters i have done them.. i am not that lazy the only problem is i have produced 4 posters so far each being admired for its beauty but in some way felt to be flawed enough to warrant a re-design so i am currently re-working the latest which will be printing at the weekend for deffinite...

Well Pray for me as much as you can,

God Bless

Paul

Almost 2 weeks... Oops...

Right ok so i kinda promised to keep this much more up to date and well.. umm.. yeah that hasnt gone too well just lately... sorry about that.. Google is telling me 9 people looked here last week.. so especially sorry to you if that was you...
OK So anyway whats been going on the last few weeks?.. I have mostly been working on various different bits and bobs for "the place" which is now only a few weeks away.. the posters and flyers are going to print soon and we are shooting videos from tommorow meaning last minute speed editing again :( the newsletter i mentioned before is finished and being checked over by elders just incase they dont like my tone or i missed anything important etc...
But all going well that should soon be going out to various places in england and america i will keep people up to date and once its all approved i will whack it up on the web somewhere and point you all in the right direction (hopefully)
I am going to break with convention a little bit today and not be so exhaustive... partly at least because i am... (exhausted that is) and partly because its been so long i cant remember that level of detail... needless to say the last few weeks have been fun and followed pretty simalar patterns to the weeks previously...
But just for fun lets talk abit about my recent media consumption...
A few films i have recently diggested lately...

Children of Men (2006) - Utter tripe dont watch it unless you get forced to...
Hot Fuzz (2007) - Very very good, bit violent colourfull language but very very funny...
The Nativity Story (2006) - Decent, nicely done (think the passion minus stomach turning excessive violence)

some music which i am currently a bit addicted to includes...
Mute Math, Brand new, Anberlins new album and Relient K's latest offering... check them out :)
I will update sooner than last time next time i promise...
God Bless

Paul



Helver, Taaniel & Kairi (awwwwww)

Camp, English people and TheraFlu

Hey
So as promised i havent updated for a while and i would just like to take a moment to forewarn you that this blog may not be up to my usual standards in terms of usage of english (not that that means much) basically i am ill, tired and pretty dosed up but we will get to that later...
So since i last (properly)updated...

• Weds - Went to the gym and learnt i can squat with 130kg on a barbel on my shoulders, started some conceptual stuff towards promotion of the place
  
• Thurs - went up to tallinn and hung out with our english visitors (Karina, Kezia Rosie, Emma) for a while and later brought some new shoes...
  
• Fri -left Pärnu for the church camp out in the wilderness
  
• Sat - church camp with guest speaker Karina Martin, started to get ill and came home with Kris, Krissy and Maarja
  
• Sun - church in the afternoon with lots of post camp testimonies, Karina preaching again and lots of general good stuff, Made fire lots to keep the house warm... got slightly more ill
  
• Mon - Took Rosie and Emma to town to eat with Karl while Karina and Kezia went skating and horse riding then went home and chilled... got slightly more ill as did Kezia, Karl, Kata and Alari
  
• Tues - chilled out at home all day due to illness by this point the whole house was ill! Maarja starting to get better, Alari with a temperature of 38, Me feeling better but looking worse (apparantly) Karl just sleeping and Kata staying locked away in her room
• Today - went to town thinking i had recovered (and aware we needed more drugs and water at home) and started to finish this entry in a cafe over pizza at which point i realised i had a headache and couldnt focus or finish my pizza so came home and napped for a while...

So yeah, The camp went really well its always so exciting to see things click for people and to have things click personally... The church is really inspiring as despite the age distribution being a bit bizzare (about 6 people where present at the camp over the age of 30 with the vast majority being under 18 (making it seem a bit more like a youth camp)) everyone really works together and the family atmosphere is brilliant, Karina was great and shared some really important messages as well as giving out a fair few prophecies and lots of encouragement (as did Kezia, Rosie and Emma)
It been pretty annoying to be ill and now (tonight) i really do feel over it mostly which is good as we have a consert this weekend i started today to put all of the place videos up onto youtube which finally allowed me to set up an account for Oma Koht so once i have that all in order i will share the link with yourselves, the idea is concrete now for the advert video which we will need to shoot and edit in record time next week and i am setting myself a deadline to complete the posters which are at the moment only an idea and the newsletter tonight however long i have to stay up as i want the newsletter to be able to happen monthly and we wanted to have the posters for the place up well in advance for a change...

If you could find time in your prayers for the health of the household and myself and that i can crack on with things tonight and this weekend that would be much appreciated!

So on that note i am going to love you and leave you (to get cracking on the forementioned)...

God Bless

Paul


Hayley, Rosie, Emma, Kata & Maarja in Tallinn

Who says LTGs can't meet at 2am?

