Estonia, a first
August 3, 2010
We celebrate a first for Stoneworks. We have sent our first mission team to Estonia. They return to the States on Thursday.
For the first part of their trip, they lived in a camp with orphans, ministering the gospel. The orphanage director, Riho, is very supportive of our work and has invited us to continue working with him and helping the children in his orphanage. The doors are open.
The second part of their trip was focused on fact-finding in preparation for future ministry. The team visited several orphanages, rehabilitation centers, camps and private ministries where they met leaders, learned about programs, and discussed possible future ministry. Stoneworks will use their research to help build other teams.
One very good connection is with Artur Pold, the pastor of a local Methodist church. He also directs Camp Gideon, a beautiful camp on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. Artur is on the local ‘county commission’ and oversees many projects helping people in need. Several members of his church have been ministering in nearby orphanages. Their church has been very supportive and we look forward to future partnerships with them.
This team now has tentative plans to return next summer to help run a camp for orphans at Camp Gideon. We hope that other teams will go to Estonia next summer, too. It’s a joy to see the work expanding into areas where people are asking us to help.
Here you can learn more about opportunities in Estonia; scroll to the bottom of the page for info the country.
Good Days
March 25, 2010
We’ve just finished our Stoneworks retreat. We met near Tallinn, Estonia for several days. We shared meals, saw the sights, and were encouraged by fellowship.
This was the first time many people had met other Stoneworks affiliates and workers. We were very blessed by the unity we have and how much we enjoy each others’ company. Here is the whole crowd, Russians, Belorussians and Americans:
seated: Katie and Melissa Bull; Christina Melton — Montenegro; Mike and Olga Cantrell — Russia; Liz Hulley — Russia, Matthew and Mark Bull
standing: John and Karen Bull — Russia; Olga Goncharenko, Masha Goncharenko and Alesya Kuleshova — Belarus; Katya Plusnina and Masha Oshkina — Russia
And here is a picture Liz Hulley took –
People shared slide shows of their work; we had times of prayer, worship and teaching; most of all, we were able to spend time together and increase our sense of unity and common commitment.
And we got to see the sights. Here are Olga and Christina in the old town of Tallinn –
And some of us had good rest:
Stoneworks Retreat In Estonia
March 21, 2010
Many of the Stoneworks associates and workers are meeting in Tallinn, Estonia for our first annual ministry retreat.
Attending are Christina from Montenegro; Olga, Masha and Alesya from Belarus; The Bull family, The Cantrells, Liz Hulley, Masha and Katya from Russia; eleven adults and four children.
We’ll post more news soon, but for now here’s a picture that was taken today. Some of us went for a drive in the country. Here we’re overlooking the Baltic sea, west of Tallinn.
Estonian fact-finding
March 27, 2009
I (Mike) am in Estonia now, looking at several opportunities for ministry. Yesterday I visited Camp Gideon, the first Christian camp in Estonia. It’s been owned by the Methodist Church since the early 90s and is directed by Artur Pold, a minister who is also a congressman (called a Deputy here).
The camp is very large and has about 800 meters of beach on the Baltic. It’s snowy and beautiful there now, and it’s sunny and beautiful there in the summer. Here you can see the Baltic sea just beyond one of the buildings. It is quite a piece of property.
We’re hoping to bring orphans from Belorus and/or Russia to this camp. Perhaps American mission teams could come and meet them here. It would be very good for the kids to be in an environment where they can freely hear the gospel. The cost is about $15/day for food and housing, plus transportation. 
Probably the most important thing I’m doing now is establishing and building relationships with believers here, and I’m looking to see which of those relationships God is establishing closely. We want the work to flow from our relationships, rather than have the work define the relationships.
Over the next few days I’ll be visiting orphanages and shelters, and I’ll also be looking at some property that could perhaps serve as a summer camp and ministry center. Onward . . . .
