BACKGROUND

Estonia was occupied for 50 years after WW2 by the aggressive, atheistic Soviet Union. This regime tried to break our deep Christian roots. Unfortunately, they were quite successful. During the first 10 years of Soviet occupation, 2/3s of   Lutheran pastors were killed, imprisoned, or escaped from the country. Before WW2 98% of Estonians were Christians; today  only around 12% are members of different Christian churches. These broken connections need to be tied together again.

I share with you a story of hope and trust. This is a story of spiritual resistance,  complete trust in God, and the sacrifices of one family through a century. This is a story of the suffering of the Estonian people.

THREE GENERATIONS OF PASTORS

My GRANDFATHER, HARRI, was a Lutheran pastor. At the end of the 1940s, he was arrested and imprisoned for eight years in a Siberian slave labor camp because he was a pastor.

My FATHER, EENOK, 88 years old, is serving three Lutheran congregations. He was forced to hide for six years in the forest and lived in an underground bunker because he was the son of a pastor. Despite these hardships, he later became a pastor himself.

NAATAN and MARKUS, MY TWO OLDER BROTHERS, and I are pastors as well.

FOURTH GENERATION

Now I’m looking to the future and I’m very glad that our family story is continuing. MATTIAS, THE SON OF MY OLDER BROTHER, joined our team in the fall of 2020 and is working with me as my assistant. He comes with fresh energy and new ideas. Mattias is 26 years old and is the fourth generation carrying on the legacy of our family.

You may watch the videos about the story of four generations at tatest.org/videos.

LAUNCH OF TARTU ACADEMY OF THEOLOGY

Estonia regained independence in 1991. In 1992, my father, Eenok, established the Christian college, Tartu Academy of Theology (TAT), with the financial support of a group of American Lutheran pastors.

During the last 30 years, TAT has trained hundreds of Christian leaders for Estonia.

For 15 years I worked side-by-side with my father. Ten years ago, I took over the leadership of TAT.

HOME OF HOPE CHRISTIAN OUTREACH CENTER

Six years ago I was under big pressure because the rental facilities of TAT were in very poor condition and didn’t meet our needs at all. We had to decide whether to end our work or take a giant leap of faith.

Trusting the Lord and following His guidance, the vision of Home of Hope was created. In the spring of 2018, $125,000 was raised within six weeks. As this miracle happened, we had to trust. We made a downpayment and trusted the Lord. I invested myself totally and undertook this project of more than 2 million dollars.

We have to believe there is a different future for the Estonian people, and we need to keep faith alive. We need this unique outreach center to answer God’s calling.

God made this project a reality. In December of 2019, Home of Hope was dedicated to the Lord. We have been richly blessed and God has done amazing things, as you will see on the following pages.

We still need $0.7M  to pay off the mortgage and sustain the Home of Hope facility.

Our goal is to continue for GENERATIONS TO COME. Please come along and support us with your prayers and financial gifts.

In the autumn of 2020, I joined the Bible School. I was baptized and confirmed about 25 years ago, but after my confirmation, I didn’t have any connection with the church anymore. At the time I was the only one in my family who was baptized and confirmed.

Here are videos with testimonies from some Bible School students and also short term missionaries. 

My journey with God started as a young adult. I was raised in a non-Christian but spiritually curious environment. Up until 21 years of my life, I had been inside a church only a few times for concerts, weddings, or funerals. But I had seen my mother practice meditating, reiki, yoga etc. I was quite critical and defiant.

Here are some testimonies and videos about some youth activities.

I am doing this work because in my life I have also felt a great need for spiritual help. I spent 3 years at the hospital after the premature birth with my second child because she weighed 1.3 pounds and had many health problems.

I was born in 1976. It is said that the 70s were the most miserable period of the Soviet time in the Estonian Lutheran Church. A large part of the society was estranged from the church.

I lived near the church building, but it was closed most of the time. My parents did not consider it necessary to baptize their children.

My own religious path began in parallel with the birth of Family Radio in Estonia. Like most children of the Soviet era, I did not come from a Christian family. This is not to say that my parents were atheists, but rather cautious. My wife and I worked in national radio in the 80s without imagining that we would be able to do the same work in Christian broadcasting in the future.

I lived with my family in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. I used to be a manager of the cultural center. When the war started my husband sent me and our two daughters (4 and 6 years old) away from the war. It was at the very beginning of April of 2022. He stayed and unfortunately was killed by a missile strike on April 5, 2022, while helping people to shelter.

Here is a video of a day care for Ukrainian war refugees run by a alumnus of Tartu Academy.

$0.7 MILLION TO GO

$1.5 million has been raised. 

$0.7 MILLION STILL NEEDS TO BE RAISED BEFORE NOVEMBER 15, 2024, to:

• pay off the mortgage and become full owners of the Home of Hope facility;
• sustain this great tool for the work of the Kingdom of God;
• get a permanent source of income to finance our mission work (in three years, we have earned $100,000 from the rent of premises which covers all maintenance costs and much more)

The lender is the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Our payments go back to the fund that finances the construction of churches. The money paid as interest will be used to:

• publish a new church hymnal;
• support the church’s youth work.

Paying off the loan maintains our independence in preaching the Word of God.

Will you PRAY FOR US?

Will you CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION?

Will you CONSIDER GIVING A MAJOR GIFT to inspire others to join and complete this Spirit-driven cause?

Your sacrificial gift will have an immediate and lasting impact on not only this growing ministry, but an entire nation!

We are grateful for every donation.

We are thankful if you share this information also with others.