They can you know...
and it works... and it's good...and I'm tired...
Just thought i would share that nugget of wisdom/foolishness with you all (yes both of you)
I have to get up soon...
Night Night
God Bless

Paul


Outside is pretty...

My best blog ever (today)...

Hoping this one will work first time after last times mess... OK then so the week just gone,

• Wednesday - Valentines day guest meeting at SV - Fun but a bit of a technical nightmare
  
• Thursday - Worked on newsletter (not finished but looking good IMHO)
  
• Friday - Went up to Tallinn arrived quite late so just played computer games and slept
  
• Saturday - BoBs longest ever practice? Practiced a large percentage of the day, had a worship session afterwards followed by a bit more practice, a sauna at about midnight and cake and burgers afterwards to celebrate Jaanus's birthday (no i didn't get much sleep that night)
  
• Sunday - Back to Parnu only to shoot of to Lihula the small village i mentioned before to meet and introduce myself to the church.. it wasn't to painful but i have a large number of questions and kinks in the plans to work out now and going to the church didn't reduce the quantity... Back to Parnu in the evening for the Guys meeting.. had 2 new guys talked prayed and sauna'd which was great
  

OK so exciting bits, reading progress and prayer requests then....
BoB seems to be as a band taking things more seriously! We are restarting planning what we say in between songs again which always has a positive effect on the quality of the message which we share, the practice was good i remembered how to sing so hard that i lose my voice (which might not sound like a positive but while my voice lasts, improves the sound tenfold) we worked on a new song which is exciting and worked out some new intros which we can convert to songs hopefully at some point... and most of all we had a great time together as a band praying and worshipping...
The newsletter is coming on nicely which i am pleased about because normally when i am doing design work on the laptop i get distracted and decide to check out myspace or BBC news or.. well anything but getting my head down really.. and while i was working on the newsletter this time i didn't experience this which was nice for a change...
The Guys group is growing which is nice to see so quickly and on the back of no real physical attempts to bring more people in just praying and inviting, pray that it continues growing so naturally and that we can really work on each others character's and pull each other up on our issues..
Reading then, I am in the last tiny bit of Organic Church now and i strongly recommend reading it, Mine will be passed on to Maarja tonight when i finish it and when she finishes it it will be on to Alari but if you would also like to read it then you can form an orderly line and we can work something out (as in let me know)..
I have got rid of the backlog which i had built up with the daily bible which means i am back on track for finishing inside the three months.. Its proving beneficial (i feel) to be reading in a more structured manner for a change helping me basically by just not giving myself a choice about picking up my bible and taking time to just read and seek God...

So anyway Prayer wise this week is going to be quite packed, I start on the posters and ad materials for the place outreach meeting tomorrow and start on some video pre-production work for the same thing as well.. so pray for focus i guess... Thursday i am going to Tallinn to meet Karina, Emma and Rosie (who are coming for the camp) and to hopefully find some new shoes (which don't absorb water from the sole).. Friday till Sunday pm we have the church winter camp so pray that everything goes well with that and that everyone has a great time that we can grow together...

That's about it i guess.. So i will probably update on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday next week...

God Bless

Paul


everything i learnt from zoolander

Ramble, ramble, ramble

It been a while since I updated which is due more to apathy than busyness for which I am sorry, I have been cracking on with my reading organic church is getting close to being finished, which is good because it means I can pass it on (it has its own little waiting list now!) and the backlog (one year bible reading wise) is shrinking and shrinking as I am making at least my four days worth a day each day now...

So what have I been up to since last time I updated? I hear you ask...

Well here are the key points (blogger managed to destroy this post once already, wasting all the info I did want to share! these are the bits it saw fit not to eat up and or turn into random links)

On Friday a substantial bunch of the young people trekked up to Tallinn as I mentioned for a big meeting... Personally the meeting wasn’t me or maybe (again) I was too caught up in my own mind to get into it... But a lot of young people turned up who were very on fire and you could tell God was working on so many people and filling people up which is never bad...
Even though I didn’t enjoy the evening as much as I no doubt would have could I have experienced it without getting too lost in my thoughts it had some pretty exciting results and has given me and pets a lot to do and consider...
I and Pets both realized how useful better sound equipment would be to the youth work and the church as a whole as what we have at the moment is really impractical and lacking quality... meaning we often have to beg and borrow equipment from others when we want to put anything on...
We also had some exciting conversations in the evening about trying to drum up more funding for the youth work and outreach shows which we put on as finance has always been a bit of a limiting factor, so it sounds like we are going to start putting a bit more effort into arranging our events and giving people and local business a chance to help us out financially which is most definitely needed... (This linked in a bit to trying to improve how we give out information about what is going on another kick for me to get on with getting a newsletter running!)

