The team of Mike Wind, Pastor TJ Anderson and Doug Anderson conducted a Seminar on Integrating Discipleship, Family Life and Passing on Faith into Congregational Ministry. The Seminar was held at the United Methodist Seminary in Tallinn, Estonia. Forty two registered participants including eighteen Seminary students completed the course. The Seminar was translated real time through the use of professional Estonian and Russian translators. Attendees were from Methodist, Pentecostal, Independent, Baptist and Russian Orthodox denominations. The attendees also represented six countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Russia and Kommi (a small independent region within Russia, near the Ural Mountains). The final day included preparation and presentation of a Strategic Ministry and Implementation Plan for their home congregations. The plans and presentations were all excellent and will have a profound and lasting effect in many nations.
APRIL 2009
We had participants from 4 countries and 3 US States for an 8 day event that focused on Spiritual Growth and Formation through Discipleship. The content of the Seminar included:
Spiritual Formation and Growth
Discipleship and Small Groups
Becoming Missional
Family, Children and Youth Ministry
Ministry Leadership
NOVEMBER 2009
The Grace Seminar held in April 2009 led to great opportunities in each country.
ESTONIA
Pärnu: The visit to Pärnu included a presentation on Spiritual Formation and Growth through Discipleship to the key lay leaders of the EstonianEvangelicalLutheranChurch. The presentation was given in the AndropovCenter near the city of Pärnu, on the Baltic Sea. This facility was formerly a communist retreat center and a favorite place for Soviet Leader Andropov during his time in office. The presentation was enthusiastically received, and several key church leaders were identified as possible participants in the April 2010 Grace Seminar.
Tallinn: A two-day seminar was held in Tallinn and resulted in a plan that included three Lutheran and two Baptist congregations to work together on an outreach strategy to reach the 40,000 unchurched people living in the Nomme and Müstamae areas. The 5 churches will partner together on several intentional outreach events and will combine an existing Alpha program with a faithJOURNEY curriculum called “The 12 Habits of Healthy Christian Living” which was developed at GraceLutheranChurch in Destin.
Tartu: Evelin Santos, of the Tartu Academy of Theology, continues to work on integrating Spiritual Formation through Discipleship into the curriculum of the Academy. Initially this would enhance the five existing degree programs and then will become its own field of study resulting in a degree.
Nomme Rahu and RedeemerChurches: An Orphanage Project has begun and its purpose is to develop a project where Grace and Nomme Rahu could cooperate jointly. The vision is to fill the gap for children that reach the age of 18 and are no longer able to stay in the Orphanage. The intent is to work with the Orphanage to develop a program that will teach marketable skills to these young men and women so that they can become gainfully employed. An awareness project is currently being developed by Grace and Nomme Rahu whereby connections could be made, and relationships developed directly with children in the Orphanage.
Archbishop Andreas Poder: Three meetings were held with Archbishop Poder and all were very positive and supportive of what we are doing in Estonia. He has pledged his continuing support of work in Estonia, as well as for the Grace Seminars.
TallinnUnitedMethodistChurch and Seminary: Superintendant Taavi Holmen will participate in the April 2010 Grace Seminar. He is also interested in, and supportive of combining the existing Alpha program with a faithJOURNEY curriculum called “The 12 Habits of Healthy Christian Living”. He is also exploring another Discipleship Seminar in the Fall of 2010.
Trivimi Velliste – Vice President, Baltics Assembly: The Baltics Assembly is 20 members from each Parliament in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that meet regularly to address issues and opportunities common to the three countries. Mr. Velliste would like us to consider conducting a seminar similar to what we did 8 years ago that brings together the key leaders of churches, business, government and military. The focus would be on understanding the current world and local economy and political circumstances, along with the planning for, and leadership of positive change.
LATVIA
Old St. Gertrude Lutheran Church, Riga: This church currently has 230 previously un-churched young people in an Alpha course. They have conducted 9 Alpha courses over 4 years with great response from the people, but with limited integration into their congregation. About 90% of the people are between the ages of 25 and 35. They were also interested in, and supportive of combining the existing Alpha program with a faithJOURNEY curriculum called “The 12 Habits of Healthy Christian Living”. The Team returned the following week and presented Discipleship and trained them on the 12 Habits. They are currently working on translating the 12 Habits into Latvian.
EvangelicalLutheranChurch of Latvia: A meeting was held with (new) Bishop Gunters Dimants, Pastor Ivo Pavlics and Pastor Ojars Freimanis. The meetings were very positive and they are supportive of what we are proposing to do in Latvia. They also pledged on-going support of developing partner congregations and for the Grace Seminars.
Pastor Mark and Rose Krause, LCMS Missionaries to the Baltics: There are 18 congregation partners from the Central Illinois District of LCMS that are primarily providing financial support with very little ministry. Pastor Mark is willing to work with us on developing ministry, and is considering participation in the 2010 Grace Seminar.
SLOVAKIA
Seminary: Met with the Dean and the Vice Dean of the Seminary in Bratislava to discuss the possibility of holding a Discipleship Seminar at the school. The meeting went well and we were asked to present a mini-version of the Seminar that afternoon. The Seminar was attended by 50 students and faculty and was well received. Plans are being formulated for a Fall 2010 Seminar in the Seminary.
Mission Office: Met with Slavomir Slavik, the head of the Mission Office in Slovakia. The meeting was to discuss the possibility of working together on Small Groups and Discipleship within the LutheranChurch structure in Slovakia. Slavo feels that we can add value to his organization, and he has hired Lukas Kralik to work in this area. Lukas interned at GraceLutheranChurch in Destin for 9 months during 2009. Lukas will be following up on past participants of Grace Seminars within Slovakia, as well on-going translation and presentation of our Discipleship materials.
AUSTRIA
Mission Office: Had several meetings with Fritz Neubacher and his team. Fritz attended the 2009 Grace Seminar in Destin. We are working with Fritz and his team to bring the Discipleship process to Austria. Some of the presentation material has already been translated into German and the goal is to get the Curriculum translated as well. Fritz’s team has a strong connection to the Evangelism and Outreach Team in Germany and we are exploring ways in which we (CAI/EMT) can connect into that group as well. In addition, Fritz and his team have made a connection into Eastern Slovakia, and are working towards partnering with them as well.
Seminar: A 3 day seminar was held in Steyr, Austria. The seminar was attended by 40+ people from various locations within Austria. The attendees were trained on Discipleship and Small Groups, and a Strategic Plan was developed by each congregation represented for how they would implement Discipleship in their congregations
Financial support was provided by the Team Members and a few supporters. Prayer support was provided by many here and in Europe.
Ministry events in the summer of 2010 include:
Family Camp with our partner congregation, Nomme Rahu-Redeemer in Estonia. This is a great opportunity to get involved in this mission, and to get immersed in the Estonian Culture. The dates have not yet been confirmed, but will likely be in the first two weeks of July.
Seminars are being planned for Summer and Fall of 2010 in Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia and Austria
If you are interested, please contact Mike Wind: mike@gracedestin.com or 598-0363
