About 30% of Estonia’s population is of Slavic origin, which includes Russians, Russian-speaking Estonians, Ukrainian refugees (now 5% of the country population) and Belarussians. The need for intentional focus and strategic planning to see a Gospel movement among these people is high. Furthermore, there is potential for partnership and networking that expands elsewhere in the Nordic-Baltic Initiative, with connections already established with Russian-speaking pastors in Latvia. The three areas of focus are: developing a pastors’ conference, raising up the next generation of Gospel champions, and supporting church planting efforts. 

Pastors’ Conference: Annual Pastoral Conference (3 days, 2 nights) will center on rest and connection with the aim to develop stronger bonds and relationships among pastors (and in the future including pastors’ wives) and developing skills to strengthen resilience and perseverance. Pastors would also be able to grow in other necessary leadership areas to be determined specifically and individually.

Next Generation Ministry: Create a roadmap and design a comprehensive leadership training process for potential young Slavic leaders. This will include resources (print and video), consistent mentoring / coaching, and support for camp ministry.

Church Planting: Providing assessments, training and resources to ensure successful church planting among the Slavic population of Estonia, with support available for future connections elsewhere in the Nordic-Baltic Initiative.

The Refuge Ministry Center serves as a bridge between the church and the local community. In a culture where many are hesitant to step into a church or are unsure what Christianity means, The Refuge is a safe place to learn about faith on neutral ground.

Our vision is to share the gospel with 2,000 young people in the city of Tartu within five years. Through consistent fellowship in Refuge programs, we want to raise disciples who will make new disciples.

Currently, 10 hobby or focus groups meet regularly at The Refuge. In the cooking groups, for example, cooking and sharing a meal together builds relationships, which opens doors to sharing the truth and love of Christ.

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8

 

This fund provides for necessary technology maintenance and upgrades. Funding for technology allows us to efficiently communicate from overseas and provides for the equipment/software we use daily on field. Technology funding helps us reach our ministry goals by providing resources such as computer hardware, software and updates, and camera and video equipment for use in communications and ministry.

Bibles in the Estonian language are expensive and hard to find. The purpose of this project is to provide Bibles and Bible study materials in the Estonian language throughout the country.

 

Bibles, youth study Bibles, children's Bibles, and study guide materials in the Estonian language are all in great need.  When we have these resources, we are able to place God’s word in the hands of those seeking spiritual truth and those beginning to grow in their walk with Christ.  We discover these individuals through various ministry programs (Alpha course, youth nights, youth camps, family and children outreach events, VBS, etc).  In addition, as we expand outreach efforts in South Estonia, local church and youth ministry programs are able to distribute Bibles for outreach to rural, remote, and/or un-churched areas of Estonia.

 

Through partnership with the Estonian Bible Society and the Union of Baptist and Evangelical Free Churches of Estonia, the Converge Nordic-Baltic Initiative has printed and distributed 2600 Bibles in the past decade.  

 

Plans are underway to print an additional 2000 copies of full Bibles in Estonian by the end of 2023. 

The South Estonia Outreach team connects Christian young adult leaders to outreach opportunities in the unreached and least-reached areas of southern Estonia. We provide training, resources, and support for ministry and evangelism programs in these communities. Our team operates in partnership with the Union of Baptist and Evangelical Free Churches of Estonia to reach the under-reached people groups in the six counties of South Estonia with a population just over 300,000. These people groups include Estonian, Russian-speaking, Ukrainian, Võro, Seto, and Estonian Deaf.

Since 2008, we have partnered with local pastors, ministry leaders, and communities, and have begun several outreach programs of our own. Our 10-person team continues to grow, with church planting and outreach work currently taking place in five focus areas throughout the region. Each focus area includes active regular programs as well as special projects. Hundreds of Estonians have come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have been baptized through:

• Church Planting

• Youth Leadership Training

• Camp & Youth Ministry Development

• Internships

• Estonian Bible Project

• Refuge Ministry Center
  

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38