Sunday, church was good, I was asked to sing at the last minute which normally throws me a bit but which went well... Boys group was really good we prayed for a big list of people who have fallen away from church and various non Christian male friends who we want to reach out to in a more effective way than we have been so far...
After boys group me Karl and Pets took a sauna and had some really good accountable conversation which led me to suggest (in broken Estonian) that us 3 could be an LTG and keep each other accountable each week which was well received and hopefully will be something we can introduce in the boys group once it picks up momentum...
Today I am doing some reading and working on a design for the newsletter and hopefully some content...
Plan for the rest of the week....

• Wednesday - Torva youth work down south

• Thursday - finalize draft for newsletter and show to Alari etc

• Friday - Back to Tallinn possibly for some BoB practice and song writing...

Sorry for the ramble I really need to keep more on top of this (or just learn to only write the interesting bits) thanks again for your prayers the wallet still hasn’t turned up but my new card is at least on its way over to me so I should have some money again soon....

God Bless

Paul

Me walking on the water under the bridge

Monday and Tuesday, ehk siis esmaspaev ja teispaev (Ristole :D)..

Hey everyone,
Still no sign of the wallet which is rather a bummer i have been in touch with the police now and the British embassy the later of which actually seemed sorry for me and helpful as apposed to the police who basically told me how stupid i was keeping my wallet in my back pocket and having so much cash on me... (fair comment in a way)
So yeah Monday and Tuesday have been cheap...
On Monday i stayed home in the village searching for my wallet, cancelling cards and catching up on a bit of reading (Organic church is now definitely worthy of a recommendation)
We also had a planning meeting for the Lihula village youth work thing. Me, Tiimar, Alari and Aivar seem to be the team at the moment, it was kind of interesting but i probably should have given a little more input as there are now a few issues bugging me... as in i would quite like a musician on the team for worship to happen...
Early night on Monday spent a fair chunk of time contemplating my wallet loss situation not so much wallowing in self pity more just beating myself up about wasting such a chunk of dosh in such a (no doubt) avoidable manner...
Wednesday (yesterday) i went to school with some Norwegians to plug some youth meetings at the church Kenneth works with, Life centre (elu keskus) which are happening tonight tomorrow and Saturday. It was quite good fun hanging out with the Norwegians who were almost all my age and they paid for my lunch which was (very) nice after which i went to the police station and (in Estonian) explained the situation, gracefully accepted the ridicule and wrote down a full report of what happened (which i think i might have future dated by accident :-S)
I went over to get coffee with Maarja and Hanna and then watched some films at Hanna and Risto's place, (the Prestige(which was brilliant) and Nacho Libre(a current favourite of mine)) in the evening i enjoyed a sauna with Karl and a nice cold non-alcoholic beer *blah* its extra cold out here at the moment last night being no exception hair i can confirm does freeze when wet and your feet can lose skin on ice when its cold enough (which it was).. sitting outside (paljas) when its -27 after being in a room of 100degrees is strangely one of my favourite things sitting in the snow looking at the stars unwinding is sublime... Thank you God for snow, stars and sauna...

Tonight i am either going to Torva (where a similar thing to what we are hoping to start in Lihula is already underway) or to the youth meeting with the Norwegians depending on transport situations...

Thanks for you comments and prayers, its nice to know this is not just a soliloquy...

God Bless

Paul


Snow...

Backlog

Hey so things got a bit hectic the last few days so i couldn't update till today, unfortunately in the village where the gig was i couldn't find any Internet or much spare time but i am back in Parnu now so here goes...
Blog news first i guess... i now have google ads on my blog which might generate a bit of finance depending on how many people are actually reading this and how many people see something interesting over on the ads...
On Wednesday i spent a lot of time travelling around to get to the gig i went into town and met some people from this mission team which has kind-of evolved out of the bible college one or more of whom might be forming a team with me to take to a small village and start some kind of youth group then just going back and forth between Papsaare and pets's place packing stuff and being forced at the latter into eating fish soup (not good) so then we jumped on the bus and went to Tallinn ready to pick the guys up from the airport... we hung out a bit and met my Canadian friend Steve in town before going back to his place... At Steve's we watched the latest episode of prison break (very good) and a film called Jesus Camp (worrying) and then went to another friends place to sleep the night ((and watch another film) making a total of 3 films in one day including the one on the bus)
So Thursday we picked up a car and went to the airport and met the band we had flown in from the UK for the gig "Art Ways 2007" the guys from "where on earth" where really cool and we had a great time hanging out the next few days around Tallinn and Kohila into the bargain the guys gave an awesome show despite being really ill, i would recommend them for sure they have myspace and a website www.whereonearth.net and myspace.com/whereonearthband...
Friday was the night of the concert which went really well, took me about half the gig to get used to being on stage again but we had great fun and it looked like people enjoyed it which is always good where on earth played as well and where well received i think if we get the opportunity we might invite them back for a slightly longer period put together some tour like last summer but take a second band... we will see
Saturday after taking the band to the airport i hung out in a mall in Tallinn with Kenneth and Maarja which was pretty fun i tried on some funky clothes and Maarja tried on lots of hats while Kenneth refined his preach for the evening... the meeting in the evening was really awesome 7 kids gave their life to god which is just excellent...

