Basking in the Baltics

Baltic Mission Youth Conference

The Baltic Mission Youth Conference was held in Estonia from July 4-9. The participants came from Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The venue is a place called Mustjõe Kõrtsitalu (Black River Hotel/Tavern Farm). There was a farm here at one time a few centuries ago, and it has been restored in the style that was used then. It was NOT restored in a style that caters to people who desire comfort or luxury. If you want an authentic old world experience, this is the place. It does have electricity and indoor plumbing to accommodate guests. Just wait until you see the bedrooms. The food is purely Baltic with lots of bread, cheese, onion butter, cold meats, porridge, potatoes, soups and stews. What wasn't eaten today, will find itself in the soup tomorrow, you can count on that. There is sour cream to go in it as well. I learned that this was typical food in their own homes. No highly processed food here. It's all cooked fresh everyday. The vegetable soup was the best I have ever tasted in my life. What was in it? I don't ask.

The conference was very similar, in some respects to those run in the U.S.. We were invited to participate and teach a seminary class each day. The youth were divided into three groups and they would rotate through the three seminary classes. We were also asked to give a workshop on sharing the gospel. These are things that we were happy to do, but between three different languages, the rhythm and flow of delivery can be somewhat halting as we would have to pause at times for translation or mental processing from English to native tongue and back to English (which most of the youth can speak). This made it a formidable task to teach in the manner to which we were accustomed. As I write this, my feelings are tender, as I remember how when English words would fail me, the Spirit knew every language. And that was how we communicated. On one occasion, an adult adviser (from Belarus) came up to me. He thanked me, hugged me and told me he loved me. He is a Russian speaker, but he knew enough English to tell me that. These people are hungry and anxious for the gospel and the Lord is brooding over this land. I foresee great things happening because of the youth (most are 1st or 2nd generation) that are catching the vision of who they are and their place in the growth of the church within their countries. I count myself so privileged to be a witness of it.