Camp
Here are some pictures from the last few days at Elama. The kids arrived for camp yesterday, so we should have pictures of camp soon. I enjoyed building some tables and benches, and Sergei finished up the cook stove in the summer kitchen. We also had quite a few people from Christ for the World, [...]
I just returned from a very fruitful trip to Montenegro, where we hosted a team from St. James United Methodist Church in Athens, GA. Our relationships continue to deepen in Montenegro and the work is expanding. I was involved in three main areas: First, we ran a teen camp. We had more campers this year [...]
Continue reading about A Postcard from Montenegro — Fruitful Relationships
I (Mike) am currently in Estonia again after a quick trip back to Russia. Olga and I continue in a time of prayer and seeking God’s will for our next steps. But, it is not a time of passive waiting. The Lord has given us good work, and we continue to see His hand in [...]
Continue reading about A Postcard from Estonia — Resting in Him
I am currently in Estonia researching ministry opportunities for possible future mission work. I’m staying with John and Sara Russell, the founders of Street Cry in St. Pete who are now starting a new work in Tallinn. Olga will join me this week before we return to Russia in about 10 days. A few [...]
Continue reading about A Postcard from Estonia — Estonian Beauty
After a nice drive from Russia, I’m in Estonia looking at 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 [...]
Montenegro was a part of Yugoslavia and is located in the Balkans, across the Adriatic Sea due east of central Italy. It’s a small country (pop. 650,000) with only about 200 protestant believers. Stoneworks continues to partner with the Brethren Assembly in Podgorica, one of only three Evangelical churches in the country. In May, I’ll [...]
One of our partner organizations, Big Family Missions, recently posted a video of their work. They are great people doing wonderful things in Russia. You can visit their website here.
Here are a few short and simple videos of our youth camp in the mountains of Montenegro in July 2008. A team from St. James United Methodist Church went for two weeks to help the local church run a youth camp. We’ll return in July 2009 and continue serving.
In August, at Elama we hosted more church groups and camps, and the last of our summer teams have returned home after a very successful season of ministry. Above at Elama, Sergei Tovstapet and Olga Barzhura baptize Leanna, one of the young ladies from Street Cry’s rehab center. Sergei and the girls from the rehab [...]
Continue reading about A Postcard From Russia — Summer’s End, New Beginnings
In previous postcards we’ve mentioned the camp we have use of: we’ve named it Elama, the Finnish word for Life (pronounced EH-lah-mah). Before 1939 it was a Finnish health resort, after the war it was a Russian children’s camp before closing about 25 years ago. We’re slowly bringing it back to life, and this is [...]
Continue reading about A Postcard from Russia — Elama, Camp Life