In the meeting it really hit me a bit that i really don't know how much longer i am meant to be out here and that i should really stop guessing and inflicting time limits on this, suffice to say when i get back in may the first thing i will be doing is renewing my passport i don't feel i can safely say anymore that the time is right to end my time here...

In considerably worse news i seem to have lost my wallet which is quite a pants situation to be in as it had about 4-5000eek in along with my cards, drivers licence, national insurance, European health insurance and so on...
Pray that it turns up 5000eek(220GBP) is a large chunk of my budget besides which the soonest i can get a new card is at least 2 weeks which could essentially leave me with about 30eek(1.20GBP) for the next 2 weeks = not good

God Bless

Paul



Where on Earth doing their thing....

Tuesday - Breaking a sweat?

Hey,
Tuesday has been pretty laid back...
Started around 10ish got up and showered read a little bit and then caught the bus into town to meet one of the youth from SV, Mait, Mait is a fair bit younger than me and by my reckoning probably should have been in school but he broke his arm a few weeks back and met me after a trip to the doctors, so i guess it was OK...
We went to the theatre coffee shop and sat and caught up (in Estonian) and exchanged stories about how things had been and what we had both been up to...
At about 1 i went over to Pedro's house ((aka Pets, Peter, Peetruse) another of the young people) Pets is pretty much at the helm of the youth work at SV along with a bunch of others so we talked a fair bit about whats coming up and whats been going on in my absence (more growth by the sounds of it) watched Nacho Libre (very very funny) and ate pelmeenid...
Pets is really keen for me to start playing guitar with him in worship which is more than a little daunting, but at the same time his "you can do it" attitude is always a massive encouragement when i feel like putting myself down and or quitting without making a decent attempt...
After that i came back and read a few more days worth of daily bible (i am now ahead of schedule!), stacked a trailer full of wood into the garage with Alari (during which i actually broke a sweat despite the -8 or so temperature), watched 24, ate and came up to read the live text of the derby game (currently 1-0 Yay...)
So yeah not a massively productive day but i caught up with a few people and made a few plans which is always good... i might at some point soon be taking a team of young people to some village somewhere to try and start some youth work which will be interesting and tomorrow i am meeting a Norwegian friend to catch up on how the church he works with is going etc and after that i am back off to the capital with Pet's to prepare for the gig and to get ready to meet where on earth (UK christian band) from the airport Thursday am...
I could be out of reach for a while as the next 4 days are likely to be hectic and busy but i will be updating ASAP

God Bless

Paul

"Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not"

Tallinn - bus station - sunday

First few days back...

OK so i arrived back in Estonia yesterday (Sunday) slightly early and made tracks straight down to Parnu, Tracks being in this case an understandably slow bus!
Despite the weather having been exceptionally warm throughout winter so far it seems winter has been timed to coincide with me being here, when i arrived it was around -5 with a fair bit of snow and ice on the ground and today was forecast at -32 fortunately it hasn't quite hit those heady heights (lows!) but it has been around -15 all day which made me glad to have quite a relaxing day..
Back to Sunday, Sunday was much busier than i was expecting normally i get in and the first day is just travel, travel, travel, eat, sleep... but this time it was travel (including sleep), travel (watch half a movie), band practise, band practise, band practise, eat, watch half a movie, sleep..
On arrival i received a call from Kris telling me that the whole band were in Parnu and i should go there quickly to practice a bit before the gig on Friday so i jumped on a few buses and was on my way, on the way i decided to watch "Blood Diamond" without realising it was longer than the journey (and completely amazing by the way) so anyway i managed half before hitting Parnu and climbing the 3 stories to get on with the practise...
The practice went well when i could remember the words and we now have a new sax player who is freaking awesome so the music has a new professionalism to it and a nice big lineup again...
Today then i basically slept quite late and then went downstairs to get a bite to eat... While i was down i talked with Alari over a cup of Christmas tea and basically explained what has been going on back home in my heart etc, what i doing back here again!! and what i am hoping for after that we prayed for each other and i came upstairs to read...
I am reading 2 things at the moment #1 the daily bible in chronological order (which i want to read in 3 months) #2 Organic Church ;growing faith where life happens (which in all honesty i brought to get free shipping on amazon- but is already pretty interesting)

So waffling aside i am back again and this time much more committed to keeping contact i will be blogging daily when i am not overly busy and at the very least weekly and i expect you all to hold me to it...

God Bless

Paul

"In the beginning God" Genesis 1:1