Edminsters Online

Yesterday, Siim introduced me to two of his calssmates. After we met, we decided to go to Kelvingi which is about 15 minutes walk from Siim’s house. We were going to play soccer and ride a skateboard on a newly built skating ramp. It was my first time on a ramp so I didnt expect to do very well. I started at the very top and fell and skinned my knee. I didn’t mind it though. No pain no gain. After spending about 1 or 2 hours in Kelvingi we all went our seperate directions and headed home.

Today was the first day of working out. Matt and I woke up at 7:00 AM and went for a 2 mile run. It was hard jogging for the first time in about 4 months. But afer a while of warmig up it was much better. When we got back we did our abs workout. When everyone woke up and finished eating breakfast, Siim, Matt, and I went to a Boulder out in the middle of the sea so that we could climb it. But in order to get out to the rock, you have to go through very tall grass. In order to get through quickly and easily we constructed a trail. We had already started to built it a couple of days ago, but it still needed some finishing touches. Arvo gave us 5 tires and 3 good planks. With those materials we were able to finish our pathway out to the boulder.

A map of the Viimsi Penninsula. We are staying in the villiage of Leppneeme which is on the NE shore.

At 1:00 PM, Siim and I went with Arvo and Andres into Tallin where we were going to go to a amusement park. When we arrived there we noticed that it was closed. So We then decided that instead of going back, we could go to the zoo which was very nearby. Arvo droppedus off there, then left. We saw lots of “interesting” things there. My favorite art was seeing he polar bear. He was very playfull, and it seemed as if he enjoyed puting on a show for us. By the time we had finished going through the whole zoo, we were really hungry so we went to McDonalds. We all got Bic Macs. They really hit the spot.

After we ate we got on th bus and started to head back. We went on 3 different busses just to get back. I fell asleep on two of them. When we got back, we went nd palyed Voleyball wih some of the locasl. They were all kids that owned motorcycles. They spoke very fast, and i had no idea what they were talkingabout. It was very frustrating. The past two days have been very busy with activities, but I like all of them, and I hope to have more that are just as good in the future.

Yesterday, we decided to go hiking in Kõrvamva National Park which is located 1 hour east of the Capital. Arvo drove us there. We were headed for a lake about 15 kilometers away. We first went through mountanous terrain. Then we moved on to a dirt road where we walked for about 2 or 3 kilometers. We arrived at a large wachtower that was about 30 meters tall. We climbed to the top and saw all of the territory we were hiking in. There was all sorts of flora, and the trees were mostly deciduous trees.

From the lookout tower we were headed down a long dirt road that stretched for about 5 kilometers. Afer walking this bit which was dry dusty and sandy, we entered a trail that was narrow, green, and surrounded by a live forest of trees. After walking that portion, we entered a very large field of dry bushes and dry crusty plants. We every step there was a loud crunch. We had about 4 more kilometers to go. All throughout the field there were large crater-like holes. Arvo told us they were where bombs and shells had landed. He told us that this area was a training and testing field for the Soviet army during the Russian times. There were bits of shrapnel everywhere, and many metal fragments from bombs and missiles.

We came toward the end of the field and climbed up a steep hill. On the other side was the lake. We were all very tired by then, and were excited for some food, and a quick swim. We found a great spot and had lunch and swam. I was very fun and relaxing. Now we had to walk the whole 15 kilometers back. It was actually faster going back than it was coming. My legs felt like jello. Afer walking back through all of the same terrain we came to a small river. Matt was the first to go into it. I followed him quickly, and i didn’t bother to take my shoes off. It felt so good. The water washed out all of the sand that was in between my toes, and I splashed it all over my face. We walked back to the car and headed home.

All during the hike Siim had been teaching me my Estonian numbers from 1 to 100 and I got to where I could both say them and recognize them. In the car on the way home we took turns trying to come up with words and phrases that would be difficult for foreigners to pronounce. The Estonians thought it was so funny when I tried to say “Jüriöö Ülestõus”. But it was just as funny hearing Siim try to say “Very Vulnerable”. It was a lot of fun.

It was a very long and interesting day.

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

We arrived in Estonia on the evening of the 13th. We were greeted by a large group of family and friends from the Viimsi Church. Arvo (Lea’s oldest brother) drove us out to Leppneeme to the Haagen’s house (Lea’s older sister Anne and her husband Kaido) where we will live for the next two and a half months.

The next morning we all slept in. When Siim Haagen (Anne’s son who is my age) arrived back from school in the afternoon, Lea, Matt, Siim and I all went bike riding through the countryside around Leppneeme. After our ride, Siim, Matt and I decided to go climb a large boulder protruding out of the harbor. But in order to get there we had to make our way through tall marsh-reeds. When we’d finished climbing, we went back to the house to play wiffle ball and to eat lunch. Siim and I barely beat Matt and Kadri by a score of 8-7. After beating them squarely, we decided to go to Andres’ house (Andre’s is Arvo’s son) to play American football. Matt and I took on Siim, Andres and Kadri. We were losing the entire time until we made a great defensive stop and followed it with an offensive charge for the victory. After football, we followed up with a game of soccer and were joined by the youth group from the Viimsi Church. One game led to three or four and soccer became the prominent activity of the night. After a little while, some went off to play volleyball but eventually made their way back to the soccer pitch. My team lost badly (7-2).

By the time all this was over, it was 10:30 and still bright outside. I was totally exhausted. It was a very fun and long day, full of many activities and I enjoyed being with the Viimsi youth.

One of the things that troubles me most about ministry talk in the church is how often we elevate monetary and physical resources above human ones and how this juxtaposition of values can undermine our ultimate mission. It seems to me that Church history would indicate that some of our healthiest seasons have been when saving grace, Christian character, and the sustenance and guidance of the Holy Spirit were the only commodities we could count on.

This seems to also be the case in our current situation where some of the most sustained growth is happening in places where resources are at a bare minimum. Conversely, the health of the Church in the West is slowly diminishing in spite of the fact that we hold the vast majority of the world’s resources.

All this begs the question: What are the Church’s most important resources? Here are some of my thoughts about the importance of discipleship in the church over against our dominant “resource paradigm”. (more…)