Greetings,
This might seem exceptionally late (even by our standards) but for half of May we were in the UK and the last update went up to the time at which we left Estonia so this is kind of an on-time (by our standards) update for the running month of May-June lets call it Mjune for the sake of clarity.
Mjune has been very good, we have been keeping busy and clocking up some respectable mileage and in Mjune we had a really encouraging and… interesting time in the UK,
So anyway here is our quick list of what the church, youth and we personally have been getting up to!
- PowerPlace (youth club): Summer is here, and to celebrate the fact that we now have sun, long days and youth with a 3 month break! We have started "a summer of adventure" which is much more catchy in Estonian (honest)… So we have been doing bbqs, football, swimming and meetings on the beach etc each Friday which has been really good so far…
- Youth worship band: The youth band is on a break as everyone is working for pocket money over summer so me and Karl have been doing acoustic worship on Fridays.
- Sunday mornings: Me and Maarja have been leading simple worship all month... Risto has been leading a series on our relationship with Christ which has been really good…
- Small groups: The girls groups are both going nicely and the summer and Euro2008 have been good for the football group its not very formal but its happening regularly and since we have so few boys we have to play with strangers lots which is great
- Prayer Breakfasts: While we were in the UK we got inspired to instead of talking about wanting to be a praying church to start opening our home on Saturday mornings at 9am to do breakfast and prayer with the church its been going great each week more and more people have been coming meaning this week we face making pancakes for up to 20 people which should be fun.
- UK trip: We had a great time in the UK we went to a lovely wedding and managed to cover 11 different cities in 10 days we were really encouraged by so many people and got to catch up with family some whom we hadn't seen since our wedding and some who we hadn't seen for even longer, We also experienced something strange everywhere we went we seemed to be in the middle of road works and noise (bar our lovely break in Scotland) we had near constant headaches, we really felt God was telling us that Estonia(and its peace and quiet) is the place for us right now and that God was hardening our hearts to England (which believe it or not I sometimes miss)
- The Place (outreach): Mjune has been a mixed month for The Place team straight after we got back we put together a show for another local church which went well and at which I was both the MC and the lead singer (BoB is not quite dead) but also 2 events have fallen through this month with the first one the school whose garage we were promised changed their mind at the last minute and the second was a tour for which we couldn't get a band in the end! In some ways it's a blessing in disguise as the place team is small and work very hard so these events not happening allow for a much welcome break for the team!
- The Bus: The Bus is not up and running yet and we don't exactly know what we will be doing with it yet but in July expect more news about it!
Prayer points for the next month then...
- Continued provision (on Gods terms)
- PowerPlace is every Friday and prayers that we can provide a place for people to belong and grow in and that we can teach our young people well in, We really want the youth meetings to be filled with the power of God! we are continuing "Jesus Season" but at outdoor and generally more summery locations with a cut down preach more testimonies and acoustic worship
- Prayer Breakfasts are a big step of faith for us as we are feeding a big group when our finances are tight so provision and continued spiritual growth for the church
- A Job for Maarja! In August we are in England again for a longer period (family weddings etc) and Maarja had a word previously about non-secular employment so we took a leap of faith and left a month sooner than we would have had to giving Maarja July free but meaning when we are back Maarja will be looking for a more fulfilling and meaningful job
- The situation with the church and the old hall is still in a big mess pray the God will guide the church leaders and provide whatever it takes to solve the dispute (wisdom, money, a free lawyer)
Please pray about supporting us financially if you feel that might be something you might like to do, Even what may seem like a small amount each month helps us out massively and is a huge blessing to us and the church here, if you feel you would prefer to support specific needs financially in the church please feel free to get in touch about what they might be and how you might help
Thank you for your support and prayers
God Bless
--
Paul and Maarja Davidson
Karja 1-4
Pärnu
80018
Estonia
+372 55582557
paul.andrew.davidson@gmail.com
PS. We are now set up with Stewardship so we can claim gift aid on support given to us and get extra money from the UK government on top of your support! Attached are all the details you need to register to support us via Stewardship!
