Parnu, Estonia, Thursday, July 30, 2009

Good morning from Estonia!

It is a beautiful morning (70 degrees with a cool breeze) in Parnu. This is our last full day at Agape Church and our last day of VBS. Our time here has been fantastic and we have formed a close bond with the children and the adults at the church. It will be very hard to say good-bye. The children now wave excitedly to us as they approach the church. Some of the older children are brave enough to practice their English with us. I was told that if you ask a child, "Do you speak English?" They will all shake their head "No" because they are too shy to speak it; however, most of them do understand English as they study it in school beginning in Kindergarten. Shane has worked with us trying to teach us some Estonian. Carolyn, Jennifer and I have tried a few words with the children every day. Mike and Teil spoke a few Estonian words in the hardware store which were met with a hardy laugh from the clerk.
The Estonian children love our kids. Rich has made many friends and the girls love to chase him calling out "Come here, Richie boy!" Allyson is always in the middle of the kids playing and helping. Tyler and Dylan have enjoyed helping Shane in the music room each day learning "Jesus Loves Me" in Estonian. The kids have surprised all of us with their servant's hearts. They are already asking about when we will return to Estonia.

Mike and Teil will finish the playset today. Their goal is to finish before VBS is over so that the children can play on it. Ullas Tankler shared with Mike and Teil that it has always been a dream of his to have a playground for the kids at the church. He was thrilled that God used Asbury Church and especially the children of Asbury to make that dream a reality. Tomorrow we will travel to Camp Gideon for the day and then back to Tallinn. Please pray that the seeds that were planted here will grow and pray for the church, especially Tonu, their pastor and his wife. Also, please pray for our team that this experience will continue to transform us. Thank you. We miss you all and are looking forward to seeing you soon.

Christy Capps