The remainder of my stay in Estonia from January 1-4, 1998
[go to part one]On January 1 I went to the home of Tamara and Victor Bichevin. This is where I was to deliver the books that
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several of you have sent to donate to a school in Russia. Their son Pyotr lives and works in St. Petersburg, Russia which is a mere three and a a half hour drive by car. On one of his trips to visit his parents he will take the books back to Russia with him. This has been quite a transport of books and it feels good to unload this extra 70 pounds that I have been living with since December 25th. I also took her calcium/magnesium and multiple vitamins along with a bottle of Finlandia. They enjoy vodka that is not Estonian. Estonian vodka has a bad reputation. I never tried it.
Tamara, in her extra hospitable style, prepared a delicious lunch. She served some homemade apple wine and vodka with it. Then we watched a music program from Moscow. Tamara was proud of the fact that they had a sattelite dish that picked up Moscow''s first television program. We watched a show called "Pyesnya 97." The
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greatest hits of 1997 were performed by Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian and other former Soviet performers. It was quite entertaining.
Tamara talked of life in retirement. For many years she worked as a in a Tartu factory which manufactured all the black boxes for Soviet aircraft, both military and civilian. Tartu was the site of one of the Soviet Union's most formidable bomber bases. It's no longer there. Instead, some of the airfield is used as a used car lot.
Conversation turned to the weakening of Russia. She spoke of the paradoxical phenomenon of being free and independent Estonia losing a sense of national power and greatness that they had under the USSR. "Quite a paradox!" she exclaimed.
Then she spoke of rising Islam and how the Soviet Union curbed and buffered its growth. No longer. The eastern republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the other Islamic "stans" have taken on a new life. Further revolts are erupting in Azerbaijan and, of course, Chechniya. She scolded the Americans for giving support to Moslem Bosnians in the West. The conversation was fascinating and stimulating.
My visit to Estonia has been most profitable in that I have had time to really get to know them well. You can only get to know people well and bond with them by talking to them and spending time, not by just coming in for a few days and It's just like with our famiiles. There is no substitute for time and attention. The people share their feelings and the ups and downs of their lives, their families, children and their troubles.
I found that you have to explain spiritual and life lessons in different ways. I have talked to them about keeping the Sabbath, faith, trusting God. You can't only say it once in a sermon. You
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have to personally discuss it, get them to ask questions, give examples about how God is going to help them. I feel like I've done this with Luule, Margit, Henrikas, Ylo and others. This has been the perfect time to visit--when they had extra time available to talk in the midst of the holiday week during which I came. Certainly, this group of people will be in my prayers always.
I give these people lots of credit for the spiritual progress they've made considering the only spiritual support they have are quarterly visits by Peter Shenton from England who cannot speak their languages, 25 or so articles that have been translated into Russian along with the translated tapes that Darlene Reddaway has been working on. Once the foundation of the church here is solidified, I believe it will grow more quickly.
I also enjoyed just soaking in the Estonian society. Churck Zimmerman, pastor in Phoenix, Arizona had asked me to get him some Baltic amber. Margit took me into town and we looked in a few shops and bought some pieces of Latvian amber, the country that seems to be most famous for its amber.
The eyeglass frames this week were a BIG HIT!! The news frames were really looked at with interest. They really are nice when they compared them to
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theirs, which were really heavy and clunky. These came from Steve Grabowski in Laramie, Wyoming. The stylish eyeglass frames that he was able to get for an unbelievable low price were a hit with the people here. I was surprised how valuable these items were to them.
Friday evening we went to dinner at Luule Lepik's friends, Jaan and Tiina Kutsar, about a mile away from her home. It was very enjoyable. A family where the sons came over with wife, little kids and another son with a girlfriend.
Finally the second Sabbath, January 3rd, of my trip has come. I know that my stay here is almost over. I was notified Friday night that Ylo Maaring was very ill. Sabbath morning I took a taxi out to his place and visited for an hour with him. He did not look good and said that his chest was bothering him. The paramedics were out to his house twice on Friday and the doctor had been by before I arrived. I prayed with him and talked and even got him to laugh. He said that he could not talk because his chest hurt so much. He said his blood pressure was abnormally high.
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[Later news as of January 24, 1998: Luule and Margit went to visit Ylo on Monday, January 5 and he was doing much better. He was out of bed and moving around. However, when I spoke with Luule on January 26th or so she let me know that Ylo went to the hospital again and they indeed found serious heart problems. He is going to have surgery for "widening the arteries around his heart."
News as of February 12, 1998 from Johnny Lambert: We received a letter from Ylo on Monday, February 9. He had a heart attack round January l. Since January 6, he has spent a lot of time in intensive care. He is scheduled for open-heart surgery on May 18. Several heart vessels will be replaced with veins from his feet. Ylo asked that we pray for him.]
We had a Sabbath meeting at Luule Lepik's apartment. The following were present:
Luule
Anelie
Margit
Helle
Zoya
Aime Meos (the child psychiatrist)
Terje
Henrikas was already back in Lithuania. Ylo was ill. So, it was all women.
I gave three messages. I felt with the short time we have, that I'd give more subjects.
I spoke about what is faith...saying that it's a living faith, evidence of things not seen and something demonstrated by works as described in the book of James.
Then I spoke about Christian character. We are creatures who have to make choices constantly between what God says and what we naturally do. God's ways are not our ways. We have to lean on Him
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to KNOW what is right and wrong and then we have to DO it.
Finally, I spoke about being an example, a light and salt. They need to be that one to another and to the world. I told them that it's time for the Estonian church to mature and show fruits of the Spirit of God.
Henrikas Klovas
came up to Tartu, Estonia from Kaunas, Lithuania on January 24th and gave a Bible Study on Christian giving and tithing. He is greatly respected by the Estonians. Moreover, he is able to speak in Russian. There is no translation and nothing lost. His leadership is proving to be a great asset.
After our meeting we went to the Lemuuria restaurant, which was very nice and reasonable. I said good-bye to all the wonderful people with whom I had been spending time. The next morning it was the bus from Tartu to Tallinn and the ship to Helsinki. This trip is continued by clicking here.