Spring 2006

Dear friends,

Lea and I are wrapping up our business in Vancouver and preparing for our third and final summer project in Estonia. This summer’s tasks will be highly varied and so we are expecting it to be even more rich and rigorous than our previous summers have been. This is due largely to the fact that our time of study and exploration is slowly concluding. With the end in sight, it’s time to draw the loose ends together and make some decisions about the shape of our return to Estonia in 2007. The first solid indication that our studies are coming to a close came at the end of April when Lea walked through the Regent convocation ceremony and was awarded a Diploma of Christian Studies. In the course of her studies, she gained a solid grasp of Biblical studies and was able to explore areas of ministry to which she would not otherwise have had access, such as “Christian Counseling” and “Christian Education and Equipping Ministry”. We were especially grateful that her mother and two of her nieces were able to attend the convocation and to stay for a visit to the Northwest for a few weeks.

This summer will include more indications that “the end is near”. While in Estonia, I will be taking my final theology course by audio and will be studying for my senior ordination exams which will take place in late August. Together, Lea and I will also be meeting with our friends and ministry partners in Estonia and attempting to forge a clearer idea of the shape of our ministry when we return. In light of the continuing demise of the Viimsi Church and of our shift in focus away from the city and onto the rural situation, we are on the look-out for an opportunity to partner with one of the other pastors we have been working with in Estonian churches. These conversations will no doubt continue throughout the summer but they will be concentrated especially in late June and early July. Please join us in praying during these weeks for clarity and wisdom as we discern together with the Estonians and with Alongside Ministries what our next steps will be.

Once again, we will be helping to lead children’s camps in cooperation with our two main partner churches, Antsla and Avispea. The camp in Avispea will take place in early July. We will help to put together a four-day program which will include Bible studies, sports and campfires for 30 to 40 kids. In mid-July we will be joined for a week by a team from the Helena Evangelical Covenant Church to help the Avispea Church paint their guest house, split and stack firewood and reach out to the local community. As we send the Helena team back to the United States, our second team will arrive from the Alongside Discovery 2006 conference in France. This small team will help us to organize a week of day camps for children and youth in Antsla. We are planning interactive, creative bible studies in the morning, games and sports in the afternoon and campfires in the evenings.

Our summer in Europe this year will end with a week of debriefing and celebration with fellow Alongsiders at the AD2006 mission and study conference in France. We are excited to have two Estonians join the project this year. Both Toivo Kimmel and Sven Kits are from Tallinn and have been recognized as young men with a lot of potential. Our hope is that they will take the experience of this project back to their home churches and expand and enrich the Estonian understanding of missions. If you would like to support either of these young men financially, please contact the AMI office at the address listed below.

One special treat this summer is that Matt’s youngest brother Sam Edminster will be joining us for the entire summer. As the resident athlete in the Edminster family, Sam has been given responsibility for organizing and explaining pick-up games of common American sports like baseball, flag football, ultimate Frisbee and Frisbee golf. He’ll be involved in our work projects and camps and we are looking forward to having his energy, charisma and companionship on our team.

We are excited about the adventures that await the three of us this summer. We’ll keep in touch as often as possible through our blog at www.edminsters.com and we’ll let you in on the full scoop once we’ve returned and settled back into our academic schedule in the Fall.

We are grateful for your ongoing friendship, prayers and support! We couldn’t do all this without you.

Sincerely,

Matt and Lea