Estonia Diary

Pentecost 1999

By Tina Engelbart 

The day after Mother’s Day (May 10) we started on our trip to Tartu, Estonia from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Our flight to Tallin did not leave until Tuesday evening at 5:55 p.m. However, we would have missed it if we left on Tuesday since we wouldn’t have been able to make the connection on time.

So after stopping in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and finally landing at La Guardia, we spent the night with old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Garrett, and they took us to JFK the following afternoon.


 Counter clockwise from lower
left: Luule Lepik, Hazel Lambert, 
Tina Engelbart and Juta Kulbin

We finally arrived at Tartu on Luule Lepik’s steps on Wednesday at 6 p.m.after an uneventful flight. It was good to see Luule again. After serving us a light meal, we tried to go to sleep. However, once again we arrived during the time of the white nights and the sun did not set until 11 p.m. And it rose around 4 a.m. We never did get adjusted to the time change there.

Estonia seemed more prosperous than at our last Pentecost visit -- much more European than before – more stylish clothing, many outdoor cafes, music, festivals, renovated buildings, and lots of mini skirts. It’s as if Estonia can’t wait to shed it’s Soviet past. Even the street signs have changed. Where before they were in Estonian and Russian, now they are in Estonian and English. We were told that in the Soviet era it was against the law to have outdoor cafes.

We had the opportunity to stay with Luule in her apartment again. She is a wonderful cook and since she is half Russian, she cooked all my favorite dishes. I am able to converse with her in Russian and we have gotten quite close. She has opened up to me about here trials and the ever-present challenge of earning enough money to survive. Because she works as a butcher – her job includes hauling carcasses, and chopping them into smaller pieces of meat for sale – she is concerned of not being able to do that much longer since she is approaching her fifties. While we were there, she wrenched her back while picking up heavy boxes. The result was the she could barely walk. Margit was picking us up by car to go to her apartment for some computer work. So we took her to the hospital. When we returned, she was gone. They had given her a shot and she walked home. She was in great pain for several days, but Ozzie anointed her and she seemed to get better with each day.


 Johnnie Lambert going up to our 
conference room for Sabbath 
services at the Pallas Hotel 

We tried to find out what subjects the Estonians would be interested in hearing, and two of the themes were life after death, and baptism. So on the Sabbath Ozzie spoke and what happens after death. We met at Luule’s for Sabbath services, and we had a new girl that we were trying out as an Estonian translator. Since translating is such intensive work, it’s hard for one translator to do the whole Feast and it would be good to have a back up.

In addition to the regular attendees, Koidu Üprus and her12 year old daughter Anna, who is studying English in school. Koidu is experiencing tremendous trials. She had to leave an abusive marriage situation and lost her job on top. Being in the late 40’s it is almost impossible for her to find a job, which is what she had already told us at our Unleavened Bread trip. But now she did find something to bring in an income. She opened up a used clothing store in a one-room store area on the second floor of a little shopping center. We had visited her there and she seemed to be just making it. People were coming in and buying. She was getting her used clothing from a supplier in Stockholm who was a friend of her daughter’s boyfriend. After Sabbath services she asked us if we would like to see a concert. There was a musical playing on Sunday at the Tart Music Theatre. So we went to see "The Violet Flower", an Estonian operetta set in Paris in the Bohemia quarter at the turn of the century. The music was beautiful and with a little help we got the gist of it.


  Hazel Lambert at open air bazaar

We tried to visit with each of the Estonian on a one-to-one basis. On Monday we met with Ylo Maaring at McDonalds and talked to him for quite some time. He is retired and is able to work in his garden and devote quite a bit of time to Bible Study. His health seems excellent, and his cheeks are pink now.

On Monday night we had a Bible Study, and Ozzie went through the second requested subject, and that was baptism. It’s hard for them to see the need for it.

On Tuesday, Margit’s friend, Katryn Kaasik invited us to see Tartu’s Botanical Gardens, which is attached to the University. It is one of largest botanical gardens in Eastern Europe and even has an enclosed rainforest with banana trees bearing fruit. Katryn works as an oncology nurse and has a very irregular schedule. There is no particular shift she works on. She is trying to work things out so she can keep the Sabbath. But these challenges are even more formidable in Estonia than in the U.S. Everyone is petrified of losing their job, because once you lose it, there are so few available. Since Katryn speaks English, Ozzie was able to converse with her without my translating services, and I got a break.

On Wednesday we met with Koidu again. A catastrophe had happened to her. Her clothing supplier in Stockholm had disappeared. No one could reach by telephone or any other way. She has no other supplier and her clothing stocks are low. If neither there is nor replenishment, people will stop coming. If she breaks the lease, she still has to pay 3 months rent. We try to see what could be done about shipping used clothing from the United States.


  Tartu skyline from Pallas Hotel 

Thursday we were supposed to go to Tallinn, but Ozzie got sick. When we arrived, Inge, one of the newer ladies who sometimes helps Luule, had been sick and Luule was just getting over the flu, and It looks like she gave it to Ozzie. Luule and I and her daughter Anneli went instead to the markets in Tartu and looked at clothing for Anneli since she was graduating from high school. And needed a dress.

Friday afternoon, Henrikas Klovas arrived from Lithuania. Ozzie was able to converse with him in German, even if it was somewhat tortured. Apparently, they understood each other fine.

Friday evening we visited with Zoya Reiko and her charming mother at their lovely apartment. She again made us the smoked fish, and again it was delicious. Zoya had been unable to attend any of the services because she too had come down with the flu. Apparently, a couple of days before we came, there was quite a large snowfall and very cold temperatures. Then it warmed up suddenly and everyone in Tartu was getting sick. We rode the bus like the Estonians. It costs 5 EEKs (which is about .35 cents) to ride anywhere in the city, and the bus service is excellent. Since so few people have cars, most utilize the bus or walk.

On the Sabbath we met at the Krone Kovik, which is the Crown Café. It is a charming little café in a bank building. The owner buys meat from Luule and since the café is closed on Saturdays, she let’s us meet they’re for 200 EEKs ($14) which also includes coffee and snacks. Unfortunately, by the time we made the reservation, the owner had let her cooks to plant potatoes for the weekend, and we were not able to have the snacks. But the meeting place was lovely. We all sat around a huge oval table. Our translator translated into Estonian, and I translated into Russian for Henrikas. Henrikas gave the sermonette and spoke on how the Holy Spirit is not the spirit of fear. Ozzie then explained the connection between the law of God and the Holy Spirit. Then we went with Henrikas for a cup of coffee and discussed with him the state of the work in Estonia.

On Pentecost Sunday we met at 1:30 in the conference room at the Pallas Hotel, where most of us will be staying for the Feast of Tabernacles. The management goes out of their way to work with us, and gave us the conference room for free. Henrikas again gave the sermonette. This time it was on how the Holy Spirit was the spirit of power and of a sound mind. Ozzie in his sermon explained how God became a father to us on the day of Pentecost and what that means. For this Sabbath service we had a visitor, a lady friend of Helga’s who used to live with her in her apartment complex 20 years ago. She speaks English quite well. In this sermon she heard a few things that she had never before heard in her Lutheran background -- things like that Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament. After services she told Ozzie: "You have given me much to think about."

That evening we had another Bible Study and this time Ozzie explained what is the Kingdom of God – which was another question people had. It was interesting to hear that the Estonians couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be a spirit being, and for that matter, what is a spirit being and what do they do.

Regarding Koidu, there still was no news of her supplier. She had mentioned if we could find a way of shipping clothing to Estonia from the U.S., perhaps we could use that as a means to build money for the Estonian church and work. We told her we would look into the possibilities.

The following morning our taxicab picked us up at 5:30 a.m. and we were on our way home. We arrived Monday night in JFK (we lost 8 hours) and Johnnie and Hazel Lambert picked us up from the airport. After eating in New York, we spent the night in Pennsylvania after telling them all about our trip and about all the people. The following day we spent at their house and had dinner with many of the people that we used to pastor when we were in the Pennsylvania-New York Area. It was wonderful to see them all. The next day we flew from Elmira and arrived home late Wednesday night.

 

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